Update

(from)

I just meditated with 2623 people, with Insight Timer. I have meditated 300 days with this device, which isn't so good because I've had it a while.  I just looked at my messages and a bunch of people thank me for meditating with them. I even know some of them. I have .2 meditation a day average, nothing to be proud of. This is the second time I meditated this month. I haven't been doing so good in my practice of meditation.

I used to meditate every day for 40 minutes for years and years. I took a wrong turn and it's amazing how that leads to others. Every choice matters so much, the things you do really are what you are. Your hopes and aspirations mean something too, but not quite as much if you don't act on them. Seeking integration is not such an easy thing. Binge watching Master of None till 2 in the morning, I distract myself, and fill my mind with another's art. That is a mixed bag. I whole heartedly endorse the project of getting back to primary experience, tuning in to what's going on, gaining insight into ourselves and the stories we generate.

I finished the text part of After Buddhism. (Here is a review with interesting comments.) Now it's translations and modernizations from the Pali Cannon. I'll take my time reading those. I quite enjoy Batchelor's synthesis of Buddhism and the current times. His problems are similar to my problems--how do you make it all make sense with what I  know from my times. I appreciate his efforts. Not sure if I can make a puja out of the text. Not sure if I want to go over his axioms of secular buddhism.

I continue to enjoy Nothing Holy about It: The Zen of Being Just Who You Are. I'm not always a fan of the Zen aesthetic and way of Buddhism, but Burkett seems like a solid guy, who tells things well. I read it aloud to my partner, and she is impressed at times. Last night, she was surprised at the abrupt end of a story, but that's what I mean by the Zen aesthetic. It tweaks your desire for the full narrative, instead jolting you into consciousness of your own mind. Not a bad project. It can feel put on at times, but not when a master practices it.