When NerdyGirl left the immediate environs of the Black Vatican there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth, but she was actually on a secret mission known only to His Sinfulness, Darth Furious, and myself...
Through dilligent effort and painstaking research (mostly on Craig's List and Alt Personals) she has located this, the only known portrait of the Black Pope in a previous life.
As you can see he's always been a looker, and a snazzy dresser too. Nice to know that some things never change.
Past Life Regression
Lojong #6
#6) In Postmeditation, Be a Child of Illusion
Jamgon Kongtrul:
After meditation, do not allow the experience of resting evenly to dissipate, no matter what form of activity you engage in. Continually foster the feeling of knowing that all appearances, yourself, others, animate or inanimate, appear though they seem to be nothing - be like a child of illusion.
Chogyam Trungpa:
Illusion does not mean haziness, confusion, or mirage. Being a child of illusion means that you continue what you have experienced in your sitting practice [resting in the nature of alaya] into postmeditation experience.
You realize that after sitting practice, you do not have to solidify phenomena. Instead, you can continue your practice and develop some kind of ongoing awareness. If things become heavy and solid, you flash mindfulness and awareness into them. In that way you begin to see that everything is pliable and workable. Your attitude is that the phenomenal world is not evil, that 'they' are not out to get you or kill you. Everything is workable and soothing.
Linus Furious:
Since no one reads these entries anyway, I thought I'd put my two cents in on this one. Trying to take the meditative state with you when you leave the cushions is very difficult. A simple way to begin is to use the labeling practice commonly taught by Tibetan meditation teachers. When something siezes your attention, label it without judgement, and then let it go. So as you are walking down the street you might say to yourself, "tree" or "mailman" or "sidewalk" as these things catch your eye, but you are not making judgements about them. The tree, mailman, and sidewalk are not good or bad or pretty or ugly or anything other than what they are. You can use this to label thoughts as well; when your mind has wandered off, simply label that "thinking" and let it fall away.
If you missed the explanation of the lojong sayings and tonglen meditation, click here.
Fall Warnings
Be careful out there - this could happen to you...
Also, watch out for the Jedi squirrel turf wars.
Lojong #5
#5) Rest in the Nature of alaya, the Essence.
(alaya; 'Source consciousness'. Pure, primary awareness untainted by life experiences, judgements, or preconceptions. Called in Zen 'the face you had before your parents were born'.)
Alan Wallace:
Once we have arrived at this point honestly, with insight and intelligence, the nature of the meditative practice shifts. Now we free the mind of the conceptualizations we were using before, free it of any kind of ideation or discursive thought, any conceptual grasping to past, present, or future. The mind relaxes in the nature of non-grasping, and yet we maintain a state of vivid clarity, free of dullness or agitation.
Jamgon Kongtrul:
Let go and rest, without the slightest idea of a nature existing as something, with absolutely no mental clinging, in a state distinguished by nondiscursive clarity and pure simplicity. In summary, for as long as you are able, follow no train of thought, but rest evenly in a state in which mind in itself is clear and free of discursiveness. This is placing meditation.
If you missed the explanation of the lojong sayings and tonglen meditation, click here.
Quote of the Week
"It's ok to cry."
"But I hate crying."
"Me too, but you have to let stuff out. It's like going to the bathroom - I don't really look forward to it, but I feel better afterwards."
"What the... are you saying that not crying is like emotional constipation!?"
"Yes - crying is just like pooping from your eyes."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
