External changes are not going to solve your problem because they don't address the root of your problem. The root problem is that you don't feel whole and complete within yourself. If you don't identify the root properly, you will seek someone or something to cover it up.
Michael Singer, the untethered soul
What About The Law of Attraction?
Still confused about this law of attraction idea, this wanting something to change and be different in the future and probably will be until the day I die...but what I do know is ...the biggest part of practice, whatever practice we choose to partake in, is to be perfectly okay with what we have in our now. We need to focus more on the "What is...' than the "What if", on present moment rather than some future moment. And I guess that means, we also need to focus on accepting and allowing, more so than on wanting or desiring.
So if you were to ask me what I really, really want...I would say, I want "peace". I just want peace. Of course, true peace of mind is this true acceptance of what is...whatever is.
Does there have to be external change for me to have peace? Peace of mind is not conditional, it is not dependent on what I got going on in my present moment or what happened in the past or what may or may not happen in the future. It is being okay with what is now.
What confuses me is this idea that we are creators and we create our worlds with our thinking. Even the Buddha who was all about embracing each moment as is, taught that our worlds are a projection of our minds. Yet, would he be a proponent of this law of attraction?
Hmm! I hazard to guess, that he would say...the law is okay and has great truth in it but what we have done with the law to make it fit our present egoic way of thinking is where the problem comes in. We are confusing pointers with what the pointers point to. In other words, we are thinking and labelling our present experiences and the experiences we want to have in such a way to suit the egoic frame of reference, not the spiritual. We are seeking to make external changes to end suffering and that won't work.
Huh?
Happiness or peace and contentment?
We are all on the pursuit of happiness, right? But what is "happiness"? I never really liked that word. It never sat well with me. To me, the ego can be happy but the spirit is "content". I prefer contentment and peace to happiness. These I see as a deeper unconditional, eternal and internal form of "happiness".
The term "happiness," which I associate with the law of attraction, is all about the temporary, the physical and egoic satisfaction. The happiness ego seeks is a very temporary experience that is up ahead somewhere.. "I will be happy when...". I see it as an elusive and very conditional experience. When I project that only something outside of me will make me happy and I cannot get that thing...what then? I am not going to be happy...I will be the opposite of happy, right? If I believe a soul mate is going to bring me happiness and I don't have one now, in this present moment, I am not happy now. I may find some hope in the law's formula, that teaches if I plant and water the seeds in my mind someday in the future he or she will show up. That may diminish some of my suffering which is brought on by my focus on what is wrong with my moment, what is lacking in it. All my focus then is not on "What is" but on "What if" . I am using this moment as a gardening tool to bring happiness in the future. "I am not happy now but I will be."
"Happiness" does become a present moment thing rather than a futuristic one, when we achieve that thing we equated happiness to but only very briefly. We use every present moment for years planting and hoping for the "what if", ignoring, denying, supressing and repressing the "what is" as we wait to be happy and voila! we finally find our soul mate. It is all worth it then...the law is a success. It brought us happiness!!! Wonderful...or is it? For all of how long will this achieved goal of finding a soul mate bring happiness? Until our first disagreement, or fight, or betrayal...until we realize that that person cannot make us happy(because nothing outside of yourself can make you happy or make you unhappy). Then what? Back to suffering?
Nothing Outside you will bring Peace and Contentment
With enough suffering...you will eventually realize that nothing outside of you can bring happiness or unhappiness to your life...it is an inside job. All you had to do to find real lasting happiness= peace and contentment, in the first place, was to go inside. Is the investment in the law of attraction, then, not the long way around to achieving what you really want? You thought the soul mate would bring happiness...but the whole time you were focusing and watering this "thing" outside of you, when true happiness, which is more of a peace and contentment, was already inside you all along...in the moment you dismissed.
We already have, according to so many spiritual masters, including Christ and Buddha, all the conditions we need to be happy( again...I replace that with "content" and "at peace") inside us. Searching outside for this takes us away from the moment and the very thing we are looking for.
Let's know what it is we really want
So when we were searching for the soul mate we were searching for this idea of happiness, right? The soul mate was just a means to bring us something we wanted...the happiness. So it wasn't the soul mate you really, really wanted but the feeling, the living experience you associated with that idea of having a soul mate. We are clear on that right?
Why Take the Indirect Route?
So why take the indirect route? Why spend all your present moment affirming that the soul mate is coming or pasting pictures of some strange dude on a dream board. If what you really want is something the soul mate would only offer in some diluted and temporary form, why chase after that for years when all you have to do is go inside. All the soul mate (or the idea of a soul mate) did was open you up to what was already there, what is always there. ...the wonders of life, the experience of Love which is so much grander than what we find in one special relationship.
If you are like me, you have, throughout your life, devised these lists in your mind about what experiences would bring pleasure ( make you happy) and which experiences would bring you suffering. Having a soul mate , you decided in your mind, would bring you happiness when all it was really doing was allowing your mind to open up enough to experience what was already there. If the soul mate is nothing more than an idea or experience that opens you up to what is already inside you, why wait for that thing to open you? Why wait to be happy? And why stay closed just because you do not have one in your present moment now?
Michael Singer, in an untethered soul, speaks to this idea of staying open...well..."not closing" to the peace and contentment already within you. When you project all your energy into that future time when you will have a soul mate and become dependent on that experience to open you up...are you not closing to what is already in your experience now? All the conditions needed to be peaceful and content, to feel love and joy that are already there?
By all means we embrace our human nature to want and desire but we need to know what we really want. We want the experience of happiness, contentment, peace, love and joy we assume the money, the big house, the car, the special relationships, etc will bring us. They do not bring us this ...what brings us this is our ability to stay open to what is already within us. Ask for that from this law!
Peace and contentment is not dependent on how things are going on around us. It comes when we embrace things as they are, whatever they are and we just stay open to the wonders of life.
Hmmm! It is so challenging to completely understand all this enough to articulate it clearly...but I will keep trying. It is all good!
Plum village ( May31, 2020) Dharma Talk with Br. Phap Hai. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4pa9jItkI0
Michael A. Singer.(2007)the untethered soul. New Harbinger
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Saturday, May 30, 2020
To Want or Not To Want, that is the Question
For desire is life, and life is change, and change is progress, and they all answer one immutable law.
Uell S. Anderson, location 580
I am still thinking about desire and finding myself in a bit of a mental dilemma: To want or not to want?
I have studied and I have practiced very committedly present moment acceptance, this letting go and allowing...even embracing those parts of my experience that lead to suffering. I truly have learned to accept the moment for what it is. I have. I find peace in my present moment.
But....
Is it okay to want more?
Is it okay to say I accept my present situation but I don't necessarily want to stay here? And when is acceptance a closing off of what could be?
Does wanting lead us in the direction of ego happiness or spiritual fulfillment? Or can it be just a neutral thing in our experiences, effecting neither, as long as it is in the "middle way".
Is it okay for a person who is suffering chronic pain, to want freedom from that pain...rephrased positively..."a comfortable full experience of living"? Is it okay for someone who has a limited bank account and a fair amount of normal life incurred debt to want enough money to pay the bills? Is it okay for a person who suffers from depression, to want to be happy? A person with cancer to want to be well? A person who is alone , to want company in the form of a relationship?
I suppose we have to look at what we mean by "Is it okay?" , what we mean by "wanting, and then on what and how we want. .
Is it okay to want?
When I ask that question, "Is it okay to want?", what do I mean by 'okay'? Right away I have to ask, am I stepping into this trap of duality? ...Am I really asking , "Is it right or is it wrong to want?"
The answer, of course, it is neither right or wrong to want. Wanting just is. It is said to be , by many philosophers and spiritual masters, "normal" to want as human beings. Wanting is a part of our expansion package, our evolutionary process. Wanting is the planting of life seeds...all things created begin with wanting. In order for the world to be peaceful...we must start with wanting peace. In order for the planet to survive, we must want it to get healthy again. Wanting is a necessary step in our being human and the world we create , right? Even when we avoid or back away from something we don't want, we are actually wanting something. If I back away or resist pain...I am really wanting comfort or freedom from pain. If I am walking away from a chaotic situation, I am wanting peace.
So it is normal and therefore okay to want. To place a judgement on the wanting experience in human life, is to place a judgment on who and what we are. We are, in some sense, creators of our worlds, or at least of our experiences. (Anderson, Yoga Sutras). That world and those experiences all begin with wanting. Wanting begins in the mind and manifests out into the world we create.
So maybe we should ask, instead: Is my wanting beneficial to me and others?
So, what is wanting?
What is wanting? That is a good question. Wanting usually implies a desire for something we presently do not have. When we want something...we want what we do not see in our experience in this present moment already. Wanting, then, is a search for "more". If, however, we already have all the conditions in our present moment that we need to be truly happy, as the Buddha taught...we wouldn't want then, would we? So the person who perceives themselves to be struggling financially, does not feel they have enough money in their account to be secure, so they want more. The lonely person may feel they do not have enough contact with or enough depth in their relationship with people in their life, so they want more. In this wanting we perceive a lack of and therefore we desire more. We do not see that we have all the conditions we need to be happy.
Or maybe our wanting is to realize that truth...to see and understand that we already have all we need...is that not still wanting? Wanting knowledge, understanding and spiritual enlightenment implies that I do not already have it or enough of it and I want more. I may not feel happy and I may be suffering...my reason for wanting spiritual enlightenment is to end that suffering. I am not, then, at the present moment, no matter how much I accept it, feeling or knowing that I have everything I need to be happy, assuming that when I am enlightened, I will be. I, therefore want more enlightenment. I want more than what I have now.
But if I didn't see a lack in my awareness and did not actively want spiritual enlightenment...would I seek to find it and therefore one day find it? Even if wanting requires no effort, as Anderson writes, if I did not actively put the wanting seed in my mind...would enlightenment ever come to me?
So wanting, then, is a necessary part of "everything" created...even our sense of spiritual liberation. It is not only okay to want but necessary to want.
But maybe, our own attached connotation to the word "want" is tripping us up. What if we used volition instead..."will". In the Eight Fold path, "Right Volition" is an important step in Buddhist practice ...to intend and will something to be in a way that serves self and the world best. (Don't get tripped up by that "right" word in Buddhist doctrine ...I find it easier to replace it with "healthy" ). Right ( healthy volition) will help to end suffering and bring lasting happiness.
Anderson and many, many others also use "will" interchangeably with "want and desire". The focus, though, is not on our puny little "egoic" will...but on God's Will. God's Will for us, God's intention for us, God's desire for us is what we really, really want!
What we want.
This brings us to what we want which is an important step in understanding healthy wanting. There is nothing wrong with wanting that Porsche but we have to ask: Is it healthy? Does this wanting...this focus of my intention, this seed I am planting in my subconscious mind, bring me closer to or further away from what I really want? Is wanting that Porsche , that seven- digit bank account "healthy wanting" ? Healthy wanting, according to many including Anderson, is that which is synonymous with what God wants for us. (God, universe, higher consciousness, Life, Toa, are really all the same thing, right, with different names? )
That is the question then isn't it? What does God want for us? Would a loving Father, a Kind Creator that creates so much beauty for us, want us to suffer? Think about that. Would He (or whatever pronoun you need to use here) want us depressed, afraid, attacking each other? Would He want us suffering, broke, starving, in pain? If we believe in a Loving God...how could we believe that to be so? If you are a parent...do you want any of this for your children? Consider what you want for your children as what God wants for us only , infinitely greater.
Unhealthy Wanting
If God's Will is for us to be tremendously happy, loving, peaceful, completely safe, and needing nothing...then why are so many of us...not well, not happy, broke, starving, angry, violent and at war with one another? This, obviously is not God's Will. When we experience these things, we are aligning with another will...with ego's will and are being taken away from what God wants for us. We are being guided by ego and therefore unhealthy wanting.
It may be ego's input that says that Porsche will make you, as a separate little being, in a mean, competitive and unsafe world, the envy of your friends...will allow you to "one-up" them so you do not feel quite so bad about yourself and therefore help to reduce your "personal" suffering. If that is the case, that is not healthy wanting. It is not aligned with God's Will for You. That Porsche will only make you feel happy for a short period of time and desiring it may override the more lasting and fulfilling seeds of compassion and kindness within you.
So you have to ask, when you want something, : Is this really going to bring me closer to what I really, really want which is what God wants for us or further away? Is it ego or spirit that wants this thing I think I want? Will getting it serve me, others and the world? Or will it just temporarily feed an ego that never can be fed enough? Am I putting my attention towards what I really want? Am I watering the seeds I want to see grow?
Back to the Ultimate Question: Is it okay for me to want more than this?
Of course, my true Self answers. In fact, it would do me and the world good to ask for more. It is okay for me to want to be healthy, at peace, free from suffering. Wanting this is taking me closer to God for I know somehow and in someway, that is what is wanted for me.
That wanting begins with recognizing, a lot of times, what we don't want. If it is okay to want, it is also okay to not want. We don't want suffering. The Buddha didn't want suffering...he was seeking a way to end it when he began his journey. And there is suffering in the world. That doesn't mean we judge something as "bad' or "evil" with our minds or actively resist and push it away because we assume it is teh cause of suffering. We simply recognize, allow and embrace the unwanted as being a part of our moment...as being a tool to open us up to something Greater. We look deeply at it and from there are able to gain insight as to what God wills for us....which will be the opposite of this unwanted experience.
So in this moment we accept and allow whatever is...but...we also plant the seed of what we want or at least recognize it has already been planted.
So if you are ill, it is okay to want health. Accept this moment and the illness which is a part of it while the seed for wellness gets planted. Water the seed of wellness from here on in. If you are broke, it is okay to want money. Accept the moment you are in with the bank account you have in that moment, but plant the seed for more. Water that seed. If you are lonely, it is okay to want a new or better relationship. Accept the moment you are in and your feeling of loneliness, then plant the seed for connectedness. We just have to water the seeds. Just don't be too concerned about how it gets done or when it gets done. If it is in God's Will, it will be yours...and happiness is God's Will for you. Trust that!
It is okay to want...as long as you always remember what you really, really want...this connection with God's Will for you. And pay appropriate attention to what seeds you are watering and why. Ensure that your wanting is healthy and that desire never overrides or gets in the way of the healthy seeds from growing in your Life...those seeds that will bring true happiness and joy to you.
All is well.
ACIM
All the dharma talks I have listened to
Andersen, Uell S.. Three Magic Words . BN Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Uell S. Anderson, location 580
I am still thinking about desire and finding myself in a bit of a mental dilemma: To want or not to want?
I have studied and I have practiced very committedly present moment acceptance, this letting go and allowing...even embracing those parts of my experience that lead to suffering. I truly have learned to accept the moment for what it is. I have. I find peace in my present moment.
But....
Is it okay to want more?
Is it okay to say I accept my present situation but I don't necessarily want to stay here? And when is acceptance a closing off of what could be?
Does wanting lead us in the direction of ego happiness or spiritual fulfillment? Or can it be just a neutral thing in our experiences, effecting neither, as long as it is in the "middle way".
Is it okay for a person who is suffering chronic pain, to want freedom from that pain...rephrased positively..."a comfortable full experience of living"? Is it okay for someone who has a limited bank account and a fair amount of normal life incurred debt to want enough money to pay the bills? Is it okay for a person who suffers from depression, to want to be happy? A person with cancer to want to be well? A person who is alone , to want company in the form of a relationship?
I suppose we have to look at what we mean by "Is it okay?" , what we mean by "wanting, and then on what and how we want. .
Is it okay to want?
When I ask that question, "Is it okay to want?", what do I mean by 'okay'? Right away I have to ask, am I stepping into this trap of duality? ...Am I really asking , "Is it right or is it wrong to want?"
The answer, of course, it is neither right or wrong to want. Wanting just is. It is said to be , by many philosophers and spiritual masters, "normal" to want as human beings. Wanting is a part of our expansion package, our evolutionary process. Wanting is the planting of life seeds...all things created begin with wanting. In order for the world to be peaceful...we must start with wanting peace. In order for the planet to survive, we must want it to get healthy again. Wanting is a necessary step in our being human and the world we create , right? Even when we avoid or back away from something we don't want, we are actually wanting something. If I back away or resist pain...I am really wanting comfort or freedom from pain. If I am walking away from a chaotic situation, I am wanting peace.
So it is normal and therefore okay to want. To place a judgement on the wanting experience in human life, is to place a judgment on who and what we are. We are, in some sense, creators of our worlds, or at least of our experiences. (Anderson, Yoga Sutras). That world and those experiences all begin with wanting. Wanting begins in the mind and manifests out into the world we create.
So maybe we should ask, instead: Is my wanting beneficial to me and others?
So, what is wanting?
What is wanting? That is a good question. Wanting usually implies a desire for something we presently do not have. When we want something...we want what we do not see in our experience in this present moment already. Wanting, then, is a search for "more". If, however, we already have all the conditions in our present moment that we need to be truly happy, as the Buddha taught...we wouldn't want then, would we? So the person who perceives themselves to be struggling financially, does not feel they have enough money in their account to be secure, so they want more. The lonely person may feel they do not have enough contact with or enough depth in their relationship with people in their life, so they want more. In this wanting we perceive a lack of and therefore we desire more. We do not see that we have all the conditions we need to be happy.
Or maybe our wanting is to realize that truth...to see and understand that we already have all we need...is that not still wanting? Wanting knowledge, understanding and spiritual enlightenment implies that I do not already have it or enough of it and I want more. I may not feel happy and I may be suffering...my reason for wanting spiritual enlightenment is to end that suffering. I am not, then, at the present moment, no matter how much I accept it, feeling or knowing that I have everything I need to be happy, assuming that when I am enlightened, I will be. I, therefore want more enlightenment. I want more than what I have now.
But if I didn't see a lack in my awareness and did not actively want spiritual enlightenment...would I seek to find it and therefore one day find it? Even if wanting requires no effort, as Anderson writes, if I did not actively put the wanting seed in my mind...would enlightenment ever come to me?
So wanting, then, is a necessary part of "everything" created...even our sense of spiritual liberation. It is not only okay to want but necessary to want.
But maybe, our own attached connotation to the word "want" is tripping us up. What if we used volition instead..."will". In the Eight Fold path, "Right Volition" is an important step in Buddhist practice ...to intend and will something to be in a way that serves self and the world best. (Don't get tripped up by that "right" word in Buddhist doctrine ...I find it easier to replace it with "healthy" ). Right ( healthy volition) will help to end suffering and bring lasting happiness.
Anderson and many, many others also use "will" interchangeably with "want and desire". The focus, though, is not on our puny little "egoic" will...but on God's Will. God's Will for us, God's intention for us, God's desire for us is what we really, really want!
What we want.
This brings us to what we want which is an important step in understanding healthy wanting. There is nothing wrong with wanting that Porsche but we have to ask: Is it healthy? Does this wanting...this focus of my intention, this seed I am planting in my subconscious mind, bring me closer to or further away from what I really want? Is wanting that Porsche , that seven- digit bank account "healthy wanting" ? Healthy wanting, according to many including Anderson, is that which is synonymous with what God wants for us. (God, universe, higher consciousness, Life, Toa, are really all the same thing, right, with different names? )
That is the question then isn't it? What does God want for us? Would a loving Father, a Kind Creator that creates so much beauty for us, want us to suffer? Think about that. Would He (or whatever pronoun you need to use here) want us depressed, afraid, attacking each other? Would He want us suffering, broke, starving, in pain? If we believe in a Loving God...how could we believe that to be so? If you are a parent...do you want any of this for your children? Consider what you want for your children as what God wants for us only , infinitely greater.
Unhealthy Wanting
If God's Will is for us to be tremendously happy, loving, peaceful, completely safe, and needing nothing...then why are so many of us...not well, not happy, broke, starving, angry, violent and at war with one another? This, obviously is not God's Will. When we experience these things, we are aligning with another will...with ego's will and are being taken away from what God wants for us. We are being guided by ego and therefore unhealthy wanting.
It may be ego's input that says that Porsche will make you, as a separate little being, in a mean, competitive and unsafe world, the envy of your friends...will allow you to "one-up" them so you do not feel quite so bad about yourself and therefore help to reduce your "personal" suffering. If that is the case, that is not healthy wanting. It is not aligned with God's Will for You. That Porsche will only make you feel happy for a short period of time and desiring it may override the more lasting and fulfilling seeds of compassion and kindness within you.
So you have to ask, when you want something, : Is this really going to bring me closer to what I really, really want which is what God wants for us or further away? Is it ego or spirit that wants this thing I think I want? Will getting it serve me, others and the world? Or will it just temporarily feed an ego that never can be fed enough? Am I putting my attention towards what I really want? Am I watering the seeds I want to see grow?
Back to the Ultimate Question: Is it okay for me to want more than this?
Of course, my true Self answers. In fact, it would do me and the world good to ask for more. It is okay for me to want to be healthy, at peace, free from suffering. Wanting this is taking me closer to God for I know somehow and in someway, that is what is wanted for me.
That wanting begins with recognizing, a lot of times, what we don't want. If it is okay to want, it is also okay to not want. We don't want suffering. The Buddha didn't want suffering...he was seeking a way to end it when he began his journey. And there is suffering in the world. That doesn't mean we judge something as "bad' or "evil" with our minds or actively resist and push it away because we assume it is teh cause of suffering. We simply recognize, allow and embrace the unwanted as being a part of our moment...as being a tool to open us up to something Greater. We look deeply at it and from there are able to gain insight as to what God wills for us....which will be the opposite of this unwanted experience.
So in this moment we accept and allow whatever is...but...we also plant the seed of what we want or at least recognize it has already been planted.
So if you are ill, it is okay to want health. Accept this moment and the illness which is a part of it while the seed for wellness gets planted. Water the seed of wellness from here on in. If you are broke, it is okay to want money. Accept the moment you are in with the bank account you have in that moment, but plant the seed for more. Water that seed. If you are lonely, it is okay to want a new or better relationship. Accept the moment you are in and your feeling of loneliness, then plant the seed for connectedness. We just have to water the seeds. Just don't be too concerned about how it gets done or when it gets done. If it is in God's Will, it will be yours...and happiness is God's Will for you. Trust that!
It is okay to want...as long as you always remember what you really, really want...this connection with God's Will for you. And pay appropriate attention to what seeds you are watering and why. Ensure that your wanting is healthy and that desire never overrides or gets in the way of the healthy seeds from growing in your Life...those seeds that will bring true happiness and joy to you.
All is well.
ACIM
All the dharma talks I have listened to
Andersen, Uell S.. Three Magic Words . BN Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Another Look at Desire
Don't get caught in the story society is telling you.
Br. Phap Dung
Hmm! Serendipity is amazing , isn't it? It reminds us of the interconnectedness of everything and this idea that there is really no such thing as the "little separate self."
Serendipity
I have been thinking and writing about our desires and our need to water selectively those things within us that we want to grow. Then , as I do every morning, I flick on my you tube with the intention of watching the first dharma talk that pops up ( I don't choose or select...I leave it up to the Universe lol). And what dharma talk was there waiting for me to view it this morning? The Better Way to Pursue our Desire. Go figure! I know Google is pretty smart and may be watching us more than we realize but really??? :)
Looking at Desires
So I am thinking even more about desires and what to do with them. I am attempting, without too much effort, to gain more insight into my own desires. It is quite fascinating and I find myself looking at what comes up with an, "Oh Wow! look at that! Isn't that cool." Years ago, I would not have let this stuff come up. I had a lid over it that I sat on with all my weight to keep any of it from coming out. If it did manage to come out, I would have attacked it ( an myself for not being strong enough to stop it); I would have resisted; I would have denied it or did what I could to stuff it back down there in that subconscious field where all our shadows are stored. Now I want to examine it all in this new light of awareness I am discovering, understand it and transform it. (I am really not into the "transcending", I guess.)
Purposeful Life?
Anyway...so I look at my desires, motivations and goals in life to determine the age old question, "What is the purpose of life?" . As this talk discusses, so much of our sense of purpose is derived from what our culture defines as important to be, do or achieve. I come from the west and I live in a country that shadows to some degree our neighbor's ideology of the "pursuit of happiness". Our purpose is defined for us: to find happiness at all costs...as if "happiness' is something out there that needs to be hunted and chased down. Happiness is viewed as an "individual achievement" in my culture, one that I will reap all the reward and recognition for if I achieve, and all the blame for if I fail. Hmmm!
Br. Phap Dung describes the four stages of a purposeful life that Buddha recognized in his culture, which is actually the same stages seen in many cultures today, including my own. We go from enjoying life passionately and freely (which allows for a little wild oats to be sown) in our young adulthood to focusing on settling down and succeeding in our , say 30's, by establishing relationship and professional successes. From there we progress to serving the world beyond self and family by becoming community caretakers (in our fifties maybe). This stage may be devoted to leaving something of value behind and we are not usually adverse to having our name attached to it. It is not until our final stages of life that many of us seek spiritual liberation. (The fear of impending death may actually have something to do with that.)
Pursuit of Happiness?
Throughout it all we desire. We seek to attain and maintain things our culture tells us are necessary for the fulfilment of these stages. In my culture we are taught that money, sensual pleasure, fame and recognition, power and "special relationships" are the keys to happiness. Everyone around us is seeking this stuff so it must be "true and natural desire", right? We are like separate little fish in a big school of fish that are caught in a fast moving current, we label as the pursuit of happiness.
But the sad thing is , it doesn't make us happy. We spend all our time being swept along, reaching out, trying to grasp and cling to the things that are passing by us...feeling desperate to "have" what someone else has, to get it before they do, before it runs out etc. If we are lucky enough, in our endless pursuits, to get one of those things society tells us is our key to happiness...we feel that so called happiness for all but a minute...then we need to upgrade to something newer, better, what everyone else on Facebook or Twitter seem to be so happy having. Because we are being swept along in a current of collective habitual energy, we do not see this grasping, this striving for and the need to do as society instructs in order to be happy pulls us away from the things that actually make us truly happy. It is only when we can free ourselves of society's story, of this current that we will find teh true , lasting happiness we desire.
We need to stop and examine not only what we desire but what we don't desire. What we don't desire is often resisted, denied, ignored, stuffed down inside us, suppressed and repressed. This is our suffering. To examine our desires means we also need to examine our suffering. We need to determine the root causes of both.
R-A-E-L-I
That lovely little acronym from Deer Park is forever stuck in my head and in my heart. Rabbits And Elephants Like Ice-cream.
In my own example of writing, it helps if I remember these three things Br. Phap Dung tells us to consider: Impermanence, inter-being and non-self. I do have a desire for recognition as a writer. I have a desire for some monetary gain for it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting that. The problem would only come if I was caught up in that, dependent on it for my happiness, wrote only for that reason. I will suffer because these things will never last. Those who have established literary fame will be praised one moment, criticized the next. Will succeed with one book, fail with another. Be honored one moment, disgraced the next. That is the nature of impermanence.
Then there is the Buddhists notions of inter-being and non-self to consider. I say "I want to be recognized as a writer. I want to have what I have written honored and praised." Now look at this . I desire these things as if "I" was the only one who deserves recognition for what I supposedly written. It wasn't just me that put effort into the creation of whatever I write. I am inspired by a million things and whatever I write would not be without those inspirations. Take these blog entries, for example...if I did not listen to the dharma talk today, I would not have written this, at least not in the way it was written. Br Phap Dung is just as much responsible as I am for what I wrote here, if not more so. Thich Nhat Hanh is therefore responsible for what I wrote and the Buddha himself. This little idea of "I" as the separate little writer of these things is not reality. As I said many times, especially in reference to poetry, it just comes through me as one collective thought from One Collective Mind. I love this in Three Magic Words.
Every book has been written by the same author...Every sonnet composed by the same poet. (location 180,181)
Without Ego, What Do You Want?
Now that really shrinks ego down to size whether he is in the redeeming mode or the shaming. So ...without ego...do I really, really want recognition as a writer? No...I want readers in order to complete this glorious cycle but fame and notoriety I realize will come and go, will turn from praise to criticism in a moment...I don't want to be dependent on that. What I want is to have so much joy in me, so much peace as I write for the sheer love of writing and giving that it doesn't matter how my work is received. Now wouldn't that be cool? I think, I will water those seeds of desire! (Hey...not that I would say no to a publication or to get paid fro what I do lol)
Anyway, know what you really, really want and what you don't want. Look deeply into these things and decide what should be watered and what shouldn't. Don't let society dictate that for you! Make it an inner game.
Heartfelt thanks to all those wonderful beings who helped me write this and who help me to write all I write!
All is well.
Andersen, Uell S.. Three Magic Words . BN Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Plum Village ( May, 2020) The Better Way To Pursue our Desires/Dharma Talk by br. Phap Dung. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbEOX-orTMg&list=PLaX_vxbhs8fgKZ8fpSs8QyvNwdJMSv4Kp&index=5&t=0s
Br. Phap Dung
Hmm! Serendipity is amazing , isn't it? It reminds us of the interconnectedness of everything and this idea that there is really no such thing as the "little separate self."
Serendipity
I have been thinking and writing about our desires and our need to water selectively those things within us that we want to grow. Then , as I do every morning, I flick on my you tube with the intention of watching the first dharma talk that pops up ( I don't choose or select...I leave it up to the Universe lol). And what dharma talk was there waiting for me to view it this morning? The Better Way to Pursue our Desire. Go figure! I know Google is pretty smart and may be watching us more than we realize but really??? :)
Looking at Desires
So I am thinking even more about desires and what to do with them. I am attempting, without too much effort, to gain more insight into my own desires. It is quite fascinating and I find myself looking at what comes up with an, "Oh Wow! look at that! Isn't that cool." Years ago, I would not have let this stuff come up. I had a lid over it that I sat on with all my weight to keep any of it from coming out. If it did manage to come out, I would have attacked it ( an myself for not being strong enough to stop it); I would have resisted; I would have denied it or did what I could to stuff it back down there in that subconscious field where all our shadows are stored. Now I want to examine it all in this new light of awareness I am discovering, understand it and transform it. (I am really not into the "transcending", I guess.)
Purposeful Life?
Anyway...so I look at my desires, motivations and goals in life to determine the age old question, "What is the purpose of life?" . As this talk discusses, so much of our sense of purpose is derived from what our culture defines as important to be, do or achieve. I come from the west and I live in a country that shadows to some degree our neighbor's ideology of the "pursuit of happiness". Our purpose is defined for us: to find happiness at all costs...as if "happiness' is something out there that needs to be hunted and chased down. Happiness is viewed as an "individual achievement" in my culture, one that I will reap all the reward and recognition for if I achieve, and all the blame for if I fail. Hmmm!
Br. Phap Dung describes the four stages of a purposeful life that Buddha recognized in his culture, which is actually the same stages seen in many cultures today, including my own. We go from enjoying life passionately and freely (which allows for a little wild oats to be sown) in our young adulthood to focusing on settling down and succeeding in our , say 30's, by establishing relationship and professional successes. From there we progress to serving the world beyond self and family by becoming community caretakers (in our fifties maybe). This stage may be devoted to leaving something of value behind and we are not usually adverse to having our name attached to it. It is not until our final stages of life that many of us seek spiritual liberation. (The fear of impending death may actually have something to do with that.)
Pursuit of Happiness?
Throughout it all we desire. We seek to attain and maintain things our culture tells us are necessary for the fulfilment of these stages. In my culture we are taught that money, sensual pleasure, fame and recognition, power and "special relationships" are the keys to happiness. Everyone around us is seeking this stuff so it must be "true and natural desire", right? We are like separate little fish in a big school of fish that are caught in a fast moving current, we label as the pursuit of happiness.
But the sad thing is , it doesn't make us happy. We spend all our time being swept along, reaching out, trying to grasp and cling to the things that are passing by us...feeling desperate to "have" what someone else has, to get it before they do, before it runs out etc. If we are lucky enough, in our endless pursuits, to get one of those things society tells us is our key to happiness...we feel that so called happiness for all but a minute...then we need to upgrade to something newer, better, what everyone else on Facebook or Twitter seem to be so happy having. Because we are being swept along in a current of collective habitual energy, we do not see this grasping, this striving for and the need to do as society instructs in order to be happy pulls us away from the things that actually make us truly happy. It is only when we can free ourselves of society's story, of this current that we will find teh true , lasting happiness we desire.
We need to stop and examine not only what we desire but what we don't desire. What we don't desire is often resisted, denied, ignored, stuffed down inside us, suppressed and repressed. This is our suffering. To examine our desires means we also need to examine our suffering. We need to determine the root causes of both.
R-A-E-L-I
That lovely little acronym from Deer Park is forever stuck in my head and in my heart. Rabbits And Elephants Like Ice-cream.
- Recognize your desires and your suffering when they arise or maybe even as seeds in the subconscious ( Of course we often are not aware of our seeds until they manifest in the conscious mind).
- Then allow them and accept them, accept yourself for experiencing them. Don't beat yourself up for wanting a new car or a successful business. It is not the thing you desire or the thing you don't want that is the problem. It is the why and how of it all that is the problem...the root cause of it that needs to be examined. Maybe you want a new car because you feel unworthy in comparison to others, you feel like a "nobody" and you erroneously assume the car will make you worthy, at least in the eyes of others.
- But before you examine it , allow it...embrace it, hold it gently and say "Oh Wow! Look at that! Isn't that cool? I wonder what it can teach me about myself. I wonder how I can use this to awaken?" By embracing, we put down our resistance and our need to push away. We offer loving kindness to ourselves for our human tendencies. We don't add to suffering, we seek to ease it.
- Then and only then can you truly approach the process of looking deeply at the why you want what you want, or the why you suffer. There is never "one" cause. There is never one person or thing to blame. If your desire is for someone to change because you do not like the way they treat you. You have to realize that your desire comes from many things, not just from that person's behaviour in your present life. You might have suffered as a child from similar behaviour. You might not like the way that behaviour impacts your children etc etc. Then when you look at the person you feel is the source of your suffering...know that there are several causative factors making them the way they are. Maybe they are unwell or overly stressed, maybe it is the environment, or their upbringing. Maybe you are actually seeing his or her parents, grandparents, great grandparents in the behaviour you so desire to change. Just know that: This is because that is.
- The insight will come as to why we desire what we desire or why we suffer as we suffer. We will find a new way to desire, a new way to ease suffering. This is enlightenment and it doesn't come from anywhere but inside. In order to get there we need to stop swimming along with all the other fish because we society tells us to. We stop, breathe and look inward to determine what we really, really want. What we really want, we may discover, is to have spiritual freedom now!
In my own example of writing, it helps if I remember these three things Br. Phap Dung tells us to consider: Impermanence, inter-being and non-self. I do have a desire for recognition as a writer. I have a desire for some monetary gain for it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting that. The problem would only come if I was caught up in that, dependent on it for my happiness, wrote only for that reason. I will suffer because these things will never last. Those who have established literary fame will be praised one moment, criticized the next. Will succeed with one book, fail with another. Be honored one moment, disgraced the next. That is the nature of impermanence.
Then there is the Buddhists notions of inter-being and non-self to consider. I say "I want to be recognized as a writer. I want to have what I have written honored and praised." Now look at this . I desire these things as if "I" was the only one who deserves recognition for what I supposedly written. It wasn't just me that put effort into the creation of whatever I write. I am inspired by a million things and whatever I write would not be without those inspirations. Take these blog entries, for example...if I did not listen to the dharma talk today, I would not have written this, at least not in the way it was written. Br Phap Dung is just as much responsible as I am for what I wrote here, if not more so. Thich Nhat Hanh is therefore responsible for what I wrote and the Buddha himself. This little idea of "I" as the separate little writer of these things is not reality. As I said many times, especially in reference to poetry, it just comes through me as one collective thought from One Collective Mind. I love this in Three Magic Words.
Every book has been written by the same author...Every sonnet composed by the same poet. (location 180,181)
Without Ego, What Do You Want?
Now that really shrinks ego down to size whether he is in the redeeming mode or the shaming. So ...without ego...do I really, really want recognition as a writer? No...I want readers in order to complete this glorious cycle but fame and notoriety I realize will come and go, will turn from praise to criticism in a moment...I don't want to be dependent on that. What I want is to have so much joy in me, so much peace as I write for the sheer love of writing and giving that it doesn't matter how my work is received. Now wouldn't that be cool? I think, I will water those seeds of desire! (Hey...not that I would say no to a publication or to get paid fro what I do lol)
Anyway, know what you really, really want and what you don't want. Look deeply into these things and decide what should be watered and what shouldn't. Don't let society dictate that for you! Make it an inner game.
Heartfelt thanks to all those wonderful beings who helped me write this and who help me to write all I write!
All is well.
Andersen, Uell S.. Three Magic Words . BN Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Plum Village ( May, 2020) The Better Way To Pursue our Desires/Dharma Talk by br. Phap Dung. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbEOX-orTMg&list=PLaX_vxbhs8fgKZ8fpSs8QyvNwdJMSv4Kp&index=5&t=0s
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Watering and Weeding the Mental Garden
All the things of the world change; they are born, they blossom, they bear fruit, and they die. Only the great unity - your own association with the infinite, your own individual manifestation of the Universal Mind of God - only that is changeless.
Uell S. Andersen, location 360
I know I often write about not being dependent on to-do lists but sometimes I think I could use a bit of the focused planning they offer lol. Like when it comes to my days here. My writing, like I mentioned, is kind of all over the place. Now, I am just working on getting some stuff out there...a couple of chap books , a few short stories while I finish my novels.
I do have this feeling that I need to get my writing organized and out there because I don't know how much time I have left, and if this is what I am supposed to do while here I better get it done, you know? How much time do any of us have left? We don't know, do we? The more one looks into this idea of impermanence, the more one realizes how unpredictable our life spans in these forms are.
Habit Energy: Carrying Us Away From Source
Anyway...I guess I am getting off topic. What I really want to talk about is our habit energy. What do we tend to do out of automatic and mindless habit and what we tend to do out of mindfulness and awareness, knowing that it will bring us closer to what we really, really want.
First thing I want to do is dispel this idea that that there is a right way of thinking and being and a wrong way. That there is good and there is bad, right and wrong when it comes to our thoughts, feeling and actions. When we place those indicators and judgments on such a thing we tend to cling to what we judge as good or right and we tend to fight, struggle, push away, run from, numb from, push down or stuff what we judge as bad, or wrong. Man...that just causes a whole host of problems to add to our idea of "problems".
Let's instead look at it this way. What thoughts, feelings, actions will bring you closer to what you really want and which ones will be hindrances to that experience? Well if we ask that...we need to know what we really want, don't we?
So What Do You Really Want?
What is it that you really want? There is so much about "The Law of Attraction" discussed in The Secret and Anderson's Three Magic Words that I like and can resonate with. I do believe that "core belief" planted in our subconscious mind determines so much of what we experience in the physical world. I have wrote about the placebo and nocebo effect, for example, and how a powerful belief in a propensity toward illness can create illness and a powerful belief in a remedy can relieve it. Right? That has been scientifically proven. So yes, if we can plant "seeds" in our store consciousness we can create a certain life experience.
So the question is...what do you plant? You plant what you really want to see in your life experience. And what is that? Is it the things the Secret speaks to? Like a new car, big house, the dream job, the soul mate, a million dollars, success or recognition? Think about that...is that what you really, really want and if so...why do you want such things? You want those things because you feel getting them will fill some hole in you, will ease your sense of "lack", unworthiness or suffering, right? You believe getting these things will make you happy, peaceful, worthy, whole etc etc. Right?
Think about that. Is that true? These are just things and grasping for them, striving for them...can actually cause more unhappiness and unease in the long run. Let's face it, what we really want from these things is what we "assume" they will bring us. We want the happiness, the peace of mind, the sense of being worthy, whole, complete...right?
Most spiritual teachings tell us we are already whole, already complete, already have everything around us we need to be happy inside us. God has equipped us with a natural state of peace and happiness and all we have to do is connect with that Source energy, open up to it, remember it is there and voila we have what we really, really want.
So what we want to plant, and water so it grows up into our conscious mind and experience are the things that will reconnect us, bring us closer to God, this Universal intelligence, "enlightenment". The seeds you want to plant are seeds like love, compassion, joy, peacefulness, calm, gentleness and awareness. These things are already in us...we really do not even have to plant them...we just need to water and nurture them so they can grow.
Weeds in the Garden: What You Really Don't Want
Nurturing also means taking care to prevent the weeds from growing in that mental garden. Weeds will sprout up into our lives and they can grow abundantly, stopping us from seeing the peace and joy within. They can seem to choke out the so called "positive" making what we create seem "ugly" and "painful". If we are not mindful to water selectively the things that will take us closer to what we want, the things that take us to the unwanted can take over.
If our attention is placed on these negative things: lack, loneliness, anger, violence, despair, danger, fear etc. ...we are watering these weeds, we are encouraging them to grow. They will grow...the law is real. We will be mentally and emotionally consumed by the so called "negative" and our life experience will follow suit.
This is not what we want, is it? It takes us farther and farther away from the God given seeds of peace, joy, happiness, compassion and love that we really, really want to nourish and see grow.
Habit Energy: Watering the Negative
I have a habitual tendency, if I am not mindful, to get lost in negative thought streams. I may wake up with a thought in my mind and my story telling nature likes to quickly build narrative around it until I am lost in some epic tale that is often negative and not self or other serving. I may end up feeling like crap and not even know why. I may wake up thinking about a writing project I haven't finished and within minutes I am beating myself up for not completing or "doing" anything of value.
Watering the weed seeds can be a habit energy that we automatically fall into. We might not even realize we are doing it. It is so much easier to stuff the weed seeds under layers of soil and pretend they don't exist than it is to acknowledge their reality. It is so much easier to supress, repress, deny, avoid or numb from negative emotion and experience than it is to take care of it. We can be consumed by the momentum of being carried away by the things that lead us farther away from God and our resistance to it.
We have a Choice
We always have a choice as to what seeds to water. To ensure we water the ones that bring us to our true nature we must be mindful and aware of where our attention is focused. Simply focus on the joy and the peace and the God Source within you. Allow that type of focus into your daily experience. When you wake up...instead of jumping on the habitual thought train that will take you speeding into a negative focus...breathe, focus on breath, focus on where your body is and time and space. Be in the now...and watch your mind from a distance. Then be mindful how you make your tea, how you brush your teeth or care for your pets. Fill those early hours with positive, inspirational literature or a spiritual practice. Maybe you want to meditate, pray or listen to a dharma talk Start your day like that. And throughout the rest of the day, stop and notice where you are, what you are thinking, what you are doing and how you are doing it. What seeds are you watering? Bring self back to stillness many times a day, contemplating what you really want to see grow in your mental garden and in your life. Are you watering those seeds? Be aware!
What to Do With the Seeds When They Grow
Sometimes those seeds we wish wouldn't grow, will pop up into our conscious experience. We are going to have to treat these weeds a lot differently than you would treat the weeds in your flower garden. You are not going to pour noxious chemicals over them that kill so many things besides the weeds, you are not going to attack them by reaching in and pulling them painfully out of the earth, You are not going to snip them off at the stalk leaving the roots intact( that would be futile). You are not going to pretend they aren't there either.
What you need to do with these weeds is treat them the same way you would treat the rose that has bloomed beside them....with loving kindness.
Huh?
Do not judge one plant, one thought in that mind of yours as beautiful, the other as ugly. One as right and one as wrong. One that should be and one that shouldn't Both should be because both are. Neither good or bad...just are. Recognize the weed...see it, touch it...know it is there. And instead of struggling against its presence in your mind, your life, allow it to be.
Then with loving kindness, embrace it. Stop...take a deep breath and hold the negative thinking in your mind. Look deeply at it and ask, "How , my little friend, did you come to be in my garden?" Recognize how your mind once again has gotten lost in the habitual negativity and focused on that which does not serve you or the world.
Then wait for the insight to come to you which may involve an inspiration to do nothing more than gently letting go of the weed to focus on the rose, watering the rose, giving fertilizer to the rose as you commit to watering more selectively in the future. As the roses around you bloom in the rich environment you provide, weeds will simply disappear. As we focus on the positive that is also in our lives, the negative will disappear.
If you want a rose garden...focus on roses not weeds.
And also know that Porsches, and Million Dollar Homes, trophy spouses or all the accolades in the world from others, will not make those roses bloom. Water compassion, peace, mindfulness, concentration, love and joy instead.
Now what the he%& does that have to do with my writing disorganization?
I question what I want and what I am watering
I do want to get my writing out there and finish my novels but I ask why? To embrace the writing process because it brings me joy or to get published so I can feel somewhat redeemed for spending all this time as a "non-productive" member of society? I figure if someone validates my writing, I can say, "See, I didn't waste my time. I was doing /being what I was suppose to do/be."
Is validation, redemption from others, a certain success as a writer what I really, really want? No...I want connection with my Source. When I write, I get that connection, that joy, that peace. I feel like I am giving something. That is why I write.
Watering the seeds of worldly desires like publication and recognition is not as important as watering the seeds of creativity, inspiration, joy and doing what I know I am here to do. I keep saying I am going to spend more time on the submission process rather than here but I keep coming back here to my fifty some readers a day. Go figure. I want to water this.
Hmmm!
What else can I say?
All is well in my world.
Andersen, Uell S.. Three Magic Words . BN Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Plum Village (October, 2018) Practicing in a stressful environment/ Dharma Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh 2004 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6KTb0QMyJ8
Plum Village ( May 2020) Taming the Tiger Within/dharma talk by Br. Ngo Khong/Deer Park Monastery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfLZn15jdxo
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Contemplating the Reality of Suffering
Conceptual habits of the Conscious Mind are the greatest bar to man's discovery of himself.
Uell S. Andersen
I just finished a wonderful book(fiction) about the life of my man, Aristotle: The Golden Mean by Canadian author, Annabel Lyon. Of course I have no where near the mind he had but I do like to do what he is known for doing, contemplating the nature of reality. That is what leads to my studying all these philosophers, poets, writers, scientists and spiritual teachings. What I really like to do is find the connecting dots, the similarities, the One truth that they all point to when it comes to dealing with suffering. You know?
Well , as you may have gathered by now, I love the Buddhist dharma and I love the idea of discovering the True Self as taught in many other scriptures including Hinduism/Yoga and...yes...the "new age" stuff. (Though I do have a problem with that term ). I am finding some important connecting dots that help with my understanding.
I would like to compare the teachings of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh with other non-Buddhist teachings including ACIM, the Maharishi inspired works of Robert Spira and the writings of Uell S. Anderson to exemplify the idea that there is only One Truth. (Bear with me, I have a bit of vertigo and the letters on the keys sometimes jump all over the place lol...if there are a lot of typos, we will blame it on that)
Differences Between Buddhism and the Other Teachings
Before I begin talking about the similarities , it is important to speak to the difference in the philosophies of Buddhism with the others that keep slapping me in the face as I read, listen or study. There are, I believe, three distinct differences.
My way of understanding the first difference is that the Buddhist Path to liberation, freedom from the modifications of the mind and a return to the natural state of peace, is an "indirect path" taking many steps ( Well Eight to be exact) . The others above speak to a "direct path", one that requires nothing more than a "holy instant" or a moment of realization.During this directionless journey, the mind sinks or relaxes backwards, inwards or ‘selfwards’. (Spira,page 55)
Another difference is in the teaching of the non-Buddhists that most of the stuff we are experiencing is just an illusion that should be ignored or pushed away. No matter what obstacle or undesirable circumstance crosses my path, I refuse to accept it, for it is nothing but illusion.
(Andersen, Uell S., page 429) All aspects of fear are untrue because they do not exist at the creative level, and therefore do not exists at all...Believe this and you will be free. (ACIM-T-VI:1:5)
The Buddhist, on the other hand, do not believe in ignoring, resisting, struggling against anything, nor do they believe in supressing and repressing emotion as they feel we will be doing when we "ignore" certain things. They see all that occurs, all experiences, thoughts and feelings as part of our reality in the moment and must be recognized, accepted and embraced.
The third difference is that Buddhism speaks to the idea of "transformation" more than the idea of "transcendence" used in the other teachings. It is taught that we can transform our suffering , with the help of mindfulness energy, into a tool that guides us toward awakening. The others speak to the fact that we actually transcend this "idea" of suffering when we realize the illusionary nature of it.
Similarities
As I listened to a dharma talk today where Thich Nhat Hanh was speaking of the five powers (well he added a sixth). I immediately saw many similarities between this philosophy and the others I have been presently reading.
The First Power is Faith
All these teachings speak to the idea of Faith as a power that can help us get beyond our suffering. . Thich Nhat Hanh speaks to the importance of having confidence and trust in ourselves to awaken. The others use the term "belief" and faith interchangeably. This faith Hanh and others speak or write about is not a reliance on something outside ourselves but on a something within. We need to "believe" we can get beyond our pain by knowing Who or What is inside us. All teachings refer to a higher consciousness, a higher Self, a higher level of Being that rests in these temporary forms we wear like a gown.
The Second Power is Diligence
Diligence is all about applying "appropriate attention " to the things we want in our life. Hanh calls it "watering selectively". We water those feelings and experiences we want to be paramount in our loves like joy, happiness, love, compassion, peace and and awakening and we do our best not to water those things we do not want paramount in our life : pain, grief, anger, resentment, violence, greed etc.
Many of the teachings refer to the mind in a similar way though different terminology may be used. Hanh says the mind is divided into the "store consciousness" and the "mind consciousness". Uell and others refer to it as "subconscious" and "conscious" mind. The "conscious" mind according to Uell and others is the boss of the subconscious mind but the subconscious mind determines more or less how we live because it is there where the "Prompters" from the conscious mind are placed. Hanh refers to these as "seeds". These seeds or prompters include what the dualistic mind would refer to as both negative and positive aspects. We want to water the positive and leave teh negative where they are. These seeds are like "core beliefs" we hold onto yet may not be even mindful that they are there. Sometimes they get watered on purpose by our appropriate attention and sometimes unfortunately by our "unskillful attention". If we are thinking about the negative, focusing on it... that is like watering. The negative pops up into our conscious mind and we may experience, according to many, more negative in our external worlds. What we want to do is avoid watering the negative.
If, of course, they do get watered and sprout out into our conscious experience, we need to help them to go home. Hanh and Spira say we do this by focusing on and watering the seeds of mindfulness/awareness so that energy comes to the surface to embrace the energy of suffering we had allowed to sprout.
Positive seeds or prompters are also much more powerful than the negative. We replace the negative with the positive. Psychologists may refer to that as cognitive restructuring. If we focus on positive, all teachings say, we out do the negative. It is not about struggling or fighting or resisting that which we do not want.
The Sixth Power is Letting Go
All teachings speak to the power of Letting Go but none more so than in Buddhism. The basis of true happiness is a recognition, allowing, embracing, looking deeply into what is to gain insight.
Hmmm! That is all I can seem to regurgitate right now. I will be back.
All is well.
References:
ACIM
Andersen, Uell S.. Three Magic Words . BN Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Lyon, A.(2009) The Golden Mean. Random House Canada
Plum Village (October, 2018) Practicing in a stressful environment/ dharma talk with Thich Hhat Hanh/ 2004 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6KTb0QMyJ8
Spira, Rupert. Being Aware of Being Aware (The Essence of Meditation Series) (p. 55). New Harbinger Publications. Kindle Edition.
Uell S. Andersen
I just finished a wonderful book(fiction) about the life of my man, Aristotle: The Golden Mean by Canadian author, Annabel Lyon. Of course I have no where near the mind he had but I do like to do what he is known for doing, contemplating the nature of reality. That is what leads to my studying all these philosophers, poets, writers, scientists and spiritual teachings. What I really like to do is find the connecting dots, the similarities, the One truth that they all point to when it comes to dealing with suffering. You know?
Well , as you may have gathered by now, I love the Buddhist dharma and I love the idea of discovering the True Self as taught in many other scriptures including Hinduism/Yoga and...yes...the "new age" stuff. (Though I do have a problem with that term ). I am finding some important connecting dots that help with my understanding.
I would like to compare the teachings of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh with other non-Buddhist teachings including ACIM, the Maharishi inspired works of Robert Spira and the writings of Uell S. Anderson to exemplify the idea that there is only One Truth. (Bear with me, I have a bit of vertigo and the letters on the keys sometimes jump all over the place lol...if there are a lot of typos, we will blame it on that)
Differences Between Buddhism and the Other Teachings
Before I begin talking about the similarities , it is important to speak to the difference in the philosophies of Buddhism with the others that keep slapping me in the face as I read, listen or study. There are, I believe, three distinct differences.
My way of understanding the first difference is that the Buddhist Path to liberation, freedom from the modifications of the mind and a return to the natural state of peace, is an "indirect path" taking many steps ( Well Eight to be exact) . The others above speak to a "direct path", one that requires nothing more than a "holy instant" or a moment of realization.During this directionless journey, the mind sinks or relaxes backwards, inwards or ‘selfwards’. (Spira,page 55)
Another difference is in the teaching of the non-Buddhists that most of the stuff we are experiencing is just an illusion that should be ignored or pushed away. No matter what obstacle or undesirable circumstance crosses my path, I refuse to accept it, for it is nothing but illusion.
(Andersen, Uell S., page 429) All aspects of fear are untrue because they do not exist at the creative level, and therefore do not exists at all...Believe this and you will be free. (ACIM-T-VI:1:5)
The Buddhist, on the other hand, do not believe in ignoring, resisting, struggling against anything, nor do they believe in supressing and repressing emotion as they feel we will be doing when we "ignore" certain things. They see all that occurs, all experiences, thoughts and feelings as part of our reality in the moment and must be recognized, accepted and embraced.
The third difference is that Buddhism speaks to the idea of "transformation" more than the idea of "transcendence" used in the other teachings. It is taught that we can transform our suffering , with the help of mindfulness energy, into a tool that guides us toward awakening. The others speak to the fact that we actually transcend this "idea" of suffering when we realize the illusionary nature of it.
Similarities
As I listened to a dharma talk today where Thich Nhat Hanh was speaking of the five powers (well he added a sixth). I immediately saw many similarities between this philosophy and the others I have been presently reading.
The First Power is Faith
All these teachings speak to the idea of Faith as a power that can help us get beyond our suffering. . Thich Nhat Hanh speaks to the importance of having confidence and trust in ourselves to awaken. The others use the term "belief" and faith interchangeably. This faith Hanh and others speak or write about is not a reliance on something outside ourselves but on a something within. We need to "believe" we can get beyond our pain by knowing Who or What is inside us. All teachings refer to a higher consciousness, a higher Self, a higher level of Being that rests in these temporary forms we wear like a gown.
The Second Power is Diligence
Diligence is all about applying "appropriate attention " to the things we want in our life. Hanh calls it "watering selectively". We water those feelings and experiences we want to be paramount in our loves like joy, happiness, love, compassion, peace and and awakening and we do our best not to water those things we do not want paramount in our life : pain, grief, anger, resentment, violence, greed etc.
Many of the teachings refer to the mind in a similar way though different terminology may be used. Hanh says the mind is divided into the "store consciousness" and the "mind consciousness". Uell and others refer to it as "subconscious" and "conscious" mind. The "conscious" mind according to Uell and others is the boss of the subconscious mind but the subconscious mind determines more or less how we live because it is there where the "Prompters" from the conscious mind are placed. Hanh refers to these as "seeds". These seeds or prompters include what the dualistic mind would refer to as both negative and positive aspects. We want to water the positive and leave teh negative where they are. These seeds are like "core beliefs" we hold onto yet may not be even mindful that they are there. Sometimes they get watered on purpose by our appropriate attention and sometimes unfortunately by our "unskillful attention". If we are thinking about the negative, focusing on it... that is like watering. The negative pops up into our conscious mind and we may experience, according to many, more negative in our external worlds. What we want to do is avoid watering the negative.
If, of course, they do get watered and sprout out into our conscious experience, we need to help them to go home. Hanh and Spira say we do this by focusing on and watering the seeds of mindfulness/awareness so that energy comes to the surface to embrace the energy of suffering we had allowed to sprout.
Positive seeds or prompters are also much more powerful than the negative. We replace the negative with the positive. Psychologists may refer to that as cognitive restructuring. If we focus on positive, all teachings say, we out do the negative. It is not about struggling or fighting or resisting that which we do not want.
The Sixth Power is Letting Go
All teachings speak to the power of Letting Go but none more so than in Buddhism. The basis of true happiness is a recognition, allowing, embracing, looking deeply into what is to gain insight.
Hmmm! That is all I can seem to regurgitate right now. I will be back.
All is well.
References:
ACIM
Andersen, Uell S.. Three Magic Words . BN Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Lyon, A.(2009) The Golden Mean. Random House Canada
Plum Village (October, 2018) Practicing in a stressful environment/ dharma talk with Thich Hhat Hanh/ 2004 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6KTb0QMyJ8
Spira, Rupert. Being Aware of Being Aware (The Essence of Meditation Series) (p. 55). New Harbinger Publications. Kindle Edition.
Monday, May 25, 2020
Rest ot Restless?
Rest is not a four letter word.
Br. Phap Hai
I have been feeling a number of things lately and labelling what I have been experiencing , as the mind likes to do. I have been feeling lazy as I walk over things that need to be picked up or tidied, as I close my eyes to the heavy house cleaning that needs to be done and my avoiding the yard work.
I have also been feeling restless and worried, especially when I look at my writing ventures. I seem to be all over the place and I worry if anything were to happen to me in the little bit...would what I was supposed to get out there be out there?
I know I am just focusing my attention unwisely and once again fault finding with the way things are right now and right here.
My body is tired. My mind is tired. I am directed towards rest. This does not mean I am hindering my process(well at least not according to the Buddhists lol). I am simply finding rest where I need it, putting aside the doing tendency for the being one. Hmmm!
As far as the writing restlessness. I just need to stop, recognize that I am feeling restless, allow it, embrace it and then I can look deeply into as to why I feel the way I do. Finally, I can find the insight inside me as to what to do about it. I have so many things written, so many things partially written and so many things that are crying to be written. I don't know where to go with it all.
Deep breath! I will figure out what needs to be figured out only after I allow and embrace it for being exactly as it is now.
All good!
Plum Village ( May, 2020) Finding True Rest for Body and Mind/ dharma talk with Br. Phap Hai.
Can't find the link for some reason...will get back to you with that.
Br. Phap Hai
I have been feeling a number of things lately and labelling what I have been experiencing , as the mind likes to do. I have been feeling lazy as I walk over things that need to be picked up or tidied, as I close my eyes to the heavy house cleaning that needs to be done and my avoiding the yard work.
I have also been feeling restless and worried, especially when I look at my writing ventures. I seem to be all over the place and I worry if anything were to happen to me in the little bit...would what I was supposed to get out there be out there?
I know I am just focusing my attention unwisely and once again fault finding with the way things are right now and right here.
My body is tired. My mind is tired. I am directed towards rest. This does not mean I am hindering my process(well at least not according to the Buddhists lol). I am simply finding rest where I need it, putting aside the doing tendency for the being one. Hmmm!
As far as the writing restlessness. I just need to stop, recognize that I am feeling restless, allow it, embrace it and then I can look deeply into as to why I feel the way I do. Finally, I can find the insight inside me as to what to do about it. I have so many things written, so many things partially written and so many things that are crying to be written. I don't know where to go with it all.
Deep breath! I will figure out what needs to be figured out only after I allow and embrace it for being exactly as it is now.
All good!
Plum Village ( May, 2020) Finding True Rest for Body and Mind/ dharma talk with Br. Phap Hai.
Can't find the link for some reason...will get back to you with that.
Sunday, May 24, 2020
No Complaints What So Ever
Saying Nothing, The Observer Watches from the space that is forever quiet and still;
as the noisy, busy world bumps us around and knock us down, just as nature wills.
Me...woke up with this in my head, :)
Eckhart Tolle, in his video, Awakening from Self Talk, relays the story about a Zen monk who is about to part on a five year journey. The advice his master gives him before he leaves is to repeat to himself, no matter what he comes across, Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
I have heard versions of this story before, possibly in other Eckhart Tolle videos, and I cannot find the original version when I search...but...this pretty well says it all anyway, doesn't it? This statement is a practice in itself
Imagine
Imagine if we could...no matter what happens to us, no matter who or what we encounter on this journey through life... say ( and mean!!) Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
The sun is shining on the day of the family reunion Barb-B-Q: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
It pours on the day of the family reunion Barb-B-Q: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You land your dream job: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You get fired from your dream job: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You meet your soul mate: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
Your soul mate runs off with the babysitter: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You make a hundred thousand dollars in the stock market: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You lose a hundred thousand dollars in the stock market: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You are finally able to buy the house you always wanted after years of saving: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You lose the house you always wanted in a fire: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
Saying "Thanks" even when it hurts!
You get the point, right? It may be easy to say "Thanks" in the first scenarios but how easy is going to be, not to complain, and be instead "grateful" in the second scenarios. That is where the real practice comes in.
In order to appreciate, we must first accept and allow a circumstance to be what it is. A complaint, on the other hand, is usually a strong resistance to what is. It is a saying, "No! This should not be!" It is an argument with another or with life that things are not meeting our expectations of how we judge and perceive they should be. Complaints take us out of the present moment because in order to be there we need to accept the moment for what it is...anything it is. If we resist the event we encounter, we resist the moment, and if we resist the moment we resist life.
By saying , Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever, we put aside our resistance and allow the moment to be what it is . Then we take a step farther by appreciating it...knowing that there is great opportunity in adversity to advance us further in our spiritual practice.
It is also a beautiful practice in non-duality...putting aside our need to name and label and judge things as being either good or bad, worthy of thanks or worthy grievance. Remember Hamlet's words. : Nothing is either good or bad but thinking makes it so. (Act 2: Scene 2). No matter what we encounter, we need to remember it is just life doing life. We can learn to trust and appreciate the majesty in that!
My Own Practice
I have been thinking, over the last few days, about where I am at on my journey along this "horizontal plane" . I don't "react" the way I used to... to anything. I seem to be even keel, not doing much. People say to me, "You must be bored!" I just seem to be so "blah!" to others.
My daughter actually called me a "robot" the other day because her pain body needed me to jump into a dramatic expression of her misery with her. I make it a point now not to go there. I stand outside it, observing, offering my deeper presence. I am not angry or hurt by what her pain body does or says, nor am I deeply concerned about it. I feel great compassion for her in her suffering but I don't jump in the hole with her. I just watch, wait and offer my presence from a very calm space. It drives her crazy.
It struck me, that this is how I am lately. I no longer am lost in ups and downs. I no longer get excited by things that used to excite me. My "ambitions" have been greatly reduced. My "doing" is way below "normal". Nor do I expect Life to be a certain way, so I am seldom disappointed. I don't seem to look towards the future anymore, nor am I lost in the past.
And as I write this the term "flat" comes to mind. "Flat" is a term used in psychiatry to describe a person's affect when they are depressed. Hmmm! Without dependency on these ups and downs, am I flat?
I don't feel depressed, I don't feel bored and I don't feel like a robot. I don't feel overly excited either. I just feel even...like I found the strongest mood stabilizer? I mean, I still get irritable at times...menopause lol. I say it like it is. I probably am more outspoken than I was about some things...but not because I need to be right but because I feel I need to be honest, to see and express things as they are.
I find myself smiling a lot too...when I see a hummingbird fluttering by, or notice the blossoms on a tree or feel the sun and wind on my face. That seems to be enough for me. You know, I am peaceful!!! I am just peaceful. I don't look to the ups and downs of some crazy roller coaster to make me feel alive anymore...I am balancing here. How?
Well I am finding the vertical plane, I wrote about yesterday. And when we find that, this truly does become our mantra: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
Pretty crazy, huh?
All is well!
Eckhart Tolle ( May, 2020) Opinions Are Distractions in our Mind/ Awakening from Self Talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzA2YyRs8XA
as the noisy, busy world bumps us around and knock us down, just as nature wills.
Me...woke up with this in my head, :)
Eckhart Tolle, in his video, Awakening from Self Talk, relays the story about a Zen monk who is about to part on a five year journey. The advice his master gives him before he leaves is to repeat to himself, no matter what he comes across, Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
I have heard versions of this story before, possibly in other Eckhart Tolle videos, and I cannot find the original version when I search...but...this pretty well says it all anyway, doesn't it? This statement is a practice in itself
Imagine
Imagine if we could...no matter what happens to us, no matter who or what we encounter on this journey through life... say ( and mean!!) Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
The sun is shining on the day of the family reunion Barb-B-Q: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
It pours on the day of the family reunion Barb-B-Q: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You land your dream job: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You get fired from your dream job: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You meet your soul mate: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
Your soul mate runs off with the babysitter: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You make a hundred thousand dollars in the stock market: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You lose a hundred thousand dollars in the stock market: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You are finally able to buy the house you always wanted after years of saving: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
You lose the house you always wanted in a fire: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
Saying "Thanks" even when it hurts!
You get the point, right? It may be easy to say "Thanks" in the first scenarios but how easy is going to be, not to complain, and be instead "grateful" in the second scenarios. That is where the real practice comes in.
In order to appreciate, we must first accept and allow a circumstance to be what it is. A complaint, on the other hand, is usually a strong resistance to what is. It is a saying, "No! This should not be!" It is an argument with another or with life that things are not meeting our expectations of how we judge and perceive they should be. Complaints take us out of the present moment because in order to be there we need to accept the moment for what it is...anything it is. If we resist the event we encounter, we resist the moment, and if we resist the moment we resist life.
By saying , Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever, we put aside our resistance and allow the moment to be what it is . Then we take a step farther by appreciating it...knowing that there is great opportunity in adversity to advance us further in our spiritual practice.
It is also a beautiful practice in non-duality...putting aside our need to name and label and judge things as being either good or bad, worthy of thanks or worthy grievance. Remember Hamlet's words. : Nothing is either good or bad but thinking makes it so. (Act 2: Scene 2). No matter what we encounter, we need to remember it is just life doing life. We can learn to trust and appreciate the majesty in that!
My Own Practice
I have been thinking, over the last few days, about where I am at on my journey along this "horizontal plane" . I don't "react" the way I used to... to anything. I seem to be even keel, not doing much. People say to me, "You must be bored!" I just seem to be so "blah!" to others.
My daughter actually called me a "robot" the other day because her pain body needed me to jump into a dramatic expression of her misery with her. I make it a point now not to go there. I stand outside it, observing, offering my deeper presence. I am not angry or hurt by what her pain body does or says, nor am I deeply concerned about it. I feel great compassion for her in her suffering but I don't jump in the hole with her. I just watch, wait and offer my presence from a very calm space. It drives her crazy.
It struck me, that this is how I am lately. I no longer am lost in ups and downs. I no longer get excited by things that used to excite me. My "ambitions" have been greatly reduced. My "doing" is way below "normal". Nor do I expect Life to be a certain way, so I am seldom disappointed. I don't seem to look towards the future anymore, nor am I lost in the past.
And as I write this the term "flat" comes to mind. "Flat" is a term used in psychiatry to describe a person's affect when they are depressed. Hmmm! Without dependency on these ups and downs, am I flat?
I don't feel depressed, I don't feel bored and I don't feel like a robot. I don't feel overly excited either. I just feel even...like I found the strongest mood stabilizer? I mean, I still get irritable at times...menopause lol. I say it like it is. I probably am more outspoken than I was about some things...but not because I need to be right but because I feel I need to be honest, to see and express things as they are.
I find myself smiling a lot too...when I see a hummingbird fluttering by, or notice the blossoms on a tree or feel the sun and wind on my face. That seems to be enough for me. You know, I am peaceful!!! I am just peaceful. I don't look to the ups and downs of some crazy roller coaster to make me feel alive anymore...I am balancing here. How?
Well I am finding the vertical plane, I wrote about yesterday. And when we find that, this truly does become our mantra: Thanks for everything. I have no complaints what so ever.
Pretty crazy, huh?
All is well!
Eckhart Tolle ( May, 2020) Opinions Are Distractions in our Mind/ Awakening from Self Talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzA2YyRs8XA
Friday, May 22, 2020
Balancing
Balancing On the Horizontal Plane
Brace yourself
as you wobble uneasily
on this ever-shifting
horizontal plane.
Duck
when your own busy
and chaotic mental noise
boom-a rangs back to you,
vibrating with your joy,
your laughter
your sorrow
and your pain
on fear-made shields
and weapons
thrown out by
your own hands.
Then push and swat away
the unpleasant reality
of existence here
on this
ever-changing line,
you attempt
so awkwardly
to balance on.
Hold tightly
to that which can
keep you stable,
to that which
perches precariously
and so very briefly,
on each end of the long pole
you cling so desperately to.
Hold your breath
as these pleasantries,
successes
and accolades
land so sweetly,
stabilizing,
making you sigh in relief
before disappearing
to leave you tottering again
above all their upturned eyes.
Watch as the ghostly lessons
and voices of your past
bounce off this wire
of circumstance,
feel that energy
moving through you
making you tremble
with tension
until it reaches its source
which hums so busily
between the eyes you insist
see all there is to see.
Close those eyes
to this world
of comings and goings
that threaten to make you slip
into the endless depth below.
Focus on precious
grounding breath
to keep you balanced.
Then look again
with the internal vision
you have been given.
See the vertical line
that has always
been before you,
the plane that intersects
this wobbly one
you are attempting,
oh so desperately,
to balance on.
Look up to see that
its end cannot be seen
and look down
to see the peace that
awaits you there.
Let go of the pole
you cling to.
Reach out to grab
this line instead.
Feel the perch
beneath your feet
becoming stable
and unmoving
as you allow
yourself to slide down
into all there is.
Rest your weight
on this vertical line
so few tight rope walkers
remember or seek to know.
Remember.
Find stillness and peace
in this intersecting plane
and this horizontal one
on which you stand
will be so much easier
to balance on.
Brace yourself
as you wobble uneasily
on this ever-shifting
horizontal plane.
Duck
when your own busy
and chaotic mental noise
boom-a rangs back to you,
vibrating with your joy,
your laughter
your sorrow
and your pain
on fear-made shields
and weapons
thrown out by
your own hands.
Then push and swat away
the unpleasant reality
of existence here
on this
ever-changing line,
you attempt
so awkwardly
to balance on.
Hold tightly
to that which can
keep you stable,
to that which
perches precariously
and so very briefly,
on each end of the long pole
you cling so desperately to.
Hold your breath
as these pleasantries,
successes
and accolades
land so sweetly,
stabilizing,
making you sigh in relief
before disappearing
to leave you tottering again
above all their upturned eyes.
Watch as the ghostly lessons
and voices of your past
bounce off this wire
of circumstance,
feel that energy
moving through you
making you tremble
with tension
until it reaches its source
which hums so busily
between the eyes you insist
see all there is to see.
Close those eyes
to this world
of comings and goings
that threaten to make you slip
into the endless depth below.
Focus on precious
grounding breath
to keep you balanced.
Then look again
with the internal vision
you have been given.
See the vertical line
that has always
been before you,
the plane that intersects
this wobbly one
you are attempting,
oh so desperately,
to balance on.
Look up to see that
its end cannot be seen
and look down
to see the peace that
awaits you there.
Let go of the pole
you cling to.
Reach out to grab
this line instead.
Feel the perch
beneath your feet
becoming stable
and unmoving
as you allow
yourself to slide down
into all there is.
Rest your weight
on this vertical line
so few tight rope walkers
remember or seek to know.
Remember.
Find stillness and peace
in this intersecting plane
and this horizontal one
on which you stand
will be so much easier
to balance on.
© Dale-Lyn 2020
Oh wow! Not good, lol. This one was insisting on coming out. Started it yesterday after I listened to the below videos from Eckhart Tolle...but I spat and sputtered with a rhyme scheme the poem seemed to be insisting on. And after a few hours, I said, "This is crazy!" and I walked away. I came back to it today and this came out instead. I think the message is good???!! Lol if nothing else. ( I need to remind myself of Hamlet's words: Nothing is either bad or good but thinking makes it so. :))
All is well!
Eckhart Tolle (May, 2020) The Futility of Egoic Reaction and Navigating Our Awakening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9DCVEwd6Lw
Eckhart Tolle ( April, 2020) Transcending Fear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L0aFk7j4d4
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Tiny Jewel
Value each drop of water you use to wash your face with as a jewel...[and know]...Every feeling is a drop of water, take care of it.
Thich Nhat Hanh ( somewhat paraphrased from dharma talk below)
I am having another one of those retroactive serendipitous experiences. :) I was listening to Thich Nhat Hanh, in the dharma talk listed below, speak of a Kung Fu checklist he offers retreat participants to observe their level of "beingness" at the end of each day. And I instantly recalled the two articles I have written and published in 2017: Measuring the Quality of Your Day with a To Be List and How to Make the Most of your 24 Hour Life. I did not know of the Kung Fu sheet then because this is the first time I tapped into this talk, but it is pretty well speaks to the same thing I wrote about in my articles. Go figure.
(I also discovered recently that there is another writer with my real name...we are not one and the same....lol. she has many more publications under her belt but it will get confusing. I am going to have to put the -Lynn into my name from now.)
Anyway I digress...there is a little something wanting to come out of me since listening to the talk. Here it comes...
Tiny Jewel
So easily unseen
by the unmindful eye,
one shiny glistening jewel,
captured in a tiny drop,
suspends so delicately
from the faucet's mouth.
Catching the busy fluorescent lighting
in a flickering of remembering
an ancient history
a perfectly clear lake,
glacial and cold,
once reflecting sunlight, moonlight
and mountain peak
in still and spacious waters.
One tiny expression of
This mighty Source
now seemingly so fragile,
at the mercy of gravitational fingers
that threaten to pull it into
the forgotten depths
at the bottom of the sink
you so take for granted.
Yet, it clings tenaciously to
the last stage of this long
and arduous journey
that has taken it,
in many changing forms,
down snow capped trails,
and hidden streams,
through roaring rivers
and awaiting oceans
to this,
to you,
in hope you will see
the mountain lake within it.
See the ruby, the diamond
and the sparkling sapphire
in its tiny little presence
before it loses its desperate hold
on the metal lip of your appliance.
Reach up to capture it
in your cold and open hand.
Notice it, thank it, embrace it,
and use it wisely.
Recognize The Source
of all things in it.
Allow its final destination
to be one of restful peace
by showing it that the sacrifice it
has made for you
will not go unnoticed.
If I copy right in my pen name, can I switch to my real name at any time? Rhetorical question I ask because I have submitted some of these blog poems for publication purposes using my real name. Must check into that.
All good!
Plum Village (Sept, 2018) Happiness is Made By These Moments/Dharma Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh 2004https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlOEfUdgIEI
http://www.globalharmonycrew.com/how-to-make-the-most-of-your-life-the-24-hour-life/
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/measuring-the-quality-of-your-day-with-a-to-be-list-not-just-a-to-do-list/
Thich Nhat Hanh ( somewhat paraphrased from dharma talk below)
I am having another one of those retroactive serendipitous experiences. :) I was listening to Thich Nhat Hanh, in the dharma talk listed below, speak of a Kung Fu checklist he offers retreat participants to observe their level of "beingness" at the end of each day. And I instantly recalled the two articles I have written and published in 2017: Measuring the Quality of Your Day with a To Be List and How to Make the Most of your 24 Hour Life. I did not know of the Kung Fu sheet then because this is the first time I tapped into this talk, but it is pretty well speaks to the same thing I wrote about in my articles. Go figure.
(I also discovered recently that there is another writer with my real name...we are not one and the same....lol. she has many more publications under her belt but it will get confusing. I am going to have to put the -Lynn into my name from now.)
Anyway I digress...there is a little something wanting to come out of me since listening to the talk. Here it comes...
Tiny Jewel
So easily unseen
by the unmindful eye,
one shiny glistening jewel,
captured in a tiny drop,
suspends so delicately
from the faucet's mouth.
Catching the busy fluorescent lighting
in a flickering of remembering
an ancient history
a perfectly clear lake,
glacial and cold,
once reflecting sunlight, moonlight
and mountain peak
in still and spacious waters.
One tiny expression of
This mighty Source
now seemingly so fragile,
at the mercy of gravitational fingers
that threaten to pull it into
the forgotten depths
at the bottom of the sink
you so take for granted.
Yet, it clings tenaciously to
the last stage of this long
and arduous journey
that has taken it,
in many changing forms,
down snow capped trails,
and hidden streams,
through roaring rivers
and awaiting oceans
to this,
to you,
in hope you will see
the mountain lake within it.
See the ruby, the diamond
and the sparkling sapphire
in its tiny little presence
before it loses its desperate hold
on the metal lip of your appliance.
Reach up to capture it
in your cold and open hand.
Notice it, thank it, embrace it,
and use it wisely.
Recognize The Source
of all things in it.
Allow its final destination
to be one of restful peace
by showing it that the sacrifice it
has made for you
will not go unnoticed.
© Dale-Lynn 2020
If I copy right in my pen name, can I switch to my real name at any time? Rhetorical question I ask because I have submitted some of these blog poems for publication purposes using my real name. Must check into that.
All good!
Plum Village (Sept, 2018) Happiness is Made By These Moments/Dharma Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh 2004https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlOEfUdgIEI
http://www.globalharmonycrew.com/how-to-make-the-most-of-your-life-the-24-hour-life/
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/measuring-the-quality-of-your-day-with-a-to-be-list-not-just-a-to-do-list/
Monday, May 18, 2020
Re-establishing Balance in Body and Mind
Sadness is my sickness; sickness is my sadness.
Sr. Dang Nghiem
The Poetry Mission
I have a few new mini- missions. My first is to do something with all these words that keep coming out of me. On top of the novel I painfully went back to, and the new one I am writing...get this...in poetic verse ( who the he## does that?)... I am getting my poetry into some kind of organized collections. Whether it gets published or not I have to do something with all these poems...hundreds of them. They are like my photos, just collecting in disorganized chaos on this computer. I just don't know what to do with these things. I really don't.
Submitting Poetry. Yuck!
Sometimes, I think an ego that wants to be recognized would benefit me some...it would help me to get these things out of the computer closet and into the world because Self tells me that is where they belong, in all their imperfection. But the submission process makes me want to vomit! I am so adverse to it...and not because I fear rejection. I am well used to that. It is just so time consuming. The process is something I would judge ( I know I am succumbing to duality) as completely sucky....so I tend to avoid it. :)
The poetry is also different than the other stuff I write. At least with the others, I have received some semi-validation that I can write in those genres...but with the poetry...the most exposing of all mediums...I haven't got a clue what other people think. And I really don't care.
When we submit...we have to care. It is like I have to plea with a potential publisher, "Oh please like me," because my poems are me. I am completely exposed in them. When I submit poetry , I feel like I am standing naked in front of all the Simon Cowels of the world after I just poured my soul out. (If you heard me sing...you would know why I feel so much at risk of never getting a Golden ticket). It is not that I care anymore about what they think of me or my poems. It is just that , if Self tells me they gotta be out there, I know they have to get past them first.
So it is like I am standing there with my arms up asking, "Well? Do you like me or not? I'm 56, I don't have a lot of time to waste here. Don't waste my time telling me I need lessons or a few reconstructive surgeries before I come back next season. Not going to happen! I got to get these out to the world for some bloody reason I will never completely understand...Just judge me quickly so I can move on to the Voice or America's Got Talent or something before it is too late, k? Hurry, hurry!"
Hurry!Hurry! equates to months of waiting.
Anyway, I did submit to a contest. Created two chap books with a small portion of my poetry and I sent them out. I will not hear back until August. I am quite sure there will not be a Golden ticket attached to the message I get back...and that is okay. I broke through that mental barrier I have towards submitting and they are out there. I will keep organizing and compiling chap books and hopefully I will keep up with the momentum of sending them out. Self...just asks that we try right? The rest is up to the universe.
Anyway...Mission Two: Trauma Release and Body Awareness
I am trying to reconnect with body and help others reconnect with their bodies which is teh basis of yoga I suppose. I know I have trauma trapped in my body and I want to use mindful yoga to release those knots. I then want to help others release their knots. I cannot do that, however, until I assume the correct posture.
It all begins with posture
I have been noticing surprisingly , as I look at some of the yoga videos I put on my page, that I have fallen out of the correct postural alignment. I was so embarrassed when I realized this because I felt like a hypocrite as a yoga teacher.
I slipped right into old postural habits I developed years ago when I had to give up my active life style for a more sedentary one. This period of isolation has led me once again to spend hours in front of the computer and on the couch and much less time in the studio. The body compensated in its attempt to accommodate and preserve.
It does not take long for the body to accommodate the mind, and for a new wiring and "normal" to take over. Some muscles will shorten and tighten because of the new posture, other antagonistic muscles will over stretch and weaken. Then the body, in its wisdom and desire to keep us balanced and stable on our mission through life...will accommodate for the weakening by shortening and tightening muscles elsewhere...which will lead to a weakening and overstretching of that muscle group's antagonistic muscles...and so on and so on and so on.
If we are not mindful of our body...we won't even notice what is going on until we start to notice a decreased range of motion, chronic pain, or injury. Now the body works as a unit, right? All muscles are interdependent. So a chronic pain in the bottom of the foot can actually be due to improper posturing of the cervical spine. A knee injury can be a result of rounded shoulders. Get that?
Posture is important! Good posture, like all healing, starts with mindfulness.
Three Common and Unhealthy Postural Changes
There are three obvious postural changes that can occur when we spend excessive amounts of time sitting in front of a computer or TV. They are : Tech neck, a forward roll of the shoulders and a pelvic tilt which can be anterior or posterior.
When I seen myself in one video, I was shocked to see all so clearly. I noticed during an upward sweep I could not bring my upper arms back to my ears. I noticed my chin jutting out explaining why I was having some discomfort in the back of my head and this constant clenching of the jaw. I noticed an overextension of the thoracic spine and a rolling of my shoulders thus explaining why I was getting shoulder and neck pain again...for the first time in years. And I noticed the pelvis in an anterior tilt sometimes and a posterior tilt other times. I was going back and forth between the both because I have a hypermobile lower spine. This was playing havoc on my knees when I stood and on my balance as a whole.
It is like wow! That happened fast. So here I am wanting to release the body of its trauma and I am creating more tension instead. Before I can do the body work and teach the body work for healing trauma to others, I will need to re-establish balance and stability in my posture.
So that is what I will be doing on my yoga page: helping myself and others correct these postural habits. And...the good news is... it is very correctable!
Four Ways to Re-establish Balance in the Mind
And to heal from trauma we also have to re-establish balance in our minds. We can develop very unhealthy habits that leave the mind straining and paining. Just like the body, the mind really does have our best interest at heart and when we are facing trauma...it does what it can to protect us. We tend to have many defense mechanisms that at the time are very helpful and necessary. Unfortunately, like improper body posture, they can become habits that no longer serve us and lead to more injury.
In a lovely dharma talk Beginning Anew, Sr. Dang Nghiem speaks to these four ways of realigning ourselves.
In Step One we begin by making it a daily practice to say thank you...to self. Recognize what the body and mind are doing to help us. See the Fight and Flight response that we may or may not be trapped in, as beneficial and necessary thing for our survival. It is there for a reason and it has helped us in teh past. Sure, we may develop an addiction to it...but that is okay too. Just recognize it as we move into different mental postures.
Sure you may have rolling shoulders like I do, leaving your knuckles dragging on the floor ( ;) ) but know that was the body's attempt to accommodate your needs. It can be corrected. So say thank you to body, mind and Self.
Step Two involves expressing regrets. Say sorry to yourself at least as often as you say it to others. We are much more cruel to our bodies and mind than we are to others. Say sorry to your body when you realize that something you did caused it to experience pain. Don't beat yourself up...apologize. Notice how often you criticise yourself and apologize to you for doing that. You as a body , mind and Self deserve your apologies more than anyone else does!
Step Three asks that we express the hurt. We so often supress and repress our strong feelings because we do not ant to deal with them. That is how trauma gets trapped in the body in the first place. We need to learn to express our pain. Best done if we can confront the individuals or circumstances we feel have "hurt" us in a kind and compassionate way. But if we cannot do that express those feelings to yourself. Sit with them, recognize them, allow them, embrace them and look deeply into them. I use the wonderful expression of written word to help me deal with painful emotions. I rather them on the page than in my muscles and cells.
Finally, Step Four is about making resolutions. determine what you can do to correct these habits you have had that no longer serve you. Just like we correct our unhealthy postural habits we correct our unhealthy mental habits.
So I have some missions that involve correcting habits of body and mind. Bear with me.
It is all good.
Plum Village (Jan 2020) Beginning Anew/ Holiday Retreat Dharma Talk/ Sr Dang Nghiem 2019 12 30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b6I5aAU3as
Sr. Dang Nghiem
The Poetry Mission
I have a few new mini- missions. My first is to do something with all these words that keep coming out of me. On top of the novel I painfully went back to, and the new one I am writing...get this...in poetic verse ( who the he## does that?)... I am getting my poetry into some kind of organized collections. Whether it gets published or not I have to do something with all these poems...hundreds of them. They are like my photos, just collecting in disorganized chaos on this computer. I just don't know what to do with these things. I really don't.
Submitting Poetry. Yuck!
Sometimes, I think an ego that wants to be recognized would benefit me some...it would help me to get these things out of the computer closet and into the world because Self tells me that is where they belong, in all their imperfection. But the submission process makes me want to vomit! I am so adverse to it...and not because I fear rejection. I am well used to that. It is just so time consuming. The process is something I would judge ( I know I am succumbing to duality) as completely sucky....so I tend to avoid it. :)
The poetry is also different than the other stuff I write. At least with the others, I have received some semi-validation that I can write in those genres...but with the poetry...the most exposing of all mediums...I haven't got a clue what other people think. And I really don't care.
When we submit...we have to care. It is like I have to plea with a potential publisher, "Oh please like me," because my poems are me. I am completely exposed in them. When I submit poetry , I feel like I am standing naked in front of all the Simon Cowels of the world after I just poured my soul out. (If you heard me sing...you would know why I feel so much at risk of never getting a Golden ticket). It is not that I care anymore about what they think of me or my poems. It is just that , if Self tells me they gotta be out there, I know they have to get past them first.
So it is like I am standing there with my arms up asking, "Well? Do you like me or not? I'm 56, I don't have a lot of time to waste here. Don't waste my time telling me I need lessons or a few reconstructive surgeries before I come back next season. Not going to happen! I got to get these out to the world for some bloody reason I will never completely understand...Just judge me quickly so I can move on to the Voice or America's Got Talent or something before it is too late, k? Hurry, hurry!"
Hurry!Hurry! equates to months of waiting.
Anyway, I did submit to a contest. Created two chap books with a small portion of my poetry and I sent them out. I will not hear back until August. I am quite sure there will not be a Golden ticket attached to the message I get back...and that is okay. I broke through that mental barrier I have towards submitting and they are out there. I will keep organizing and compiling chap books and hopefully I will keep up with the momentum of sending them out. Self...just asks that we try right? The rest is up to the universe.
Anyway...Mission Two: Trauma Release and Body Awareness
I am trying to reconnect with body and help others reconnect with their bodies which is teh basis of yoga I suppose. I know I have trauma trapped in my body and I want to use mindful yoga to release those knots. I then want to help others release their knots. I cannot do that, however, until I assume the correct posture.
It all begins with posture
I have been noticing surprisingly , as I look at some of the yoga videos I put on my page, that I have fallen out of the correct postural alignment. I was so embarrassed when I realized this because I felt like a hypocrite as a yoga teacher.
I slipped right into old postural habits I developed years ago when I had to give up my active life style for a more sedentary one. This period of isolation has led me once again to spend hours in front of the computer and on the couch and much less time in the studio. The body compensated in its attempt to accommodate and preserve.
It does not take long for the body to accommodate the mind, and for a new wiring and "normal" to take over. Some muscles will shorten and tighten because of the new posture, other antagonistic muscles will over stretch and weaken. Then the body, in its wisdom and desire to keep us balanced and stable on our mission through life...will accommodate for the weakening by shortening and tightening muscles elsewhere...which will lead to a weakening and overstretching of that muscle group's antagonistic muscles...and so on and so on and so on.
If we are not mindful of our body...we won't even notice what is going on until we start to notice a decreased range of motion, chronic pain, or injury. Now the body works as a unit, right? All muscles are interdependent. So a chronic pain in the bottom of the foot can actually be due to improper posturing of the cervical spine. A knee injury can be a result of rounded shoulders. Get that?
Posture is important! Good posture, like all healing, starts with mindfulness.
Three Common and Unhealthy Postural Changes
There are three obvious postural changes that can occur when we spend excessive amounts of time sitting in front of a computer or TV. They are : Tech neck, a forward roll of the shoulders and a pelvic tilt which can be anterior or posterior.
When I seen myself in one video, I was shocked to see all so clearly. I noticed during an upward sweep I could not bring my upper arms back to my ears. I noticed my chin jutting out explaining why I was having some discomfort in the back of my head and this constant clenching of the jaw. I noticed an overextension of the thoracic spine and a rolling of my shoulders thus explaining why I was getting shoulder and neck pain again...for the first time in years. And I noticed the pelvis in an anterior tilt sometimes and a posterior tilt other times. I was going back and forth between the both because I have a hypermobile lower spine. This was playing havoc on my knees when I stood and on my balance as a whole.
It is like wow! That happened fast. So here I am wanting to release the body of its trauma and I am creating more tension instead. Before I can do the body work and teach the body work for healing trauma to others, I will need to re-establish balance and stability in my posture.
So that is what I will be doing on my yoga page: helping myself and others correct these postural habits. And...the good news is... it is very correctable!
Four Ways to Re-establish Balance in the Mind
And to heal from trauma we also have to re-establish balance in our minds. We can develop very unhealthy habits that leave the mind straining and paining. Just like the body, the mind really does have our best interest at heart and when we are facing trauma...it does what it can to protect us. We tend to have many defense mechanisms that at the time are very helpful and necessary. Unfortunately, like improper body posture, they can become habits that no longer serve us and lead to more injury.
In a lovely dharma talk Beginning Anew, Sr. Dang Nghiem speaks to these four ways of realigning ourselves.
In Step One we begin by making it a daily practice to say thank you...to self. Recognize what the body and mind are doing to help us. See the Fight and Flight response that we may or may not be trapped in, as beneficial and necessary thing for our survival. It is there for a reason and it has helped us in teh past. Sure, we may develop an addiction to it...but that is okay too. Just recognize it as we move into different mental postures.
Sure you may have rolling shoulders like I do, leaving your knuckles dragging on the floor ( ;) ) but know that was the body's attempt to accommodate your needs. It can be corrected. So say thank you to body, mind and Self.
Step Two involves expressing regrets. Say sorry to yourself at least as often as you say it to others. We are much more cruel to our bodies and mind than we are to others. Say sorry to your body when you realize that something you did caused it to experience pain. Don't beat yourself up...apologize. Notice how often you criticise yourself and apologize to you for doing that. You as a body , mind and Self deserve your apologies more than anyone else does!
Step Three asks that we express the hurt. We so often supress and repress our strong feelings because we do not ant to deal with them. That is how trauma gets trapped in the body in the first place. We need to learn to express our pain. Best done if we can confront the individuals or circumstances we feel have "hurt" us in a kind and compassionate way. But if we cannot do that express those feelings to yourself. Sit with them, recognize them, allow them, embrace them and look deeply into them. I use the wonderful expression of written word to help me deal with painful emotions. I rather them on the page than in my muscles and cells.
Finally, Step Four is about making resolutions. determine what you can do to correct these habits you have had that no longer serve you. Just like we correct our unhealthy postural habits we correct our unhealthy mental habits.
So I have some missions that involve correcting habits of body and mind. Bear with me.
It is all good.
Plum Village (Jan 2020) Beginning Anew/ Holiday Retreat Dharma Talk/ Sr Dang Nghiem 2019 12 30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b6I5aAU3as
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Time: A Lethal Virus
I do not fear death. I have been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.
Mark Twain ( https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/25647-i-do-not-fear-death-i-had-been-dead-for)
Lethal Infection
We are all infected with a lethal virus
that will lead to our demise
and not one of us is immune to this
despite how ego tries
to convince us if we work hard
and if we really try
we can put aside the truth
that everything will die.
We take our antivirals and drink up
all the elixirs the world supplies
and we swallow so hopefully,
believing ego's lies.
We tuck away our ceremonial skulls
in the drawers of our mind
and as processions pass outside our windows
we quickly draw the blinds.
We drop our eyes and walk away from forms
burning on the funeral pyres
and we allow our denial and pretending
to extinguish all the fires.
We cringe as the mirror ungraciously reflects
every desperate crease and line,
that the years have placed upon our skin
as just another sign
that like the aged and the feeble
our own bodies will decay.
So we cover up each wrinkle and
hide all beings who reflect the truth away.
We can't ignore the clocks upon the wall
that sing out with their ticking hands
that our moments are diminishing,
that there's no escaping time's demands.
Like all of nature's produce
our bodies will wither, brown and die
making room for new life beneath us
to emerge from the plot in which we lie.
Death is a natural sign of impermanence
that all nature must endure
so don't listen to the ego when it professes,
through denial, we can cure.
Just accept that this heavy form we inhabit
like an outfit made of time
must be removed when the span is over,
when Life has reached her prime.
Take a breath and breathe it in,
the reality of what you are:
you are human; you are earth;
you are comet; you are star
and beneath the form that exhales
the last precious dying breath
is a something or a no-thing
that will outlive this thought of death.
Dale-Lyn (May 2020)
This is getting a bit ridiculous lol. ...especially with the rhyming! Anyway...was listening to Eckhart Tolle talk about time as a lethal virus (see link below) and this is what popped out. Go figure.
I know that "poets" and those who critique poetry will probably look at this as anything but poetry. I myself do not know what to call it...it just comes out!
All is well
Eckhart Tolle (May 2, 2020) Finding Death Before Death Finds You. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfGjm2lHqpQ
Mark Twain ( https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/25647-i-do-not-fear-death-i-had-been-dead-for)
Lethal Infection
We are all infected with a lethal virus
that will lead to our demise
and not one of us is immune to this
despite how ego tries
to convince us if we work hard
and if we really try
we can put aside the truth
that everything will die.
We take our antivirals and drink up
all the elixirs the world supplies
and we swallow so hopefully,
believing ego's lies.
We tuck away our ceremonial skulls
in the drawers of our mind
and as processions pass outside our windows
we quickly draw the blinds.
We drop our eyes and walk away from forms
burning on the funeral pyres
and we allow our denial and pretending
to extinguish all the fires.
We cringe as the mirror ungraciously reflects
every desperate crease and line,
that the years have placed upon our skin
as just another sign
that like the aged and the feeble
our own bodies will decay.
So we cover up each wrinkle and
hide all beings who reflect the truth away.
We can't ignore the clocks upon the wall
that sing out with their ticking hands
that our moments are diminishing,
that there's no escaping time's demands.
Like all of nature's produce
our bodies will wither, brown and die
making room for new life beneath us
to emerge from the plot in which we lie.
Death is a natural sign of impermanence
that all nature must endure
so don't listen to the ego when it professes,
through denial, we can cure.
Just accept that this heavy form we inhabit
like an outfit made of time
must be removed when the span is over,
when Life has reached her prime.
Take a breath and breathe it in,
the reality of what you are:
you are human; you are earth;
you are comet; you are star
and beneath the form that exhales
the last precious dying breath
is a something or a no-thing
that will outlive this thought of death.
Dale-Lyn (May 2020)
This is getting a bit ridiculous lol. ...especially with the rhyming! Anyway...was listening to Eckhart Tolle talk about time as a lethal virus (see link below) and this is what popped out. Go figure.
I know that "poets" and those who critique poetry will probably look at this as anything but poetry. I myself do not know what to call it...it just comes out!
All is well
Eckhart Tolle (May 2, 2020) Finding Death Before Death Finds You. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfGjm2lHqpQ
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