Comment by k310 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by k310 | Hacker News Reader

File away for when you get older. :-)

I'm approaching 75 (Hello to all HN'ers who built S-100 home computers.) and my hobbies are mainly piano -- yes, you can improve with age and practice, --- photography --- I live on a ridge with fantastic views, manzanitas all over and rock walls to (almost) climb, --- and hiking (it's a ridge, remember?)

Also chainsawing branches that snapped in the previous winter storms, or which have blocked my hiking paths --- which I created by chainsaw and loppers (great for the biceps).

My "meditation" is chanting and studying the Lotus Sutra (it's emancipating!).

Meals for one are very hard to balance. I try.

Playing piano really is a big mental challenge for me, as I try pieces just short of concert level. I believe that it helps keep me sharp.

It is great that you spend time with friends and family. Distance gets in the way of that, as friends and family are at least 50 miles away.

I have been an amateur photographer for over 50 years, and photography can make you much more observant and tuned in to nature, a great connection to make. Beats hugging trees, which might have poison oak vines circling them. (They often do.) I used a 24-1000 mm (effective) little Coolpix for over 10 years before going mirrorless. It got me up-close and pulled in distant details (and birds). Still does. It's artistic!

I guess that the overall approach is being "in tune".

Hope this helps!

> Playing piano really is a big mental challenge for me, as I try pieces just short of concert level. I believe that it helps keep me sharp.

My grandmother lived to be 99, and she was sharp right up til the end. She was a violinist, first chair in a couple orchestras. She practiced every day well into her 90s, and also thought it kept her sharp.

That, and "working her puzzles," which were word puzzles. She was the best I ever saw at cryptograms, and loved crosswords and even simple word searches.

She was born in 1918, and she lived long enough to send me 20 years worth of emails.

See you around, old timer.

My Mom was born in 1918! Music is wonderful to hear and even better to play. It puts one in exactly the same situation as a great performer or composer.

We are both very fortunate!

I so enjoyed reading this! It makes me realise there is still so much joy to be had in growing older.

How did you get into chanting? It sounds like fun. Any resources you can recommend?

Funny, I never chanted until recently. I liked the Chant of Metta, partly because someone set it to nice music. It's actually quite lovely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCT4xGZR3_o

Pali-only version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4PtZMBDRf8

SGI members chant "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo", which is the name of the Lotus Sutra. The idea behind this short chant is to encapsulate the liberative message of the Sutra and to bring forth the "Buddha Inside".

More here, if you're interested:

https://www.sgi-usa.org/2022/08/07/nam-myoho-renge-kyo/

These are the only ones I am familiar with.

Are you an SGI member? How did you get into studying the lotus sutra?

Yes. Long journey. Shortest version goes:I read everything for decades. Including the koan about Vimilakirti's "Thundering Silence". Ran into freebuddhistaudio. Intrigued by the Vimilakirti lectures.

Sangharakshita mentioned the "White Lotus Sutra". Not knowing anything about it, I wondered if there was a blue lotus sutra or a pink lotus sutra. No. Just the one. I had honestly not heard of it in all those years! I listened to his talk on the parables and symbols in it. I downloaded these to an iPod, which was great for long drives.

Wanted to know more. So I went to my spiritual provider, Half Price Books, and found "Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism" by Richard Causton, former head of SGI UK, and the first volume of "Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra" by Daisaku Ikeda.

These were really revolutionary compared to all I had previously read. I moved to the boondocks after a divorce and it was scary at the outset with pumps failing, pipes freezing and storms howling. They helped me cope.

After a while I really felt that the only way the world is going to break out of its endless cycle of hate, war, and retribution is through human revolutions, one person at a time, so I looked for a Buddhist group "nearby". Apple Maps said Fresno, 50 miles away, so I joined in order to practice with a group working for the same goal.

I am especially intrigued by the "Innumerable Meanings" prequel to the Sutra, which most people gloss over. But Mr. Toda didn't, and I can see why.

That was a very long journey to the Lotus Sutra, essentially on my own. I had never heard of it, nor SGI, for ages.

Revolutionary aspects are mentioned here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20200918222548/https://sokahuman...

But to me, the notion of Bodhisattvas voluntarily taking on karma and returning to earth really struck home. It's Vimilakitri's "illness" and even Neal Donald Walsch mentions the idea of returning to earth rather than escaping it, though I can't find that reference.

The fact that there are similar ideas in physics matters to me. Some are referred to in the Indra's Net analogy.

http://www.heartspace.org/misc/IndraNet.html

The net effect, in short, is greater purpose and meaning in life. That made the long, lonely journey worthwhile.

Thank you for asking.

That's really fascinating. I grew up in the SGI, but it's rare to meet people who converted to Buddhism through such interesting and circuitous routes as you have. Thank you for sharing

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