Since being ill with CFS I have read about Buddhism and tried meditation - found it really quite helpful - anyone else tried this approach to life? Good luck to all.

TikkiRo - Hi http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif I am glad you found something that helps you feel better. I have explored many different philosophies, including Buddhism. Lately, I've been trying to learn Chi Kung and have been doing a breathing meditation called "The Six Healing Sounds". I've been practicing for close to year - first once a week and now I do it every night at bedtime. It helps me tremendously. It totally relaxes me, lessens my anxiety and gives me a greater sense of well-being.

Practitioners of Chi Kung believe that Chronic Fatigue is a loss or lack of Chi (energy) in the body. The meditations help remove blockages and cultivate more Chi energy by removing negative emotions, which drain energy and replacing them with positive ones.

I am also familiar with Buddhism. I believe that any kind of meditation is beneficial to anyone.

Keep feeling better,
Renee http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/angel.gif

i too find that buddhist (any spiritual) practice helps one cope with difficult situations in ones life.
ive also found that its one thing to read and speak of "philosophies", etc.,but putting them into practice are quite another thing...it takes much more faith and dedication.
im also a firm believer in karma (ideas, actions, etc. that one has accumulated over the past...follow you so to speak, and eventually manifest themselves).
we may not "like" our karma, but we have no choice but to accept it.
karma is not inherintly "good" or "bad", we just have a tendancy to label it as one or the other...when in fact...it just IS!
in other words, "we reap what we sow..."
when it comes to pain and suffering we dont know why...or what purpose there is behind it...maybe we werent meant to know, or are unable to comprehend just yet.

but i simply think that its all just the karmic wheel of life...i know it helps me when im able to accept that (it not always so easy to accept though).

i guess we just need to keep practicing.

best wishes
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE DIAMOND SUTRA-Excerpt

All composite things
Are like a dream, a fantasy,
a bubble and a shadow,
Are like a dewdrop and a flash
of lightning.
They are thus to be regarded.

-and so you should

Think in this way of all
this fleeting world:
As a star a dawn,
a bubble in a stream,
A dewdrop and a flash of
lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom,
and a dream.


BUDDHA

i too find that buddhist (any spiritual) practice helps one cope with difficult situations in ones life.
ive also found that its one thing to read and speak of "philosophies", etc.,but putting them into practice are quite another thing...it takes much more faith and dedication.
im also a firm believer in karma (ideas, actions, etc. that one has accumulated over the past...follow you so to speak, and eventually manifest themselves).
we may not "like" our karma, but we have no choice but to accept it.
karma is not inherintly "good" or "bad", we just have a tendancy to label it as one or the other...when in fact...it just IS!
in other words, "we reap what we sow..."
when it comes to pain and suffering we dont know why...or what purpose there is behind it...maybe we werent meant to know, or are unable to comprehend just yet.

but i simply think that its all just the karmic wheel of life...i know it helps me when im able to accept that (it not always so easy to accept though).

i guess we just need to keep practicing.

best wishes
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE DIAMOND SUTRA-Excerpt

All composite things
Are like a dream, a fantasy,
a bubble and a shadow,
Are like a dewdrop and a flash
of lightning.
They are thus to be regarded.

-and so you should

Think in this way of all
this fleeting world:
As a star a dawn,
a bubble in a stream,
A dewdrop and a flash of
lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom,
and a dream.


BUDDHA

THE DIAMOND SUTRA-Excerpt

All composite things
Are like a dream, a fantasy,
a bubble and a shadow,
Are like a dewdrop and a flash
of lightning.
They are thus to be regarded.

-And so you should

Think in this way of all
this fleeting world:
As a star a dawn,
a bubble in a stream,
A dewdrop and a flash of
lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom,
and a dream.

BUDDHA

:angel:

May we extend This mind over

the whole universe,

So that we and

all beings together

May attain maturity in

Buddha's wisdom.


NOTE: it is not my intention to "put off" anyone who doesnt believe in Buddhism...i happen to believe in Buddhism, BUT...when it comes right down to it, i feel that ALL RELIGIONS are attempting to express the SAME "THING", in a different way.
i think we all have much more in common than we do differences...and once we realize that, we can begin to make this world a much more peaceful place to live. im not being idealistic...there certainly is a long way to go, but we must start somewhere.

TAKE CARE
WITH GRATITUDE
INYO

My opinion is any technique that calms you and relax you is good. I do meditation with the chakras and I feel so good after that. It's hard when you are raised with a different philosophy and than you start adopting another one. But what I found is a lot common in all spirtual beliefs. Infact meditation is reaching to and connecting to the divine source. Quitening your mind and listening to that inner voice. Faith and beliefs can bring miracles in your life.
Just learning the simple steps of a simple life and meditating had brought so much change in my life.

thought i would share some poems i recently came across;

Contemplating the clear moon

Reflecting a mind empty as the open sky---

Drawn by its beauty,

I lose myself in the shadow it casts.


---Zen Master Dogen


Buddhism has the characteristics of what
would be expected in a cosmic religion for
the future:
it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas
and theology;
it covers both the Natural and Spiritual,
and it is based on a religious sense aspiring
from the experience of all things,
Natural and Spiritual, as a meaningful unity

--Einstein