Meditation

As part of Pathways to Well Being I offer beginning meditation practice for thirty dollars an hour.  I have had a daily meditation practice for 35 years, and have studied in Nepal with my teacher Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche.  I am familiar with countless forms of mediation practices.  I wish to be clear that although I am a serious meditation practitioner, I in no way consider myself a master.  Blessings to you on your journey.

INNER SMILE

Many Buddhist teachers and “be here now” activists advise labeling discursive thoughts as “thinking.”  For me, that came with a negative judgment; “Aha, thinking again, I caught you, and you call yourself awake.” etc.  My judge needs only a hint of an excuse to get up on his soapbox and bray.  Although for me the gaps between discursive thoughts gets longer, and the recognition of the drift more frequent, “thinking” of course never stops.  I would hear the judge hounding me all day long.

This did not work well so I changed “thinking” into “love.”  The intent to stay present is the same but the messenger bear flowers instead of a whip.  This is particularly helpful for those of us with low-self esteem inherited from the hypnotic trance of childhood.

It is an interesting to ponder whether the essential and natural mind is clear open vast cognizant self-awareness (blue sky) or whether fundamentally this is simply an eye in the hurricane we seek and occasionally find sanctuary in.  Either way, it is possible the present day “be here now” practitioners can get stuck in or disassociated in the now; hyper focusing to the exclusion of the rest of this amazing universe which we ultimately do not understand.   As Alan Clements says, “the cosmos is so much bigger than the now.”  It helps to realize, especially with our western sense of linear time, now is important but it certainly is not the only dimension worth exploring. and “reality” defies the conscious minds efforts to box it in.

It is my conclusion however, that most of the time being in the present is where it’s at… just doing not take it all so seriously.  I think the key to it is to approach this concept with humor and affection.  When we drift, which we all do, open up to the universal consciousness of love and let that gently and gracefully bring you back to the moment.  You will find it’s like sucking on a cosmic lollypop.

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