Buddhist traditions are said to record 84,000 teachings given by the Buddha in his lifetime on how to pursue the path to enlightenment. Some students of Buddhism take this to mean that they should try to learn all 84,000 ways. I believe, rather, that the important point is this: Many different teachings were given so that every learner, whatever their capabilities and inclinations, would find at least one of them helpful for their own journey.
Finding a path that feels appropriate is no guarantee of meaningful change, though. If enlightenment were that easy, we would all have managed it already, given for how long these many teachings have been available. It is a journey undertaken within our own mind: an inescapably solitary ground to which, ultimately, only the one experiencing it has access. There being 84,000 ways means that there is one, somewhere, that is suitable for you. But you do have to go and figure out which one it is, for yourself.
I worked in knowledge management and project management in the IT industry for over 15 years, specialising in bespoke CRM systems. My responsibilities included designing and delivering training programmes, writing user manuals and product documentation, producing functional specification for software development and steering its implementation.
In 2013 I shifted into office administration and support roles in search of a better work-life balance, allowing me to pursue personal projects such as travelling abroad, volunteering, and engaging with creative writing and Buddhist meditation. I’m currently available as a self-employed office worker, and I’m happy to take up part-time assignments, including fixed-term projects and temporary cover for sickness or maternity leave.
Email me: 84.000.ways@gmail.com
Skype me: paulagdesa
Call me: + 44 131 618 8364
A true practitioner of meditation never feels bored, since to practise meditation is to learn to live in the present moment, in every moment. But if I feel in any danger thereof . . . I start telling myself stories in my head.
My creative writing projects are all about getting those stories out of my head and onto a screen. (Being a thoroughly 21st-century person, putting them on paper is a distant afterthought.) The first step I’m taking is to share some of them here:
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I'm also a contributor to the Planet Patna Patter page on Facebook and Instagram. It publishes excerpts from the correspondence archives of a Marwari businessman and collector and his son, who lived in Patna (capital of the state of Bihar, in India) in the period 1900-1970.