Well, maybe it still does, hopefully less than an unwatched mind…
For me at least that seems to be the results of meditation.
Not that we are trying to achieve anything…
Or are we?
Well, actually, if you Google “non-achievement,” you mostly get links to “non-attachment”…
You only sometimes get links to “non-achievement.”
https://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/bt_52.htm
This title came to me during last night’s meditation, a usual 3 am awake mind, up to sit, always starts off with a thinking mind, thoughts slow their appearance with attention, watching thoughts, letting them drift away, sometimes a bumper sticker saying arises…
I laughed at that one, so I grabbed my phone to write it down, then I can get back to sitting…
This Blog title is just an excuse to put down some thoughts arising out of this quarter’s Tricycle Fall 2024.
On page 40 there is a Meet the Teacher, Phra Ajan Suchart Abhijato, interesting story, does a little teaching, but mostly practices. I went on his website and looked at a few of his teachings, came away with the idea that he was mostly a classic “Monk on a Mountain.”
Reminds me of Somerset Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge, where the protagonist realizes it is easier to be a monk on a mountain than it is to come back and practice in this messy world.
I guess I resonate more with Maugham’s protagonist…
It is not easy to live in this messy world. I recently read the article in the Atlantic about the migrants trying to come to the US over the Darien Gap, what awful lives they must be having to attempt such a miserable trek. I contemplate the current wars in Gaza, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Sudan. How can we each sit with such misery…
Then there is the article on page 33 by Mark Van Buren on sitting with suffering, the bodhisattva vow to free everyone from suffering. He then goes on to write how that vow can be overwhelming. He then tells the story of a young girl throwing starfish back into the sea after a big storm, and a man telling her she was wasting her time, and she retorts “Well, I made a difference to that one!” He ends with “So go ahead, take the commitment to save the world, but please don’t forget to help your mother do the dishes.” Make a difference to the everyday lives you touch along the bodhisattva way.
On page 46 Shinge Roko Sherry Chayat Roshi (that is a mouthful!) writes “…each sitting has an unlimited ripple effect. The simple repetition of that which is unrepeatable allows us to respond from the hara (lower belly), from the heart, with trust. There is no formula! Each situation demands complete awareness, the clear mirror of mind that is free from prior convictions and karmic patterns. Thus, we can discern right action.”
Peter Coyote on page 61 writes “Try to pin down the source from where your internal speech and bizarre little narrative daydreams arise. Meditating allows the apparent boundaries of distinctions to dissolve and the place from which new thoughts and impulses arise to express itself. When our boundaries are wide open and anything can be included, we really don’t know with certainty who’s sitting on our cushion or who or what is orchestrating our breathing, and surprisingly, it is more interesting not to know.”
My overall take on this Labor Day 2024 is that there are many ways to surf this wild world, be satisfied with your individual path, and realize it may change…
You may choose to be a monk on a mountain or wash the feet of the poor…
Personally, I enjoy the blessings of the material world, if you embrace and enjoy the material world, do so fully, drop guilt and “shoulds,” don’t should yourself…
I agree with living a life of contribution and non-harming.
Follow “The 3 Commandments.”
http://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-second-commandment-love-everything.html
If that resonates with you…
Remember that you are the sensory organs of Source...
Source needs you to Experience Life, ‘cause sometimes it is less fun to have dinner alone…
Namaste
