Lama Obama?

Should Obama convert to Tibetan Buddhism?

Let’s go to Stephen Colbert with guest Lama Surya Das for more on the story.

Introduction to Mindful Meditation

I started an online meditation course this week.

The course was put together by the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA.  I had come across the website audiodharma.org some time ago and have spent time listening to the various talks available in mp3 on the site.

There was one series in particular that interested me titled “Introduction to Mindful Meditation”.  I downloaded them and began listening, but never became fully engaged, nor tried to use them to start a meditation practice.  I continued to visit the site however and saw a new section mentioning that in the next few months they would begin an online meditation course based on these talks by Gil Fronsdal.  I immediately emailed them requesting my place in the class.

The course began this last Monday, and I can’t say I’ve been doing very well at it so far.  My family life has been hit pretty hard with a few things this week which were taking up my time and mind in many ways.  I know that I allowed these to be a distraction and excuse for me in many ways, but what’s done is done.

I’m getting back on track now and am going to email my support instructor and fill her in on what’s been going on in my life this week, and how my meditation sessions have been thus far.  I also decided that I would add all of the information here for anyone that is interested.   The course may be audited by anyone, you just don’t have the extra benefit of the support from an instructor.

I know many of you practice Vipassana meditation (greenfrog, etc) and so I would love to get your thoughts on the practice and any advice you may have as I begin/continue my journey.

You can access the information by following the meditation link at the top of the page or by following the below link.

Introduction to Mindful Meditation

Hopelessness and Death

Hopelessness and Death
by Pema Chodron

Turning your mind toward the dharma does not bring security or confirmation. Turning your mind toward the dharma does not bring any ground to stand on. In fact, when your mind turns toward the dharma, you fearlessly acknowledge impermanence and change and begin to get the knack of hopelessness.

In Tibetan there is an interesting word: ye tang che. The ye part means “totally, completely” and the rest of it means “exhausted.”  Altogether, ye tang che means totally tired out.  We might say “totally fed up.”  It describes an experience of complete hopelessness, of completely giving up hope.  This is an important point.  This is the beginning of the beginning.  Without giving up hope that there is somewhere better to be, that there is someone better to be we will never relax with where we are or who we are.

We could say that the word mindfulness is pointing to being one with our experience, not dissociating, being right there when our hand touches the doorknob or the telephone rings or feelings of all kinds arise.  The word mindfulness describes being right where you are.  Ye tang che, however, is not so easily digested.  It expresses the renunciation that is essential for the spiritual path.

To think that we can finally get it all together is unrealistic.  To seek for some lasting security is futile.  To undo our very ancient and very stuck habitual patterns of mind requires that we begin to turn around some of our most basic assumptions.   Believing in a solid, separate self, continuing to seek pleasure and avoid pain, thinking that someone “out there” is to blame for our pain one has to get totally fed up with these ways of thinking.  One has to give up hope that this way of thinking will bring us satisfaction.  Suffering begins to dissolve when we can question the belief or the hope that there is anywhere to hide.

Hopelessness means that we no longer have the spirit for holding our trip together.  We may still want to hold our trip together.  We long to have some reliable, comfortable ground under our feet, but we’ve tried a thousand ways to hide and a thousand ways to tie up all the loose ends, and ground just keeps moving under us.  Trying to get lasting security teaches us a lot, because if we never try to do it, we never notice that it can’t be done.  Turning our minds toward the dharma speeds up the process of discovery.  At every turn we realize once again that it is completely hopeless we can’t get any ground under our feet.

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The Four Immeasurables

The Four Immeasurables are thoughts or meditations which are based on our present worldly existence. They are called “immeasurable” because they extend to all beings, who are immeasurable, and because we create immeasurable positive energy and purify immeasurable negative energy through developing them.

They are also called “the four sublime states” because developing them in our minds makes us like the sublime buddhas, bodhisattvas and arhats who are beyond attachment and aversion.

The four immeasurable thoughts are expressed in the following prayer:

May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes.

May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes.

May all sentient beings not be separated from sorrowless bliss.

May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free of bias, attachment and anger.

By reciting this prayer slowly and sincerely one or more times, and reflecting on its meaning, we can develop a heart of kindness towards all beings.

morphing

This week brought me some new insight. My business partner at the Yoga Studio is both a marriage/family counselor and a Yoga Therapist. The philosophy of Yoga therapy falls right in line with my own experience; that the body speaks to us and that we have everything that we need inside of ourselves for our own healing and understanding. This method of Yoga Therapy as taught through Phoenix Rising consists of the therapist putting the practitioner in yoga postures and holding them physically at their edge while they talk about their experience. The experience consists of moving through the physical body, the prana/subtle body, the mind and the emotions. It is completely self-led, the most the therapist says is: “what’s happening now?” and occasionally repeats the last sentence you say, so you can hear yourself clearly.

I decided it would be a fun thing to try. In the session, I picked an issue I wanted to work on, we set an intention, started with a simple meditation to center ourselves, and then she physically put me into postures. The fascinating thing was that I was bringing up intensely detailed memories of my childhood – things I hadn’t thought about since the time they happened. I didn’t bring up any memories of significant or huge events in my life, more simplicity, like the crazy 1975 wallpaper in my mom’s kitchen and walking home from school with my hair swinging in the wind. Memory after memory came up and they were all nice, warm and fuzzy. There was one key thread that strung all of those fabulous memories together – the Mormon church. Every memory had to do with my Mormon family, my Mormon friends, my Mormon way of life. I was left at the end of the session with a lot of insight – realizing that I often long for my own experience currently in the church to feel as real as it did for me as a child. I also realized how profoundly I love what the church provided for me in my life, and how that translates into the disappointment I feel that the gospel is not what I thought it was while growing up. The session was really positive.

Two days later, I trekked to Santa Cruz with a group of moms from my current ward. I haven’t had much of an opportunity to get to know sisters in this ward because we’ve only been here a year, and I’ve been putting more space between myself and the church. Working full time also puts me in the minority, leaving no time for group park days, etc. There was a nice group there, nice kids, beautiful beach. One of the things I love about the church is that it puts me in contact with people I would normally never be friends with. Such was the case yesterday. The other moms brought doritos, I brought wheat thins. The other mom’s are reading Star Magazine, I’m reading A Path With Heart. One mom was complaining about the weather, I was in the water playing with my kids. They all believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet, I don’t. For the most part it doesn’t bother me. I guess I’m glad for feeling of family I have with them, regardless of our differences. Sometimes, it just feels frustrating.

Backtracking to May when Greenfrog (fellow Mormon/Buddhist/Yogi, only labeled for the sake of the story) came to the yoga studio for a photos shoot. It was a very interesting day for me, being able to instantly talk with Greenfrog without having to interpret vocabulary or explain beliefs. The similarities of our backgrounds within the church, our periods with depression, the experiences with yoga, bhakti, meditation, even the books we’ve read lined up so closely. It seemed that there was this shared understanding – just as I felt with members of the church before my disaffection. He would say something and I would nod my head in understanding and vice versa. During this year due to my unique viewpoints of spirituality, I had come to the conclusion that I was on my own. I felt OK about being alone and that realization brought me a lot of peace along with a lot of inner-strength I didn’t know I had. So it was a real surprise and joy to meet Greenfrog through our blogs, and then again in person. Somehow talking to him was very comforting, confirming my own thoughts that I really am indeed sane. We prefaced the photo shoot with meditation, chanting and a short yoga practice. While sitting in meditation it was still and peaceful and powerful. Toward the end when my mind started becoming active again, two things hit me: #1 – imagine what the church would be like if we all put down our to-do lists and simply sat together in being. I can’t imagine anything more profound, it cuts right through to the heart of spirituality. #2 – this is what the pioneers felt like! How wonderful it is to find somebody who shares your experience in spirituality, and practice together. The Mormon terms of Brother and Sister seemed so easily felt in the simple quiet of doing nothing. No wonder the pioneers wanted to create zion and be around like-minded, like-believing people. It feels good.

I’ve always hated the word maturity. It seems a bit arrogant. As I go through my own practice and path though, that word keeps popping up for me, as if it is morphing into something more palatable for me to digest. I look at these experiences and realize that along with change and acceptance comes a maturity within the spiritual realm. For me, part of that maturity is learning not to resist what is right in front of me. Not to label it away, or disown it because of a simple aversion. Not to think that people should be any different than what they are, or that I should recreate my childhood, or that everyone should understand me. Certainly not that the church should hold everything for me now the way that it did through my 9-year old eyes. Finding acceptance for the way things are is helping me continue to grow and learn. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out where to put little pieces of myself, where I will invest it and where I won’t. As I accept the idea of spiritual maturity, I’m having an easier time listening to my instincts and deciding where I want to be.

I am left wondering though, will the dust ever settle?

Time Will Heal Our Wounds

I’ve been struggling with anger lately.

I’m trying to discover the various sources so that I can be present with it and accept it for what it is, in hope that I can either learn to let it go or learn to harness it’s power in a positive manner.  This has not been an easy process however, and I’m not very far along in my journey.

My wife asks me why I have so much anger inside (that unfortunately comes out on the outside) and I don’t really have any answers, but I know they’re there. I feel that by not meeting my anger and pain face to face I am just creating more dukkha and only furthering myself from where I need to be, which is right here, right now.

I hope you enjoy this passage I read the other day as much as I did.  I will post more as I continue my journey.

Daily Dharma 06: Eat Mindfully

(Guest post by David from DailyDharma.net)

Day 6: Eat Mindfully.

“Know you that your bowl of rice, each grain from hardship comes?” — Cheng Chan-Pao, Chinese philosopher

Food sustains us, and connects us to the Earth. Let us not eat more than we need, nor eat ungratefully. Let us savor each bite as if it were the only morsel of the day.

Photo by Smaku

Today, Eat Your Meals Slowly, and With Purpose.

In our frenzied Western lives, food often becomes an afterthought, and we find ourselves grabbing junk food on the run from one place to the next. For some, food becomes more than sustenance – it becomes a crutch to alleviate daily suffering. Such habits can beget poor nutrition, low energy levels, and obesity.

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