Kanzan @Kanzan - 14h
I have a friend who quit being a Zen priest to have a family in rural France. He just told me it's more difficult as a regular householder to cultivate a spiritual practice. Kids and relationships are messy. Everybody makes their own choices. Keep your attention on the life you want to lead and just start living that way.
opportunity cost? even more scarce than your time is your attention. you can either give your attention to noble things or not. there's a choice that necessarily excludes other things, ie sacrifice.
Eric FJ @EricFJ - 14h
Fair. What does failing mean though? Striving towards some sort of equanimity while dealing with the endless complexities of real relationships is honorable and a very meaningful way to live regardless of outcome, IMO. If you’ve achieved a level of spirituality in a temple that doesn’t stick around your fellow humans then it was too fragile anyway
Kanzan @Kanzan - 13h
many such cases lol
maybe you'd feel differently if you had decided to quit being a temple priest to have a family. or decided to not have a family for the sake of being a priest.
I appreciate your confidence 😂
