Saturday, January 2, 2010

Top 10 things you don't know about me

Top 10 things you don't know about me (before reading this that is):

This list took a while for me to compile. I'm pretty much an open book and have nothing in my life to hide. Some of my friends may be familiar with a few items on this list, but that's why you're my friend. And so now, if you decide to read this, you will maybe know more about me than you'd like.


10. I started masturbating around 4th grade. Didn't know it was masturbating, just knew it felt good. This could be why men have a hard time pleasing me, since I've been pleasing myself most of my life.

9. As a little girl, I stole a pastel-colored pencil set while shopping with my mother and little brother. On the way out the store, a store officer stopped us. And even though my heart popped out of my chest and my eyes bulged with guilt, the focus was on my little brother. He was the one caught stealing a 2$ silly putty toy. And while my brother was getting reprimanded in the store office for a 2$ item, I was sitting there (silently guilt-stricken) with a stolen set of pastel-colored pencils in my purse, a value of $40. I never said a word. The look on my face was mistaken for empathy of my little brother. I'd like to say I never stole again as a kid from this experience, but that would be a lie.

8. I broke my left elbow monkeying around on the monkey bars in 7th grade. I didn't cry.

7. I was sexually harassed in high school by one of my teachers. I was extremely uncomfortable around him and had the luck to have him as a teacher for all four years. I dealt with it on my own, by ignoring the come-ons, being in denial, and pretending to be oblivious. It worked! Too bad that doesn't work as an adult.

6. I pick my nose in my sleep (both unconsciously and consciously).

5. My feet and legs are claustrophobic. My feet do not like to be confined under blankets. My legs cannot be pinned under anything without the feeling of panic rising through my body. I don't mind small spaces if I'm standing up on my feet. But if my feet and/or legs are immobile, cramped, or stuck, I go into an immediate state of panic.

4. I don't like sleeping on the bedside next to a window. I don't care which side of the bed I sleep on, as long as it's not next to a window. I think it stems from childhood nightmares I had of being kidnapped. I do sleep next to windows when necessary, I just play mind tricks on myself to get over it. I've definitely outgrown the fear of being kidnapped now it's just a silly quirk.

3. I secretly love disney channel shows, such as Hanna Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. I can't even blame it on Mathew. He doesn't even watch these shows yet. I also secretly love lifetime movies.

2. I accidentally watched gay porn, thoroughly enjoyed it and was totally aroused.

1. And I leave this one for last, well because I'm still trying to come to grips with this one and have never admitted this to anyone, and I'm hoping maybe no one will read the entire blog and miss this last one all together. I have a high tolerance and perverse liking for pain. I don't seek pain out, I just don't mind it and sometimes I enjoy it. My tattoos did not hurt at all, in fact at times it felt oddly good. I prefer deep massages, that leave bruises the next day. And yes, like Mellencamp, it ain't no good, till it hurts so good! Masochistic? Maybe a little.

If you made it here, thanks for being a loyal reader, listener and friend. Hope you still will be after this post.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Lojong

As a follow up to my last blog...for those that might be interested.

According to Wikipedia, Lojong (often translated into English as Mind Training) is a practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition based on a set of proverbs formulated in Tibet in the 12th century by Geshe Chekhawa. The practice involves refining and purifying one's intent and way of thinking. Through the practice we undertake to connect with our world in an unconditionally positive way, and also to take full responsibility for our experience of it.

here is one translated version of the fifty-nine proverbs, broken down in seven points:

1. Preliminaries

First, train in the preliminaries.

2. Formal Practice

Treat everything you perceive as a dream.
Find the consciousness you had before you were born.
Let even the remedy itself drop away naturally.
Stay in the primeval consciousness, the basis of everything.
Between meditations, treat everything as an illusion.
As you breathe in, take in and accept all the sadness, pain, and negativity of the whole world, including yourself, and absorb it into your heart. As you breathe out, pour out all your joy and bliss; bless the whole of existence.
Understand your attachments, your aversions, and your indifference, and love them all.
Apply these proverbs in everything you do.
When practicing unconditional acceptance, start with yourself.

3. Using Adversity

When everything goes wrong, treat disaster as a way to wake up.
Take all the blame yourself.
Be grateful to everyone.
Don't worry – there's nothing real about your confusion.
When something unexpected happens, in that very moment, treat it as a meditation.

4. Life and Death

Work with the Five Forces. The Five Forces are:
Be intense, be committed.
Familiarization – get used to doing and being what you want to do and to be.
Cultivate the white seeds, not the black ones.
Turn totally away from all your ego trips.
Dedicate all the merits of what you do for the benefit of others.

Practice these Five Forces and you are ready for death at any moment.

5. Yardsticks

All teachings have the same goal.
Follow the inner witness rather than the outer ones.
Always have the support of a joyful mind.
Practicing even when distracted is good training.

6. Commitments

Always observe these three points:
Regularity of practice.
Not wasting time on the inessential.
Not rationalizing our mistakes.

Change your attitude, but stay natural.
Do not discuss defects.
Don't worry about other people.
Work on your greatest imperfection first.
Abandon all hope of results.
Give up poisonous food.
Don't be consistent.
Don't indulge in malicious gossip.
Don't wait in ambush.
Don't strike at the heart.
Don't put the yak's load on the cow.
Remember – this is not a competition.
Don't be sneaky.
Don't abuse your divine power for selfish reasons.
Don't expect to profit from other people's misfortune.

7. Guidelines

In all your activities, have a single purpose.
Solve all problems by accepting the bad energy and sending out the good.
Renew your commitment when you get up and before you go to sleep.
Accept good and bad fortune with an equal mind.
Keep your vows even at the risk of your life.
Recognize your neurotic tendencies, overcome them, then transcend them.
Find a teacher, tame the roving mind, choose a lifestyle that allows you to practice.
Love your teacher, enjoy your practice, keep your vows.
Focus your body, mind, and spirit on the path.
Exclude nothing from your acceptance practice: train with a whole heart.
Always meditate on whatever you resent.
Don't depend on how the rest of the world is.
In this life, concentrate on achieving what is most meaningful.
Don't let your emotions distract you, but bring them to your practice.
Don't let your practice become irregular.
Train wholeheartedly.
Free yourself by first watching, then analyzing.
Don't feel sorry for yourself.
Don't be jealous
Stay focused.
Don't expect any applause.

be grateful to everyone

be grateful to everyone

this proverb is one of 59 proverbs used in the practice of lojong.
Lojong is a mind training practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition based on a set of proverbs used to refine one's intent and way of thinking. They are designed "as a set of antidotes to undesired mental habits, paranoia, and fixed ideas that cause suffering."

here's my homage to this proverb:

I am grateful to everyone.
I am grateful to you...

to the one who didn't believe in me and doubted my ability, I am grateful, for you strengthened my resolve and reinforced my determination.

to the one who broke my heart and didn't bother to look back, I am grateful, for you have empowered my independence and deepened my self-confidence.

to the one who doesn't listen and only cares of oneself, I am grateful, for you have bestowed more patience and intensified my compassion.

to the one who shattered my trust and lies without hesitation, I am grateful, for you have increased my wisdom and personal integrity.

to the one who stole from me a loved one, I am grateful, for you have tested my faith, nourished my belief system, and in the process, developed my new appreciation of life.

I am grateful to everyone, for you have made me a strong, compassionate, resilient, successful, self-empowered woman.

I am grateful.
I am grateful to you.
I am grateful to everyone!

~sol

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