u/Accomplished_Win_526

hi everyone, just moved out to Santa Cruz a few days ago and am wondering about the best way to link up with other riders. I moved here from Squamish, and am comfortable riding all the double blacks up there/whistler/pemberton. I can’t really figure out the scene down here, since most of the good trails are unsanctioned and everything is pretty secretive.

im early 30s, not on an E-bike. are there bike shop rides? general local communities to link into? I’ve been poking around the campus trails and it’s been fun, but the whole situation around here is pretty confusing

hi everyone, I recently listened to a podcast episode with a long discussion between Daniel Ingram and Delson Armstrong on Guru Viking about progression through the 4 stages of awakening after stream entry. it was quite interesting, but the way they talked left me feeling a bit uninspired and doubtful.

there was so much talk about filtering through the 8 jhanas over and over like a game, and the obsessive seeking of the cessation of any semblance of an emotion. I was left feeling like i was listening to two mildly sociopathic people desperately trying to escape from the experience of being a human, rather than two ‘enlightened’ beings.

i don’t mean this as an insult to their personal characters. just that - after all these tens of thousands of hours of meditation, they sounded as lost as anyone else, just in their own unique ways.

I do not doubt the benefits of meditation or the general teachings of the Buddha. I’ve been meditating for 10+ years, done 10 day vipassana retreats, and gone deeper than I could have ever imagined. multiple experiences of profound ego dissolution, insights into the nature of emptiness, universal consciousness, and so forth. it has had profound benefits in my life, and I am excited to continue further on the path.

but while I believe in the general suffering caused by craving and aversion, I don’t necessarily believe in this obsessive desire to rid ourselves of all emotion, and that being the key to ‘happiness’. I’ve always believed the path of spiritual growth is to allow ourselves to feel more deeply, more alive, and to be able to enjoy our time in this material world as fully as we can. not to spend all of our time escaping into the boundless forms of the ihanas and ridding ourselves of any human emotion or experience.

alongside my meditation practice, I have done a lot of plant medicine work - my deepest connection is with Iboga. the tradition of the Bwiti people - which is actually very similar to Vipassana - is so beautiful to see. they do their ‘work’ and then they live and celebrate life. dancing, singing, communing, constantly expressing gratitude. it feels very refreshing compared to the coldness I get when listening to people like Daniel and Delson speak.

anyways, I would be very interested to hear any thoughts on this! I am very open-minded and am generally curious what I may be missing (or not)

Hi everyone, I was wondering how much something like practicing/playing an instrument at a high level crosses over into a meditation practice. Obviously it is separate from any sort of insight practice. But in terms of training Samadhi and breath concentration - does doing a task that requires extreme levels of focus help sharpen the mind in a complimentary way?

For context, I have been meditating for 10+ years and also used to be a classical concert pianist. The amount of singled-minded attention required to practice at a high level and perform 90 minutes of music by memory is unlike anything else I've done. I began piano long before meditating, so I have never been able to have an objective view on how it could have influenced my practice.

Anyways, just a curious thought that popped into my head. Interested to hear any thoughts!

Hi everyone, I am a composer and ex-concert pianist. I mostly use the piano nowadays as a means of composing and improvising, and want to get some music with really juicy harmonies under my fingers.

While I have played a lot music from all periods, towards the end of my more serious piano career, I was hyper-focused on Bach and Beethoven (to the extent of learning all 32 Beethoven Sonatas and the entire Well-Tempered Book 2). I now find that my 'muscle' memory (both fingers and intellectual) is somewhat stuck in those earlier musical periods, harmonically.

I have studied a lot of jazz and contemporary theory, so I 'understand' harmony into the later 19th and 20th centuries. Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk are probably my favorites. But that's not replacement for really having it in my fingers. I was curious to hear some ideas about post-romantic music that has really incredible harmony.

Thankfully, I can learn music quite quickly, and difficulty is not an issue. Right now I am diving into Scriabin, learning his 4th Sonata and maybe something from the later period like the 9th Sonata. I love Scriabin's bridging of tonality and atonality, and his beautiful sense of linking things chromatically. I also just relearned Ravel's Ondine, which is incredible of course. His piano version of La Valse has a really beautiful harmonic language.

Maybe some recommendations for Messaien or Ives? I've never connected with their music, but they certainly did interesting stuff with harmony. Interested to hear any sort of suggestion!

For context - I studied at two top conservatories, and had a career as a concert pianist before burning out and transitioning into a different field of music. I have played his 3rd Piano Concerto, which is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music. I love the lyricism, drama, soaring melodies, and lush harmonies of the Piano Concerti and the Rhapsody.

However, no matter how hard I try to get into his solo piano music, it just... falls a bit flat? I don't dislike it. There are some beautiful and thrilling pieces. But I feel like a lot of it is missing something? They just do not seem to have the same drama and beautiful melodic material of his bigger works.

Obviously a piano concerto is always going to feel more elevated in a way to solo piano repertoire. But I don't feel this way about Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Prokofiev, or many of the other composers that wrote for both.

I would love to find a way to appreciate his solo works more. I have played so much of the standard repertoire, and this is one of the biggest areas I have skipped over. Not sure exactly what I'm asking here, but would love to hear what others most appreciate about his solo piano works

I 'know' most of his music, I just have trouble falling in love with it. I loved the piano works of Scriabin, Prokofiev, even Medtner (and several other contemporary Russian composers), so I'm always surprised I struggle with Rachmaninoff - who I would think of us the most accessible. There are some pieces, like Op.39 no.5 and Op.33 no.4, that I do like. But a lot of them just... I dunno

Hi everyone, my partner and I are looking for where to live - we have the luxury of working remote and having solid incomes and flexibility. We have citizenship in both the US and EU. With this freedom has come a bit of overwhelm of trying to find the best place to fit our needs. We are both in our early 30's.

What we value most:

• Nature/outdoors access - I am a big mountain biker, skier, whitewater kayaker, etc. and it is important for me to have easy access to mountains or the forest
• Weather - my partner loves the consistently sunny and warm weather of SoCal. I tend to like seasons and rain, but a decent amount of sunny days is important to her
• Culture/nice town - she is from Vienna and appreciates culture and having a nice town center of some kind. We are both interested in being around younger, creatively minded people. We are planning on having kids and would like to be in a place with other young families

We recently spent 6 months living in BC (Nelson and Squamish). Squamish is my favorite place I've ever lived, and having such incredible nature access was really special. We also loved Vancouver Island. My partner is worried that it is too rainy and grey there for her.

We previously lived in West Los Angeles (Venice/MDR). We loved many aspects of it, but the culture and people eventually wore us out.

We loved the small town feel of Squamish, with the nearby proximity of a bigger city. This felt like the sweet spot, and we both want a quieter living situation in nature. It was also full of young families around our age, which was really nice. I made more friends here in a couple months than I did in several years in LA.

Places we are interested in:

• Santa Cruz - currently the top contender, and we are planning on spending a month in an Airbnb there next month to check it out. Seems like a great mixture of California weather, the ocean, and mountains and forest. Brutal housing market.
• Santa Barbara - similar to SC, although I worry that it skews too old and "country club" feeling. We both love the weekend trips we've taken there. Same CoL issues.
• Squamish/Vancouver Island - still open to this and trying to figure out emigration
• Brevard/Hendersonville/Asheville area - great access to nature, close to my family in WV. Worried it might feel a bit underwhelming compared to Coastal California, but CoL is much better
• Europe - I know this is very broad, but would love to find some similar towns to Squamish in Europe if they exist. Places like Innsbruck or Swiss towns have great nature access, but seem a bit insular and difficult to integrate. We loved Portugal when we visited a few years ago - it felt similar to California in some ways. Really interested to explore some more options
• Marin/Sonoma?
• Bend?
• Santa Fe?
• North County SD?
• Bellingham?
• Bozeman?

Places that might technically meet the criteria which we don't like

• Boulder/Denver
• Portland/Hood River
• Missoula

I appreciate any input, thank you!

I’ve been meditating for many years, and did a 10 day vipassana retreat last year. I did this after doing two Iboga ceremonies earlier in the year, and the whole period was a time of extremely intense deep work. I went very deep at the vipassana retreat - deeper than I realized possible. multiple full ego dissolution experiences, deep trauma processing, and many other things. the Iboga and vipassana experiences felt like excavations of the deepest/darkest recesses of my soul.

anyways, my nervous system was pretty dysregulated for awhile after all of that and it took awhile to feel “myself” again. the experience was extremely challenging but ultimately deeply healing. after the darkness of all that work, I feel liberated from the struggles of my past and have had probably the happiest year of my life.

so the strange thing is that I also seem to have lost interest in most things that I generally enjoy - podcasts, music, tv shows, books… I just can’t get into any of it. I’ve always been fascinated by so many different things and had an insatiable curiosity, but I struggle lately to be interested in almost anything.

I’ve felt somewhat like this with periods of depression/anehdonia earlier in my life - but I am quite happy and content, and would not consider myself depressed at all. so I find it quite strange that I see to have lost interest in so many things that have previously brought me entertainment and nourishment. interested to hear if anyone has any thoughts or has had similar experiences, thank you!

a bit uncertain on where to go, so was curious if anyone has input. I’ve been meditating for many years, and did a 10 day vipassana retreat last year. I did this after doing two Iboga ceremonies earlier in the year, and the whole period was a time of extremely intense deep work. I went very deep at the vipassana retreat - deeper than I realized possible. multiple full ego dissolution experiences, deep trauma processing, and many other things. the Iboga and vipassana experiences felt like excavations of the deepest/darkest recesses of my soul.

anyways, my nervous system was pretty dysregulated for awhile after all of that and it took awhile to feel “myself” again. the experience was extremely challenging but ultimately deeply healing. after the darkness of all that work, I feel liberated from the struggles of my past and have had probably The happiest year of my life.

so the strange thing is that I also seem to have lost interest in most things that I generally enjoy - podcasts, music, tv shows, books… I just can’t get into any of it. I’ve always been fascinated by so many different things and had an insatiable curiosity, but I struggle lately to be interested in almost anything.

I’ve felt somewhat like this with periods of depression/anehdonia earlier in my life - but I am quite happy and content, and would not consider myself depressed at all. so I find it quite strange that I see to have lost interest in so many things that have previously brought me entertainment and nourishment. interested to hear if anyone has any thoughts or has had similar experiences, thank you!

I live in Squamish and regularly ride some of the gnarliest/most consequential double black+ trails here… larvicide, sourkraut, gouranga, pleasure, etc. I feel super comfortable on almost any tech trail anywhere.

but I go up to Whistler and I just can’t get over the mental block/fear of jumping. I’ve worked on my jumping technique and am solid with the fundamentals, but as soon as I get on something like A line I am just not comfortable with the speed needed to ride it confidently. I do a bunch of crank it up laps and feel dialed but just can’t take that next step up in speed and size.

is it just not for me? can anyone relate? feeling a bit stuck about whether I should keep at it or just accept that it’s not the type of riding I enjoy