u/beribastle

To be fair, I've tried raking a lot less than SSP, but I still try to rake. Today I got the Brady 71/40 for the first and second time with SSP, but I can't rake anything. I've tried it on my master locks, no.3 and 141D. I've also tried to use it to set pins before I SSP, which only leaves me worried that I've overshot with pins and doesn't seem to save time. I've watched youtube videos too. Any idea why I might suck at this? Does anybody else have more trouble with raking than SSP? I'd like to be good at this. Seems kind of fundamental and super useful.

Hello everyone, I just started to get into this and have been practicing a lot for the past week. I just picked up the ABUS 55 40. Is mine one that won't qualify for the orange belt since it's smaller than 40mm (38mm wide)? Or is the larger than 40mm requirement for hight? Thanks!

Often about ten minutes into meditation, if things are going well, I start to feel really good feelings coming in with my breath. It's like lightness and energy that comes in swirling through my nasal cavities, staying the strongest in the front of my face but rolling through my whole head. It feels amazing, I love it. It happens with breathing meditations or metta meditations. I can't tell if the feeling is the same or slightly different between the two meditations, but with metta meditations I feel like it's the cultivation of metta. With breathing meditation, it feels like it could be that too. I feel so full of peace and love, like it's radiating off me.

This will last sometimes up to a minute, but it's so hard not to pay attention to. I end up conceptualizing it which brings me away from the breath and the moment. Even if I'm successful in refraining from conceptualization, I end up moving my focus to the feeling instead of the breath, which causes it to quickly fade. The rest of my meditation can end up feeling distracted after that. It's not bad, but I've lost some of my focus. I'm still in a very pleasant peaceful state, but the main part of the meditation feels over. Does anybody have tips on how to maintain my meditation?

To be clear, I'm not looking to maintain that specific feeling, just to stay engaged with my meditation.

Thank you for reading.

A lot of the time, I can observe someones negativity and recognize that they are hurting themselves more than the people around them, so I can either extend kindness or just stay out of their business and move along.

Other times, for example when the contact with the other individual is prolonged and they keep being aggressive, negative, confontational, etc., I have little outbursts of negativity myself.

Does anybody have usefull remedies or thought-tools that they use to navigate negativity without being effected themselves?

I'm noticing a pattern. Sometimes I'm really into Buddhist books and the practice, and during those times I happen to be at my happiest. Because of that I'd like if that kept happening. I've also easily dropped addictions and habits, and gotten a handle on my anger, and more. This should be enough to keep me going on this path.

Times like right now, I just don't know where to turn. Nothing about buddhism even sounds interesting. a lot of what has been enticing feels empty. That's not to say it is; I just see doctrine where other times I will see good advice and wise guidance. I think it's a phase most likely, but it's hard to tell.

I might have parts of the eightfold path pop into my head reminding me to avoid harsh speech or something like that, but beyond that nothing. I normally feel really good listening to Buddhist audio or reading bits of suttas.

Does anybody else experience this or have an explanation to why this might be?