Buddha was bored

Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, and the original Buddha, was born into a royal family in one of the city-states on the Indian subcontinent, around 2600 years ago. A lot is recorded about him, as he became one of the most famous of Indians in history. Oral tradition says that he was the son of a king who wanted his children to never know unhappiness, and so the king used his resources to ensure the children never saw suffering or death, poverty or distress. But there were unintended consequences. Sakayamuni apparently got bored with a constant cycle of royal food and entertainment. There is no need here to discuss the next phases of his life, but it led to the foundation of what many believe is the greatest religion ever devised - Buddhism.

The bottom line is that it's OK to get bored, as long as you are driven by it to do good works. It's fine to be unsatisfied with what would satisfy most people. It's great to be discontented with what countless others hope for and seek. Let's be more specific.

Discontent because you are insecure is probably not the best feeling to have. If you see someone else with more than you, and you want to get more to have more, just because you feel bad inside if you have less, that's bad. It's called envy. If you want to get more because you want to use it for good purposes, that's good. It's called altruism. Almost all religions teach this distinction. Discontent is not the same as boredom.

Boredom is like discontent in that it drives you to do something different, but it is motivated by the unknown. You get bored with what you have, or what you know, or where you are, or who you're with, or any other aspect, because you feel there is something else that you don't know about. Discontent is when you know really well that someone else has something and you don't. Boredom generates an exploration. Discontent may generate an exploration for the purpose of finding our how to get what you think you're lacking. Boredom drives you to explore things you don't know for the purpose of knowing more. Buddha was bored, not discontented. The world is a tremendously better place because of Buddha's boredom.

Down Chanting

Chanting, SGI meditation, provides some psychological effects. For me, really short periods, like a minute or less, serve to remind me of things I know but conveniently forget. For example, I often forget to have confidence in starting things, and a quick burst of chant is enough to remind me to remind myself that I have had many, many successes and should expect another. So I get over the hurdle.

Otherwise, I experience two states in which I chant: one in which I haven't chanted seriously for a long time, and it's something fresh to get back to. This state can last months. The other is when I am down, depressed, facing some unsolved problem with major uncertainties and worries, and need strength to get through it. It is a relief from the anxiety, for the first portion, then after a while, it is a focusing of the mind on how to resolve the problem.

During the first state, chanting is blissful. Why then, does this state come to an end after some months, six or ten or fifteen? Chanting gets boring -- that doesn't explain much to anyone but myself. I get bored with repetition, no matter how pleasant or rewarding it is. Also, outside forces attrit my resolve, as when I am feeling good, I start new things, which take up time, and eventually squeeze down my chanting time, and finally make it disappear. New things aren't boring, and somehow get priority over chanting.

During the second state, chanting is responsive. When the problem is resolved, the pressure is off to chant. It really is a psychological pressure, to seek a solution to a problem. There may be a short tail to my chanting, a few days after the problem melts away, but in this state, chanting also comes to an end - until some other problem rears up.

This is a feeble explanation of why I cannot maintain perfection in chanting, like so many of my SGI compatriots claim to. What do others experience?

Why and who

I'm far from being an expert on SGI, but I think I see a need for online discussion of practice. That means chanting. The basic practice of SGI is chanting to achieve focus, which leads to figuring out what to do, which leads to happiness, whatever that is for you. However, as anyone who's tried it knows, it's hard to set aside time everyday for the same thing. I guess it's like exercising -- a lot of people get bored after a while and quit.

And then there's all those internal demons who don't want to let us succeed. They can be pretty ferocious at times. Mine eat me alive.

I'd be really interested in hearing about how other SGI members overcome this problem. I'm sure there are some who just do it with no difficulty, but many fail.

So ------ what's your story?