Yes I'm not seeing many practitioners here so far, but hopefully they will come. I have not been active either as I'm trying to minimize screen time. Thank you for the comment, shilajit is very potent so I don't use it often, sorry to hear it has not worked for you.
I see. Thank you very much for the info. Hopefully the mess gets cleaned up soon. It's such a weird thing for someone to do
You mean Ruud? What should be done now? What are the implications
I don't think there is any concern of getting a UTI. And it's not pseudoscience, hence why I am recommending people try it if they are not yet sold on the concept of SR. You're completely right that there is only one way to abstain. I personally do not practice injaculation anymore. But when I did, it allowed me to save some energy and get me used to the concept of sexual / energetic retention, so I think it's good to at least put it out there as an option to skeptics as it is better than nothing.
I agree with your last bit- I love that Buddhism is tolerant of other ways of thinking and religions. It seems to acknowledge that everyone has their own karma and way of doing things, so we shouldn't try to "convert" everyone to Buddhism, perhaps they will gain realizations or become happy by some other religion or philosophy etc. It speaks for itself, I appreciate that Buddhists don't try to convert others.
As for the first part, I was daydreaming about something recently and then remembered that life itself is said to be an illusion. We need to get by using subjective labels and concepts. Of course those are necessary and we need them to function in the world, but it's important to recognize that they are just labels in order to see reality for what it is. If life itself is a delusion of sorts, daydreaming during my free time is like a delusion within a delusion. Spending time fantasizing about something that isn't real, when so much of my life experience itself is exaggerated or imbued with too-strong emotions and is thus not "real" either. That's not to say that daydreaming is bad or anything, because the "good" or "bad" judgement is also a label, but it's better to at least be aware of what's going on mentally. Man, I would probably be able to maintain a mindset like this more consistently if I meditated regularly lol. I still have so much to improve on. But reading your comment was able to remind me of some of these things, so thank you!
I agree. I was initially attracted to Buddhism because of how logical it is in the realm of psychology and also physics. It makes so much sense.
I'm glad you are able to keep up a meditation practice and be mindful. Thank you for your comment!
At least you're looking on the bright side of the situation lol.
I'm still not used to posting things so I'm so glad you think there is some value here! I would be happy if it can help some people make progress.
I have been using shilajit over the past several days and have actually experienced enough of a subtle boost in energy that I have not been able to sleep well. (Waking up at a normal time even having slept late.)
The past 2 nights I had given myself 8+ hours sleep opportunity, yet I still slept lightly, woke up multiple times in the early morning, and had a lot of dreams (REM sleep). I think I didn't get much deep sleep, so I still felt tired.
I am going to go without shilajit for a while, repay my sleep debt, and try again.
Thanks for your reply. That makes sense to me.
It's ok if you disagree. SR is something that helps me and others have what we feel is a better lifestyle. As long as you are also doing what you feel is best for you then that's good! I would be open to discussion / debate over DM if you're interested, but no pressure at all.
I appreciate it, I think it can't really be helped but in both of our cases, as other have mentioned, if people are interested then they will join
Same thing happens with me with a home instance of lemmy.world.
What's worked for me over the years
I have tried for a couple of years now to reduce my screen time and focus more on other goals, specifically, reading more. Here are some of the things that have helped me reduce my screen time until now:
- Turn both computer and phone to greyscale mode as often as possible
- Constantly have phone on Do Not Disturb mode, notification sounds off, battery saver mode on (this last one has allowed me to only use 50% battery per day and only charge my phone every other day)
- Apps I use for my (android) phone: minimalist launcher; lock me out; keep me out
- minimalist launcher: a very simple launcher, black and white, apps are listed in a text list rather than using icons
- lock me out: set timers for distracting apps (I use Firefox for Lemmy so half hour limit for Firefox, after which there is a 30m lockout; Instagram has 1h lockout after 15m; YouTube has 1h lockout after 15m. This has helped me better manage my usage and I have pretty much stopped using Instagram and YouTube as a result)
- keep me out: I barely use this now, but you can voluntarily lock yourself out using a timer. Worked well when I was finding myself frustrated after scrolling for a long time and could not seem to stop myself (this was when I didn't have quite as many "lock me out" restrictions).
- view Lemmy, Reddit etc as website in browser instead of using individual apps
- Not nearly as many restrictions on the computer but there is not as much of an urge to get distracted on the computer for me. There is an app called SelfControl which I have on Mac which is a very lightweight and strict timed website blocker, but I don't have to use it very much.
This has helped me reduce my screen time very significantly recently to an average of probably 1-2 hours per day for recreational things. Probably closer to 1 hour most days.
I am mostly using my phone/computer for keeping in contact with friends or family, or doing work / school related things. I would like to continue cutting down on recreational screen use and switching to reading, especially on weekends...
I recently used the Reddit debacle as motivation to finally quit Reddit and switched over to Lemmy, which I hope will further decrease my screentime as Reddit was the final frontier of social media for me, so to speak. Regarding Reddit, I would recommend the book, "You Should Quit Reddit" by Jacob Desforges.
Yeah, comments seem to be working for me in that way too.
Thank you anyway for taking a look and commenting! It's interesting to hear your perspective, and I'm glad you could at least learn about it as a concept.
I see. That makes sense. Thanks for your perspective!
Thanks for your comment. The practice and results may vary from person to person. It's certainly not a miracle cure, but the general finding is that when our bodies are not ejaculating, they are not constantly needing to produce semen which is a very nutrient- and energy-intensive process. As a result, we have more consistent levels of energy and a more stable emotional state.
If you are interested, please check it out!
Sounds good, thanks so much!
That makes sense lol. Thank you for your insight! I appreciate it.
Thank you. Well, it's not something I generally talk about in person (although I know it's likely seen as strange to most), but on Reddit there was enough of a following that there was not much ostracism, so this is a first for me. I was curious if the Lemmy reaction is more representative of the average person's thoughts on the topic.
Just thinking out loud. Thanks for your reply!
Why is there such a negative reaction to certain self improvement practices here?
I recently created a community for the practice of semen retention. It is an ancient practice and has ties to Taoism. For me and others it is largely for the sake of self improvement and spiritual / material progress.
I posted on a new communities forum and the post almost immediately has garnered several downvotes. I'm genuinely confused as to why. The practice is not hurting anyone, nor is it rude or offensive.
Cannot create a post or update a post- doesn't load
I am both trying to submit a post to a community and edit a post I have already made. When clicking "create," the wheel just spins indefinitely, I have waited for over half an hour and there is no change, reloading does nothing. I am able to load communities and make some other posts though (like this one) so it's not an internet issue.
Update: The post edits could only be made by adding a paragraph or two at a time. There's either a hard or soft character limit. I had to add the rest in comments. As far as posting to the community, I couldn't get that to work at all. I messaged the moderator to ask. Maybe it's a permissions issue..
Good to see that there's a community for Buddhism!
I am anyway trying to reduce my screen time and time on Reddit, and the new changes they're making spurred me to check out Lemmy when I heard about it. I like the simple feel of it and hope that it will create smaller, tighter knitted communities, encourage individual posting (I never posted on Reddit but it feels more acceptable here somehow), and also help to further reduce my screen time.
I'm glad to see there's a Buddhist instance here. I think this may be the first or second post ever on this instance, so for the sake of encouraging conversation I would like to ask those who may see this post:
- What sect of Buddhism do you subscribe to? What do you like most about that sect?
- What is one way you have incorporated the teachings into your life recently, or one thing you would like to incorporate?
For me:
- Tibetan Buddhism (Gelug tradition). I like the fact that it purports that enlightenment can be achieved in just one lifetime; that negative karma can be purified; and that bad things happening is just our negative karma ripening, which means you are paying your karmic debt in those situations. It's very motivating for this lifetime.
- I am trying to be more mindful in everyday life because I don't meditate much at all, and I think mindfulness is the next best thing.
I hope this instance / community grows in the future!