Meditation und Familie: Passt das zusammen? | #Häppchen 1306

Q: My wife approves of my meditation practice and believes it has positively influenced my development, but she would never do it herself. During my daily meditations, I kept remembering that over 40 years ago I had contact with a Zen master who published two books about her experiences. She attained her mastership in Japan (at Shōfuku-ji) and lived alternately in Berlin and Munich during the 1980s. In 1983, she gave me a meditation exercise, which, based on my assessment at the time, I couldn't accept. She suggested that I regularly report my progress to her. However, I broke off contact because, while I found her impressive, I also found her arrogant and unpleasant. ... One story she recounted in her first book, however, has stayed with me: One of the monks, whom she described as the master's favorite and whom she admired for his special charisma during the sesshins, fell in love with a woman outside the monastery. He wanted to marry, but at the same time, he wanted to continue practicing Zen at the monastery, which wasn't possible for him at that time—at least not at that particular monastery. This made the poor man so unhappy that he committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a train. This deeply disturbed me at the time, because I couldn't imagine that a monk on the path to becoming a great Zen master (as Gerta Ital saw it) would end up like that. I still feel sorry for this poor monk who threw away his life at Shofuku-ji whenever I think of his death. You yourself are married and balance your work as a master with family life. I think that's wonderful, because I'm firmly convinced that meditators can prove themselves very well within the family, or rather, find a wonderful field of practice there by serving others, since children and partners are always great challenges that one has to overcome anew each day. I believe you are a good father because, upon death, you found on the meditation cushion that there are no longer any expectations of life, but that you can "give back" everything. What are your thoughts on monastic life? I admire true monks who practice diligently and forgo family, but at the same time, I think that the people with whom one lives closely can be a real life's work, both pragmatically and spiritually, especially if one has a partner whom one loves very much. What you have written and said about the monks in monasteries is rather sobering. But isn't the family also a kind of "monastery" these days? Can one combine strict meditation discipline and family life? Donation link? Thank you for asking: https://muhonoelke.blogspot.com/p/unt... PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/muhonoelke Wise: https://wise.com/pay/me/jensolafchris... Dates of my 2026 trip through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland: https://muhonoelke.blogspot.com/p/muh... #zen #lifesuccess #pathofconsciousness