Meditation or Mindfulness

This is a procedure for getting free from your mind’s habitual patterns:

Select an “object of meditation.” This can be any concept or label but for greatest immediate benefit should be rooted in gratitude, kindness or appreciation.

You may repeat a word or phrase  that you find resonance with such as “So kind” or “gentle” or “peace”. Otherwise you may imagine a moment or memory when you felt gratitude, kindness or appreciation and hold that image centered in your heart, your chest.

As you repeat this it becomes automatic and your mind will wander. Be ready when it does and observe what it gets up to. You will begin to separate from the habitual patterns as you are able to observe this and you can establish with clarity that you are not this, you are not trapped in these habits you are simply not used to being aware that they are not you.

This is called one pointed meditation or shamatha. There is a tremendous amount to learn from this process. That treasure chest is yours alone to discover.

Another procedure to help accomplish the same thing is:

Instead of a mentally or emotionally produced and selected object of meditation your focus is on the events of your day. While you engage in whatever you are doing, observe the mind and what it does.

The two procedures work best combined. Do the meditation daily if possible, starting with just a few minutes. This is like preparing the garden bed, it nourishes the soil and reduces the weeds. The Mindfulness can be done at every opportunity, all the time in fact. Most importantly remember to be kind and gentle to yourself in either process.

Over time you will obtain a brief moment in which you are free to make choices that are intentional and authentic to you rather that respond to events on autopilot. This is an extremely valuable gift we can all develop with gentle persistence.

oh good grief...

Jediyana Ordination Winter Solstice 2018

Jedi Master Sensei is seated, music begins

The requestant enters and makes 3 prostrations/bows

music ends

Then JRP says:

“I call on all beings, great and small, past and present and yet to be to witness and support this
commitment and installation of Cleo Kalyana Amazon Wolf into the Jedi way.”

Then Kalyana:

Jedi Master Sensei, I ask you to please restore the Buddha-Dharma-Sangha to the path within and
before me.  I guard this treasure carefully and use it to cultivate Generosity, Compassion,
Wisdom to allay the three poisons. May I never lose the way.

Jedi Master Sensei, I ask you to please restore the Buddha-Dharma-Sangha to the path within and
before me.  I guard this treasure carefully and use it to cultivate Generosity, Compassion,
Wisdom to allay the three poisons. May I never lose the way.

Jedi Master Sensei, I ask you to please restore the Buddha-Dharma-Sangha to the path within and
before me.  I guard this treasure carefully and use it to cultivate Generosity, Compassion,
Wisdom to allay the three poisons. May I never lose the way.

JMS: go and prepare for ordination

(While Kalyana changed JMS gave a short Dhamma talk, thus have I heard: this ordination procedure
is slightly different from yours, Jim, because we have seen how variations in the process have harmed
and hurt others in different traditions, we do not want to go down that road in Jediyana, for us every ritual,
every moment will be fresh and new, given in the spirit that everything changes and honor the intention
rather than the method."

Kalyana: 3 more prostrations

Kalyana:

These are the Training Guidelines/precepts/commitments:
1. I commit to abide by the training guideline not to kill living beings out of malice or irritation
2. I commit to abide by the training guideline not to take what is not given
3. I commit to abide by the training guideline to remain celibate, chaste in body, speech and mind
4. I commit to abide by the training guideline:
to avoid false speech, to avoid harsh speech, to avoid malicious speech,
to avoid idle chatter and gossip
5. I commit to abide by the training guideline to avoid intoxication.
Furthermore: I commit to counteracting the Five Hindrances -  sense desire, ill will, sloth and torpor,
restlessness, skeptical doubt.
I commit to counteracting the Three Poisons - Greed, Anger, Delusion
by cultivating the Three Elixirs- Generosity, Compassion and Wisdom
I acknowledge that I cannot change others so I commit to changing me

The Four Noble Truths and
the Noble Eightfold Path:
1. Dukkha Dukkha
2. Suffering and dissatisfaction are caused by wanting something other than what is.
3. There is a way  for all of us:
4. The Noble Eightfold Path is the way to end suffering and dissatisfaction,

(Heightened Discernment)
Impeccable Understanding and Intention,
(Heightened Virtue)
Impeccable Speech, Action, Livelihood,
(Heightened Mind)
Impeccable Effort, Mindfulness and Meditation "

From/for Jim Rajju Pandu:
"Perception - May I see
Compassion - May I feel
Wisdom - May I know
Mystic - May I be"

There is no clarity without Compassion
There is no creativity without Generosity
There is no freedom without Wisdom
These three elixirs keep me in touch with the Force The Force is the manifestation of Source
I am one with the Force and the Force is with me

Then JMS:

"You are  ordained, a Buddhist monk and a Gray Jedi, do it well."
Welcome Home."

Sangha members speak.

Then JRP says:

I thank all beings great and small, past and present and yet to be for being witness and
support to this commitment and installation of Cleo Kalyana Amazon Wolf into the Jedi way.

Update

Jim Rajju Pandu has been ordained and is flourishing as the first Jediyana nunk. I petitioned Sensei today for full ordination. I tend to take these things way too seriously if that is possible, and it is, so am trying to keep a lid on it. That's part of my practice. More to come.

Historical record

During my time as a nunk I studied with Sensei KC WarEagle and the monks of Great Tree Zen Womens Temple, Ryumonji, Dhammadena and Dhammasukha and Embracing Simplicity monasteries. We founded and built Great Determination Buddhist Hermitage in Stewart, Ohio which we left when I entered school at Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine.   I was ordained for eight years and like many I found it both a joy and an uphill battle. Rather than continue in that vein I chose to diverge and learn to offer benefit indirectly through the physical application of East Asian Medicine.

it's been almost a year...

wow, so much has happened. Graduated, left California, moved to Maine! Sensei is now Jedi Master Sensei, founder of Jediyana - yes once there were Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana and now there's Jediyana. For me it's a blessed relief from so much tension between the star bellied sneeches and the plain bellied sneeches or whatever Dr Seuss called them. A breath of fresh air, like Sensei herself.

The Dhamma/Dharma - wisdom of the Buddha is found everywhere and just as well in the universe of Starwars as in ancient Asia. The future is no more an illusion than the past, acceptance of historical record is as delusional as it gets, though it is entertaining we cannot rely on it except as it meets our needs for enlightenment so if we choose we can look elsewhere. Our dear Dr. DeeDee tells us how she rewrote her family of origin story into being raised by bears, which has served her very well. We choose something similar with no regrets and great delight. Plus we have movies, : ) Jediyana will pour fourth into the future with our footprints kicking up stardust.

Recover from Delusion

Be here now, do not dwell in thoughts of distant places, do not think of the future - it is unknown, do not think of the past - it is merely a construct, do not compare, do not weigh, simply be, be here now. This moment is all that is, the mental clamor is merely noise. None of us knows anything but our perception in this moment. None of us can predict or recall clearly, we can only be here in this moment - and in this moment we can choose what we feel and what we offer. We can choose to dwell in Compassion, Generosity and Wisdom in this moment, in each moment. Sourced from Compassion, Generosity and Wisdom this moment is fearless, kind and considerate. We are well.

Sensei said her meditation was: "the one who will do the least harm will be elected." None of us can ever know the outcome of any such situation enough to reasonably predict the future. We can only source our own minds and hearts in Generosity Compassion and Wisdom. Be where you are, not where you might be. (Unless where you might be is a dynamic choice of delight and exhilaration.)

This evenings walk...

the dog listened politely as I let loose a few minutes of thought. I recently gave a presentation on what Buddhism might offer to those in recovery for a class in Oriental Medicine and Chemical Dependency. I had a great time making the presentation. The Dharma is such a pleasure. Two of the points I made were that the three poisons have three antidotes and the five hindrances have specific fixes as well as a general corrective action/tool. Tonight I reflected on the subtexts of the three antidotes - especially Generosity. 

Generosity is best understood as not merely giving but forgiving. Letting go of expectation, giving without the expectation of return, letting go of judgement, letting go of comparing, recognizing and letting go of attachment to desires. 

Generosity without wisdom is not entirely beneficial. Giving within the discernment of true happiness vs mundane happiness is beneficial. This discernment/wisdom is cultivated in meditation. Oh what a practice that enables the focus on what brings the greatest most lasting pleasure in life.

For all the world I am so glad to be right here right now. I disrobed, returned the robes but the precepts/guidelines are there for the promotion of the practice, to further the practice, to make the practice more efficient and effective and I have not stopped adhering to those, those as I interpret them, as I believe the fully self awakened one intended them. When you know what you don't want you know what you do want, as Abraham Hicks says.

trolls and bullies

I woke the other morning chuckling, how often does that happen?
How do you escape a troll? Take the high road, you'll never see them there.

I had a more specific term than troll but no need to associate one bad egg with a whole group. Or even a whole generation or segment of population with a tradition, culture or world. But this is a serious issue in human society. I used to see the bumper sticker "Mean People Suck" - I don't know what that related to for the person who put it on their car but it was kinda sad to see, what I realized was that "Mean People Are Hurting." It is good to keep in mind. Hurt is the source of their behavior and hurt- especially to themselves, is the outcome of their behavior. It is a vicious cycle, it really happens to everyone not infrequently. We are hurt and we respond from that hurt and the cycle goes on. Sensei teaches that there are 4 times to stop this cycle. First is after you have already acted out, second is during your response, third is when you see it coming and fourth is well in advance when you lay the groundwork for a beneficial relationship with the world. Meditation cultivates awareness of the time between perception and response, time to reflect, view the big picture, consider the frame and the other person's point of view, an awful lot goes on in that blink of an eye. As Buddhists we are lucky to have a teaching that prepares us for Dukkha and develops the capacity for learning on the agility course of life. We have the ready made and always to hand tool that is Compassion Meditation. Just grab it and go, its holster is May I Be Happy, May I Be Peaceful, May I Be Well. Press the trigger and it fires May you be happy May you be peaceful May you be well. There are advanced settings that make this multi-tool invaluable in all four stages.
You can pick one of these babies up for just $19.99 at Cloud Nine Superstore, see you there.

religion and mysticism

religion is a devastation of the spiritual, as a land devastated by strip mining will fill with briars and teasel so does the devastation of the spirit fill religion. Like a roadside zoo joyful beings are caged and malnourished within it. No wonder they become mistrustful.

Even in a devastated landscape nature provides a few flowering fruit trees, and harbors yet some birds and butterflies.

mnemonic for well being

Being in this moment
Beauty seasons the mind

when I share the perceptions of source
I welcome contrast for the expansion of
my desire for good and walk in beauty

The year of the monkey - a good time to blow the lid off

wow, from out of left field a contact from the ordained Sangha - a Bhikkshuni from Iowa, blasted into the comment section and declared us anathema in a libelous attack. Oh what an opportunity to Practice! To return Generosity, Compassion and Wisdom when shunned. I am truly blessed to have this practice.

I have never had any conversation with any of the ordained Sangha beyond Venerable Dr Karuna Dharma, or Sensei or Bhante Vimalaramsi. Venerable asked the Bhikkhunis to give me higher ordination and the elders said yes and everything was arranged but a month before a certain clique in Northern Californa refused saying they did not consider Sensei a teacher. But no one spoke to her or to me.

Had any of them a whit of inner guidance or an elementary practice of the eight fold path they would have great enough clarity to see ours is a spiritual partnership - Noble Friendship, not one to discard - a treasure to hold forever and prosper from. Now sangha members are judging us on what basis? Gossip, apparently, disregarding Dhamma or their precepts.

As the junior in this I have been unable to speak openly before, always counseled by Sensei to maintain deportment myself, never to criticize Sangha members or defend either myself or her. Others who have received similar treatment just left without further discussion, unless they went on to become rich and famous - then the treatment changes! This small historical record will speak for us to those who need it or find it beneficial. If the same is happening to you my heart goes out to you. Remember we are in good company, this same scenario has played out many times, and yet we sing.

Oh what drama, never mind - the hummingbirds at play.

today

I have been listening to a lot of Abraham Hicks lately...this morning I woke thinking of chin-ups, and building another wall in the desert- nothing metaphorical- the actual filling the wheelbarrow, moving the dirt, filling the bags, tamping the bags, over and over again. I began to feel the strength I get from that, the uplifting and the lyrics came to me: "When you are lost you can call and we will find you, time after time." The virtue of being in the moment, being in this body, being one with source, appreciating the beauty I can see, source loves that. I love that. I think we all have a pattern in every cell that is our link to source, our essential way of being, and we can each find our way to back to that even after it seems lost, after it seems we have chased it away for good, we can still find it. Reminds me of the Xtian verse: thou shalt not take my name in vain - a promise, not a prohibition. Ask and you will receive. When you are lost you can call and we will find you, time after time. What a lovely thing.

one month later

the relief and then the buoyancy of disrobing have been pleasant. Not too surprisingly the spiritual aspects of life have lifted up and bobbed about happily since the cloud of religion has vanished. I am blessed to be among quite spiritual, kind and insightful people at Emperor's College - who are not ordained, and they are inspiring. There is no one standing at the gate to enlightenment demanding ordination papers for admission - and I am attaining more light by having released the resistance created by the robes and their association with non helpful thoughts. Ah, the sweet fresh air of non association!

power from within

This sounds a lot like some affected or disconnected rambling but I hope to record some heartfelt thoughts about disrobing. Power - the power to live, to be authentic, to fulfill the personal direction and path we all come into being to fulfill, that comes from inside the other side, the dimension/realm within. When one side of the skin takes more energy than the other there is imbalance. I have carried too much weight for too long on one side of the skin - without sustenance it drained me until I can carry it no more - so I have set the dhamma shield aside. Little wisp of fabric was sooo heavy. There needs to be a team to help carry it, this realm does not have that, rather than struggling with it anymore I let it go. Now I wander free without that shield between me and the world. It's just me now. It is such a relief. I felt for so long like I was trying to breath thru a straw at the bottom of a pond. Sensei is amazingly strong and like her first buddhist name- Jusan, is a mountain. I can't keep that up anymore. I needed a bigger ordained community to sustain the ordination, and didn't find one that was beneficial in a direct way. The ordained Sangha offered more of a backhanded benefit whenever I could come into contact with them, more of an example of what not to do. I can't sustain something that won't sustain me, anymore. It has been over ten years since I began my journey into Buddhism. I found two treasures, but the third eludes me, at least the ideal does - if there is a nurturing spiritual Buddhist community I was not able to find it. I felt like Sensei and I were shunned and like stray dogs we starved on the fringes of the community. There were no kind people in that village who would welcome us.  It is much easier to shake off the dust of that town and leave. I remain Sensei's Noble Friend and companion, member of Great Determination Buddhist Sangha, a contemplative and respectful student of the Buddha and explorer of the Dhamma. Sensei remains an ordained Bhikkhuni and stalwart mystic.

This may be only temporary. I need a break and can take one freely. The silver lining of being rejected by the fundamentalists is not having any need for their approval or permission. We stand on the outside and are now delighted by having wept at the doors never having them opened in pity, today realizing it was like weeping to be let into the Alamo or 1984 and not being allowed in. I acknowledge it is a thought experiment like self hypnosis, it allows me to free up stagnant Qi. It's all in my own mind anyway - like Eleanor Roosevelt said: "You wouldn't worry so much about what other folk thought if you realized how seldom they did." No one cares, and that is great, no one should, we really are dreaming alone, the trick is to realize that and figure out what that means we can do and what 'we' really means. Very woowoo, Kim, very woowoo.

traumatic events reaction and review

When a great many are injured or killed there is a mass reaction in pack mentality, when one is personally attacked and hurt there is more likely to be that split second of quietude to consider - what all is going on. Pauley Perrette recently showed us an enlightened reaction to pain and fear - even in the midst of an assault she had the presence of mind to view her attacker as a human being, to relate to him as a person. If we could do that for the mass attacks as well we could stop the violence of imperialism and rebellion. Turning the other cheek is a very deep teaching that is so seldom embraced, it is frightening, and vulnerable, to not respond with like minded aggression. But this is what the Buddha taught in so many ways, it is the essence of Dhamma, the practice of letting go. The path to that is often compassion meditation, but it can come about in many ways. Embracing emptiness and holding to the four brahma viharas is effective, but in a more prosaic vein keep your eyes in your own ballpark. If we get caught up in stories from other lives we are not tending our own gardens and they will benefit no one. If we spread ripples of kindness here and now, we make more difference than we know.

God is in the Neurons revisited

This wonderful video is still on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2baCg8SHGM
and is worth seeing again. We are gradually changing our paradigm, and what a joy it is.

Rituals

I was reading an article about the benefits of ritual in daily life and started to discuss it with Sensei. She said for her, being raised as she was - a preacher’s kid, every day and every moment is spiritual and she recalls the many discussions she had with her father and many other spiritual leaders about the division between the mundane and the spiritual. For her there is no need for ritual, everyday acts are rituals. Putting on her socks and shoes is a ritual.

That level of mindfulness is likely why I am with her. I want that level of attentiveness to daily life. That is very exciting and uplifting to me. I don’t get there but a few minutes every day. That feels like all I can handle - all I have the energy for. But how invigorating and powerful that is. Those few moments are the time I live for, what I spend the rest of the day gathering energy for. Gathering energy thru the persistent repetition of the practice, by coming back to the breath, to mindfulness, by substitution of a kind thought for a mean one, by dropping the train of thinking, by recalling the wisdom of the Dhamma.

If another tool is a ritual I can use that too. Sensei avoids traditional ritual because it is abused and even detrimental at times, but I like structure like that. Getting up and walking the dog in the morning is a ritual for me. I am a committed member of the Church of Dog. Doing a qigong routine before a test or giving an acupuncture treatment could be considered a ritual. But I never think of those as rituals because both are terrific exercises not empty wishes. I guess I have to rethink ritual and see traditional rituals as more than rote prescriptions. They could have a deeper impact.

OTOH, as Sensei says they didn't work for her family at all. Sitting down to family dinners? Did that, but didn't get the benefits they were supposed to bring. Prayer before and reading a passage after was a very ritualized part of her childhood but certainly didn't have the effects described in the article. This is why I love Sensei so much. Her critical thinking skills - she sees right into the matter at hand. So ritual is fine - but don't make a big deal of it. As soon as it becomes necessary it is toxic.

confusion is clear

"Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes.  Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes." ~Alan Watts

That sounds so appealing (no pun intended) it is no wonder confusion abounds. Sensei teaches us to watch the mind while peeling potatoes or anything else we are doing - right now even, what is the mind doing, is it just reading or is it also distracted by other things, does it maintain a story/sensation of pleasure, irritation, sadness or a to-do-list? Can you feel the effort of that?

For Sensei's students we know that just peeling the potatoes means being aware of what the mind is doing while we go about the activities of daily living. This provides us a seatbelt of sorts when the unexpected arises, we already have the practice of awareness so we can make a choice of how we would like to respond to events, of how we interact with life. 

Then the sensory perception of what it is like peeling potatoes can be enjoyed and relished for the miracles it represents without grasping or holding onto the experience. Life becomes a series of adventures.

Benefits of Tai Chi Chu'an

Tai Chi Chuan Benefits
Final paper for Sun Style Tai Chi with Dr Jacques MoraMarco
by Cleo Wolf

Numerous studies have been done to assess the impact of the practice of Tai Chi Chuan on health, because the practitioners of the art have acclaimed it for benefiting their own well being in diverse areas of their lives. These studies present a massive body of statistical evidence supporting the claims of practitioners of Tai Chi that it really makes a difference in their well being. Mark Twain said of statistics, “Lies and more damn lies.” Our own dear Dr Thornton teaches us the fallibility of statistical evidence in even highly respected randomized clinical trials. I do not look to statistics and studies to evaluate a practice for health. The Fully Self Awakened One, the Buddha taught, “If something is presented as beneficial, try it and see for yourself.”

However, because the directions were to research articles and studies proving the benefits of Tai Chi, I did look some up. In the following very comprehensive recent article from the Journal of Sport and Health Science, Volume 3, Issue 1, March 2014, Pages 3–8, Special issue on "Tai Chi Chuan: From traditional applications to contemporary practice"  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095254613000999  the authors review more than thirty studies showing the benefits of Tai Chi Chuan practice to all aspects of life from cardiovascular disease to T cell immunity.

Additionally, regarding this a study was conducted of thirty cardiac patients with ejection fractions less than 40% by western medical professionals from Harvard and Beth Isreal Deaconess Medical Center: Enhancement of sleep stability with Tai Chi exercise in chronic heart failure: Preliminary findings using an ECG-based spectrogram method;  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3281294/ published in 2007.

I have been taught that those who live long enough will likely develop some degree of congestive heart failure. The heart muscle weakens, becomes enlarged, the contractile force diminishes, and then there is experienced fatigue, respiratory distress, edema, discomfort and less restful sleep.

These people were given a 12 week course in Yang style Tai Chi. Eighteen of the participants made it thru the exclusionary criteria to provide data. The effect of Tai Chi practice was evaluated by a standard and respected questionnaire, heart rhythm evaluation and blood work.

The measurements spanned heart and lung function, endocrine levels as well as subjective experience. The study was carefully crafted. The data obtained was thoroughly presented in written and graphic format.

The conclusion was that Tai Chi may be effective at improving sleep in those with heart failure. So even the very aged and infirm will benefit from learning and practicing Tai Chi Chuan. The authors went on to suggest that improved sleep may lead to improvement in other areas of health and life. To extrapolate the benefits of Tai Chi to healthy people or those with other disease processes is only natural to those who are inclined to think highly of it anyway.

Studies set the bar outside our own experience, they may obtain recognition and sometimes lead to further employment for the conductors. However the information gathered is never entirely without bias and does not indicate with any certainty the experience a given individual will have. They also fail to identify variables that may impact the results of the study one way or the other. For instance in the above study the individuals were given a class, therefore there was a social aspect to the practice that was not given weight, but do we need to know whether Tai Chi Chuan would have had the same impact if learned from a video or some other means? Everyone of us has different needs and the site, timing, socialization, color of the sky all may have had different impacts on each one of the participants. We can most easily try it for ourselves and discover if we like it, it is the discernment of preference versus true benefit or harm that we should develop to ascertain whether something is of value. This discernment is obtained gradually by persistently following the Noble Eightfold Path. But most people are not interested in doing this deliberately, and some of them may be interested in what studies have to say.

Science as a business and the media encourage the public to rely on studies rather than their own gut feelings or intuition. In the recent past self awareness was shunned as a means of decision making, favoring so called scientific evidence, elevating science over discernment. Perhaps today discernment is regaining acceptance in public opinion to a mild degree since there is a vocal, educated, and passionate minority of the population who recognize its value. Because the world is in a phase where exposure to non patriarchal belief systems is becoming more widespread more people rely on their own assessments than outside expert opinion. Meditation and mindfulness are only two means of strengthening discernment, there are many others, Tai chi itself is one.

Studies have been and continue to be used as marketing tools. This marketing works best on those with just enough education and money to make them feel familiar with the places, people and language surrounding the studies. Above and below that class the conclusions of any given study are suspect and irrelevant. Even we as medical practitioners must beware that the preponderance of evidence is of little value without proper application. We have a responsibility to ourselves and our patients to avoid becoming bags of hot air, spouting meaningless statistics. Instead we can each practice and investigate on our own to find what works best for us and makes us better people. This is more easily done when not focused on research or numbers.

Speaking for myself, I feel an increased enjoyment of waking and walking in the morning. I am more flexible, more physically and mentally competent, more in my body, more content with this life as a spiritual practice and so healthier. I have better energy, not only more in quantity but more cohesive in quality, I feel vibrant and I enjoy living. What has that to do with Sun style Tai Chi Chuan or Yi Jin jing? I do not know, but I know that the other day over a week ago I hesitated to commit to practicing that day and the answer came quite clearly - this is what is making me feel better, this is improving my health more than herbs or acupuncture - though I enjoy those too. The slow pace in rhythm with breathing is not only relaxing and natural, it improves mindfulness. The ebb and flow of the movements produces a pleasant sensation of pumping - moving matter and energy. The centeredness that results contributes to a sense that renewal is occurring and the mind is more open, welcoming and happy. I expect to continue to use the practice daily and as often as possible throughout the day and to continue to experience more and more benefit from it.

Statistics would never convince me to try a practice like they might influence my choice of car or toothbrush but seeing someone moving deliberately and embodying peace certainly does.