Friday, December 13, 2002
Thursday, December 12, 2002
About Chuang Tzu
Reflections based on Merton's reflections but cute phrases are listed by category which might be useful if you are in a rush for an apt quote.
Reflections based on Merton's reflections but cute phrases are listed by category which might be useful if you are in a rush for an apt quote.
Tuesday, December 10, 2002
Hindu Basics
"Beliefs are the building blocks of the mind. Our beliefs determine our thoughts and attitudes about life, which in turn direct our actions. By our actions we create our destiny. Beliefs about sacred matters—God, man and cosmos—are essential to one’s approach to enlightenment. But beliefs are not mere matters of agreement. They are what we value and hold as true. Hindus believe many diverse things, but there are a few bedrock concepts on which most Hindus concur. The following nine beliefs, though not exhaustive, offer a simple summary of Hindu spirituality."
"Beliefs are the building blocks of the mind. Our beliefs determine our thoughts and attitudes about life, which in turn direct our actions. By our actions we create our destiny. Beliefs about sacred matters—God, man and cosmos—are essential to one’s approach to enlightenment. But beliefs are not mere matters of agreement. They are what we value and hold as true. Hindus believe many diverse things, but there are a few bedrock concepts on which most Hindus concur. The following nine beliefs, though not exhaustive, offer a simple summary of Hindu spirituality."
Monday, December 09, 2002
Ajahn Chah
Suhada finds the writing of this Thai master to be inspiring and, co-incidentally, he was the teacher of Jack Kornfield who wrote "After the Ecstasy, the Laundry"
Suhada finds the writing of this Thai master to be inspiring and, co-incidentally, he was the teacher of Jack Kornfield who wrote "After the Ecstasy, the Laundry"
Sunday, December 08, 2002
Tao Atlantic, The International Healing Tao in Maritime Canada
"Rejuvenation and self-healing are important benefits of the Healing Tao practices. They are however simply the necessary background for the primary goal of self-cultivation which is spiritual growth and integration. The Microcosmic Orbit meditation can be seen as simply following the ancient law "Know Thyself". Turning the attention inward in quiet observation and gentle involvement in inner life fosters a sure sense of knowing and purpose."
The mind/body link from the ancient Taoist perspective
The picture outlines the 'other' anatomy.
"Rejuvenation and self-healing are important benefits of the Healing Tao practices. They are however simply the necessary background for the primary goal of self-cultivation which is spiritual growth and integration. The Microcosmic Orbit meditation can be seen as simply following the ancient law "Know Thyself". Turning the attention inward in quiet observation and gentle involvement in inner life fosters a sure sense of knowing and purpose."
The mind/body link from the ancient Taoist perspective
The picture outlines the 'other' anatomy.
Saturday, December 07, 2002
A Unified Field Theory of Design - What is wisdom?
"Wisdom is the most vague and intimate level of understanding. It is much more abstract and philosophical than other levels and less is known about how to create or effect it. Wisdom is a kind of "meta-knowledge" of processes and relationships gained through experiences. It is the result of contemplation, evaluation, retrospection, and interpretation--all of which are particularly personal processes. We cannot create wisdom like we can data and information, and we cannot share it with others like we can with knowledge. We can only create experiences that offer opportunities and describe processes. Ultimately, it is an understanding that must be gained by one's self."
Is this technical author embued with postmodernism?
"Wisdom is the most vague and intimate level of understanding. It is much more abstract and philosophical than other levels and less is known about how to create or effect it. Wisdom is a kind of "meta-knowledge" of processes and relationships gained through experiences. It is the result of contemplation, evaluation, retrospection, and interpretation--all of which are particularly personal processes. We cannot create wisdom like we can data and information, and we cannot share it with others like we can with knowledge. We can only create experiences that offer opportunities and describe processes. Ultimately, it is an understanding that must be gained by one's self."
Is this technical author embued with postmodernism?
Friday, December 06, 2002
Scratching the existential itch
"Let's begin with 'dissatisfaction'. Not enough of what you want and too much of what you don't want. This drives the urge for change. How can we use it?"
"Let's begin with 'dissatisfaction'. Not enough of what you want and too much of what you don't want. This drives the urge for change. How can we use it?"
Wednesday, December 04, 2002
Finding mental space for movement
"Like many overarching philosophical systems structuralism seemed to promise everything and yet not quite to deliver. Everything became so pre-determined that it was hard to find space for philosophical movement. The attack on the notion of the fixity of the sign, and on grand theories, became known as post-structuralism."
"Like many overarching philosophical systems structuralism seemed to promise everything and yet not quite to deliver. Everything became so pre-determined that it was hard to find space for philosophical movement. The attack on the notion of the fixity of the sign, and on grand theories, became known as post-structuralism."
Tuesday, December 03, 2002
A wee rant
Reading the history of western philosophy is like attending a macho debating society for clever blokes. Women are nowhere to be seen and the truly pragmatic and holistic realists (the romantics) are dismissed as insufficiently rigorous in bracketing out such ‘facts’ as might disturb the smooth functioning of the clever blokes’ abstract, idealised and anally retentive maps and models.
More about this on a web page soon!
Reading the history of western philosophy is like attending a macho debating society for clever blokes. Women are nowhere to be seen and the truly pragmatic and holistic realists (the romantics) are dismissed as insufficiently rigorous in bracketing out such ‘facts’ as might disturb the smooth functioning of the clever blokes’ abstract, idealised and anally retentive maps and models.
More about this on a web page soon!
Contractor in the Knowledge Industry
An early start – or at least early out of bed. I am a contractor in the knowledge industry – a brain worker. A lot of good work is done first thing in the morning before I get out of bed, even before I open my eyes. Sometimes I doze during the day but even then I am on the job. The brain works on problems when ‘I’ am asleep and often presents the solution when ‘I’ wake up. Few employers appreciate the value of this kind of subconscious knowledge processing (SKP) – it cannot be counted as chargeable hours!
An early start – or at least early out of bed. I am a contractor in the knowledge industry – a brain worker. A lot of good work is done first thing in the morning before I get out of bed, even before I open my eyes. Sometimes I doze during the day but even then I am on the job. The brain works on problems when ‘I’ am asleep and often presents the solution when ‘I’ wake up. Few employers appreciate the value of this kind of subconscious knowledge processing (SKP) – it cannot be counted as chargeable hours!
Monday, December 02, 2002
The Directory of Hindu Resources Online
"The goal of www.hindu.org is to publish and connect all Hindu organizations, leaders and resources such as news, events, publications, Vedic sciences, art, music and culture on the Internet's World Wide Web."
"The goal of www.hindu.org is to publish and connect all Hindu organizations, leaders and resources such as news, events, publications, Vedic sciences, art, music and culture on the Internet's World Wide Web."
Renunciant Frugality
Not really such an odd phrase but when you Google it this is the only site it comes up with - and it is one of mine?
Not really such an odd phrase but when you Google it this is the only site it comes up with - and it is one of mine?
Sunday, December 01, 2002
Surviving Beatles pay tribute to Harrison - The Times of India
"I remember thinking I just want more. This isn't it. Fame is not the goal. Money is not the goal. To be able to know how to get peace of mind, how to be happy, is something you don't just stumble across. You've got to search for it."
There you go!
"I remember thinking I just want more. This isn't it. Fame is not the goal. Money is not the goal. To be able to know how to get peace of mind, how to be happy, is something you don't just stumble across. You've got to search for it."
There you go!
Saturday, November 30, 2002
Daily Words of the Buddha
Sign up for a daily quote in your email eg
One who, while himself seeking happiness,
does not oppress with violence other beings
who also desire happiness,
will find happiness hereafter.
Dhammapada 132
Sign up for a daily quote in your email eg
One who, while himself seeking happiness,
does not oppress with violence other beings
who also desire happiness,
will find happiness hereafter.
Dhammapada 132
great fuzzy churn
I have a reconditioned mind. I will hang around at the keyboard to see what it turns up. I now have total faith in ‘my’ ability to create something to occupy the attention centre. There is thus no need to fear boredom. The mind’s ability to lock on to issues and activities is totally dependable.
The mind conjures up topics for attention - endlessly. If the external environment (as internally interpreted) does not appear to have much to offer, then the internal environment (as if there was anything else!) is a bottomless pit of images, emotions and story lines.
Daydreaming is like channel hopping on the telly except that (a) there is no telly and (b) there are no channels. The rational brain tries to set up dualities and construct categories and preferences but, in reality, one thing slides into another in that great, fuzzy churn which is the flux as interpreted by my reconditioned mind.
I have a reconditioned mind. I will hang around at the keyboard to see what it turns up. I now have total faith in ‘my’ ability to create something to occupy the attention centre. There is thus no need to fear boredom. The mind’s ability to lock on to issues and activities is totally dependable.
The mind conjures up topics for attention - endlessly. If the external environment (as internally interpreted) does not appear to have much to offer, then the internal environment (as if there was anything else!) is a bottomless pit of images, emotions and story lines.
Daydreaming is like channel hopping on the telly except that (a) there is no telly and (b) there are no channels. The rational brain tries to set up dualities and construct categories and preferences but, in reality, one thing slides into another in that great, fuzzy churn which is the flux as interpreted by my reconditioned mind.
Friday, November 29, 2002
meditation-against-terrorism
I put the phrase into Google and this is what turned up - power to the elbow of our Himalaya brothers
I put the phrase into Google and this is what turned up - power to the elbow of our Himalaya brothers
Thursday, November 28, 2002
Places the United States has Bombed
So many places, so much violence. What goes on in the heads of people who make these things happen?
So many places, so much violence. What goes on in the heads of people who make these things happen?
Thich Nhat Hanh at Plum Village
A Vietnamese buddhist master and social activist who writes simply and clearly
A Vietnamese buddhist master and social activist who writes simply and clearly
Wednesday, November 27, 2002
Fat and sunburn
Exchange the boring old, business as usual mind for the deluxe version that is hiding behind your curtain - Tantra according to the late (and reincarnated?) Lama Yeshe
Exchange the boring old, business as usual mind for the deluxe version that is hiding behind your curtain - Tantra according to the late (and reincarnated?) Lama Yeshe
Tuesday, November 26, 2002
The Communication Initiative - theories - Buddhist Concept of Communication
"In the Aristotelian [Western] notion of communication the idea of manipulation is central. In the Buddhist model, however, the notions of sharing and mutuality are important."
"In the Aristotelian [Western] notion of communication the idea of manipulation is central. In the Buddhist model, however, the notions of sharing and mutuality are important."
Monday, November 25, 2002
Spiritual lion or ordinary goat
“The primary concern of Indian Philosophy has always been a radical changing of man’s nature and, therewith, a renovation of his understanding both of the outer world and of his own existence; a change as complete as possible, such as will amount, when successful, to a total conversion or rebirth.”
“The primary concern of Indian Philosophy has always been a radical changing of man’s nature and, therewith, a renovation of his understanding both of the outer world and of his own existence; a change as complete as possible, such as will amount, when successful, to a total conversion or rebirth.”
"Man's Work" for Lama Osel
"From the age of 19 months, when he was identified as the reincarnation of a Tibetan lama, Osel Hita Tores has lived like no other child. Transported from a Spanish village to a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in India, he is now, at age 11, the subject of what is described as 'potentially the most exciting experiment in education, done anywhere, at any time.' "
"From the age of 19 months, when he was identified as the reincarnation of a Tibetan lama, Osel Hita Tores has lived like no other child. Transported from a Spanish village to a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in India, he is now, at age 11, the subject of what is described as 'potentially the most exciting experiment in education, done anywhere, at any time.' "
More valuable than the Dalai Lama?
"Environmentalists and left-leaning economists have been tryin to get
people interested in sustainable development for nearly two decades, and
now they're getting a new breath of life from Columbia University, says
the Wall Street Journal, reporting that Columbia has disclosed that it is
housing its new star economist, Jeffrey Sachs, in an $8 million townhouse
near Central Park West in Manhattan, which will double as a place where
Sachs can entertain world dignitaries to push his wide-ranging views about
the environment, infectious disease and Third-World poverty."
"Environmentalists and left-leaning economists have been tryin to get
people interested in sustainable development for nearly two decades, and
now they're getting a new breath of life from Columbia University, says
the Wall Street Journal, reporting that Columbia has disclosed that it is
housing its new star economist, Jeffrey Sachs, in an $8 million townhouse
near Central Park West in Manhattan, which will double as a place where
Sachs can entertain world dignitaries to push his wide-ranging views about
the environment, infectious disease and Third-World poverty."
Sunday, November 24, 2002
Dalai Lama's speech after being awared the Nobel Peace Prize
"Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighboring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free. True peace with oneself and with the world around us can only be achieved through the development of mental peace. The other phenomena mentioned above are similarly interrelated. Thus, for example, we see that a clean environment, wealth or democracy mean little in the face of war, especially nuclear war, and that material development is not sufficient to ensure human happiness."
Meditation - audio teachings
Fast loading bits of chat from the guru lady from Singapore who sounds as if she learned English in Boston.
Fast loading bits of chat from the guru lady from Singapore who sounds as if she learned English in Boston.
Taming the Monkey Mind
"The title of the book, Taming the Monkey Mind, was inspired by Lama Yeshe, one of my teachers. He often compared our minds to monkeys: just as monkeys play with an object for a few moments and leave it in boredom and dissatisfaction to look for another thing to amuse them, so too do we run from thought to thought, emotion to emotion, place to place, trying to find some lasting happiness. Always searching for happiness outside ourselves, we overlook the real cause of happiness and unhappiness: our minds. Through taming our monkey minds, we can contact our inner beauty and human potential. This book gives an inkling how this is done."
Ven. Thubten Chodron
"The title of the book, Taming the Monkey Mind, was inspired by Lama Yeshe, one of my teachers. He often compared our minds to monkeys: just as monkeys play with an object for a few moments and leave it in boredom and dissatisfaction to look for another thing to amuse them, so too do we run from thought to thought, emotion to emotion, place to place, trying to find some lasting happiness. Always searching for happiness outside ourselves, we overlook the real cause of happiness and unhappiness: our minds. Through taming our monkey minds, we can contact our inner beauty and human potential. This book gives an inkling how this is done."
Ven. Thubten Chodron
Another explanation of how to sit Zazen
"During zazen, thoughts, conscious and subconscious, naturally and continuously rise to the surface of our mind. Don't try to stop these thoughts from arising. But at the same time, don't get involved with the thoughts or let them take you away from concentration on posture and breathing. Just let the thoughts pass, like clouds in the sky, neither opposing them nor attaching to them. Shadows pass and vanish. Images arise from the subconscious, then disappear. The brain becomes deeply calm. One arrives at the deep unconscious, beyond thought, to hishiryo consciousness, true purity.
Hishiryo is the unconscious of Zen--universal mind. In Japanese, shiryo is thinking, fushiryo non-thinking. But hishiryo is absolute thinking, beyond thinking and non-thinking. Beyond categories, opposites, contradictions. Beyond all problems of personal consciousness. Our original nature, Buddha nature, the Cosmic unconscious."
"During zazen, thoughts, conscious and subconscious, naturally and continuously rise to the surface of our mind. Don't try to stop these thoughts from arising. But at the same time, don't get involved with the thoughts or let them take you away from concentration on posture and breathing. Just let the thoughts pass, like clouds in the sky, neither opposing them nor attaching to them. Shadows pass and vanish. Images arise from the subconscious, then disappear. The brain becomes deeply calm. One arrives at the deep unconscious, beyond thought, to hishiryo consciousness, true purity.
Hishiryo is the unconscious of Zen--universal mind. In Japanese, shiryo is thinking, fushiryo non-thinking. But hishiryo is absolute thinking, beyond thinking and non-thinking. Beyond categories, opposites, contradictions. Beyond all problems of personal consciousness. Our original nature, Buddha nature, the Cosmic unconscious."
Saturday, November 23, 2002
the truly tough minded
I now have very little recall of what I did this morning. This may not matter. Why should I fill my brain with thoughts of the past when the present is here. If I am to give attention to the past (or my memory of the past) or the future (or my imagination of various possible futures) then I will drift without notice through the present. How then can this particular and unnoticed present become a meaningful part of tomorrow’s yesterday? And why should it? What does it mean to be ‘in the world’? Hard-nosed-people oozing with down-to-earth common-sense may not ask these questions – they are content to live in their robustly imagined boxes. Hail intersubjectivity and the conventional wisdom of the dominant group (COWDUNG).
I now have very little recall of what I did this morning. This may not matter. Why should I fill my brain with thoughts of the past when the present is here. If I am to give attention to the past (or my memory of the past) or the future (or my imagination of various possible futures) then I will drift without notice through the present. How then can this particular and unnoticed present become a meaningful part of tomorrow’s yesterday? And why should it? What does it mean to be ‘in the world’? Hard-nosed-people oozing with down-to-earth common-sense may not ask these questions – they are content to live in their robustly imagined boxes. Hail intersubjectivity and the conventional wisdom of the dominant group (COWDUNG).
How to sit (zazen positions)
There is no getting away from having good posture - mind and body are not separate!
There is no getting away from having good posture - mind and body are not separate!
Friday, November 22, 2002
beyond-meddling
"The main cause of suffering in individuals and empires is when the rational intellect decides that the illusory self has private ends to serve. Suffering ends when individuals and empires have learned to graciously accept and follow the ancient and time tested patterns of self regulation."
"The main cause of suffering in individuals and empires is when the rational intellect decides that the illusory self has private ends to serve. Suffering ends when individuals and empires have learned to graciously accept and follow the ancient and time tested patterns of self regulation."
An alternative view to the mainstream media, Human rights; Social and economic justice; Foreign policy; Corporations; Media control, Travel in Africa, Asia and Latin America
"A properly functioning system of indoctrination has a variety of tasks. Its primary target are the "stupid and ignorant masses". They must be kept that way; marginalized, and isolated. Ideally, each person should be alone in front of the TV screen watching sports, soap operas, or comedies, deprived of organizational structures that permit individuals lacking resources to discover what they think and believe in, to engage in interaction with others, to formulate their own concerns and programs, and to act to realize them. This hapless multitude are the proper targets of the mass media and a public education system geared to obedience and training in needed skills, including the skill of repeating patriotic slogans on timely occasions."
Noam Chomsky
"A properly functioning system of indoctrination has a variety of tasks. Its primary target are the "stupid and ignorant masses". They must be kept that way; marginalized, and isolated. Ideally, each person should be alone in front of the TV screen watching sports, soap operas, or comedies, deprived of organizational structures that permit individuals lacking resources to discover what they think and believe in, to engage in interaction with others, to formulate their own concerns and programs, and to act to realize them. This hapless multitude are the proper targets of the mass media and a public education system geared to obedience and training in needed skills, including the skill of repeating patriotic slogans on timely occasions."
Noam Chomsky
Thursday, November 21, 2002
Zazen Posture
A short and very user friendly explanation of why and how to sit this way rather than that.
A short and very user friendly explanation of why and how to sit this way rather than that.
Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Cultivating Stillness
All the spiritual traditions point to the wonders that accrue from being still. The link leads to the text of an early ancestor of the Tao teh Ching. If I am to programme my neorolinguistic doodahs than I need to keep pumping in these messages.
All the spiritual traditions point to the wonders that accrue from being still. The link leads to the text of an early ancestor of the Tao teh Ching. If I am to programme my neorolinguistic doodahs than I need to keep pumping in these messages.
attac
3- When Big Biz Has Taken Over Everything (By Jerre Skog)
"After all, corporate America knows what's good for us all and deserves to be trusted, having shown it's adherence to law, ethics and morals in years gone by. Corporate America has integrity and honesty that can only be matched by the politicians it has bought! The notion, that many of its foremost exponents are greedy, selfish and utterly amoral, can be based on nothing but ugly rumours! What can be better than giving corporations full freedom?"
Chase this article it is in issue 153
How might future philosopher kings be educated?
3- When Big Biz Has Taken Over Everything (By Jerre Skog)
"After all, corporate America knows what's good for us all and deserves to be trusted, having shown it's adherence to law, ethics and morals in years gone by. Corporate America has integrity and honesty that can only be matched by the politicians it has bought! The notion, that many of its foremost exponents are greedy, selfish and utterly amoral, can be based on nothing but ugly rumours! What can be better than giving corporations full freedom?"
Chase this article it is in issue 153
How might future philosopher kings be educated?
Passing clouds of discontent
Personal, familial, community and cultural concepts of right and wrong (and all other forms of dualistic discrimination) are the basis of my conditioning. They are all historically and geographically located and have no abiding nature. Having transcended the ego illusion there is no longer a compelling need to hold with them. But they fight an effective rearguard action against the chances of my ego being transcended. Old habits (of mind) die hard.
It follows from the above that there might be concepts which lie beyond history and geography and which have an abiding nature. These would be those that have their basis in the structure of our long evolved nervous system. They are common to all of humanity and if they are contentious it is only because we now live in ways for which our evolution has not prepared us. (Civilisation and its discontents). Consider the non-abiding concepts of civilisation to be clouds. Blow them away and the sunshine of your innate nature will then shine through.
Personal, familial, community and cultural concepts of right and wrong (and all other forms of dualistic discrimination) are the basis of my conditioning. They are all historically and geographically located and have no abiding nature. Having transcended the ego illusion there is no longer a compelling need to hold with them. But they fight an effective rearguard action against the chances of my ego being transcended. Old habits (of mind) die hard.
It follows from the above that there might be concepts which lie beyond history and geography and which have an abiding nature. These would be those that have their basis in the structure of our long evolved nervous system. They are common to all of humanity and if they are contentious it is only because we now live in ways for which our evolution has not prepared us. (Civilisation and its discontents). Consider the non-abiding concepts of civilisation to be clouds. Blow them away and the sunshine of your innate nature will then shine through.
Tuesday, November 19, 2002
The task is to switch off the conditioned automatic pilot that has been guiding you since infancy and to take control of your own life; to live intentionally rather robotically. The task is to become mind-full rather than mind-less. Doctor heal yourself.
The good news is that all you need is already within. The bad news is that the automatic pilot is rigged so that you rarely glimpse the underlying mechanisms and, when you do, you are conditioned to ignore them. The further good news is that, through the centuries, there have been heroes and heroines who managed to re-condition themselves and leave guidebooks. These are readily available and, in these uncertain terms, are in increasing demand. The road has been charted and remains in excellent condition. All you need is an increasing awareness of its existence and a growing urge to travel along it. As Woody Guthrie said, "Nobody here can walk it for you, you gotta walk it by yourself."
The good news is that all you need is already within. The bad news is that the automatic pilot is rigged so that you rarely glimpse the underlying mechanisms and, when you do, you are conditioned to ignore them. The further good news is that, through the centuries, there have been heroes and heroines who managed to re-condition themselves and leave guidebooks. These are readily available and, in these uncertain terms, are in increasing demand. The road has been charted and remains in excellent condition. All you need is an increasing awareness of its existence and a growing urge to travel along it. As Woody Guthrie said, "Nobody here can walk it for you, you gotta walk it by yourself."
Non judgemental noticing - describing reality
- I will endure random thoughts till a new theme emerges.
- 'Endure'? Why is having a theme better than having random thoughts? I can see it as different - but better? Which value system is being used?
- It is not a matter of good nor bad - go with the flow. Except - some flows are more conducive to peace of mind than others?
- And peace of mind is a good thing?
- It is 'preferable' to its alternative but this does not of necessity mean that it is 'good'. Description is one thing and evaluation is an added but non essential extra.
- Why is peace of mind preferable?
- I don't know for sure but it has to do with states in the brain and the stimulation of 'pleasure' rather than 'anxiety' centres.
- So pleasure is preferable to anxiety because of what it does to the brain. Not an altogether startling statement.
- Nope but 'startling statements' are the stuff of tabloid newspapers and political speeches rather than of quiet self knowing.
- So you would prefer statements which are 'less than startling'?
- I am not really concerned with 'statements' at all. What matters is intuitive experience. Visceral feeling rather than cerebral knowing. What matters is not what other people say (ie statements) but rather what can be personally experienced. Blind faith is not involved.
- So you seek the 'intuitive experience of visceral feeling' that leads to the 'pleasure' of 'peace of mind'
- Sort of - but you did not put inverted commas round 'you' and 'seek'. Words used in statements carry pre-conditioned baggage.
- Well yes - but how else is communication possible?
- There is non-verbal communication. Don't tell me, show me. Don't 'explain' the concept but rather be a living example of it. It is said that, "Those who speak do not know and those who know do not speak".
- Ah yes, and also that, "The reality which can be described is not the real reality". So should we end this conversation?
- Mmm.
Monday, November 18, 2002
Essence of Yoga
“What is this life if, full of care, there is no time to stand and stare?” I sit in a pause between activities and the mind skips around considering what to do next. It does not rest long with the possibility of doing nothing – as in ‘just sitting’ ie doing being, ie meditating. My ordinary mind is a distraction junkie. Conceptaholic. Linguistaholic. I have become conditioned as a talking head from the chattering classes. Motor mouth from a machine gun mind. Don’t stop the world as I have absolutely no intention of getting off! {AHA – the kleshas!]
In his Yoga Sutras Patanjali lists five plagues (kleshas) which are impediments on the way. They are ignorance, egoism, love, hate, and thirst for life. Ignorance (avidya) is the root of all the others.
The Visuddhi-magga lists ten kleshas – desire or craving, (trishna) hate, delusion, pride, false views (drishti), doubt (vichikitsa), rigidity, excitability, shamelessness, lack of conscience. The false views include belief in an ego, eternalism, nihilism, denial of the law of karma, persistence in these false views, and the belief that false views can lead to liberation. The false views can be eliminated merely by insight; the other passions that are based on desire, hate and similar emotional factors and are not, like the false views, intellectual in nature take longer and are more difficult to eliminate. One can get rid of them through regular meditation practice.
“What is this life if, full of care, there is no time to stand and stare?” I sit in a pause between activities and the mind skips around considering what to do next. It does not rest long with the possibility of doing nothing – as in ‘just sitting’ ie doing being, ie meditating. My ordinary mind is a distraction junkie. Conceptaholic. Linguistaholic. I have become conditioned as a talking head from the chattering classes. Motor mouth from a machine gun mind. Don’t stop the world as I have absolutely no intention of getting off! {AHA – the kleshas!]
In his Yoga Sutras Patanjali lists five plagues (kleshas) which are impediments on the way. They are ignorance, egoism, love, hate, and thirst for life. Ignorance (avidya) is the root of all the others.
The Visuddhi-magga lists ten kleshas – desire or craving, (trishna) hate, delusion, pride, false views (drishti), doubt (vichikitsa), rigidity, excitability, shamelessness, lack of conscience. The false views include belief in an ego, eternalism, nihilism, denial of the law of karma, persistence in these false views, and the belief that false views can lead to liberation. The false views can be eliminated merely by insight; the other passions that are based on desire, hate and similar emotional factors and are not, like the false views, intellectual in nature take longer and are more difficult to eliminate. One can get rid of them through regular meditation practice.
Renunciant Frugality
The point is to be at peace with what goes on in my head. Avoid irrational emotionality – all of which is tied up with the ego illusion. Rest content with the universe as it is here and now. The past and the future are not knowable. The past is gone (memory is notoriously biased) and the future is unpredictable so there is no need to give them heed (except for little bits and pieces of pragmatic mundanities here and there).
Relax, take it easy, that is the message. You already have the vast majority of all that you will ever need. That which you crave will only feed your greed. If there was no greed there would be no need. Therefore cut back and simplify. Renunciant frugality – yoh!
The point is to be at peace with what goes on in my head. Avoid irrational emotionality – all of which is tied up with the ego illusion. Rest content with the universe as it is here and now. The past and the future are not knowable. The past is gone (memory is notoriously biased) and the future is unpredictable so there is no need to give them heed (except for little bits and pieces of pragmatic mundanities here and there).
Relax, take it easy, that is the message. You already have the vast majority of all that you will ever need. That which you crave will only feed your greed. If there was no greed there would be no need. Therefore cut back and simplify. Renunciant frugality – yoh!
Shambhala Search Results - Thomas Cleary
This long list of translations covers only those done for Shambala - he also has books published by several other companies.
I have many (haven't counted) of them. They are enormously calm and authoritative.
This long list of translations covers only those done for Shambala - he also has books published by several other companies.
I have many (haven't counted) of them. They are enormously calm and authoritative.
Two minds, four relationships
This explains the host/guest analogy (used below) in a bit more detail. There is a tune playing in the background
This explains the host/guest analogy (used below) in a bit more detail. There is a tune playing in the background
How to recognise a mystical experience
This is a page from my 'Let it begin with me website'. There is nothing extra-ordinary or ab-normal about mystical experiences. They are always there - they are part of our human nature. But there are clouds blocking the sunshine.
This is a page from my 'Let it begin with me website'. There is nothing extra-ordinary or ab-normal about mystical experiences. They are always there - they are part of our human nature. But there are clouds blocking the sunshine.
Meditation/Psychology - Jack Kornfield
"For most people meditation practice doesn’t "do it all." At best, it’s one important piece of a complex path of opening and awakening."
I find the writing of Jack Kornfield to be inspiring ie if my attention is inclined to wander into the conditioned bad habits of ordinary mind then a few minutes skimming the words of JK brings attention back to the existential plane.
"For most people meditation practice doesn’t "do it all." At best, it’s one important piece of a complex path of opening and awakening."
I find the writing of Jack Kornfield to be inspiring ie if my attention is inclined to wander into the conditioned bad habits of ordinary mind then a few minutes skimming the words of JK brings attention back to the existential plane.
Hui Neng
According to D.T. Suzuki "The Sixth Patriarch, Hui-neng, (638-713)was a great religious genius, and his life marks an epoch in the history of the Zen Sect in the Far East. It was due to him that his Sect, hitherto comparatively inactive and rather tending to ascetic quietism, now assumed a more energetic role in the demonstration of its peculiar features, and began to make its influence more and more felt, especially among the thoughtful class of people.," (not to mention Enlightenment to the prepared few).
According to D.T. Suzuki "The Sixth Patriarch, Hui-neng, (638-713)was a great religious genius, and his life marks an epoch in the history of the Zen Sect in the Far East. It was due to him that his Sect, hitherto comparatively inactive and rather tending to ascetic quietism, now assumed a more energetic role in the demonstration of its peculiar features, and began to make its influence more and more felt, especially among the thoughtful class of people.," (not to mention Enlightenment to the prepared few).
Sunday, November 17, 2002
The word ‘God’ is a label for a state of mind. There are unusual states of mind – the muse, being in flow, being awestruck and/or entranced etc. In contrast there is the ‘ordinary mind’. The ordinary mind is a guest at the inn of the non-ordinary mind which is the host. All human suffering results from the guest having usurped the host and locked him/her in the basement. Peace of mind and the wisdom which results will appear once a seemly balance between host and guest has been re-established.
How to re-establish the balance? The guest is like a large television set playing at full volume in the corner of a small room in an infinitely large mansion. The task is to switch off the telly and pay attention to the small room. You will soon realise that the walls are illusions and that what at first appears to be a large mansion has no more substance than a passing cloud. The host is the everywhere and always that is the here and now. The Life Force is the ceaseless churn of birth and death. There is only an ongoing stream of creation and destruction as fleeting and fluid manifestations of the Oneness doing what the Oneness does.
How to re-establish the balance? The guest is like a large television set playing at full volume in the corner of a small room in an infinitely large mansion. The task is to switch off the telly and pay attention to the small room. You will soon realise that the walls are illusions and that what at first appears to be a large mansion has no more substance than a passing cloud. The host is the everywhere and always that is the here and now. The Life Force is the ceaseless churn of birth and death. There is only an ongoing stream of creation and destruction as fleeting and fluid manifestations of the Oneness doing what the Oneness does.
· The devil finds work for idle hands to do. (Protestant work ethic)
· What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare (John Milton)
· Just sit (Dogen Zenji)
· Be still and know [that thou art God] (Aristotle? (Meister Eckhart?)
· If only you love God enough you may do as you please (St Augustine)
· What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare (John Milton)
· Just sit (Dogen Zenji)
· Be still and know [that thou art God] (Aristotle? (Meister Eckhart?)
· If only you love God enough you may do as you please (St Augustine)
Challenge – say something about the process of thought. Thoughts keep coming but I am not as yet giving as much attention as I might to investigating the source of the thoughts. I am not clear what this would involve. It does not only mean coming to grips with the possible causes of that particular thought/feeling appearing at that particular moment although that is part of it, especially in the early days of the reconditioning process. It really means developing a new awareness of and attitude towards the source/energy/intention that causes any thought at all to arise. Why not stillness? Why all the activity? Not, “What is the purpose in Life?” but rather, “What causes the urge to think that their should be a purpose in life?”. And the answer to that question should be an intuition regarding deep consciousness/ neurology rather than a rationalisation about cultural conditioning.
Thus the value and virtue of just sitting. Be still and know. And yet I still have not developed a timetable and routine for meditation. I stick with an ad hoc schedule. Why is this? Is it really necessary to change? How are such questions to be answered? – By being still? By giving time to immersion in the wisdom literature? By staying away from the easy distractions of booze, media and society? I know the answers but there is resistance to applying them in a systematic manner. But perhaps I am being unfair. There have been several major steps towards renunciant frugality and right livelihood. I may not as yet correspond to a text book case but I am considerably further along the road than most people. But is there value in a normative approach to such an abnormal aspiration – possibly not. OK – but that thought train seems to have chugged out of range of up front consciousness.
Thus the value and virtue of just sitting. Be still and know. And yet I still have not developed a timetable and routine for meditation. I stick with an ad hoc schedule. Why is this? Is it really necessary to change? How are such questions to be answered? – By being still? By giving time to immersion in the wisdom literature? By staying away from the easy distractions of booze, media and society? I know the answers but there is resistance to applying them in a systematic manner. But perhaps I am being unfair. There have been several major steps towards renunciant frugality and right livelihood. I may not as yet correspond to a text book case but I am considerably further along the road than most people. But is there value in a normative approach to such an abnormal aspiration – possibly not. OK – but that thought train seems to have chugged out of range of up front consciousness.
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