Awareness

Dear Friends,

You can come home to comfort and ease by learning the art of meditation and letting that wild space in your heart be touched by teachings on the nature of mind.

Often people say they want to meditate, but claim it’s impossible because of their busy schedule, that “life” itself gets in the way. If you think 24 hours in a day is not enough time to attend to everything that must get done, let alone time for deliberately sitting in meditation and doing nothing, you are in for a sweet surprise.

Join us in the fast lane to easygoing, intelligent action. (No one, neither the great yogi nor the silly goose has more time than anybody else. Time is fantasy! If you s-l-o-w-w-w down for just a moment, isn’t it obvious that time is not some thing you can find? )

Why bother.

If you swim, sing, or draw, you can meditate. If you play the oboe or walk dogs, you can meditate. If you love baseball, soccer, or football, you can meditate. Whatever you excel in or whatever hobby nourishes you can be applied to the discipline of meditation. The culturally sanctified excuses for not trying to sit in awareness of your true nature are excuses that keep you working late at the office, talking crazy on the barstool, bored with the spouse, angry with your sister, or lonely binge-watching Netflix. Meditation can diffuse all negativity and inspire a fresh, simplified outlook on absolutely everything!

So why not choose to be adventurous—even if your colleagues or in-laws say “ridiculous”—and sit with your jittery, ambitious self on a meditation cushion (or chair); it’s time to befriend the sublime, uncontrived you!

What’s what.

If you are willing to look inward and not faint from the mess of your mind, if you can play peek-a-boo with your faults and not beat yourself up, you may not need a cushy support. The Buddha actualized his enlightened nature by sitting his butt down on bare ground (some scholars say kusha grass) even though he was a prince and habituated to the finest upholstery. Prince Siddhartha Gautama left a kingdom, a beautiful wife, and newborn son not because he was freaked by parenthood, but out of a compassionate wish to know the truth for everyone’s benefit. To be ignorant of the true nature of cyclic existence—birth, old age, sickness and death—made no sense to Siddhartha.

Does it make sense to you?

Nope.

Well, then, isn’t it time to give up fixating on financial schemes and all colors of organic tea to cut through existential sorrow? To learn how to sit in meditative equipoise is way more useful and satisfying. Zoom into dharma!

Let come, let go.

When sitting in meditation, we are instructed to let things be as they are. Our physical posture is one of stillness like the lions at the Fifth Avenue entrance to the New York Public Library; without accepting or rejecting any phenomena that arise. We remain alert and relaxed, our eyes are open and our gaze free of fixation, as if we know everything but nothing in particular.

By sitting and doing nothing—nada!—we expose and disarm our false sense of self, the wild and wooly ego which feeds incessantly on the sweet ‘n’ sour ooze of the logical mind. Most of us are too trusting of the logical mind which keeps us on the merry-go-round of doings, i.e, grasping and clinging to people, places, things, and dreams; wanting this, and not wanting that. The ooze of logic keeps us stuck in the past, promises a future that never comes, and blinds us to the truth of appearances in this very moment.

Sit like me.

Being spacious.

What is this “nothing” we are doing when we sit in meditation? We’re giving ourselves space “to be.” There is no-thing to gain, no-thing to lose. But, of course, “being” (and not “doing”) can be difficult to sustain because we are goal-oriented, materialistic creatures of habit and think there must be something to do or obtain. It does take time to trust the utter simplicity and magic of sitting quietly alone with oneself for a chunk of time (without cell phone, laptop, magazine, or pet). The No-Phone Hour may be just what you need to undo all that depletes your energy and stifles joy.

Let your head roll, and the rest of you remain seated. It’s time to be fearless.

Hey, Mind!

Our mind is wild beyond all dictionary definition. This uncharted mind spews out all sorts of things that we take so seriously, yet most of us are clueless about how the mind does what it does. Please reflect on this and after investigating the matter thoroughly, you will “see” how this sometimes brilliant, often exhausted mind has no apparent shape, color, size or location. A-mazing. So what then is mind?

Tibetan yogis say that Dharma teachings, the guidance of an authentic teacher; and meditation are “inchi minchi” (i.e., essential) for a deep dive into that question.

The wealth equally to be enjoyed through discovering the “what,” “why,” “how” and “now” of meditation is inexhaustible, and only frightening if you fear great bliss. This bliss is inseparable from abiding by the nature of mind which is our very own awareness. Ineffable, all-pervading, radiant clarity. Always awake.

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But perhaps you have lived too long in New York, London, Paris, or Hong Kong and can’t imagine why anyone would choose to sit and do nothing when it is so much fun to shop?