Friday, July 22, 2016

Missing the fullness.

If you have been around meditation circles long enough you will start to hear people say, "Meditation is boring, and that's just part of the experience."

Well, that's kind of true.

Once the monkey mind settles down and you achieve some kind of calm abiding or shamatha meditation, meditation itself can seem kind of boring.  You have passed one milestone and settled into some kind of space, but you are missing one key ingredient.

Compassion.

Compassion you say?  Of course I have compassion and generate the wish to benefit others through my practice.

Well, that's also kind of true.

You have the aspiration, but are you actually embodying compassion?  Free from a physical act, what does compassion look like?

Openness embodied.  Without center or limit, free of all reference points and elaboration.

Openness embodied is alive.  It is vibrant, luminous.  A spacious expanse.  It is blissful, full.

The state of completely open awareness is the embodiment of grace.  Grace, embodied.

Recognize boredom for what it is, a reference point for you and your experience.  Get a bigger bucket.  


Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Only so much room.

We all have our commitments that we have to honor and respect. 

We have jobs, families, friends.  We have to keep appointments and stay on top of our responsibilities.  We have bills and errands, workouts and walks in the park, babysitter's schedules and client timelines.  Of course we have email, Facebook, news and books.  And our practice (doesn't that come first;).    

We only have so much room in our day.  Only so much time we can actually give.

A part of my practice of compassion is the intention to be open and available at all times.  To be present, to give someone that space when they need it.

I fail all the time.  I'm failing now.

And that's the choice that we make over and over again.  Do we actually be present, open and available; or do we play out our own agenda, our own thoughts, our own story and interests.

We only have so much room, but we also decide where its walls are and who we let in. 

How do we knock down the walls?

Friday, July 15, 2016

Change without change.

The spacious sky is unchanging, accommodating unending movement in the form of weather fronts, cumulus clouds modeled in apparitional forms, various life forms coming and going. 

Constantly changing, yet without change. 

The vast oceans are unchanging, accommodating wave after wave, teeming with life and biodiversity.

Constantly changing, yet without change.

The market squares are unchanging, accommodating various vendors coming and going, pedestrians and dogs, birds scrambling to catch a crumb, regulars and travelers, rich and poor. 

Constantly changing, yet without change.

This characteristic of change without change is known as symmetry in physics.  It is beautiful and it is all around us, the nature of reality and the nature of our own mind. 

To appreciate it, you only need to rest in a silent awareness.

The expanse of awareness is unchanging, accommodating all that appears and exists, an endless dance of appearances, days and nights come and go, yet not a single moment comes to pass.

Constantly changing, yet without change. 



Wednesday, July 13, 2016

What are you holding onto?

As you go about your day, what do you find yourself getting hung up on?

Is it your form?  Do you find yourself constantly worrying about how you look?  Are you beautiful or ugly, is that blemish too noticeable?  Too fat, too thin, too tall, too short, feeling strong or feeling weak; what are you hung up on?

Are you stuck on your feelings?  Do you find yourself running away from pain, doubt or sadness?  Do you chase after things that make you feel good, or experiences that are thrilling and exciting?  If you don't feel just right, how does it affect your day?

Are you holding onto your own perception?  Do you stick to your version of right and wrong, playing out storylines and arguments in your head?  Is your perspective the best perspective?  Does others perception of you determine how you feel about your status or respect?  What happens when you think you are about to lose control?

Are you caught up in various mental formations?  Are your ideas, stories, and opinions really important?  Do you rigidly hold to your beliefs or philosophy?  Are there memories that come up in your head day and night that you cannot escape?

Maybe you don't hold onto any of those and you are certain of who you are.  I know who I am, and yet who I am?  I experience the world through sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, do I chase after any of those?  Surely. 

We hold onto many things throughout the day, chasing after many more.  All of those constitute our experience and who we are, but we are none of those things.  They are the nuts and bolts, the beams and rafters, yet we are none of those things. 

If we are none of those things and yet they make up all that we are, then what are we?

Monday, July 11, 2016

Innate wisdom.

We all have innate wisdom.

It is the wisdom that knows something is not right.  That something is out of place or unjust. We feel it, see it directly.  It might give rise to clear thoughts or intentions, it may not. 

Innate wisdom knows that pain is not our natural condition.  It knows that these feelings, this anger and aversion, is not our natural state.

We are not the storm.  This tumult is not who we are.  This disease is not intrinsic to us.

Amidst confusion, there is innate wisdom illuminating the darkness.

We need to trust this.

If we trust the pain, the confusion, and the anguish, then we will be crushed.

If we trust our innate wisdom, then pain, confusion and anguish become workable. 

If we trust violence and hatred they will tear our life, family and communities apart.

If we trust our innate wisdom, then our communities can heal.

We have an opportunity available to us, we see it, we know it directly.  We need to trust what are hearts are already telling us it true.

This is not who we are.  This is not our natural condition.

Wisdom opens a path to healing.  

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Healing.

It is important to know that healing doesn't mean to cure.

We can have wounds, even open wounds, and be healed. 

Someday, this might be important to know.