Here is a short synopsis (thank you Bob) of what we covered. I encourage all of you to email me with your own observations so I can add them here, or to leave a comment to further the discussion.
Our next meeting will be November 15th. Same place, same time.
People shared their history with meditation, teachers, retreats, and generally introduced themselves.
Following the breath was discussed as the beginning and foundation of a practice and a way to become more intimate with the "monkey mind." The more we increase this intimacy the more we will have insights into our real nature and have control over obsessions, digressions, and repetitive unhealthy thinking.
It was reinforced that each person has a unique path to follow and finding that path starts with trusting that we will be led to what we need to know or understand as long as we immerse ourselves in study and meditation. Some are proponents of having specific, personal teachers and some were less so, but all agreed that a meditation practice has benefits in and of itself; teacher or self-taught.
It was also reinforced that there is no wrong way to have a practice. We must find our own way with the aid of teachers, literature, and actual time on the cushion, so that it an be translated into life off the cushion.
6 comments:
From the discussion about there being no "wrong way" to meditate, I have created a little image for myself. A road map. Our destination is the big star in the middle, but there are many ways to get to there from here. I just need to start heading in the general direction, change and correct my course as needed and not worry about Bob or Gale or Claudine being on a more scenic or faster or more direct route. My path is my path.
Having said that, I may go look for a book called "The Idiot's Guide to Meditation for Dummies in Plain English".
:-)
Nadine, I love the art work. I now look forward to that as well. That is part of your path.
Regarding our discussion of distrations it is always good to remember that the point of meditation practice is always to increase mindfullness in everyday life and those little distractions during sitting are a good guide to tuning up insight for those times when we are off the cushion.
I am thankful for all the contributions of those in attendance.
Ken
I think what Ken has pointed to is one of the most misunderstood aspects of mindfulness meditation. When we cling to the attitude toward our meditation (or perhaps it could be said of our lives in general) that we can be experiencing something "wrong," we have succeeded in making a very simple process complicated and quite frustrating.
While on the cushion, in terms of what our senses present to us, there is nothing which is not "grist for the mill" as they say.
If we have some goal in mind when we meditate then we have set parameters for judging our success/failure and the resultant frustration. However, if our goal is the insight that is afforded by paying attention to, being mindful of, what arises we are able to turn over the process to "what is."
Errors arise only to the degree that we are not simply watching, watching, watching. Be a light unto yourself.
I can see what I have been doing. I welcome the "distractions" when I recognize them within some window I have decided is "acceptable". Say under a minute or two. But if I go off into fantasy land for many many minutes without catching myself and returning to the breath, then I label it "wasted time".
Yet, each time you labeled that "wasted" you failed to practice with the very thing that makes it not wasted time. One would have to ask the artist if each failed attempt to draw a perfect finger, arm, or leg was a waste of time? In art as well as meditation, either all is wasted time, or none is.
In the words of Albert Low, in his book Zen and the Sutras, he writes, "When we read something and we are struck by its truth, moved by the simple beauty and rightness of what it says, we feel that this brilliance comes from what we are reading. But it does not. It is like the dew on the grass on an early summer's day. Scintillating like a million gems, the dew flashes in the morning sunlight; the brilliance and sparkle all comes from the sunlight. In the same way, this brilliance and truth that seem to shine out of the words of the masters is nothing other than the reflection of your own light, the brilliance of your own awakened nature."
Perhaps in the same way, we might say that catching our mind in a scenario or lengthy dialogue is an opportunity to recognize and nurture an awakened moment.
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