Sanna & Pappanca
Spontaneous Occurrences
* A persyn cannot be a house divided. Life and Intentions cannot go against each other. Otherwise, it becomes a constant struggle, as well as a waste of perfectly good energy & time to keep them together. Pulling back two oxen pulling into opposite directions.
*There are only two necessary things to do. Support Her and Practice. A sub-objective is not necessarily good. Staying at OH, going to Bikram, getting enough sleep, seeing a lot of friends and getting community, going to the gym, making art, taking a lot of hikes, learning how to cook, going to Temple often.
*K said, of my being mean to everyone yesterday, "You can be extra-nice today to make up for it." I said, "Extra nice." To which he, like clockwork, responded, "Extra nice."
Wildly untrue - but it's a dear thought, and gives me hope.
I'm learning so much in Bikram.
*Stay in the present moment. Direct your intentions and body only to the posture you're in.
*The posture is over. Let it go.
*You're not in that posture yet. Keep your intentions & actions on this one.
*Learn to work with ease even inside of suffering and effort. I had such a moment of perfect calmness at the lowest point of standing bow in Bernadette's class. It hurt and hurt and hurt and I just kept concentrating on how to stay supple, ease those spots of pain, maintain a sustained effort while easing into those hurtful spots, and before you know it, my foot was over my head and I was breathing calmly and my eyes were quiet and still in the mirror -- such a space. I felt I had dipped down and hidden my head and heart into a box beneath my torso, and my leg was thrown up and back, but it was quiet and no one could see me. Space apart from your suffering. Jon Stewart says that if we're doing our asanas right, our hearts are racing in standing stick. Mine isn't. Partially because when I'm doing standing bow well, I think, I'm not struggling, I'm adjusting & adjusting.
*Sa~n~na: Peter's talk was about perception. Important workup follows.
~Perceptions that are seemingly powerful - or perceptions about our selves & our Practice, come from the same place as trivial ones....and float up. Chinese or pizza? Who's nominated for an Oscar again? I'm a terrible meditator. Which one is Sasha Cohen? I wish I had a cute faux-croc tote. It's too hot/cold/loud/stuffy/drafty to meditate. What's my hair doing? I'm too hungry/tired/sleepy/wired-up/exasperated/busy to meditation. The problem is the clinging.
~There are two types of thoughts. Thoughts that incur a bodily reaction, and thoughts that do not. The ones I associate with emotions, or the ones I cling to, or cause me unnecessary suffering, are the ones that incur a bodily reaction. Anger: head, chest, throat. Sadness: throat, chest, stomach. Happiness: chest, nose. Envy: nose, chest, head. Lust: Chest, bowels. In truth, they are the same as the ones that do not cause a bodily reaction.
~The following are objects, or forms: sight, sound, smell, taste, sensation, thought.
Don't forget that thought is an object. A form. Forms go to feelings, which go to perceptions, which will go to pappanca if you let it. You are not angry because your chest is tight. Your chest is tight is separate. Though thoughts cause body sensation, body sensation is not necessarily present because of thoughts. On the Venn diagram of your mind and body, where does this moment fall? A sensation that's separate from thought? (Aching arches in standing bow; lactose intolerance) A thought that does not appear in the body? (This train is a downtown 2 or a 3) Or a thought that does appear in the body? (I'm going to Bikram! Wet pushing chest constriction. Why does my family have to call at this hour? Dry squeezing chest constriction. I wish there was spaghetti. Short dull breath, heavy weight in chest. I'll do housework tonight and be so productive. Surging cautious expansion in chest.) Most thoughts appear in the body. Really.
~
ADJUSTABLE PERCEPTION #1) MEDITATABILITY of a MOMENT
You have perceptions on what a "Meditable State" is. Warm, cozy, cocooned in your snuggly little fuzzy blanket, a pleasant heaviness in your chest, slightly heavy eyes, a strong razor-sharp vivid macro-vibrational movement in your breath or heartbeat. Slight sleltsiness. If the perception of these forms in the body is not present, then you think you are not in a Meditable State.
Sometimes you merely think it is a State more conducive to something else. To cleaning, to seeing people, cooking, making calls, doing E27, running down the drycleaning, but not meditating. Sometimes an hour or a day is not conducive to meditating just because of what it is. 7 PM on a Saturday night. 2 PM on a Sunday afternoon. These are times for doing chores or seeing people, but not for meditating. Why?
Other times, you think it's a State completely counterproductive for "Good" meditation. Tired, wired, sleepy, hungry, stiff. Why is it not Practice if it doesn't feel good? You don't have to Start off Tranquil to get to tranquility -- if that's even your goal. Though Peter and Bhante R both recommend getting to a place where you're still enough to tune into things better then you would, say, on the train. However, I'm getting not-bad at train meditation.
Bhante R also instructs us to keep constant vigilance during our intense practice and re-assess.
ADJUSTABLE PERCEPTION #2) GOOD PRACTICE
See above. Good Practice isn't the same as What Feels Good. In fact, the Buddha got enlightened on Practice that felt LOUSY.
* A persyn cannot be a house divided. Life and Intentions cannot go against each other. Otherwise, it becomes a constant struggle, as well as a waste of perfectly good energy & time to keep them together. Pulling back two oxen pulling into opposite directions.
*There are only two necessary things to do. Support Her and Practice. A sub-objective is not necessarily good. Staying at OH, going to Bikram, getting enough sleep, seeing a lot of friends and getting community, going to the gym, making art, taking a lot of hikes, learning how to cook, going to Temple often.
*K said, of my being mean to everyone yesterday, "You can be extra-nice today to make up for it." I said, "Extra nice." To which he, like clockwork, responded, "Extra nice."
Wildly untrue - but it's a dear thought, and gives me hope.
I'm learning so much in Bikram.
*Stay in the present moment. Direct your intentions and body only to the posture you're in.
*The posture is over. Let it go.
*You're not in that posture yet. Keep your intentions & actions on this one.
*Learn to work with ease even inside of suffering and effort. I had such a moment of perfect calmness at the lowest point of standing bow in Bernadette's class. It hurt and hurt and hurt and I just kept concentrating on how to stay supple, ease those spots of pain, maintain a sustained effort while easing into those hurtful spots, and before you know it, my foot was over my head and I was breathing calmly and my eyes were quiet and still in the mirror -- such a space. I felt I had dipped down and hidden my head and heart into a box beneath my torso, and my leg was thrown up and back, but it was quiet and no one could see me. Space apart from your suffering. Jon Stewart says that if we're doing our asanas right, our hearts are racing in standing stick. Mine isn't. Partially because when I'm doing standing bow well, I think, I'm not struggling, I'm adjusting & adjusting.
*Sa~n~na: Peter's talk was about perception. Important workup follows.
~Perceptions that are seemingly powerful - or perceptions about our selves & our Practice, come from the same place as trivial ones....and float up. Chinese or pizza? Who's nominated for an Oscar again? I'm a terrible meditator. Which one is Sasha Cohen? I wish I had a cute faux-croc tote. It's too hot/cold/loud/stuffy/drafty to meditate. What's my hair doing? I'm too hungry/tired/sleepy/wired-up/exasperated/busy to meditation. The problem is the clinging.
~There are two types of thoughts. Thoughts that incur a bodily reaction, and thoughts that do not. The ones I associate with emotions, or the ones I cling to, or cause me unnecessary suffering, are the ones that incur a bodily reaction. Anger: head, chest, throat. Sadness: throat, chest, stomach. Happiness: chest, nose. Envy: nose, chest, head. Lust: Chest, bowels. In truth, they are the same as the ones that do not cause a bodily reaction.
~The following are objects, or forms: sight, sound, smell, taste, sensation, thought.
Don't forget that thought is an object. A form. Forms go to feelings, which go to perceptions, which will go to pappanca if you let it. You are not angry because your chest is tight. Your chest is tight is separate. Though thoughts cause body sensation, body sensation is not necessarily present because of thoughts. On the Venn diagram of your mind and body, where does this moment fall? A sensation that's separate from thought? (Aching arches in standing bow; lactose intolerance) A thought that does not appear in the body? (This train is a downtown 2 or a 3) Or a thought that does appear in the body? (I'm going to Bikram! Wet pushing chest constriction. Why does my family have to call at this hour? Dry squeezing chest constriction. I wish there was spaghetti. Short dull breath, heavy weight in chest. I'll do housework tonight and be so productive. Surging cautious expansion in chest.) Most thoughts appear in the body. Really.
~
ADJUSTABLE PERCEPTION #1) MEDITATABILITY of a MOMENT
You have perceptions on what a "Meditable State" is. Warm, cozy, cocooned in your snuggly little fuzzy blanket, a pleasant heaviness in your chest, slightly heavy eyes, a strong razor-sharp vivid macro-vibrational movement in your breath or heartbeat. Slight sleltsiness. If the perception of these forms in the body is not present, then you think you are not in a Meditable State.
Sometimes you merely think it is a State more conducive to something else. To cleaning, to seeing people, cooking, making calls, doing E27, running down the drycleaning, but not meditating. Sometimes an hour or a day is not conducive to meditating just because of what it is. 7 PM on a Saturday night. 2 PM on a Sunday afternoon. These are times for doing chores or seeing people, but not for meditating. Why?
Other times, you think it's a State completely counterproductive for "Good" meditation. Tired, wired, sleepy, hungry, stiff. Why is it not Practice if it doesn't feel good? You don't have to Start off Tranquil to get to tranquility -- if that's even your goal. Though Peter and Bhante R both recommend getting to a place where you're still enough to tune into things better then you would, say, on the train. However, I'm getting not-bad at train meditation.
Bhante R also instructs us to keep constant vigilance during our intense practice and re-assess.
ADJUSTABLE PERCEPTION #2) GOOD PRACTICE
See above. Good Practice isn't the same as What Feels Good. In fact, the Buddha got enlightened on Practice that felt LOUSY.
posted by 26 at 11:03 AM
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