Hi folks,

I would like your opinion on this subject matter to see whether I am missing anything:

PERMANENCE - IT, Suchness - whatever you want to call it, is viewed in Buddhism as being permanent.  Nothing affects it and nothing is affected by it - otherwise there would be change.

Now clearly we see change all around us.  If Suchness did not bring about change how would things appear different to us?

This got me to think that whilst its substance may appear to express 'stillness', something of that word restricts our view of it and that something of it is also vibrant/dynamic.

Therefore IMPERMANENCE is permanent.  As the Source is permanent and dynamic so too, impermanence must always occur - so the change we see around us is an expression of IT manifested differently.

Any thoughts lol?

I have a long history with caffeine. At work I'm used to having a large mug of coffee ready next to me all the time. I guess the normal working day dosage was close to one liter of coffee every day (4-5 large mugs). This has been going on for 20 years or so, complemented with caffeine pills if the drinkable form wasn't available.

Recently I figured that caffeine didn't anymore have any positive effects on me because of the high tolerance. There was no point in drinking the fluid except for keeping the withdrawal symptoms away. Thus, I quit drinking coffee three days ago. I've got a warning for you: Coffee is not the harmless drink we think. The withdrawal symptoms are quite horrible. The most irritating thing is that I continuously feel that I've not woken up completely. I have sand on my eyes and feel like taking a nap. Everything is very difficult, even the slightest task. The gravity seems to be increased. My ability to make initiatives is severely impacted. Starting new things just isn't interesting. In one word, this is extreme lethargy. Luckily there's not much headache though.

I expect the symptoms to pass on in one or two weeks. It's not going to be pleasant time waiting for that. Compared to quitting nicotine consumption this is far far worse.

I started drinking tea instead of coffee. I chose rooibos tea for starters but plan to vary the flavor from time to time.

Do you have similar experiences yourself?

From my beginner's understanding of zazen practice, the eyes are to be partly open and directed downward toward a point on the ground approximately a meter away. While sitting my eyes are unfocused. However, I have been noticing that after sitting zazen for about 45 minutes, my eyes require another twenty minutes or so to regain ordinary focus. For example, if I were to pick up a book right after sitting, I would have difficulty focusing my eyes to read.

Has anyone else experienced this, or could anyone comment on whether it is normative?

Don't Know But Just This.

**Shhhhhhhh**

realism lacking compassion is not truth.