Hello gayleggg: I haven't been employed for quite a few years. My wife just recently retired. So our income is limited at this point. As a result, I have made the commitment to not spend money on anything that isn't necessary. This means that have allot of free time! Part of my decision to return to PC was based on the fact that it would give me something to do. I read... but I'm not a big reader. I watch some TV. But I'm also not a big TV watcher. So, anyway, boredom is something I struggle with as well. And I also carry around quite a bit of free-floating anxiety & a tendency toward depression, although depression has been a bigger problem in the past than it is currently.

I noticed your quote from the Buddha. I am a poor student of the Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön. Ani Pema writes of the essential "groundlessness" of existence... "nothing to hang onto..." Everything around us is constantly changing. And there is nothing we can hang onto, no resting (or hiding) place, no sanctuary. And, what I have come to understand enlightenment as being is the ability to dwell within that essential groundlessness with peace, joy & equanimity. As a result, I view the boredom I experience as being an experience of essential groundlessness. And the degree to which I am capable of resting within it, I see as being a gauge of my progress along the path.

One of the questions I struggle with, though, is just how much time ought I be able to spend floating within this groundless state (i.e. being bored)? I can certainly do this for a while. It actually gets much easier as one gets older. But there comes a point where it just begins to feel like I'm just vegetating. (My wife also begins to wonder what's going on...) I don't know the answer to this. Since returning to PC, I've been spending allot of time replying to members' posts. I justify this by thinking of it as being a way of working to develop my compassion, for both myself & others, which is of course another key element of Buddhist practice. (It also gives me the opportunity to listen to allot of very soothing chant-based music on YouTube.)

I send warm thoughts of deep peace your way...