A person in his late 30s experienced anxiety, panic attacks, and uncertainty about life purpose. He considered a conventional path of marriage and children but felt it did not answer deeper questions about identity and meaning. He sought spiritual support rather than therapy and turned to Beat Generation writers associated with popularizing Buddhism in the United States, including poets and an ecologist. Buddhism teaches that suffering and dissatisfaction arise from longing for permanent material comforts and pleasurable sensory experiences. It holds that suffering can be overcome through wisdom about reality, ethical treatment of living beings, and meditation that builds awareness and stillness. He began meditating at home but needed a sangha, leading him to visit the San Francisco Zen Center.
"“I've partied, and I've had all this crazy wild sex,” he continued. “I've tasted all of the things on the buffet of life that queer hedonism offers for me, and yet that has not answered the question, 'What am I?' That's not enough, I need more.”"
"Buddhism is over 2,000 years old and has many varieties, but all of them view suffering and dissatisfaction as inherent parts of life caused by longing for permanent material comforts and pleasurable sensory experiences. This suffering, Buddhism says, can be overcome through wisdom about the true nature of reality, ethical treatment of other living things, and the development of greater awareness and stillness through meditation."
"He began meditating on his own at home, but he had trouble developing the habit. Soon, he realized that he needed a sangha, a group of fellow Buddhists, to help support his spiritual practice. So he began visiting the San Francisco Zen Center, one of the largest Buddhist communities outside of Asia."
Read at LGBTQ Nation
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]