Shutting the Monkey Up
My new friend asked me why I meditated in the AM?
She told me she could never understand meditation
then as "you wake up refreshed and ready to go".
I told her that I woke up with my thoughts all
...over the place - a "monkey mind" aptly called by
the Zen Buddhists, and I enjoy the sitting
in order to feel "refreshed and ready to go.
"Humankind (apologies to 'monkeys') differs from the animals only by a little, and most people throw that away." Confucius
Whale wrote:
Ron, I agree - I have to do my practices before 10am in the morning - or my
days just don't flow and it is that (monkey chatter) that tells me things I
don't need to dwell on.
Making that connection every morning has strengthened me beyond m...y wildest dreams.
You may be doing this already - but if not - try this - Start bringing some cetaceans into your meditation with you daily and ask them to help you navigate the waters of your days.
working with the cetacean energy daily and sometimes 3-4 times a day for the 12-14 months - has changed my spiritual practice. It's calmer - it's more expansive - BIGGER maybe - it has added a beautiful addition to my practices.
Have an awesome weekend!
Staci
Travis E. Duke: For those looking to "understand " meditation...I wish you well on this hopeless struggle....For those looking to" practice" meditation...see you in the zendo @ 6:00 am.....
Ron Alexander: Or not! Tired of "practicing"? Real meditating - my choice is Vipassana!
Buddha's own - You have to go to ten day silent retreat, ten hrs per day and 2 hours of instruction at night. and complete it to even become a student. Or not - agre...e "understanding" is impossibe, however the experience is no-mind bliss to me!
Yewguan Tan: was there at 5am damn missed the meditation-i neither understood nor practiced meditation-i let it understand and practice me-thats the madness of 5am will try 6am
Ron Alexander: Yew are so funny! thanks for lighting up our life!
Jeanne Porter Ashley: so, those of us who wake up relaxed and ready to go..should..what? Wait til later, I guess! I always thought no question was a bad question...I'll keep my special later time-of-day, it works for me, my darlings! I think that is what it is about, though, if it works for us individually. Namaste' Metta Gassho
Travis E. Duke: Every once in a while, I do get tired of practicing...the trick is I don't let it stop me...I've been to several silent sesshins and , for me, if there is anything more real than zazen...I can't handle it!! " The zazen I speak of is not lea...rning meditation , it is the Dharma gate of repose & bliss, the practice realization of total accumulated enlightenment , it is the manifestation of ultimate reality " Dogen Zenji Of course, this is but one path to true freedom, there are several others. Bless you all in your travels ***
Jeanne Porter Ashley: Blessings on your path to true freedom, Travis, too! namaste, all!7
Ron Alexander: Travis, what a humble kind response! I was arrogant in my response and I apologize for it. I am not a good Vipassana meditator, however, like you, I do SIT! and thane I get to that place of being completely here sometimes that keeps me SITTING! Usually, it takes a good part of that 60 minutes to get there if I get to that blissful place of feeling pure freedom, however it is worth it! So I am a practitioneer too. And I don't sit the other hour that Goenka recommendts - maybe 15 minutes or so before bed time, because usually the meditation gets me so charged I can''t sleep, however the "charge" is not the goal, equanimity is, which is good for sleep, so I am very far from being a "good" meditator. Need a few more of those silent retreats - at least you can go for 3 days once you are an "old" student! And a student needing practice is me
Travis E. Duke: Apology accepted Ron !! Although to be honest, I didn't take offense the first time... To me, just starting over & over again with humility & equanimity is enlightenment, (like I would know??/ HAHA) Besides, buddhist precepts caution against "harboring ill will" so given that I can't fully live up to them anyway, I need to do the best I can. Finding our own path and sticking to it , no matter what, is, for me, where it's at. What anyone else needs to do---I haven't the foggest notion, trulyRon Alexander: Good dialogue! vs. discussing (dissing & cussing) - learning alot here, thank you, Travis et. al.
Yewguan Tan: a glimpse i had was that we Always operate at Deepest and Highest levels of Meditation-anything else we allow in the day is optional-
i am embarrassed to say i am a meditator perhaps a mediator-
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Ron Alexander: Ah Yew, always out of the box thinking! I luv it! thanks! Not attached to any result I have been taught...sadness, fear - let it go...happiness, bliss let it go, as it all passes anyway! Mindfulness or what Goenka calls equanimity is the de...sired result - the middle road between the extremes, when I can get there in meditation, I am much more effective and creative in my work and relationships, although stormy seas occur, I know which sails to set! and head as quickly as possible to a safe harbor. A safe return to equanimity is what I call Grace. The more awakened the quicker the cruise.
Most of my life has been on stormy seas. However, I am glad to say finally, I reach safer quieter refuge harbors quicker, as I meditate more. Ironically, (Yew might like this?), at the same time, these harbors of repose are also fountains of youth. And I have to credit yoga, tai chi, Unity Oneness, Science of Mind, great growing community of spiritual friends (including you wise guys on cyberspace!)
Travis E. Duke:
" Whatever teachings there are in Zen, they come out of one's own mind . We teach ourselves ; Zen merely points the way D. T. Suzuki
Travis E. Duke: Hard to believe intellectually : That you can have it all, by giving up everything....." Look within , thou art the Buddha " The Buddha
May be saying the same thing, as you Bobby, however with all respect I want to expound on this important subject - Part of dualism is thinking that our ego is seperate from ourselves. "Earth guide" termed by Gary Zukav is best name for ego ...I have heard. Now it is problem to be "egotistical or egoist" - that is ego out of balance. Freud in the 1930's originally named the "ego" the connection between the id (our instinctual self) and the superego (our higher self). Helen was the one who started the demonizing of the ego when she channeled ACIM. Bill Thetford, the scribe of ACIM and Helen's boss, told us when we studied with him in Tiburon (along with Jerry Jampolsky) to "tear out those pages". Don't try to overcome the ego, unless you are ready to leave your body and the earth or possibly if you live in monastery or ashram where you can be fully supported - fed, clothed, etc.
Shirley Smith: Go Ron..Go Ron....I feel ya. More like I have to deal with this all the time. ughh. I know the answer is to overcome with love, but growth can get pretty messy.
Rajiv Pandit: I absolutely agree with Ron Alexander: Ego is that by which we remain in superficial touch with ourselves and with the external world, it is as much our existence in the body as is the body itself. The only way to let go of Ego is to die.
The problem is not Ego - but...
a) Lack of Ego - not being in touch with ourselves and with external reality - being driven by animal desires or fears
b) SuperEgo - being driven by ideals and strong values - which could get dangerous if they become rigid and tyrannical. The superego is generally well under control if the values / ideals are our own original and heartfelt or "lived" ideals or values, but it can go out of control if it is an "acquired" superego - brainwashed and indoctrinated into us from external sources - through manipulative and sometimes harsh means.Ron Alexander: Rajiv Pande:" I absolutely agree with Ron Alexander: (Thanks so much, Pande This is Ron and I have healed my ego, it was pretty sick - weak which led to nervous breakdown when my ex-wife betrayed me, and now my ego is well again thanks to Spirit!)
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