18 Mar
2014
Posted in: Books, Practice
By    Comments Off on Training the Heart

Training the Heart

The Monday night Dharma Book Group met last night to continue our discussion of Joseph Goldstein’s new book Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening. We went around the room, reading aloud passages that stood out for us, and then we talked about them.

Here’s one of the passages I read out:

Without mindfulness, we simply act out all the various patterns and habits of our conditioning. Ajahn Sumedho, one of the senior Western monks of the Thai Forest tradition, quite aptly pointed out that, contrary to some popular beliefs, our aim should be not to follow the heart but to train the heart

All of us have a mix of motivations; not everything in our hearts is wise or wholesome. The great power of mindful discernment allows us to abandon what is unwholesome and to cultivate the good. This discernment is of inestimable value for our happiness and wellbeing.

With recurring unskillful thoughts, we need an actively engaged mindfulness, because, as the Buddha pointed out, whatever we frequently think of and ponder, that will be the inclination of our minds. Mindfulness has the power to show us what kinds of thoughts are arising, and in the case of unskillful ones, what we may have unknowingly been inclining our minds toward. The simple reflection that these thoughts actually do lead to one’s own and others’ affliction and difficulty, away from wisdom and awakening, is an effective tool to use in those times rather than being just a phrase to read.  

16 Mar
2014
Posted in: Poems
By    Comments Off on Why Meditate?

Why Meditate?

When the mind is at peace,
the world is at peace. 

— Chinese Zen Master Layman P’Ang 

14 Mar
2014
Posted in: Poems
By    Comments Off on Dropping Keys

Dropping Keys

There will be a full moon on Sunday, in honor of which I offer this, one of my new favorite poems from Hafiz:

The small man
builds cages for everyone
he
knows.
While the sage,
who has to duck his head
when the moon in low,
keeps dropping keys all night long
for the
beautiful
rowdy
prisoners. 

 

(image by Alicia Caudle)

13 Mar
2014
Posted in: Practice
By    Comments Off on Where to Sit

Where to Sit

It took me a long time to get this: meditation does not require sitting on the floor.

When I told my first teacher that I had trouble meditating because I kept getting painful “pins and needles” in my legs, she said I should try sitting in a chair. She said that she often sat on her living room couch, because it was comfortable and convenient. I was appalled. I didn’t want to sit in a chair — or a couch! I wanted to sit on the floor, with my legs crossed…like a real meditator!

So I struggled…for years….to sit on the floor. I was almost always in pain. But I thought that if I kept doing it, my legs would finally get used to it, and then the pain would go away, and then I’d be meditating.

I actually did sit in a chair quite a lot of that time…but I always felt like I was “cheating.” And then little by little I noticed that the ease of sitting in a chair allowed me to be more relaxed and open to my experience, and because of that, I was able to be more fully present, less resistant, more attentive…until finally it dawned on me that this was what I was supposed to be doing all along. Not fighting my body. Opening my mind!

So sit in a chair, if you want. Or on the floor. It really doesn’t matter. Just find a place where you can be at ease. Sit in a way that is alert, but relaxed. Don’t slump. If you’re in a chair, it helps to have the bottoms of your feet touching the floor. Drop your shoulders. Let your arms be comfortable and your hands relaxed. Close your eyes, if that feels right. Or keep them open, but with a soft, unfocused gaze. Let yourself settle for a few minutes. Maybe take a couple of deep breaths. Notice how it feels to be where you are.

Smile.

You’re meditating!

***

Don’t know what to do next? Try the Virtual Retreat I posed here.

12 Mar
2014
Posted in: Practice
By    Comments Off on Finding the Time

Finding the Time

Even if you’re going to do a Virtual Retreat “in the comfort of your very own home” (see yesterday’s post), you’re still going to have to find time to actually do the meditation. At least 20 minutes, I’d say. And if not every day, that at least most days.

So how do you do that?

I wish there were an easier way, but really, what you have to do is — you have to take a good hard look at your priorities. How much time do you spend “relaxing” in front of the TV? How much time checking e-mail? Reading the paper? Cruising the web?

Because honestly: you are investing your life in whatever you spend your time doing.

So take a good look and ask yourself…where am I investing my precious human life, and what kind of return am I getting?

Then see if you can’t find 20 minutes.

 

11 Mar
2014
Posted in: Practice
By    Comments Off on Take a Virtual Retreat

Take a Virtual Retreat

Can’t take a couple of weeks off to sit a retreat with fabulous teachers in the secluded hills of northern California? No problem!

You can listen to each of the morning instructions they gave during the first two weeks of the February 2014 retreat held at Spirit Rock….all in the comfort of your very own home…just by clicking on the links below.

Each set of instructions lasts about 10 to 20 minutes, building progressively on the instructions from the day before, and culminating in a beautiful, 45-minute guided meditation called Expansive Awareness, which is the meditation style (also called Open Awareness) that I was taught at both the 6-week retreat at IMS and at U Tejaniya’s monastery in Burma.

Give it a try!

Day One, led by James Baraz  (10 minutes)
Day Two, led by Carol Wilson (18 minutes)
Day Three, led by Greg Scharf (15 minutes)
Day Four, led by Andrea Fella (13 minutes)
Day Five, led by Guy Armstrong (17 minutes)
Day Six, led by Greg Scharf (16 minutes)
Day Seven, led by James Baraz (23 minutes)
Day Eight, led by Carol Wilson (21 minutes)
Day Nine, led by Guy Armstrong (18 minutes)
Day Ten, led by Greg Scharf (21 minutes)
Day Eleven, led by Andrea Fella (18 minutes)
Day Twelve, led by James Baraz (10 minutes)
Day Thirteen, led by Carol Wilson (9 minutes of instruction, then 50 minutes of silence)
Day Fourteen, led by Guy Armstrong (13 minutes)
Expansive Awareness Guided Meditation, led by Guy Armstrong (45 minutes)

10 Mar
2014
Posted in: Practice
By    Comments Off on What It’s Not

What It’s Not

from Mindful magazine: “Debunking the Myths of Mindfulness”

Meditation Is Not About Stopping Your Thoughts

“Whenever there’s a newspaper story about meditation, they trot out a piece of art that depicts a person in flowing clothes with a blissful smile that suggest they’ve emptied out their brain and replaced it with cotton candy.

“Meditation does not involve ending the thought process. It isn’t about trying to achieve a particular state of mind.

“It is simply taking the time to become familiar with how your thought process actually works, since you have the best vantage point to view what’s going on in your own mind. Once you see that, you don’t stop thoughts, but they might not control you quite so much.”

7 Mar
2014
Posted in: Practice
By    Comments Off on 5 Reasons

5 Reasons

5 Reasons Not to Meditate (from the April issue of Mindful magazine)

1. Sounds Boring!
Sure, but it also happens to be a big relief to have some time when you’re not obligated to be somebody or do something.

2. I Can’t Sit Still
It’s just fine to fidget. Meditation is a process that develops over time. No one starts out sitting like a rock statue.

3. I Don’t Have Time
Time crunches are stressing us all out these days. But taking a pause from the rush-rush-rush may just help you use your time better.

4. I’m Scared to Be Alone
You’re not alone in that. Our culture has devalued taking time for solitude. It hasn’t always been that way. And it’s not as scary as you think.

5. My Mind is Too Fast
So, let it go fast. If you sit there awhile, it will slow down…and speed up again. You don’t need to try to find an ideal rate for your mind.

5 Reasons to Give It a Try Anyway

1. Understand Your Pain
Mental pain and anxiety are background noise that can underlie much of what we do. Here’s a chance to see firsthand what’s causing it.

2. Lower Stress
There’s lots of evidence these days that excess stress causes lots of illnesses and makes other illnesses worse. Mindfulness decreases stress.

3. Connect Better
Ever find yourself staring blankly at a friend, lover, child and you’ve no idea what they’re saying? Mindfulness helps you give them your full attention.

4. Improve Focus
It can be frustrating to have our mind stray off what we’re dong and be pulled in six directions. Meditation hones our innate ability to focus.

5. Reduce Brain Chatter
The nattering, chattering voice in our head seems never to leave us alone. Isn’t it time we gave it a little break?

6 Mar
2014
Posted in: Food
By    Comments Off on Mindful Kitchen

Mindful Kitchen

The same friend who recommended I read A Tale for the Time Being also sent me an article from Experience Life magazine, which features an amazing array of things to cook using one of my all-time favorite foods: Dark Chocolate. So in the spirit of appreciation for this generosity, I pass this particularly delicious-sounding recipe along to you. May all beings be well, happy and fully fed.

Black Bean Chili with Chipotle and Dark Chocolate

1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup diced yellow onion
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1Tbs. ground coriander
1 can (14.5 oz.) fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
3 cups vegetable broth
4 cups cooked black beans (or two 15-0z. cans, drained and rinsed)
1 to 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced
2 oz. dark chocolate (80 to 85 percent cacao content), coarsely chopped

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and sauté the onions, carrots, and bell peppers until softened. Add the spices, and continue to cook until the vegetables are caramelized. Add the tomatoes with their juice to deglaze the pan. Then add the broth, beans, and chipotle peppers and bring the chili to a simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chocolate until melted. Serve with a drizzle of Mexican crema, sour cream, or Greek yogurt. Makes 6-8 servings.

5 Mar
2014
Posted in: Books
By    Comments Off on For the Time Being

For the Time Being

And speaking of Mindful Reading, I am totally enthralled by Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being, which a friend recommended and now I can’t put down! (Thanks, Judy D.)

The story…which is really several stories (or maybe not)…is wonderfully complicated and includes a novelist (also named Ruth) who finds a Hello Kitty lunchbox washed up on the shore of the island in Canada where she lives with her odd-but-endearing eco-artist husband and a cat named Schoedinger (nicknamed Pesto)….and finds inside the lunchbox a packet of letters written in Japanese, a broken watch and the diary of a teenager in Tokyo who seems to be planing to commit suicide, but in the mean time is writing about her 104-year-old grandmother, who is a Zen priest….

I can’t do the narrative justice, but you get the picture.

Here’s from the opening of Part I:

 

An  ancient buddha once said:

For the time being, standing on
the tallest mountaintop,
For the time being, moving on
the deepest ocean floor,
For the time being, a demon with
three heads and eight arms,
For the time being, the golden
sixteen-foot body of a buddha,
For the time being, a monk’s staff
or a master’s fly-swatter,
For the time being, a pillar or a lantern,
For the time being, any Dick or
Jane,
For the time being, the entire
earth and the boundless sky.

Dogen Zenji, “For the Time Being”