Quitting your job (in 8 months, when your lease is up, assuming you haven't found other/better employment) and going to study at a Soto Zen center for a couple of months - running away from your problems or turning to face them?
Or the Peace Corp. Or just another city (I liked Boston...).
Look at it this way: you could take a step out of your life, do the Zen thing (I no beef with organizing your thoughts or meditating--actually, I'm all for it) for two months. It might work exactly the way you need it to.
But what happens when you have to step out of the serene setting, the all-day relaxing and mental exercizes and back in to your life? Drug rehab centers run into this problem with their patients since it's easier to get clean in a clean place than to stay clean when you go back to the same old home, the same people, the same old habbits.
Hence the suggesting you work the Zen and meditation into your life, making it part of the routine. The results probably won't be as quick. Might not be as effective, but if it does work, it'll be with you on a daily basis, continually. And you won't be running from anything. You're making what you have better.
Then again, I'm really, really not an expert. That's only what I suspect the results would be based on what little personal and expert knowledge I have. You should call around and find out if the teachers of Soto Zen think it could do what you'd like it to. And don't forget to be skeptical--maybe ask other Zen students about their experiences or find someone who's studying the subject. (Disgruntaled former Zen students--that would be awesome)
Also, take my advice with the proverbial grain of salt--I'm the one who decided to up and move cities within a couple of days (even if, so far, said up and moving has been working out well, it still maintains the potential to blow up in my face). Do what you know is best for YOU. That's all I care about in the end.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 12:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 04:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 05:25 pm (UTC)But what happens when you have to step out of the serene setting, the all-day relaxing and mental exercizes and back in to your life? Drug rehab centers run into this problem with their patients since it's easier to get clean in a clean place than to stay clean when you go back to the same old home, the same people, the same old habbits.
Hence the suggesting you work the Zen and meditation into your life, making it part of the routine. The results probably won't be as quick. Might not be as effective, but if it does work, it'll be with you on a daily basis, continually. And you won't be running from anything. You're making what you have better.
Then again, I'm really, really not an expert. That's only what I suspect the results would be based on what little personal and expert knowledge I have. You should call around and find out if the teachers of Soto Zen think it could do what you'd like it to. And don't forget to be skeptical--maybe ask other Zen students about their experiences or find someone who's studying the subject. (Disgruntaled former Zen students--that would be awesome)
Also, take my advice with the proverbial grain of salt--I'm the one who decided to up and move cities within a couple of days (even if, so far, said up and moving has been working out well, it still maintains the potential to blow up in my face). Do what you know is best for YOU. That's all I care about in the end.