Sat 15 minutes. Numerous interactions between the harsh internal critic and the one who wants me to relax and open.
FYI, just got this word: Charlie Rose's interview of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will air tonight, Wednesday, November 16, 2005 at 11 pm (in most markets).
In Houston, it will be on PBS Channel 8 at 11:30 pm
For other local channel and times please go to http://www.charlierose.com/
sat 15 minutes. Enjoyed it tho' I always seem to time my sitting when J finishes his painting and wants to share and relax. His way to relax if I'm not available is to watch telly which is very distracting and I realise I do want to be available to share that moment with him over a cup of tea and a sit by the fire so I might have to rethink my rhythm...
Also have to say that in supermarket and post office queues I have been enjoying myself, once I have gotten over the irritation, and decided that there is only this one moment; this one breath....often there is a child too if i open my eyes.
I haven't been online much these days, but I did want to check in.
Recent topics of conversation have been interesting. As far as living with somebody who doesn't meditate, I find myself to be on the other side of the line: my husband, who does not practice, is the most incredibly calm, balanced person I know, whereas I am easily set into a spin and therefore most in need of that time and space.
Regarding animals and sentience, I am also a person with "vegetarian tendencies." In general, I refrain from eating most meats (with the exception of fish on occasion) and take care with other animal products. While I am pregnant, I am eating some meat. Sans fish, actually, but that's all to do with a picky nose. I changed my diet over a very long period of time, which probably helped. The reason? Mainly, I identify too much with animals. Dale's comment about using a Muslim to do the butchering struck me, because what I told myself when I started on this path was that I couldn't do it myself and be okay with it, so how would having somebody else do it make it better? Later, as I learned more about mass farming, I became more settled in my personal conviction. For these reasons, I do keep a mindfulness and gratitude about what I do consume. There is another, deeper feeling that lies beneath all of that: a sense of a mass consciousness, and a deep respect for all living things. It's not something I bring up when people ask why I don't eat meat, but it is there. And again, where do you draw the line? That's a difficult thing to do. I drew it where I felt I could, where I was more comfortable.
I've been meditating in very short sessions the last few days, but feel like I am still making progress. Writing has also been invaluable at this time. I'm a beginner at all of this, and have a question: what is the best process for meditating on or about something?
That's a lot of a question. There's an easy answer: there isn't a best process. You have to find what works by experimentation.
But that's ducking the question :-)
When I "meditate on the breath," for example, it's really very simple. And to me it's both the most basic and most important kind of meditation. I just bring my awareness to my breath, rest my attention there. I *don't* have a conversation with myself about it, or judge it, or compare it with anything. (That's a pack of lies. Of course, I do all those things. But that's not what I'm trying to do.)
When I become aware that my attention is no longer there, I bring it back, immediately and without fuss. No self-condemnation, no talking to myself, no recrimination. Just bring it back. Nothing else.
You can do this practice with practically anything perceived by the senses. The visual impression of an orange, say. Just put it in front of you and rest your attention on what it looks like. Or ambiant sound. Just try to hear the rain (without wandering off into wondering about the condition of the roof.) Or the sensation of your clothes against your skin. Anything. But keep the same object throughout the session. And every time you find your mind somewhere else -- you just bring it back. So that's what I do, anyway, when I meditate "on" something. (Pause for breath, and to post.)
But you may be asking about "meditating on compassion," or something like that? People can mean all kinds of things by that. It can be as simple as just thinking about it, mulling it over. A lot of Tibetan practices begin with "the four thoughts that turn the mind" -- and all you're supposed to do is think about them, call to mind the most powerful and moving images of them, for you personally. (The four thoughts are, briefly -- impermanence, the rareness of opportunity to practice, dissatisfaction, and karma.) Most people I practice with would call this a "contemplation," but many people would call it a meditation. I think of it as personalizing, more than anything else. For instance -- oddly, because I'm not someone who's very interested in clothes -- I find that one of the most powerful way I have of thinking about impermanence is to picture all the clothes that I've worn out -- all the jeans that were once new, and last seen faded and full of holes, the new tennis shoes dingy and toe-busted, the shirts that once fit and then became too small -- I sort of imagine them all in a heap, and think about how everything I'm wearing will belong in that heap, eventually. I just mull that over for a bit and go on to the next thought. And of course my mind goes gallivanting all over the place, and when I notice that I bring it back. But it's not what I'd call meditation, because it's cultivating conceptual, discursive thoughts, rather than letting them die away. In general I find it much easier than meditation.
Dale, thanks; yes, you answered my question very well. I've wondered about both aspects, and this helps clarify for me. My meditations have been focused on breath, but I was curious about different foci, and whether contemplation was commonly brought into meditation, or even considered a type of meditation.
Ah, but Beth, if you decide on something very specific that you're going to focus on, and then do it, that's a very different experience from going there spontaneously...
I like the 'four thoughts that turn the mind' and will look into that.
Mostly, along with mindfulness of the breath, I do quite a lot of loving kindness meditation (sometimes not for ages and then quite a lot, and sometimes on alternate days which is the practice taught by the Western Buddhist Order.) This is good for when I'm finding it particularly difficult to empty my mind (easier if you are putting something there instead) and also for when bad feelings of any kind intrude. There are many slightly different versions and most of you know these, I expect. The one I was taught and still like is to focus for five minutes each on an image of 1)myself 2)a friend 3) a neutral person, eg someone you see around regularly but don't know well 4)a person you find difficult 5)all of those together and then moving out via family, friends, neighbourhood, country, world to 'all beings. When you have conjured the image of each (more or less visually, depending on how good you are at visualisation, doesn't matter) hold the image and say silently over and over something like 'may you (I,we) be well, may you be happy, may you make progress. Very potted version. Works for me, and, as I said, especially good at times when bringing the mind to silence is impossible for one reason or another. When I have done this with commitment it has sometimes had a stunningly powerful effect on the relationship with the difficult person evoked - I guess it releases the psychological hooks that perpetuate bad relationships.
So, hi. I am still here. Just about recovered and back at work. Have been sitting for a few minutes every morning. And am really glad I am.
My copy of Boundless Heart by Alan Wallace arrived yesterday. Ruth, I got this from Amazon UK - I think you said you couldn't get it? There is a new edition - new title 'The Four Immeasurables: Cultivating A Boundless Heart; the title What I read on the bus this morning I like very much.
So glad you're feeling better, Jean. Thanks for your thoughts on "loving kindness" reflections - yes, I do this too, just about as you describe - and not often enough.
What I was referring to as "distracting" was what Dale meant, at the end of his last comment - intentional "contemplation"of a problem or an idea is different for me than meditation, which is (for me) an attempt to stop discursive thinking. I feel the same way about verbal prayer and intercession for others. So I try to do those two activities at different times, not substituting one for the other. But that's just me, I don't mean to imply any "rightness'or "wrongness" abotu either - both are very important to the spiritual life, I think.
Yes, they're both essential, I think. I have to be careful not to confuse them, though, because given half a chance I'll completely replace the shamatha with discursive contemplation. My discursive mind is always all too ready to step in and take control of the show :-)
12 Comments:
Sat 15 minutes. Numerous interactions between the harsh internal critic and the one who wants me to relax and open.
FYI, just got this word:
Charlie Rose's interview of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will air tonight,
Wednesday, November 16, 2005 at 11 pm (in most markets).
In Houston, it will be on PBS Channel 8 at 11:30 pm
For other local channel and times please go to http://www.charlierose.com/
Don't know who's up at that hour. I'm not.
Sat ten minutes last night, twenty this morning. Very turbulent mind, completely distracted for long periods of time. I'm feeling healthier though.
So glad you sat, Moose!
sat 15 minutes. Enjoyed it tho' I always seem to time my sitting when J finishes his painting and wants to share and relax. His way to relax if I'm not available is to watch telly which is very distracting and I realise I do want to be available to share that moment with him over a cup of tea and a sit by the fire so I might have to rethink my rhythm...
Also have to say that in supermarket and post office queues I have been enjoying myself, once I have gotten over the irritation, and decided that there is only this one moment; this one breath....often there is a child too if i open my eyes.
Hello all-
I haven't been online much these days, but I did want to check in.
Recent topics of conversation have been interesting. As far as living with somebody who doesn't meditate, I find myself to be on the other side of the line: my husband, who does not practice, is the most incredibly calm, balanced person I know, whereas I am easily set into a spin and therefore most in need of that time and space.
Regarding animals and sentience, I am also a person with "vegetarian tendencies." In general, I refrain from eating most meats (with the exception of fish on occasion) and take care with other animal products. While I am pregnant, I am eating some meat. Sans fish, actually, but that's all to do with a picky nose. I changed my diet over a very long period of time, which probably helped. The reason? Mainly, I identify too much with animals. Dale's comment about using a Muslim to do the butchering struck me, because what I told myself when I started on this path was that I couldn't do it myself and be okay with it, so how would having somebody else do it make it better? Later, as I learned more about mass farming, I became more settled in my personal conviction. For these reasons, I do keep a mindfulness and gratitude about what I do consume. There is another, deeper feeling that lies beneath all of that: a sense of a mass consciousness, and a deep respect for all living things. It's not something I bring up when people ask why I don't eat meat, but it is there. And again, where do you draw the line? That's a difficult thing to do. I drew it where I felt I could, where I was more comfortable.
I've been meditating in very short sessions the last few days, but feel like I am still making progress. Writing has also been invaluable at this time. I'm a beginner at all of this, and have a question: what is the best process for meditating on or about something?
Whew!
That's a lot of a question. There's an easy answer: there isn't a best process. You have to find what works by experimentation.
But that's ducking the question :-)
When I "meditate on the breath," for example, it's really very simple. And to me it's both the most basic and most important kind of meditation. I just bring my awareness to my breath, rest my attention there. I *don't* have a conversation with myself about it, or judge it, or compare it with anything. (That's a pack of lies. Of course, I do all those things. But that's not what I'm trying to do.)
When I become aware that my attention is no longer there, I bring it back, immediately and without fuss. No self-condemnation, no talking to myself, no recrimination. Just bring it back. Nothing else.
You can do this practice with practically anything perceived by the senses. The visual impression of an orange, say. Just put it in front of you and rest your attention on what it looks like. Or ambiant sound. Just try to hear the rain (without wandering off into wondering about the condition of the roof.) Or the sensation of your clothes against your skin. Anything. But keep the same object throughout the session. And every time you find your mind somewhere else -- you just bring it back. So that's what I do, anyway, when I meditate "on" something. (Pause for breath, and to post.)
But you may be asking about "meditating on compassion," or something like that? People can mean all kinds of things by that. It can be as simple as just thinking about it, mulling it over. A lot of Tibetan practices begin with "the four thoughts that turn the mind" -- and all you're supposed to do is think about them, call to mind the most powerful and moving images of them, for you personally. (The four thoughts are, briefly -- impermanence, the rareness of opportunity to practice, dissatisfaction, and karma.) Most people I practice with would call this a "contemplation," but many people would call it a meditation. I think of it as personalizing, more than anything else. For instance -- oddly, because I'm not someone who's very interested in clothes -- I find that one of the most powerful way I have of thinking about impermanence is to picture all the clothes that I've worn out -- all the jeans that were once new, and last seen faded and full of holes, the new tennis shoes dingy and toe-busted, the shirts that once fit and then became too small -- I sort of imagine them all in a heap, and think about how everything I'm wearing will belong in that heap, eventually. I just mull that over for a bit and go on to the next thought. And of course my mind goes gallivanting all over the place, and when I notice that I bring it back. But it's not what I'd call meditation, because it's cultivating conceptual, discursive thoughts, rather than letting them die away. In general I find it much easier than meditation.
... I dunno, is this what you were asking about?
Dale, thanks; yes, you answered my question very well. I've wondered about both aspects, and this helps clarify for me. My meditations have been focused on breath, but I was curious about different foci, and whether contemplation was commonly brought into meditation, or even considered a type of meditation.
That's exactly the sort of thinking I consider a distraction during meditation, since I am so prone to it :)
Hadn't sat the past two days, but did today, and was surprisingly centered in spite of being in a pretty bad mood. It helps.
"zatuq" (couldn't resist)
Ah, but Beth, if you decide on something very specific that you're going to focus on, and then do it, that's a very different experience from going there spontaneously...
I like the 'four thoughts that turn the mind' and will look into that.
Mostly, along with mindfulness of the breath, I do quite a lot of loving kindness meditation (sometimes not for ages and then quite a lot, and sometimes on alternate days which is the practice taught by the Western Buddhist Order.) This is good for when I'm finding it particularly difficult to empty my mind (easier if you are putting something there instead) and also for when bad feelings of any kind intrude. There are many slightly different versions and most of you know these, I expect. The one I was taught and still like is to focus for five minutes each on an image of 1)myself 2)a friend 3) a neutral person, eg someone you see around regularly but don't know well 4)a person you find difficult 5)all of those together and then moving out via family, friends, neighbourhood, country, world to 'all beings. When you have conjured the image of each (more or less visually, depending on how good you are at visualisation, doesn't matter) hold the image and say silently over and over something like 'may you (I,we) be well, may you be happy, may you make progress. Very potted version. Works for me, and, as I said, especially good at times when bringing the mind to silence is impossible for one reason or another. When I have done this with commitment it has sometimes had a stunningly powerful effect on the relationship with the difficult person evoked - I guess it releases the psychological hooks that perpetuate bad relationships.
So, hi. I am still here. Just about recovered and back at work. Have been sitting for a few minutes every morning. And am really glad I am.
My copy of Boundless Heart by Alan Wallace arrived yesterday. Ruth, I got this from Amazon UK - I think you said you couldn't get it? There is a new edition - new title 'The Four Immeasurables: Cultivating A Boundless Heart; the title What I read on the bus this morning I like very much.
sorry for incoherence, unfinished sentences etc... I guess I'm not completely recovered.. :-)
So glad you're feeling better, Jean. Thanks for your thoughts on "loving kindness" reflections - yes, I do this too, just about as you describe - and not often enough.
What I was referring to as "distracting" was what Dale meant, at the end of his last comment - intentional "contemplation"of a problem or an idea is different for me than meditation, which is (for me) an attempt to stop discursive thinking. I feel the same way about verbal prayer and intercession for others. So I try to do those two activities at different times, not substituting one for the other. But that's just me, I don't mean to imply any "rightness'or "wrongness" abotu either - both are very important to the spiritual life, I think.
Yes, they're both essential, I think. I have to be careful not to confuse them, though, because given half a chance I'll completely replace the shamatha with discursive contemplation. My discursive mind is always all too ready to step in and take control of the show :-)
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