Physical experiences in meditation

I just found a page with a question addressed to Deepak Chopra.

Here's part of the question and part of the answer:

Q - During most meditations my right eye starts to water quite heavily. I cannot tell why this is happening. 

A - During your meditations, if you notice your eye watering, simply observe that fact and return to the object or focus of your meditation without trying to figure out why it’s happening and without trying to stop it. Treat it as you would any other thoughts or sensations that arise during meditation – when you become aware that your awareness has drifted to your eye (or anything else), gently return your attention to the meditation object, whether that is your breath, a mantra, or a something else.

If you feel inclined, outside of your meditation practice, to explore what message your watering eye is sending you (if any), you could try journaling on that question. Ask your inner wisdom, “What is the message my eye is wanting to share?” and let yourself write freely, without censoring yourself. Given the common association of tears with sadness and release, it’s possible that you may be releasing some past grief or emotional upset, but without knowing your full story and health history, it’s not possible to say for sure. Just know that meditation is a valuable tool for releasing what no longer serves you.

This is the sort of reflection question process we do here at St. John's Center. It can truly be very illuminating.
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Attachments and illusion

I have much respect for the teachings of Anthony de Mello. Here's something I found this morning in a little book on my shelves entitled The Way to Love: The Last Meditations of Anthony de Mello:

"You see persons and things not as they are but as you are.  If you wish to see them as they are you must attend to your attachments and the fears that your attachments generate.  Because when you look at life it is these attachments and fears that will decide what you will notice and what you block out.  Whatever you notice then commands your attention. And since your looking has been selective you have an illusory version of the things and people around you.  the more you live with this distorted version the more you become convinced that it is the only true picture of the world because your attachments and fears continue to process incoming date in a way that will reinforce your picture."

There's a lot to think about here. A lot.
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Monday Meditation Picture Blogging

Photo from Wikimedia Commons
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Wednesday life form blogging

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

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Recommended article

Right here:

Evidence builds that meditation strengthens the brain, UCLA researchers say

Good to know, folks. This is really good to know!
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Purpose

I think it would be all to the good if we were to remember this:

"The purpose of all the major religious traditions is not to construct big temples on the outside, but to create temples of goodness and compassion inside, in our hearts."

-- the 14th Dalai Lama

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Monday meditative picture blogging

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

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Moving within

By the very wonderful 13th Century Persian poet:

Keep walking, though there's no place to get to.
Don't try to see through the distances.
That's not for human beings. Move within,
but don't move the way fear makes you move.

-- Rumi

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Wednesday life form blogging

Photo from Wikimedia Commons
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The great value of encouragement

Have you ever had somebody throw a wet blanket on something you were enthusiastic about? I'll bet you felt discouraged as a result. Here's an observation about the importance of encouragement:

One of the most beautiful gifts in the world is the gift of encouragement. When someone encourages you, that person helps you over a threshold you might otherwise never have crossed on your own.

— John O'Donohue in Eternal Echoes

Whenever I get frazzled because I have a lot on my plate, Cynthia (the Center's administrative assistant) will usually say, "Go, Super-nun!" It makes me a laugh and it helps me to feel encouraged at the same time.

Encouragement is a form of loving-kindness (one of "the Four Divine Abodes in the meditative tradition). It involves the sincere wish for others to be happy and to have deep well being. Look for opportunities to encourage others - and yourself as well.
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Sunday Art Blogging

Artist: Meersburg Mitte

Image from Wikimedia Commons

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Our effect on the world

It's all too easy to get discouraged and to believe that there's nothing we can do that will make any difference. Not so, not so. It's just important to remember that we may not get to see what effect we have had or continue to have in immediately discernable ways.

“Remember, we are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not. Our actions and states of mind matter, because we're so deeply interconnected with one another. Working on our own consciousness is the most important thing that we are doing at any moment, and being love is the supreme creative act.”

-- Ram Dass

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A bit of a nuisance

My friend, MadPriest, posted the following:

"Blogger is messing us about again. Recent changes to the comment facility has resulted in the disappearance of the ability to subscribe to a comment thread if you have your comment settings set to pop up window. However, it is still there if you set your comments to "embedded beneath post."

"I strongly suggest that we all change our settings to embedded. Otherwise there will be no conversations on our blogs anymore and a drastic reduction in visits.

"Thanks to Grandmère Mimi for sussing this one out for us."

So, I'm off to change all those settings right now.
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Wednesday life form blogging

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

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Contemplating impermanence

Yesterday, I began reading Mind at Ease by Traleg Kyabgon and it promises to be excellent. I've read other works by this same teacher to my very great benefit and I certainly recommend him very highly.

Here's just a little snippet that makes a lot of sense to me:

"It is only by contemplating impermanence that we become reflective enough to recognize which things are worth pursuing and which are not. We also learn to see exactly what our confusions arise from, because our experiences of dissatisfaction and frustration initially come from a failure to reflect upon anything."

Well, that sums things up in a direct fashion, don't you think?
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The least you need to know

I did a search on this blog site earlier today to find posts having anything to do with walking meditation and came upon this one from way back in 2005. I decided to repost it today because there's some really good information here:


I finally replaced my copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism by Gary Gach. It's really quite excellent. My original copy was borrowed some years ago and never made its way home and I've definitely missed it. As it happens I was wandering around in Barnes and Noble yesterday and so I picked up a copy. This morning I looked through the chapter on meditation and decided to share with you some points at the very end labeled, "The Least You Need to Know":

* Meditation's like that center referred to when people speak of being centered. A grounding. Integral to wisdom and conscious conduct, it's a key to continual practice.

* Posture matters. The body isn't something to be escaped.

* Breath is a natural interface between body and mind, always available to us to work with. Conscious or mindful breathing means being aware of your breathing. Nothing else.

* You're not trying to control your breath, or your mind. Just be aware. Stopping and just being aware can calm your breath - and your mind.

*Quieting the mind doesn't mean turning into a stone statue. Trying to banish thoughts and control your mind only creates more thoughts and restless mind. Simple awareness can clear mental clutter and sharpen your mind.

* More than mere stretching, walking meditation is a powerful practice.

* Take a friendly attitude toward your mind. Everyone encounters difficulties. Learn from others' wisdom about common hurdles in meditation.

I'm always so glad when I find examples in the published works that emphasize the fact that we're not trying to exert control over our minds when we're meditating. One of the most challenging aspects of teaching meditation is that people often simply don't believe me on this issue. I'm amazed at the number of people who come to class convinced that they are only meditating if they force their minds into a certain rigidity. That, of course, is not meditation at all but its opposite because it is a form of grasping and judgmentalism toward the mind. Remember: rest the mind, rest the mind. Meditation is meant to settle the mind and help us relax.
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Mindfulness

This is truly a great definition. Take a look:

"Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience. It isn't more complicated that that. It is opening to or receiving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is, without either clinging to it or rejecting it."

-- Sylvia Boorstein

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Pain

Here's something I found among some of my notes for class:

"We must transform our pain or else we will transmit it."

-- Richard Rohr

Oh, how true that is. Really.
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I so agree

Friday cat blogging!

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

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