A Quiet Watercourse

One of the things I’ve learned on my journey through Taoism and Buddhism is the futility of intellectual striving, I’d realised that it’s often better not to force the mind, but to let it take its own time.

I’m reminded of the idea the we have two parts to our minds, one like a searchlight and one like an illuminating candle.  The searchlight mind is the part of our mind that is calculating and intellectual, logical.  The other, less focussed mind is more intuitive and less logical, in the West I really don’t think we trust this one as much, which is a big mistake in my view.

I’ve relearned this lesson the hard way as a consequence of having spent a few weeks revisiting my old Anglican thought, which led to a re-assessment of why I left.  In short it’s been mentally stressful, and is an experience I’m not eager to repeat.  The problem is that as I’ve said previously it just seems to be one huge argument based on essentially unresolvable questions, in essence a wilderness of opinions.  The Buddha had a series of questions he would not answer, when drawn, he said they were like a net and weren’t really relevant to what he was trying to do.

He compared our situation there to that of a man shot with an arrow, who refuses all treatment till he knows all about the arrow, the bow it was fired from, the character and caste of the archer, etc, etc.  This man will die of his wounds before he gets any answers, and what good does that do him?  Our situation is urgent and lots of speculative arguments do us no service at all in resolving it.

The searchlight part of our mind is the part that runs after answers, often heedlessly.  The less focussed more “illuminating” (and never were quotes more needed) part is our inner Sage or Buddha, who if we will only listen, can save us so much trouble.

I’ve been reflecting on the phrase “The Meaning of Life” recently. The feeling arose within me that a meaning would remove all uncertainty from our lives, and it would also absolve us of responsibility for finding our own direction in life.

But as surely as we would lose the responibility, we also would lose the power to change the story, to take control. Let’s consider an opposite idea then, what if there isn’t a meaning in the way we like to think? I think that the meaning is to live mindfully in the moment, no matter what you happen to be doing.

OK, consider, if life is lived in the moment. So by looking for a meaning of life outside of the moment, from some external source, does our search mean we then miss the meaning?

I was meditating the other day when something came to my mind about these 3 little fellows.

So we have “See No Evil”, “Speak No Evil” and “Hear No Evil”.  There are a few meanings attached to these guys, from outright denial of evil (head in the sand) to a refusal to perform certain actions in case they propagate evil.  My own personal focus tends to be a little more on the inner world and I’d like to journey that way, if you’ll consent to walk with me for a minute.

The most obvious meaning is the physical one, literally a “head in the sand” approach, but I feel that this misses the mark.  At least, it does for me.  I would aim, personally, for the inner eyes, ears and mouth.  Not so much a denial of negativity, a refusal to see, but a sense of not allowing your inner self to be blinded, deafened or struck dumb by negativity.

For me there is a sense of trying to see and hear through what may seem to be a simple act of negativity to what underlies it, trying not to let the immediate feelings block that perception.  The same applies to our speech, we do need to try to think before we speak, we need to try to avoid perpetuating the negative situation we are faced with.  Examples of this can be found in most tabloids, something bad happens and the articles and stories use non-neutral emotive language, exactly what isn’t needed and exactly when it isn’t needed.

I feel the above qualities are certainly found along the eightfold path, it’s why we have to make the effort to awaken, to see clearly into the moment.

It’s been a while since I posted here, but make no mistake, I’m still here.

During a Buddhist meeting in Second Life last weekend, there was a mention of levels of attainment and such things.  Later, I fell to thinking.  The whole thing with the notion of “levels of attainment” has its place, but at what point does it become a hinderance?

I know of martial arts instructors who don’t offer grading or belts because these things have been seen to cause elitism and attitude among students.  I can see the same risk with levels of attainment, but also they are something for us to cling to.

There are stories in Zen that illustrate this when a person in a humble position demonstrates greater knowledge and insight than the “worthies” in the upper reaches of the hierarchy.  So, in order to reach the truth, shall we let go of levels and hierarchies?  Do we recognise that the highest level is no level?

We need to be honest, are we doing this for an acknowledgment of an instructor/mentor, or for the rewards of the process?

Is this an ego trip or are you here for real?

A lighter post than the one I was expecting to make, but what the heck.

I’ve been looking after a friends house this weekend, also with the house come one or two animals.  Her dog, Lady, needs plenty of exercise and I stepped up to the challenge.

I though I was fit, but I’ve had it proved to me again, that all that time in the gym does not mean you’re real world fit.  Thanks Lady.

What’s been of equal interest is to observe Lady as we’ve been walking.  She often stops to sniff, clearly privy to a world that I would have walked straight past.  It brought it home to me how much of our daily world we take for granted.  We walk round with our heads in the clouds without realising that there could easily be a whole layer of the world there that we are blind to.

Walking the dog as spirituality, I never would have thought of it!

Well, I’ve been fully veggie since the 1st May, which Im very proud of, but I needed to make sure I was getting the right mix of nutrients in the right amount.

While browsing a vegetarian forum a few days ago, I came across Sparkpeople. It’s a site that does a food diary for you, including vitamins and other nutrients, an exercise log and the ability to track personal goals. There are forums for support and even a mini blog, all told this is just what I needed, just when I needed it.

I’ve started to track my meditations on there to make sure that I don’t miss it, I’m also going to start working with the Microcosmic Orbit again, as I’d fallen off the bandwagon on that one.

I was thinking about meditation last night after my regular sitting, especially the “Sitting quietly, doing nothing” aspect.

I was thinking that people go into meditation for any number of reasons, but if you go into it with expectation of a reward, you turn it into a standard chasing after the payoff type activity of the sort we do every day. But if you’re focussed on the payoff (no matter how nice it is), then you’re not meditating properly are you?

My line of thought is that by simply meditating for it’s own sake, without any grasping after a reward, the exercise will help us reduce our level of attachments and ego.  But there is more to it, I’ve found that I pay more attention and notice things more since I’ve been doing this, if I’d been focussed on the payoff would I have started to learn to do this?

It seems there’s more to sitting quietly, doing nothing than anyone thought…..

It been a while since I posted here, I suppose you could say I’ve had another case of “Bloggers Block”.

I made the jump to being fully vegetarian in the last fortnight, I feel much better in myself and I have to say that it’s made me much more aware of what’s in the food I’m eating and the issues surrounding it.

I’ve also become more aware of corporate and cartel power and it’s involvement in our lives than I was before, it’s as if this has spurred a blossoming of awareness, but not in a meditative way.

I’ve post a few links to some interesting Google videos when I get time.

I’ve been very interested by a story on the BBC which details the findings of scientists who are studying meditation. You can find the article here. It seems that the days of waiting for hard scientific evidence for the positive effects of meditation may well be over!

As a person who considers meditation to be an absolutely valuable practice this is music to my ears, I notice that they suggest it may help people struggling with substance abuse, and promotes happiness and enthusiasm.

I can certainly relate to that, I know how I feel when I miss my practice for a few days, I feel that my creativity and ability to engage properly with the world declines without meditation.

How do you feel your meditation practice benefits you? Drop me a comment.

Well, I’ve decided to make the effort to go Vegetarian again.  I started this a little over two weeks ago, this’ll be the third time in my life I’ve tried, all these attempts have been recently in the last couple of years.

My reasons are for health and because of my Buddhist / Taoist views.  It also feels right on level that I can’t articulate, I know that if I fail this time, then there will be a fourth attempt.

I’m trying a gradual change, my breakfast is already fully veggie, lunch is my next target and I’ve already achieved it.  I just need to get my diet right to sustain my gym activity before I start to move my evening meals over.

It’s interesting that I seem to be eating a greater quantity of food and experiencing some light headedness.  A vegetarian friend tells me that the greater volume is normal and I think the light headedness is because I need to get my dietary balance worked out fully, but this is exactly why I’m doing a gradual change. 

Last time, it was my exercise habits that beat me, but from what I can see there’s no reason whatsoever that a Vegetarian can’t be a bodybuilding or triathlete or whatever.

I’ll keep my blog updated with the things I learn as I go along, hopefully my trial and error will come in handy for someone else!