The Past

Walking Meditation

"I have arrived. I am home. In the here. In the now. I am solid. I am free. In the ultimate I dwell."

Mindfulness

Larry Yang on Huffpost has a great essay on the Buddhist concept of mindfulness, "Now More Than Ever We Need Mindfulness." He speaks of the need for this Buddhist practice now, especially as the divisive presidential campaign revs up and intensifies over the coming year. Even in the midst of such terrible and angry times it seems we can find a place of serenity, one that helps, not just ourselves, but the society and world at large:

We need the Freedom that Mindfulness invites for us -- the freedom that we do not have to follow the unconscious patterns of acute reactivity. We need to remember that it is possible to notice deeply what is happening, understand it with some wisdom, treat it with some of the compassion inherent in our humanity, and move into responses and actions that are of benefit -- that is, to move toward that which lessens suffering and creates happiness, not just for us as individuals, but us as a collective world.

Our Mindfulness practice, whether it is on the cushion paying attention to the emotions and thoughts that weave between the breath and bodily sensations, or whether it is in the world paying attention to our actions and behaviors which emerge from our emotions and thoughts, is always a reminder that in order to change any unhealthy or harmful patterns -- in order to transform any suffering -- we have to first become aware of the patterns themselves. We cannot change anything that we are not aware of. This is also true of our collective transformation into a culture that meets the needs of greater numbers of people and beings: We first have to become deeply aware of the conditions that we are living within, and then that will guide us into transforming the world into a better place to live.

I recommend the entire essay, as it goes into both the psychological and social implications of this practice, and ways to put it into effect.

Fear and Buddhism

A great article by Rev. Zesho Susan O'Connell about fear, its effects and causes, and the Buddhist answer has given me much insight. She reminds us that the Buddha saw fear as at the base of all sentient beings inner suffering, and is fed by our resisting impermanence:

So how does this align with the Buddhist teaching of offering fearlessness to others? What exactly is fear? What is fearlessness? According to the Abhidharma-Kosa, fear is an unwholesome state of infatuation. Another definition is: thinking vividly about what we don't want to happen in the future or dwelling on an unhappy past event. Fear is a mental attempt to control a negative outcome. And I would add that, to me, "worry" is the shark fin of fear. 

It seems to me that all beings - especially myself - suffer from this delusional way of thinking: it is almost part of the definition of "sentient being." However, as the Buddha taught, there is a way of dealing with suffering - in this case, caused by fear.

In order to overcome our delusions around fear we need to practice both calming and insight: samatha and vipassana.
Samatha is practiced in the Zen tradition as "radical acceptance"...Radical acceptance is supported by vipassana: the insight into and confidence in adaptability.
 ...

Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard says that "worry is a misuse of he imagination." In his essay on fearlessness he proposes the several ways to constructively use this very same imagination in insightful and adaptive ways: accept the facts with realism; know that we can always do better, that we can limit the damage, find an alternative, and rebuild what has been destroyed; take the current situation as the starting point; know how to rapidly identify the positive in adversity; be free of regret. All of this can be easily discerned against the background of a serene mind.

Quote of the Day

"There exists only the present instant... a Now which always and without end is itself new. There is no yesterday nor any tomorrow, but only Now, as it was a thousand years ago and as it will be a thousand years hence. "
Meister Eckhart

Loneliness vs. Solitude

Paul Tillich wrote:

 Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone.

Being in solitude, going apart from the crowd and into oneself, is the only means to accessing that inner source where the authentic self can be found - awakening. What Benes, in the post on cell phone use I cite below, describes is the opposite: fleeing that inner journey. Of course, this can be a fearful and strangely wondrous voyage, full of monsters and joys, but it the only voyage. Here is where creativity can be found and cultivated, and where the authentic self, the true inner awakened self, connects to that higher power which can only be inaccurately described and never caught in a web of words - "Buddha Mind," the "Great Void," "God" etc. Cell phones and all modern technology are some a few of the means by which we avoid this journey and hide in the outward "history" of the ego. Meditation, prayer, study, creativity - all of which occur in solitude, are tools we use facilitate that journey. If we avoid them, we are soon drowned by waves of anxiety and alienation in our loneliness. I resolve to continue that journey inward, and ignore the shoals of fear and ignorance!

Soothing

Sometimes at night I like to run some background noise to help me sleep or just relax (they're also good while meditating) - particularly in this hot weather, when the sounds of running water are an antidote to the heat. Here's a couple I like on YouTube (there are several):