I have an essay on #Mindfulness , in which I playfully suggest the current popularity of using mindfulness in Western #psychotherapy is concerning, because those who are teaching such techniques may think they know what they're doing. 🙂 🙏
https://thesideview.co/jou...
https://thesideview.co/jou...
08:22 AM - Feb 11, 2023
1:2
I'm reminded in these sad and horrific world events that one of the foremost researchers in mindfulness today, making markedly significant findings in the beneficial effects of mindfulness practices for pain management, is the neuroscientist Fadel Zeidan, who's the son of Palestinian refugees.
I'm reminded in these sad and horrific world events that one of the foremost researchers in mindfulness today, making markedly significant findings in the beneficial effects of mindfulness practices for pain management, is the neuroscientist Fadel Zeidan, who's the son of Palestinian refugees.
06:42 AM - Oct 17, 2023
1.2
doing a bit of zazen #meditation just now, a feeling of the matter-of-fact miraculousness of there being anything at all arose, with the sense ...
*this moment doesn't need anything*...
doing a bit of zazen #meditation just now, a feeling of the matter-of-fact miraculousness of there being anything at all arose, with the sense ...
*this moment doesn't need anything*...
02:02 PM - Oct 08, 2023
In an ritual Q&A after an intensive Zen sesshin in Berkeley, I asked the abbot, Mel Weitsman:
"Zen master Nanquan said, 'If you try to approach it, you'll miss it.' So what are we to do?"
Mel said: "Don't try so hard."
That was helpful. I smiled. I bowed.
And Mel said, "Like that."
"Zen master Nanquan said, 'If you try to approach it, you'll miss it.' So what are we to do?"
Mel said: "Don't try so hard."
That was helpful. I smiled. I bowed.
And Mel said, "Like that."
08:36 PM - Sep 21, 2023
What meditation is, what it's about, what it's for — that can come to expression in different ways (especially since there are, of course, different kinds of meditation).
But the sense for me while sitting this evening is that meditation is a matter-of-fact intimacy with the mechanics of existing.
But the sense for me while sitting this evening is that meditation is a matter-of-fact intimacy with the mechanics of existing.
11:34 PM - Aug 18, 2023
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#meditation
In an online sitting group tonight, the facilitator offered the instruction, "Meet the present moment as it is, allow an embrace with things as they are."
I find that simple instruction profoundly wholesome.
And it can bring up a question for me...
#meditation
In an online sitting group tonight, the facilitator offered the instruction, "Meet the present moment as it is, allow an embrace with things as they are."
I find that simple instruction profoundly wholesome.
And it can bring up a question for me...
11:51 PM - May 29, 2023
(Edited)
2 Threaded Spouts
1/2
In last night's #meditation an image came to mind from, I believe, a #Rumi poem:
Some people are carrying a mirror wrapped in a blanket, and the blanket slips for a moment, and there's then a glimpse of the brilliance and beauty and miraculousness underlying all creation.
In last night's #meditation an image came to mind from, I believe, a #Rumi poem:
Some people are carrying a mirror wrapped in a blanket, and the blanket slips for a moment, and there's then a glimpse of the brilliance and beauty and miraculousness underlying all creation.
11:02 PM - May 18, 2023
2 Threaded Spouts
1'2
Huineng, the future #Zen Sixth Patriarch, was once asked for his understanding by a pair of monks who were having a debate about the movement of a flag in the wind. One held that what was flapping was the flag, and the other viewed it more fitting to say that what was flapping was the wind.
Huineng, the future #Zen Sixth Patriarch, was once asked for his understanding by a pair of monks who were having a debate about the movement of a flag in the wind. One held that what was flapping was the flag, and the other viewed it more fitting to say that what was flapping was the wind.
05:58 PM - May 12, 2023
1`2
#Contemplative practice is about something simple. Almost impossibly simple.
It's about letting what is true be true.
Not as an agenda — some way of "using" what true.
Not as a possession — a "having" of what is true.
Not even as a conceptualization.
But what is.
#Contemplative practice is about something simple. Almost impossibly simple.
It's about letting what is true be true.
Not as an agenda — some way of "using" what true.
Not as a possession — a "having" of what is true.
Not even as a conceptualization.
But what is.
10:26 PM - Apr 23, 2023
1'2
In tonight's #meditation I was reminded that my waking sense of agency — my waking sense of "this is me, here I am doing stuff" — is a kind of theater piece.
By that I mean — I've had the experience of waking up at night out of dreamless sleep already meditating....
In tonight's #meditation I was reminded that my waking sense of agency — my waking sense of "this is me, here I am doing stuff" — is a kind of theater piece.
By that I mean — I've had the experience of waking up at night out of dreamless sleep already meditating....
10:40 PM - Apr 08, 2023
1.2
My then 4 y.o. daughter wasn't feeling well one day, and I was looking to lift her sprits by asking her to think of some of her favorite things:
"What's your favorite color?"
"Pink."
"What's your favorite food?"
"Chicken McNuggets."
My then 4 y.o. daughter wasn't feeling well one day, and I was looking to lift her sprits by asking her to think of some of her favorite things:
"What's your favorite color?"
"Pink."
"What's your favorite food?"
"Chicken McNuggets."
02:15 PM - Apr 07, 2023
1/2
In #Zen teacher Dōgen's original version of his *Fukanzazengi* — a brief monograph that gives instructions for how to practice zazen — he included a line that said,
"If you want to realize suchness, urgently work at zazen."
In #Zen teacher Dōgen's original version of his *Fukanzazengi* — a brief monograph that gives instructions for how to practice zazen — he included a line that said,
"If you want to realize suchness, urgently work at zazen."
03:23 PM - Apr 06, 2023
1`2
In tonight's #meditation there were some brief moments of a kind of lucidity, a bright and almost breath-taking feeling of vividness, an aliveness, a "this-is-really-happening-ness."
Much of the rest of the time, though, things felt pretty normal. Natural. Nothing special.
In tonight's #meditation there were some brief moments of a kind of lucidity, a bright and almost breath-taking feeling of vividness, an aliveness, a "this-is-really-happening-ness."
Much of the rest of the time, though, things felt pretty normal. Natural. Nothing special.
10:57 PM - Mar 29, 2023
1.2
In a story involving the #Sufi holy fool, Nasruddin, it's said he was suspected of smuggling. But the inspector at the border would always look into the bags being carried by Nasruddin's donkeys and, time after time, he found nothing in them but straw.
In a story involving the #Sufi holy fool, Nasruddin, it's said he was suspected of smuggling. But the inspector at the border would always look into the bags being carried by Nasruddin's donkeys and, time after time, he found nothing in them but straw.
04:53 PM - Mar 24, 2023
1.2
In a story involving the #Sufi holy fool, Nasruddin, it's said he was suspected of smuggling. But the inspector at the border would always look into the bags being carried by Nasruddin's donkeys and, time after time, he found nothing in them but straw.
In a story involving the #Sufi holy fool, Nasruddin, it's said he was suspected of smuggling. But the inspector at the border would always look into the bags being carried by Nasruddin's donkeys and, time after time, he found nothing in them but straw.
01:40 PM - Mar 24, 2023
1.2
In a story involving the #Sufi holy fool, Nasruddin, it's said he was suspected of smuggling. But the inspector at the border would always look into the bags being carried by Nasruddin's donkeys and, time after time, he found nothing in them but straw.
In a story involving the #Sufi holy fool, Nasruddin, it's said he was suspected of smuggling. But the inspector at the border would always look into the bags being carried by Nasruddin's donkeys and, time after time, he found nothing in them but straw.
01:40 PM - Mar 24, 2023
I once participated in a Zen retreat attended by a sight-impaired priest who had a seeing-eye dog, "Zack," who sat with us.
During a yoga session, the instructor said, "Now we'll do downward dog — maybe Zack will show us how it's done."
He did.
🙏 ❤️ 🐶
During a yoga session, the instructor said, "Now we'll do downward dog — maybe Zack will show us how it's done."
He did.
🙏 ❤️ 🐶
09:02 AM - Mar 23, 2023
In tonight's #meditation there was a sense for how there can be a greater intimacy with, say, a sensation that occurs when it doesn't mean anything.
And what I, um, mean by that is that it's like being all the more present with a bird that's near you as you listen to it when it's not singing.
And what I, um, mean by that is that it's like being all the more present with a bird that's near you as you listen to it when it's not singing.
10:28 PM - Mar 22, 2023
1/2
In tonight's #meditation , I was looking to quiet the mind and rest in the moment-as-is — when my right shoulder lifted up a bit. I then looked to allow the shoulder to drop and relax, and to largely allow the body to do the rest of the meditation.
In tonight's #meditation , I was looking to quiet the mind and rest in the moment-as-is — when my right shoulder lifted up a bit. I then looked to allow the shoulder to drop and relax, and to largely allow the body to do the rest of the meditation.
10:53 PM - Mar 21, 2023
(Edited)
1=2
In tonight's #meditation I'm reminded that, for me, it's not about figuring something out; it's about what's going on.
It's not about seeing something; it's about being a participant expression of something.
In tonight's #meditation I'm reminded that, for me, it's not about figuring something out; it's about what's going on.
It's not about seeing something; it's about being a participant expression of something.
10:03 PM - Mar 19, 2023
"may you be a tasteful earthling" 🙂 🙏
Looking up the etymology of "savory" I got intrigued seeing it had past applications describing spiritual virtues.
Turns out "be tasteful" has roots meaning "be perceptive" and "savor"; and "sapere" (know) and "savoir" and "sapiens" are all related.
1/2
Looking up the etymology of "savory" I got intrigued seeing it had past applications describing spiritual virtues.
Turns out "be tasteful" has roots meaning "be perceptive" and "savor"; and "sapere" (know) and "savoir" and "sapiens" are all related.
1/2
08:17 AM - Mar 19, 2023
(Edited)
1^2
In tonight's #meditation there was a reminder of how getting quiet and getting still isn't about going "blank" or getting "dark" or being "frozen."
It's for me more a matter of my sense of agency and separative ego gets quiet.
It's what Zen calls a suchness practice.
In tonight's #meditation there was a reminder of how getting quiet and getting still isn't about going "blank" or getting "dark" or being "frozen."
It's for me more a matter of my sense of agency and separative ego gets quiet.
It's what Zen calls a suchness practice.
10:49 PM - Mar 16, 2023
(Edited)
08:56 PM - Mar 16, 2023
1_2
I'm reminded in tonight's #meditation how perplexing it can be to hear contemplative teachings suggest there's nothing to be done.
In the "Xinxin Ming" (which can be translated "The Truthful Heart"), purportedly by the Third Zen Ancestor, it comes down to "just don't pick and choose."
I'm reminded in tonight's #meditation how perplexing it can be to hear contemplative teachings suggest there's nothing to be done.
In the "Xinxin Ming" (which can be translated "The Truthful Heart"), purportedly by the Third Zen Ancestor, it comes down to "just don't pick and choose."
11:02 PM - Mar 14, 2023
1.4
I had to have an administrative law hearing in Texas years ago to obtain legal recognition of my Buddhist-oriented sitting group as a bonafide religious organization. Among the state's arguments against us was that we openly acknowledged being influenced by more than one cultural tradition.
I had to have an administrative law hearing in Texas years ago to obtain legal recognition of my Buddhist-oriented sitting group as a bonafide religious organization. Among the state's arguments against us was that we openly acknowledged being influenced by more than one cultural tradition.
02:44 PM - Mar 13, 2023
(Edited)
1|2
In tonight's #meditation I was reminded—quieting thoughts is an instrumental thing. The goal in my practice isn't a mental silence. The goal is more a kind of appreciative embrace with and from how things are.
In tonight's #meditation I was reminded—quieting thoughts is an instrumental thing. The goal in my practice isn't a mental silence. The goal is more a kind of appreciative embrace with and from how things are.
10:24 PM - Mar 11, 2023
(Edited)
1/2
Some years ago I was getting a distinctive little pain in my head during #meditation when I was making too much effort.
And during an intensive retreat, I then found myself experiencing that same little pain if I was holding a mental concept of what I was trying to do....
Some years ago I was getting a distinctive little pain in my head during #meditation when I was making too much effort.
And during an intensive retreat, I then found myself experiencing that same little pain if I was holding a mental concept of what I was trying to do....
03:20 PM - Mar 09, 2023
1.2
I have three grad degrees. One's from Harvard. And I've published a few articles. These days, though, my #meditation practice, as it gets simpler and more basic, is increasingly apt to come to expression in rather awkward-sounding if not convoluted ways. As in...
I have three grad degrees. One's from Harvard. And I've published a few articles. These days, though, my #meditation practice, as it gets simpler and more basic, is increasingly apt to come to expression in rather awkward-sounding if not convoluted ways. As in...
10:01 PM - Mar 05, 2023
In tonight's #meditation I was reminded that these days meditation isn't about achieving a pleasant or a quiet experience.
It's about participating in the moment — and being present to it, and being of it — in such a way that I better appreciate how experiencing works.
It's about participating in the moment — and being present to it, and being of it — in such a way that I better appreciate how experiencing works.
11:35 PM - Mar 02, 2023
"morning musings"
1/
So I wake up a bit early this morning, 5 AM. And I decide, before getting out of bed, to open my laptop and work a little bit on some writing I'm doing. Right now I'm writing about contemplative practices in Plato. And this is a draft of what I'm working on today....
1/
So I wake up a bit early this morning, 5 AM. And I decide, before getting out of bed, to open my laptop and work a little bit on some writing I'm doing. Right now I'm writing about contemplative practices in Plato. And this is a draft of what I'm working on today....
06:33 AM - Feb 22, 2023
1,2
On the other side of nearly dying as a boy from drowning—being under water so long I lost consciousness—when being resuscitated it was utterly beautiful.
Not because it felt good—ischemic pain was present throughout my body. Not because it was pretty—I was throwing up from my mouth and nos
On the other side of nearly dying as a boy from drowning—being under water so long I lost consciousness—when being resuscitated it was utterly beautiful.
Not because it felt good—ischemic pain was present throughout my body. Not because it was pretty—I was throwing up from my mouth and nos
01:44 PM - Feb 20, 2023
(Edited)
