How do we get rid of our suffering? According to Hindu and Buddhist tradition, it is by giving things up and getting rid of our desires. This is how we are going to practice doing that:
The Ascetic Journal Project
1. Choose one thing to give up. This should be something that you use or do every day.
2. Make one entry every night (1-4 paragraphs) about what it was like having to give up that thing for the day.
3. Label each entry with the day’s date (we will go for two weeks).
4. All entries will be put together on looseleaf or a journal/notebook (it's up to you which). We will turn them in periodically throughout the journal time.
Here's the beginning of what a sample entry might look like if a student were to give up using his or her phone:
Day 4 – 02/15/11
Today was rough. The first few days I didn’t really miss my cell phone that much – I mean, it was tough not to be able to make calls, but I sort of enjoyed the freedom of not being tied down to messages and responding back to people. This morning was different, though. I heard that Laura had texted me about what Matt said last night, and I really wanted to talk to her about it. I was aching to text her or call her, but I got to school with just enough time to meet with my wonderful English teacher and get the stuff from my locker before class started. I saw Matt in the hallway and I didn’t know what I wanted to say. I feel like not having this phone is…
The journal is worth 20 project points by the end of the two weeks.
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