how to

Meditate...
like a
dog plays frisbee

The Five Hindrances

1. sloth and torpor aka laziness and procrastination
2. ill-will aka boredom, frustration, irritation
3. sensual desire aka "I want this/I don't want this."
4. restlessness aka inability to be still
5. skeptical doubt aka disbelief in the efficasy of the chosen course of action

How do you deal with them?
 #1 is a Noble Friend, covers all five, this is someone who encourages and assists and leads by example on the path and the middle way.
#2 each have a specific antidote as you might imagine. Go ahead, imagine. You have the answers.
#3 gentle persistence, incorporating the roots of happiness: Generosity, Compassion and Wisdom.
Generosity and compassion combined are kindness, and this is how you gradually tame, train, guard and restrain the mind, turning adversity into alliance.

On the cushion or off, conversations with Sensei

"Certainly! You may wear a hat, you may ride a pony, I don't care what you do so long as you watch thoughts come and go and do not attach a story line to them."

Enjoy your mind

I realized today that most people must not associate meditation with pleasure, yet I just had the experience of greeting my own mind like a friend of another species, a horse or some other large animal, with a definite sense of pleasure. At different times I might see it as something else. You might see your own mind as anything you like or dislike, but I think you will definitely acknowledge it has a life of its own.

Rajju Jim sent a link to an article stating that most of us are on autopilot nearly 50% of the time and that this does not lead to happiness, according to the study findings. Autopilot is the mind run amok. It has no business flying this plane, it is not qualified and has only limited understanding of what to do with this business it has taken over.

Thus have I heard: "Not one thing do I see, oh devoted wanderers, not one thing that leads to such sublime unconditional happiness, as a tamed, trained, guarded and restrained mind." From the Anguttara Nikaya book of ones in the Pali canon, Buddhist scripture.

My landlord has often greeted me returning from a walk with my dog by saying "Boy, that's like a full time job!" Well it is a part time job, one I enjoy immensely. Dogs have historically been known in our culture as Noble animals, selfless and loyal, able to give unconditional love. A Noble Friend is the common antidote to the five hindrances, one who helps us stay the path, protects us and leads by example.

We who have taken this route have the responsibility to continue, and when we hit a wall as happens when inhabiting a realm of strife and discord, we can rely on our Noble Friends to keep us going until it is past. The practice that enables us to trust and rely on such beings begins on the cushion in meditation. There we confront the wild animal that is the mind and tame it, teach it to trust, forge an alliance with it, one governed by affection and reward.

There are times when we must retreat behind the mind and leave it to guard against intruders, but for the most part we should take the lead and have the mind be subservient, a sixth sense, not the boss. This is the training that is pleasurable and rewarding and is what meditation is all about.

So many of us are unaware that the mind is not who we are, it is just a facet, an ally. This awareness is born on the cushion, it is not made clear naturally during development for most people because so often is is dominant from the start.  It is dominant when needed for survival, for when things don't make sense, for when fear rules, but then it has to be relieved of duty or becomes truly domineering and sometimes it stays in charge, permanently. The struggle to be happy reveals its failure as a leader and its separate role or identity within us.

The best guide to training the mind available today for most  of us is Sensei's teaching of the Dhamma, elaborated on in her book, "The Missing Peace." From the home page of Great Determination Buddhist Sangha website click on her picture and go the links under recommended reading or at the end of her short bio.

The training of the mind is a gradual process, happening in stages over time, but it is never too late to start. Once started the path unfolds naturally and accretions fall away when appropriate.
This really is an enjoyable part of life.

ohh now I understand

I used to wonder about folks that would leave meditation and get pissed off shortly thereafter, where had all that time on the cushion gone? Well, that happened just now to me, irritation arose. (Shhhhhhh,, just shhhh, I like this quiet.) Irritation arises, what happens on the cushion is no different than daily life, daily life is no different than on the cushion, actually on the cushion is more "my ball, my rules." Although it feels good it may not be so beneficial to sit in bliss, or maybe this is hitting a wall during this retreat and will be something to get over.

On reflection, which is an important step not to forget in meditation, I made two big mistakes while meditating today. It wasn't so bad to allow the brain to rest and feel good but I did not focus on compassion meditation, and later in the day indulged in a memory or had an encounter with a remembered acquaintance and spent some time caregiving, which is different than compassion meditation and means I got sidetracked. As a direct result irritation could arise and I am not so replenished.

Also changed locations today, and after rearranging the furniture had it settled pleasantly enough but the room is adjacent to a lounge area and in a hyper sensitive mind leaving through a boisterous crowd is daunting so I stayed through lunch, maybe tomorrow I will do the morning in the park.

If you have had a similar experience do not omit the review step, poke around and find out where the deficiency lies, then change the game plan accordingly. Meditation is a craft like any other, if a batch of pots come out of the kiln all blistered and spalling something went wrong, figure out what it was and start again.

Day three retreat

My brain feels like a fish must feel upon being caught and released, returned to the water,  regaining buoyancy
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meditation retreat

has begun at Emperor's. A less difficult transition than expected. Several visits from a young woman who peeks in, walks to the back of the room,  lingers a bit then turns and leaves quietly.  Really? It seems so, Sensei joined me at the second sitting and remarked on her, so there it is.

Peggy's table runner is keeping the sacred among the mundane, not an altar but an echo of one. And the stone pig is festive with a new pair of wings that Sensei found at Goodwill for me:

(The pig is a feature of room D, not something added for the meditation)