Welcome

[Russell]

For anyone who is new. Pop in this thread and say Hi and introduce yourself, give some background info, etc...

[Dan G]

Russell,

I am taking you up on your offer of introducing myself. First, thanks for your work on the new forum and thanks for posting your journal. Much appreciated!

My name is Dan. I am in my mid thirties and have a family (wife and 3 young children). Life is pretty busy. I took my first Goenka 10-day course about 10 years ago. Overall, I sat 4 courses and a weekend short course. I experienced some highs and some pretty intense lows which made me stop about six years ago. For the past six years I have been meditating off and on (in the Goenka style). Why would I keep getting drawn back? Did I cross the A&P? Why did meditating always make me feel like crap after restarting the practice? Was my cutting edge in the dark night? I don't know the answers to these questions yet and may not ever definitively know. And that is ok with me. However, for whatever the reason I keep coming back. So, started sitting regularly back in November, got exposed to the pragmatic dharma scene in December, and started working with Ron Crouch about a month ago. Practicing about an hour a day.

Anyway, although somewhat shy and reticent to bring my practice online, I am motivated to be part of a sangha. More specifically a place where I can receive feedback on my practice and hopefully, with more experience, help others with theirs. I have been journaling my practice for several months and just started to do it blog style the past couple of weeks. You are welcome to view it http://dangpracticelog.blogspot.com/. It is somewhat of a scrapbook. Let me pass along a heartfelt thanks to folks who already share their practice or have shared in the past. It has been very motivating and inspiring and I have benefited greatly. Looking forward to connecting. Dan

[Russell]

Welcome Dan! You will get a lot of help here and good choice getting a teacher. Ron is great!

[monkeymind]

Hi there

I've been on KFD for a log time, but am mostly active on other forums, such as (list of forums edited out).

I got a lot out of Kenneths approach to teaching Jhana.

Cheers,
Florian

Edit: I haven't been active on KFD for a long time, and my mentioning my activity on other forums in my introduction here on this new forum was rude . I apologize for that. I'm looking forward to having great discussions here - may this forum flourish as did its predecessors.

Cheers,
Florian

[marc]

Hi Florian, welcome! Just wondering: why is it rude to mention other forums here? I wouldn't mind to know on which forums you're active.

[monkeymind]

Hi Marc

My post was rude because it implied that there were better places to post.

There are always the private messages to discuss off-topic stuff.

Cheers,
Florian

[Mosagra]

I would like to introduce myself.

I'm 52, I'm married and have 4 kids and two grandkids, I'm a Physician Assistant. I have been interested in Buddhism off and on for at least 30 years. I never really started meditating, somehow I never thought it was for me. For some reason it seemed like too foreign a practice, or maybe that it took too many lifetimes to achieve anything. Maybe my atheism was too strong. But I would buy a book on buddhism every year or so due to ongoing interest.

My reading in the last year has been much more active, about January I discovered this active "American" style of buddhism if I might call it that. I finally understand what the goal is, that progress is achievable. I'm a big podcast listener so I've been listening to a lot of those. I found this website through the Buddhist Geeks, I believe, can't really remember. I like Kenneth's pragmatic style and message.

So far my practice is simple and basic, I sit for a half hour or so most mornings and sometimes I manage a half hour at lunch. I just try to focus on the breath and the sensations of the breath. I usually have a very strong bliss sensation with chills and tingles over my skin which I am calling the first jhana. I often try to note during my normal daily activities, I find this much more challenging due to the normal distractions and so forth.

I have a big active household with lots of stuff in it, what I really want to do is sell at least half the stuff I own and spend at least 2-3 hours a day meditating.

[Russell]

Welcome Mosagra!