thank you Mish and David Ryan for your comments. Warm and kind regards.
Conrad
The author of the Zen Commandments makes it clear that any time one is mindful of what one is doing is "meditation. "Sitting" and being mindfully in the present,can be helpful for one to see one's entire life as a "meditation." As has been said, the way that can be said is not the way, and the journey and the destination are one. The meaning of the word "meditation" can be infinitely elaborated upon, That the elaboration, unless done mindfully and in the present moment, can be a distraction from meditation.
I have been meditating for almost 24 years and I still have many wandering thoughts and habits. I find when I am noticing what is happening in the present moment, and I notice wandering thoughts and habits, they can more easily disappear. If they stay I think it would be good if I would notice that they are staying. noticing what is happening and accepting what is happening is more of a key to mindful living than any particular method for reaching something that is not yet present. Methods can be useful but if overly focused on methods they can become a future goal moving one away from the present.. I believe there is "no knowledge, no attainment and no realization for there is nothing to attain." Present mindfulness is both the method and the goal making the journey and destination one. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Rajeesh,
Deliberate, slow, mindful action, I believe is a kind of stillness he is talking about.
Bob , You have my gratitude,
When I am open and awareI can more easily distinguish between condition thinking and what is truly within me. I think I am so unconscious so often that it is difficult for me to know. As far as I can see, all I can be said about being is: "being is." It is an incomprehensible mystery as is the universe. As Lao Tzu implied, being is the way. He also said: "the way that can be said is not the way." The 1st time I sat to meditate, during my late 50s, tears came to my eyes. That to me was bringing forth well was within me. The question of being fascinates me but I cannot say what it is. Nor can I say what experiences yet I can more or less describe a particular experience and distinguish it from another particular experience. as I can say some different words about one being and another being. When all beings are part of one being. It is more difficult to speak about.I think questioning being and attempting to use the words surrounding it, are fine if it leads us to be more kind and compassionate to everyone and everything. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Wanting to prolong those moments can prevent them from continuing..
I cannot share an experience of the time that I let go of all mental and emotional versions of myself to be what I am because I have never experienced that. The assertion that "our nature is to be unconditionally kind, honest, wise and…"? is more of a question than an assertion. My sense is that we choose to be kind ,honest, wise etc. and it is easier to make that choice when I have no desires and when I notice myself as not separate from everyone and everything. I don't ever recall being absolutely or completely me or one with everyone and everything although I believe I am one with everyone and everything, I am constantly changing and evolving so I barely know who I am ant any given time. I am okay with that and the more I think about not knowing the more comfortable I am with not knowing. People who know much make me a bit skeptical since I see them as a bit less open than those who know little. I wonder what the closedness contributes to what they are missing. missing. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
there are no lasting solutions. Impermanence surrounds us. Warm and kind regards.
Thank you Jagdish. I appreciate your comments. We old guys, I'm 82, have much experience. Warm and kind regards. Conrad
Before I read the article I read some possible questions to answer. My 1st impression was that words have so many meanings that it makes very little difference. After reading the article I know believe with Reman that service/compassion to and with anyone and anything is what happy peaceful living is about. In my younger years I thought that if I would be of service I would get a reward later in heaven. I now find that when I am of service, the reward is immediate. I notice myself being a part of the whole when I am compassionate to anyone or anything. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone
I seem to operate so unconsciously that I am frequently unaware of boredom. At this moment I'm challenging the thought of boredom because I must often be bored since I am frequently looking forward to the "next thing." I'm surprised I haven't liberated myself more from the chase of the next new thing since I have been living for many years. and I notice that it is my desire that cause problems. Noticing my experience in the present, which is to say being aware, helps me notice my conscious and unconscious desires. When I am aware of those desires I can more readily accept them and let go of them. This was an excellent piece. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards,
The attached book, "Learning What to Ignore" may be helpful, I notice I can't attach it.PLEASE SEND ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND i CAN THEN ATTACH IT.
Kind regards
Conrad
My sense is burning for a while is practice. Letting go is practice and returning to one's practice is practice. When one is mindful in the present moment, one is practicing. I do not know how I integrate my practice into my daily life and I do not know what is stopping my integration. Most of what I do and say is unconscious.. Accepting my not knowing and accepting my my present state of unconsciousness helps me be more conscious. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Wisarm and kind regards to everyone.
Thank you for your kind words Cecilia.
I do not know when it is time to move on to the bigger picture as opposed to continuing to strive for perfection I do not know how to develop detachment to the result of my work without compromising on my commitment to its quality. A personal story when I was reminded of "the bigger picture," is reading the book Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance by Robert Persig, and when I read Todd May's Introduction.to Gilles. Deleuze. I notice I am imperfect and I notice when I accept my being imperfect that I see a bigger picture. One of the biggest pictures I see is, "the way that can be said is not the way. this leads me to think that there is great value in "my not knowing." Accepting myself as I am and accepting other people and things as they are has been helpful for me. I must admit that I have trouble accepting the 1% when they are taking such a large portion of the wealth away from many people who are poor and hungry. I am now writing about that and I have trouble saying kind things about the 1%. Accepting that little bit of trouble is helpful to me. I am now reminded of the Zen story about one's noticing, not that they have finally found their home, but rather, noticing that they have never been away. Seeing that the journey and the destination are one has been helpful for me.Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Beautiful Hilary. Thanks,
Conrad
A, Thanks for your kind words.
Lots of love.
C
Being on a spiritual path means to me being on the path I think is right for me at this time. A spiritual path can be my secular living. Secular spirituality seems to be my type of spirituality.A personal story when that wind touched the back of my neck felt greatly special was when I first decided to take an introductory course in meditation at the Zen Buddhist Temple in Ann Arbor Michigan. Before the course, I sat on the floor of my bedroom as though I knew how to meditate, and tears of joy came to my eyes. After over 20 years of meditating, I doubt that I meditate any better now than then. I notice I develop and grow when every moment, regardless of what I am doing, is mindful. Mindfulness and meditation are one as I and the universe are one. .I do not know how to develop the ability to see what is special in every experience except to say I develop more when I notice what I'm noticing as I'm noticing. When I notice "what is" and I accept it peacefully I am more peacefully patient. I more frequently grow and and become more peaceful when I know that I do not know. There are many ways to the way. As Lao Tzu said, "The way they can be said is not the way.Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone
Marta, thanks much for your inspiration. You have my gratitude. 1000 smiles and hugs. Conrad
Thank you so much Xiaoshan Pan for your uncommon wisdom. I am grateful.
Conrad P Pritscher
. I greatly agree with him when he says thinking that compassion, patience, and rationality are good will not produce those qualities just by thinking they are good. I agree that anger, jealousy and competition are our enemies. People who are angry, jealous and competitive can more easily remind us to be patient and compassionate. I do not wish to be irrational but to put rationality on a level with patience and compassion is not a good idea. Some angry, jealous, and competitive people use rational statements to delude others about the value of competition etc. I love his smiling and laughing and I believe they are contagious. I frequently laugh and smile because there is much to laugh and smile about. I understand relatively little about our mysterious universe and my increasing lack of desire to understand much of what I experience makes me smile and sometimes laugh. If I were with you now I would be laughing and smiling. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Robin, your life is perfect. The human perfection may be thought of as "broken." As I see it, is not the breakes but are attitude towards the brakes that can help us be peaceful or not. Warm and kind regards.
Thank you Christine for your courage. Warm and kind regards.Conrad
Jeff Foster said everything. I just emailed this article to several friends and I said I can't think of anything else to say.
I believe what he said. I often forget what he said in my daily living. If I kept what he said in mind, I would live more in the present and be more peaceful and joyous more frequently. With X.Pan I am in awe.Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone,
Thanks for your kind words Peter.
Sharon Salzburg is great. I love what she said. I find, after many many years, that I'm becoming a little more patient with my impatience. Every day I say a few sentences one of which is: "May I be patient. May I be able to bear and forbear the wrongs of others." It may be useful for some to hear that I have been working on being patient for 40 or 60 years and only recently have I begun to accept some of my impatience. When I'm in the now I am more patient. I am better now at accepting that I am not often in the now. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone
This Fronzdal article is outstanding. After reading this I feel I fear my fear a bit less. Fearlessness means that it is easier for me to accept myself as I am with my flaws, more easily. Many of my experiences with others include fear and fearlessness. I fear that I will not be liked if others found out who I really am, and on the other hand, I find some acceptance that it's okay not to be liked as much as I want to be liked. Sharon Begley, Reuters science writer, and psychiatrist Schwartz say: “Through mindfulness you can stand outside your own mind as if you are watching what is happening to another person rather than experiencing it herself….Mindfulness requires direct willful effort, and the ability to forge those practicing it to observe their sensations and thoughts with a calm clarity of an external witness….One views his thoughts, feelings, and expectations much as a scientist views experimental data - - that is, as a natural phenomena to be noted, investigated, reflected on and learned from. Viewing one’s own inner experience as data allows (one) to become, in essence, his own experimental subject.” Through using their idea, one can be highly afraid yet calmly say to themselves in a semi-unafraid manner: "I notice I'm afraid."
My first impression is that it's if you are loved do when you are young, you can more easily love (be kind to others) as you grow older. My parents and family and environment where great as I was growing up and I believe this helps me to notice how great little things in life are. Noticing that I am one with everyone and everything helps me to treat others the way I would like to be treated. Meditation has been helpful for me to be more aware of my present experience. After practicing for many years, I still find that I am imperfect and somewhat selfish. when I accept that I have a tendency to be less selfish. I was a baby in the family for eight years and I notice, at times, I'm still somewhat babyish today. If I can accept that, I notice I can be somewhat less selfish – – less babyish. Present awareness is the key. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone
I forgot to mention that if one notices one is faint of heart, that may be a condition for them to become less faint if that is what they wish to be. I do not know how faint in the sense the author is using the term relates to being no one going nowhere. Being no one going nowhere may be like noticing one is not separate and that one is somewhat like a hologram,one with everyone and everything.
In the past I thought I knew what inquiry means. Now I do not know. In the past I was afraid of not knowing. Today I am much less afraid of not knowingand often cherish not knowing. What I understand by "releasing the constructed world while remaining conscious" is simply being open to what is. My noticing what is can change from moment to moment. The only constant I see is change. I have written about functional discontinuity. If a teacher provides conditions whereby a student becomes somewhat perplexed or stuck, and provides conditions of freedom and a responsive environment, the student can then unperplex and unstick herself or himself.. Schools generally do not provide these conditions which facilitate open inquiry. a discontinuity, he focused on, can help one build a larger continuity. The largest continuity is noticing that one is one with everyone and everything. I believe inquiry must be open in order for it to be inquiry. To paraphrase Gandhi: There is no way to open inquiry. Open inquiry is the way. Some teachers think they can "use" inquiry to have students discover what the teacher or book wants them to discover. That is not open-ended inquiry. I now know that I wish everyone warm and kind regards. I know very little and am pleased about it. When I grow more, I will notice that I am not a separate I who inquires or even a separate I who does not know. As Lao Tzu said: "The way that can be said is not the way."
Warm and kind regards. Thanks for sharing this with us. you will be fine.
I'm sure the entire wakin group supports you. Be peace.Conrad
For me, attachment is a desire for some thing or event that is presently not happening as I think it should. By noticing and consciously limiting my desires I reduce attachments that are limiting to me.. I frequently find myself getting angry when other drivers on the road don't drive exactly as I think they should. My first reaction is anger and then I notice what is occurring is simply what is that I am not accepting. If I consciously notice more of reality as it is, I will reduce desires and attachments and accept more of what is. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone..
Thank you for your wonderful comment. I agree with you.
Warm and kind regards,Conrad
Since we are all one, there is no difference between inner and outer and no difference between an individual and his or her surroundings. Paradoxically, one's harmonious state while connected to what surrounds one, can be peaceful even when chaos and war seem to be going on around one. Surprisingly, Ganoba's response to honoring the gill inside you reached me today and it applies as an excellent response to today's message. It reads: "Me, all of me. Life became a fun adventure when I started taking myself as an harmonious whole, fully attuned with the environment. With this I started accepting, even celebrating, all that was served on my plate. I started to see the value of everything irrespective of its size, shape and color. Now it is love all the way." How wonderful Ganoba. Thank you. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
I forgot to add that Somik Raha recently found a Gandhi quote which stated:: "My notion of democracy is that under it the weakest should have the same opportunity as the strongest. No country in the world today shows any but patronizing regard for the weak. Western democracy, as it functions today, is diluted to fascism. True democracy cannot be worked by 20 men sitting at the center. It has to be worked from below by the people of every village."
I have not had felt it deeply even though I strongly think I am a part of the universe that needs to be expressed..
I have recently written about: skin color: the shame of silence. I am white. My parents were born in Germany and I have strong anti-fascist feelings. The Nazis killed 6 million Jews. I believe my relatives in Germany at the time could do little about it because of the coercive troops of Hitler. I also have not felt it deeply but I have strong thoughts about a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, as Martin Luther King has said. I believe the 1% is now enslaving 90% of our US citizens. I also believe our country is moving closer to fascism. I am now writing about that injustice and how schooling and university courses may be transformed to include students noticing their noticing while they are noticing. Our schools and universities have become so enmeshed and specialized in training for jobs that we often graduate with many blind spots to our growing fascism. racism and sexism. Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this excellent work. Warm and kind regards to everyone..
I agree that it is more important to swim through the days and honor the gill inside me then to figure out how it all works. wanting to figure it out is like wanting to be certain and as Richard Rohr said, wanting certainty is our original sin. I do not know what transforms my experience into sustenance. I expect it is my being open to notice; open to be aware of even what maybe temporarily painful. Just yesterday I noticed more of my impatience with events not happening as I thought they should. I noticed that I had desires I was unaware of at that time. As a result of that awareness I a am more open to going with the flow and to desiring less. I notice my desire not to desire is a desire. That I am gradually working on.. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Kristin, Hugs to you. You have my deep gratitude.Conrad
Excellent writing. My understanding of widening the boundaries of our being is that we are all mysteriously one and much more interconnected than disconnected. I have no one story of how I have discovered the unity of all the things in my life. All that I have read and experienced leads me to strongly believe that I am one not only with all people and all sentient beings but also with all non-sentient things. Paradoxically my lack of knowing which is my noticing incomprehensible mystery surrounding me much of the time gives light to my being. This incomprehensible mystery could be seen as darkness, but it could also be seen as all light all the time. My not knowing is something I have moved to feel very comfortable about. It helps me see myself as not separate from everyone and everything. I believe I know very little and I am comfortable seeing myself as no one going nowhere even though I'm saying these sentences now. I have noticed a strong feeling of community with many who respond to the Awakin weekly messages. It is a feeling of communion which I did not get when I received "holy communion" when I formerly was a Catholic. I have copied statements from several people who have responded to Awakin statements and have used their quotes in my writing. Thanks to all of you for being so wonderful. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
I am guessing Roger Walsh indulged himself and it worked for him.. I too am addicted to sweets. I have had very little candy in the last 30 years because one piece of candy is never enough.Within the last year I've been nibbling on dark chocolate under the guise of "health food." As I noticed the guize, I have not had dark chocolate in three or four months, but today, I had three pieces before reading what Walsh had to say. I have years ago indulged in much candy and found that I could never have too much. I don't think indulging works for me. The topic of essential spirituality means to me, and I project this on everyone else, that if one is kind, one is spiritual. If one is kind, one is wise. I do not indulge in kindnesses to others or myself but I wonder if it would be worth a try. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Excellent article. Paradoxically I practice being myself by not practicing but rather by being myself with my flaws and warts.. Paradoxically again, being creative is not being creative when one is just being oneself. By that I mean "trying" to be myself or "trying" to be creative is not being myself and not being creative. If I were myself and and creative I would not need to "try." This again relates to the paradox that it takes much effort to move toward effortless living. I am now considered "an old man" but I find that I am still learning to be myself. Sometimes I extend effort and sometimes I don't. As the old saying goes sometimes I sits and thinks and sometimes I just sits.. Being aware is the key to being yourself and being creative. wanting to know too much in advance what will happen before it happens prevents one from being oneself and prevents one from being creative. Simply notice your noticing while you are noticing and accept what you notice. If you want to change something. Change it. If you don't, don't. As usual, you may notice I don't know much and I find that to be just fine. For me I find there's often nothing to know, nothing to attain, nothing to realize for everything is fine as it is. I often find that if I allow events to happen rather than make them happen that I am more of myself and I am simultaneously than more creative.Warm and kind regards to everyone.
You are most welcome Sarada.
Excellent. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. It seems that I frequently see things intellectually. I intellectually believe I am one with everyone and everything although I have not experienced that in the way Krishnamurti is alluding to. Paradoxically, not only do I see myself as one with everyone and everything, I also notice I am like 1000 different people. What has been very helpful for me is to notice what Sharon Begley, author of "Train Your Mind,Change Your Brain" said with a psychiatrist named Schwartz when they wrote: "Through mindfulness you can stand outside your own mind is if you are watching what is happening to another person rather than experiencing it yourself… Mindfulness requires direct willful effort, and the ability to forge those practicing it to observe their sensations and thoughts with a calm clarity of an external witness… One views his thoughts, feelings, and expectations much as a scientist views experimental data – – that is, as a natural phenomenon to be noted, investigated, reflected on and learned from. Viewing one's own inner experience as data allows ( one) to become, in essence, his own experimental subject." when I notice myself noticing something and its opposite simultaneously, I consider it just noticing and do not get overly concerned with it as a problem. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
The relation between the intensity of communication and the closeness of the hearts is a fine analogy. What also came to me was that as one's emotions become overly strong, the intellect becomes weaker, and we do not understand that shouting often does no good and often does harm. We can transform the difference in space by consciously being silent before we speak or by continuing to be silent., and of course, by just being aware. When I was drafted into the Army, a day before my basic training began, I wrote the colonel in charge of the personnel office so that I might get a better "deal" after basic training. I was called in by the master Sgt. who was evidently told about my lack of training about the chain of command, and that master Sgt. yelled at me for five or 10 minutes. I simply sat silent. I probably didn't hear much of what he was saying. Being aware of what one is and what one is doing is the key. That is no easy matter. I have been trying to be patient, and especially, a patient driver, for many years. I I notice that I get angry quickly one someone isn't driving the way I want them to drive. That is evidence of my ego problem which may still take a long time to correct since it is such a deep habit with me. It is also helpful to note that moderately strong emotions are fine motivators to bring about justice and to provide conditions so that more people may be aware off what is good and what is not good without being told. Hopefully, I can continue to work on my impatience while accepting my limitations as I continue to work on forgiving others and myself. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Wow! I have read Pema Chodron but I did not read this piece before. I was touched by this one. I frequently write about how closed schools and universities are for doing excessive training and little education for self-direction, openness, and development of curiosity and love of learning. I notice I am not open when I blame others for their closedness. I'm surprised that I have not realized this before. In conversations with Somik Raha, he has tried to help me be more open regarding this matter. I understand what he was trying to do more clearly now after reading the above. I do not know what I will do now except waddle in what I now experience as not knowing how to transform schools from training places to places where openness, self-direction, and love of learning can flourish. I will stick with this "not knowing" for now. Thank you for the opportunity to respond.Warm and kind regards to everyone, even those teachers and professors whom I previously blamed.
Life is profound if youÂre awake to see it. ItÂs one thing to draw from culture, itÂs another thing to be drawn so deeply into the culture that your true nature disappears. Wisdom is not merely something to be gained with old age. One can be wise in every stage of oneÂs life. To manifest wisdom means simply to step back and seeÂto reflect, inquire, be aware, be disciplined, and be focused not once in a while, but all of the time, moment to moment. This life is precious and fleeting. Pay attention.
- Seido Ray Ronci, "The Examined Life"
Before I read Dada,, I thought thought uses me and I use thought. When I notice I am one with everyone and everything, I notice I think I am one with everyone and everything. I have not been able to rid myself of my ego to become impersonal as Dada suggests. My level of understanding has not yet gone beyond "'my' level of understanding." There is no question that my thought is limited. I find great to joy in thinking about thought. Yesterday I made notes to write about "a thought too far," and "a thought to near ." I love to think about change and time which can't be clearly defined and I don't know what they are. I love fuzzy thinking. I believe it is possible to evolve beyond "personal understanding," but I have not done so. Shunryu Suzuki's statement about being not one and not two seems to apply here. The great value of "not knowing" also is helpful here. Perhaps if I allowed myself to "not think" more often I would naturally evolve to that impersonal state of oneness. In the meantime I hope I continue to give myself permission to forgive myself again, and again, and again for not being more evolved which amounts to a limited accepting myself as I am. As the Pentateuch and wise men have been saying for years, the highest form of wisdom is kindness. I have not yet experienced myself being impersonally kind. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone
Brian is very insightful and I agree with much of what he said. At relatively old age I am just beginning to learn moderation.. I saw a great video today – – "I Am" by someone named Shadyac, a movie director who had much and then his attitude changed to be more moderate. I thought it was so great that I thought I would buy a copy on Amazon. It may have been immoderate me to order four copies instead of one. I recommend this to all readers of awakin.org since the message of "I Am" is what we frequently read here. The message in movie form is more powerful than in words alone. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone
There are degrees of development and degrees of love. I believe that if one loves consciously one simultaneously loves conscientiously, loves concretely, and loves constructively. Whoever heard of destructive loving? I wish I could share a personal story where I was 100% conscious and 100% consciously loving at any given time but I can't and I probably could not notice 100% of any way of being. That could be an excuse for my allowing myself to be lackadaisical. When one is loving consciously at one's level of development, and accepting what and where one is am at that present moment, then one is doing fine at that moment.: doing fine even if the hands aren't as wide open as someone else's hands, No one is perfect. It is fine to extend effort as we move towards effortlessness. Trying too hard to be what you are not can interfere with opening wide the hands. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone
The answer I have questioned somewhat deeply is: "I am me." I have come to notice that I am what I think; and all that exists arises with my thoughts, and that with my thoughts I make the world. When I have no thoughts I am nothing. When I am nothing I am not me but rather I am everyone and everything. As Gandhi said: "My life is my message. The purity of the means determines the purity of the end. A "no" merely uttered from the deepest conviction is better and greater than YES merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble. You must be the change you want to see in the world." I still have a long way to go to achieve what I have said above I am moving in that direction. I have come to realize that nothing is absolutely true or absolutely false. I have also come to know that I do not know. These are words. Words are often preached. As Gandhi said: an ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching. I have come to believe that when I am kind I am liberated, Warm and kind regards to everyone.
It seems to me that the unconditioned dimension of a mind is a free mind. What has worked for me is noticing my present experience. I am helped every day when I say: "May I be generous and helpful. May I be virtuous. May I be patient. May I be able to bear and forbear the wrongs of others. May I be strenuous, energetic, and persevering. May I meditate and achieve concentration and oneness. May I be wise and use the wisdom for the benefit of everyone and everything." this is said not to a separate being as a reminder to myself that I am one with everyone and everything. As I notice that I am a whole which is more than the sum of the parts, at times, I begin to come near seeing myself not as one, but as "ONE". As Einstein said the true value of a human being can be found to the degree that that he gets rid of his separate self. Noticing yourself as the ocean full of drops and waves can help you see that you are more than one drop or one wave. As you notice you are more ONE, you also notice there is no separate one to have desires. When you have desires you are not free. Desires are a condition that keeps one from being unconditioned. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Thierry,
I have very much appreciated your frequent profound thoughts. What appears below you might find interesting.
Joss Whedon, in his 2013, Wesleyan University commencement address said: “[Our culture] is not long on contradiction or ambiguity. … It likes things to be simple, it likes things to be pigeonholed—good or bad, black or white, blue or red. And we’re not that. We’re more interesting than that. And the way that we go into the world understanding is to have these contradictions in ourselves and see them in other people and not judge them for it. To know that, in a world where debate has kind of fallen away and given way to shouting and bullying, that the best thing is not just the idea of honest debate, the best thing is losing the debate, because it means that you learn something and you changed your position. The only way really to understand your position and its worth is to understand the opposite…This contradiction, and this tension … it never goes away. And if you think that achieving something, if you think that solving something, if you think a career or a relationship will quiet that voice, it will not. If you think that happiness means total peace, you will never be happy. Peace comes from the acceptance of the part of you that can never be at peace. It will always be in conflict. If you accept that, everything gets a lot better.”Warm and kind regards to everyone.
I meant to say "aware" rather than unaware as in: Being yourself in an aware manner is what meditating like Christ means to me. Sorry for the error.
I frequently feel the tension between two opposites.. I feel it's somewhat now. Sometimes I notice I have the tendency to separate and own, and other times I have an impulse to unify and belong. We keep enjoying the wings of things that can free us by being aware which helps us be those wings. Last week, Thierry had such a great statement I copied it. It applies at this moment. It states: "
"A beauty of the Indian tradition is to acknowledge that people have different inward complexions and that what is right for one is inadequate for the other. This is why there are different types of Yoga to suit different types of people and help them progress on their way, none being exclusive of another." Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyoneBeing yourself. Being yourself in an unaware manner is what meditating like Christ means to me. When you continue to be aware of yourself and be unafraid of what you might find, you sustain an unchanging love. There is no one time I can think of where I lost myself in love. When I read about the Dalai Lama, Gandhi, or St. Francis of Assisi, I notice people who are often lost in love. One's being the change one wishes to make is often loving. As St. Francis said: "Seek not so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood, as to understand, to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born." it seems that Christ and the Buddha, being highly aware each moment, allowed themselves to die and be reborn each moment. Dying and being born in each moment in the matter of the Buddha and Christ is like being one with everyone and everything, and it is like not dying because one is so connected to everyone and everything that there is no separate one to die. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone. After reading Kristin's beautiful statement, Hugs to Kristin and all readers.
This piece is difficult for me. This sounds extreme. I wonder if it moves against moderation in all things. I don't know. I don't think I have ever let go of "the drug" and felt full freedom. At times I feel somewhat free but my blind spots are often still present. What I have read about an ideal Buddhist relates to what he's saying here in that when a person is no one, going nowhere, one has no desires, addictions, or attachments. I like moving in that direction but my attachment to my blind spots keeps me from moving there quickly. I read what Manisha said after I wrote the above. He seems to have a truly great father. I think it would be great if more people were like his father. being aware of one's present experience over and over and over is helpful. Learning to forgive oneself again, and again, and again may also be very helpful. When one is kind, one probably has that awareness. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone
How do we improve our awareness about the seeds we are planting is a most basic question. I wish I had a good answer. When I'm aware of my present experience it is easier for me to notice the importance of awareness. Practicing noticing one's present experience helps one to do it more easily in the future. Meditation can be of great value. Practicing kind selflessness helps one be kinder in the future. Practicing selfishness without regard for others, helps generate more of that kind of behavior in the future. Karma seems to be very real. As either the Dalai Lama, or Gandhi said: "If you want to make others happy, be compassionate. If you want to be happy, be compassionate." I'm grateful for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
you are most welcome..
My first impression is "to be born is to be lucky." Not only was I lucky to be born, I was lucky to be born to my particular parents. I was lucky to grow up in a relatively open, creative environment. I'm lucky to be responding to this writing at this moment.. I'm even more lucky to notice that this moment is all there is. Past moments are a present remembrance. Future moments are a present anticipation. This is it. As I was growing up my parents were intimately kind. Today, my wife, children, grandchildren and friends are often intimately kind. I experience intimate kindness from others who write responses to awakin.org. I feel intimate kindness from Somik Raha who is responsible for organizing awaken.org. and to Nipun Mehta and his group at servic space.org. I am lucky to be able to respond and I am lucky to have you reading what I write. I am also lucky to experience every now and then that I am no one going nowhere and that it is the incomprehensibly mysterious, kind universe that is now delivering this message to you. The wave in the ocean are one. Warm and kind regards to everyone
Fantastic. Adyashanti's statement says it all. To paraphrase Thomas Keating: "The universe's first language is silence. All else is a poor translation." The only personal experience I can share is occasionally, actually very rarely, and only within the last year, have I noticed an exceptional peacefulness when I am just being aware with no goals or desires. I have not experienced being no one going nowhere but that is perhaps another way of saying being awareness. This unusual peacefulness was experienced after about 22 years of meditation. Meditation may be thought of as the M-word since any attempts to describe or explain it or not.. Being no one going nowhere I expect is a fine way to experience being awareness/peacefulness. There is no need to reconcile anything other than noticing many paradoxes exist when attempting to intellectualize being awareness. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone. I just read to watch again Obama said and I believe he is on the head. My statement too may be complete nonsense. I would like to suggest we have Ganoba write one of these weekly pieces. I have made copies of about three of his responses. Last weeks and this weeks Ganoba's responses were also fantastic.
Excellent writing. While I was reading I was thinking that giving makes people happy. I strongly believe that and I wonder why I don't give more because I have found it makes me happy and peaceful. I have the feeling that if I strive to be happy that striving or trying does not make me happy. Just giving with no thought of return brings peace and happiness. My guess is that people of all religions, and agnostics and atheists have found that to be true over the years. My thought now is that I am getting more out of writing this then the readers who are reading it. Warm and kind regards to everyone and thanks for the opportunity to respond.
Truly excellent writing. I often feel like I am in my head but I know it is more than that. His description of that unity of mind, heart and everything and everyone fits where I am moving toward.. I don't experience that often but as I do a kind act, that is something like I experience heaven at that present moment. We can't choose our parents, and I believe the love I received from my mother in particular was so fantastic that I am unconsciously imbued with it at this moment.. Extinguishing the thinking to me means that the thought of love is different from love and some thinking can interfere with loving Being kind to oneself and others is love. Being peaceful in the present moment is love. When I can feel, think, etc .in an openly aware integrated manner, I am more at one with everyone and everything. The way to develop ourselves to be love is to notice what is happening in the present moment/ being presently aware. As I expand my awareness I move to noticing incomprehensible mystery and not knowing; just being, and that, at times, is just being love. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Excellent. At a Z2 day Zen retreat in Ann Arbor, I heard the Zen master yelling at one of his students who was studying to be a Zen teacher. I was shocked at first. Shortly after I thought the Zen master,Samu Sunim, was acting and the appearance of strong emotion was to test the trainee to see if the trainee could maintain his,emotion with the blast of emotion his teacher was giving him. I'm guessing that is true also in the above situation. When I am mindful I clearly control my emotion. When I'm driving in heavy traffic, or often even light traffic, I find I am very impatient – – I am quite emotional – – with drivers who don't seem to be driving as I wish them to drive. If a Zen teacher were with me at the time, I would surely flunk the test. Even though I have been meditating for over 20 years, I would probably still will flunk the test since I am still quite impatient, but not quite as impatient as I was 20 some years ago. I noticed my impatience faster now than I did then. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. May all beings be at ease. Warm and kind regards.
Very interesting. I believe in being spontaneous and not postponing acts of service. I don't very often act on it however. Just watching the sun set helps me simply just be. When I know I am being present in an integrated manner, I am peaceful. When I am following moderation in all things I move toward peacefulness. Being in the present is doing it now. When one is paying attention to what is happening as it is happening in and around one, one is probably compassionate, patient, and wise. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone
Thanks for the opportunity to respond. I thoroughly and strongly believe that one's ordinary accepting present experience is an extraordinary accomplishment. I have been practicing for over 20 years and only on a couple of ccasions have I felt highly insightfully peaceful while just sitting. Insightful restfulness is peaceful. This peace precedes happiness and I find I do not need to be happy in order to be peaceful. I am also reminded of a mental stem learning which states: "Increase the tendency to allow things to happen rather than make them happen." By noticing what is, one has a greater chance of accepting what is. When I accept what is, I desire less and I am more peaceful. This brief passage from an unknown author is an excellent summary of wonderful, peaceful living. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Excellent writing. The author is a bit paradoxical in that I sense he thinks he has the truth and is wise. I agree that he has the truth and is wise but I also think the tea party types think they have the truth and are wise. The practical test to check that we are actually seeing an integrated view is in doing rather than only in saying. As France's of Assisi said: "Preach the gospel always. Use words if necessary." This author is stating the gospel as I understand it. I have been involved in anti-racist activities for quite a few years even though I am a white person. My parents were born in Germany and during World War II, I had relatives in the German army And the American army. The Germans killing 6 million Jews partly motivated me to be rather anti-racist. I have been involved in teaching cultural diversity and ant-racist activities and I am now writing a book about anti-racism. The work I am doing is not work in the sense that I am following what I think is natural for me based on how I understand the world. The spiritual and the mundane are united when I do that.How I understand the world is very similar to how the author understands the world except I don't like the idea that I am wise and others need my wisdom. Again the paradox for me is every day I say: "May I be wise and use the wisdom for the benefit of everyone."
My feeding the poor is worth much more than any writing I may do about racism or anything else. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Excellent article. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. I have been a Zen Buddhist for over 20 years yet I find myself habitually becoming impatient with others particularly while I am driving. Intellectually I know I am one with everyone and everything but I do not translate that into peaceful compassionate action very often. I am now writing about skin color and I notice white privileges are frequently unnoticed by white people. I sense there is some violence to people of color as a result of white's failure to share privileges, particularly with African Americans and Latinos, even though white persons often do not intend to be violent. In this country, white people often think that people of color, particularly black people, are not as good as whites. Part of that is unconscious through semi-conscious acculturation. The continuance of white privilege for so long leads me to believe that we now need to at least gently (non violently) shock some white people into discussing racism with other white people.so that whites acknowledge and share their privileges. I am a recovering racist and I would appreciate anyone with any ideas about skin color and privilege to let me know what you think. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Intellectually, I hold that giving is far superior to receiving. I also hold that when I give I simultaneously receive since, intellectually, I hold that I am one with everyone and everything. As a matter of practice, I do not often live this way and I'm not sure why. It would be an easy explanation if I said it was because of my habits,but it is more than that in a mysterious way. I formerly thought that when I give I will be rewarded in heaven. Now when I give, I notice that I experience a bit of heaven at the present moment (during the giving).. I work in his soup kitchen several hours a week and when I give food to the poor I experience that I get more out of it than those who receive the food do. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Thank you for the opportunity to respond. I believe when one is healthy, one is more likely to love, and when one loves, one is more likely to become more healthy. Love can be a micro moment of positive connection and I think it can be much more than that, That "more" can't be easily said. When one is peaceful there is a greater chance for one being compassionate and loving. When one is loving and compassionate there is greater chance for being peaceful. Love, in the sense of compassion for others and self, is more than an emotion. I see it as a way of being. I am reminded of the word enthusiasm which comes from the Greek word etheos, the God within. When a person experiences oneness with everyone and everything then one has God within. As a person is one with the universe, that is something like a wave and the ocean being one. When we use words as we frequently do, we at times overly intellectualize, and as the former University of Michigan philosopher, Abraham Kaplan said: "It has almost become a metaphysical doctrine and the whole point is lost." What Kaplan is talking about he says:"is nothing at all special, and this, of course, is what makes it seem so extraordinary." Kaplan goes on to explain that he does not want life to be a metaphysical exercise. He wants people to avoid living "like those amateur musicians who were always practicing the piano but never playing." Kaplan thought we want to learn how to better live. When one is certain about what is going to happen next, one is often closed to what else might happen. Next, like tomorrow, is never here now. Now is all there is and I am unsure of what I am saying. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
I'm not at all sure, but I think there is a stillness beyond what the mind can know.
Thanks for the opportunity to respond. The absorbing and transforming are all in one's mind. A future standing still as we move in infinite space is also all in one's mind. Sharing a personal experience where I felt I was moving in infinite space relates to my reading Joss Whedon's commencement address at Wesleyan University this spring. He said: "Our culture is not long on contradiction or ambiguity… It likes to be simple, it likes things to be pigeonholed – – good or bad, black or white, blue or red. And we are not that. We're more interesting than that. And the way that we go into the world understanding is to have these contradictions in ourselves and see them in other people and not judge them for it. To know that, in a world where debate has kind of fallen away and given way to shouting and bullying, that the best thing is not just the idea of honest debate, the best thing is losing the debate, because it means that you learn something and you changed your position. The only way to understand your position and it's worth is to understand the opposite… This contradiction, and this tension… It never goes away. And if you think that achieving something, if you think that solving something, if you think your career or a relationship will quiet that voice, it will not. If you think that happiness means total peace, you will never be happy. Peace comes from the acceptance of the part of you that can never be at peace. It will always be in conflict. If you accept that, everything gets a lot better." Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Dear Swara,
An easy way to see compassion is to notice it as being kind to others and yourself. It is like treating others and yourself the way you would like to be treated considering the long term and short term. it is much like love.Warm and kind regards.
Conrad
Thank you Carol for your inspiration.
Conrad
I do not know how I relate to the interplay of compassion and insight into the interrelatedness of all phenomena. I do not know how I process the notion of both good and bad existing in my heart. The only story I can share at this moment about when compassion and insight balanced each other in my life is this moment as I write this. I find "not knowing" to be very helpful in my life it to find balance in all matters. It is easier for me to find balance when I cherish not knowing.. If I knew, it probably could be said, and I am a firm believer in Lao-tzu's notion that the way that can be said is not the way. It is interesting for me to notice that the notion of good and bad is probably different from spontaneous un- notions (actions) of good and bad. I am reminded that "we can know what is good and what is not good, and we do not need others to tell us these things." Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Occasionally I'll get a brief experience of stopping and finding stillness but it does not last very long. I am reminded of a monk named Thomas Keating who said: "God's first language is silence. All else is a poor translation." Being silent can at times help one be still as being still can help one be silent. when I realized I know very little, I believe I am spiritual and simultaneously mundane. I have changed to the point where I now think the mundane is often spiritual/divine. Trying to be spiritual may at times cause me to not see that we are already spiritual even while being mundane. This can be done without trying. For me the word peace is more primitive than happiness and I think I can be peaceful while not being always happy.. Being at ease is being peaceful. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone and may all beings be at ease.
By noticing my present experience I notice I am one with the universe and that whatever I do, what may be said about it is, the universe is universing. I do not consider it work to respond to articles that Somik sends weekly. I am simply being me. Rather than me being a drop in the ocean, I notice I am the ocean that is full of drops. This particular little drop who is spontaneously commenting on this article is noticing and being himself. I notice the self is much more connected than disconnected to everyone and everything ( the universe--Self). In that sense there is no I doing anything. It is no one going nowhere while the universe is universing. The universe is wise and the highest form of wisdom is when each drop his kind to each of the other drops. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone
I was touched by reading this. I often think I would like to be no one going nowhere, then I realize I'm only thinking that, and I am someone going somewhere. I'm wanting to communicate my present experience to readers now yet I wonder if a blank space or no response would indicate being no one going nowhere. But I realize indicating being no one going nowhere is only me indicating. I'm reminded of Lao-tzu who said: "The way they can be said is not the way." To paraphrase Gandhi: There is no way to being no one. Being no one is the way. I believe we are all one which makes me no one but that is me thinking that. I forget if it is Pema Chodron or some other woman who wrote the book: Being No One Going Nowhere. I highly recommend it. Thanks for helping me come closer to being no one which is somewhat like being everyone which is like noticing we are all one. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone
Pirsig is great. I used his two books when I taught. He is being a bit idealistic here to make a point for the reader. After believing it is my path to be in the present and here, I frequently find I am not here and out of the present. When we notice we are one with everyone and everything, we are here. As humans, I notice I and others frequently forget we are here now. When one is partly here and partly in the now, movement toward the here and now may assist one to be in the here and now. On the other hand, trying to be in the here and now is trying and is frequently not being here and now at that moment of trying. Being aware of the trying seems to be helpful. It is difficult to realize there's nothing to know, nothing to realize and nothing to attain. As Gandhi or the Dalai llama said: "If you want others to be happy, be compassionate. If you want to be happy, be compassionate. I am most in the here and now when I am compassionate to others and myself. Perhaps you can tell from what I write, Iis'm frequently in my head. I intellectualize a lot of about being in the here and now being compassionate etc. yet I still find I am frequently impatient.. If I were more patient more often I would be more compassionate, and in the here and now more frequently. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Rebecca has some interesting ideas. I walk 2 miles four or five times a week. I do it for exercise, not for the thoughts that may or may not arise. My first impression is that sitting silently may do the same as what Rebecca says walking does.
Being mindful is not necessarily thinking in a cognitive sense. Awareness precedes thinking and I have found that excessive thinking by persons such as René Descartes have led Western society to want to be overly certain. Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest, has stated that wanting certainty is our original sin. I tend to agree with Rohr. Excessive thinking may cause one to be certain and that is a major problem. As the poet Keats said, one should make up one's mind about nothing. Rebecca probably would agree but I am not sure based on what she said above. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
Wow! Whyte's writing is fantastic. I didn't know how dumb I was until I read this. Previously I thought I was smarter by going faster. Even in conversations of various sorts I too often want to get to the heart of the matter very quickly. After reading this article I now more clearly realize that being patient is getting to the hearts of all matters. Being patient helps one be peaceful and compassionate. I don't seem to recall an experience that came from the belief: "I have time" I have been reading Awakin articles for a couple of years, and I now believe that this one will probably help me the most.. Most of my accomplishments came from doing things quickly but those were done at the expense of being impatient and non-compassionate. You have my deep gratitude for giving me the opportunity to read this and to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
I am aged 81. I'm in good health so I think I have about seven or eight more years of living in this body.. Recently I have thought more about how fast seven or eighty years go by. Normally, my mind is filled with nonstop chatter, but as I get older, I think more of being no one going nowhere. When I am no one going nowhere I die and am born each second. Also when I am no one going nowhere, there is no separate I too have a problem so there are already no problems. When I am no one going nowhere, I notice I am more one with everyone and everything and that everyone and everything is impermanent. This piece reminded me of the story of Zorba the Greek who once met a 95-year-old man planting in oak tree. Zorba said something like, "Hey old man don't you know it takes a very long time for the oak tree to grow?" And the old man said: "I live as though I am never going to die." And Zorba then said: "And I live as though each day were my last."
Paraphrasing Inayat Khan when asked what is the virtue that rises from the love spring?, he might say something like he said when asked what is Zen,Khan would tell the story of a young fish going to the Queen fish and saying something like: "I hear there is a sea. What is it and where is it? Love is everyone and everything. when one gets rid of his or her ego, one notices they are one with everyone and everything. That is the reconciliation of selfless love with love – – acceptance for oneself.. I must admit that it is easy to say difficult to do since I do not approach that very often. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone and that is like love to and for you all with myself being included in us all.
I forgot to mention that the book, Learning What To Ignore: Connecting Multidiscipline Content and Process, 2013, Sense Publishers, closely elates to what is said here.
There is a range of learning from learning nonsense syllables to one's learning that which one is looking for is that which is looking.. I was disrupted with his statement: "experience never flowers into the beauty of understanding." Being aware of the beauty of understanding is an experience. One way of looking at the difference between accumulating knowledge and learning is to notice that Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein accumulated much knowledge. One could also notice that they had not learned. Present day schooling and much University teaching often relates to accumulating knowledge rather than high quality learning. It seems to me that high-quality learning needs a freer, ungraded environment where one can explore what one finds to be remarkable, interesting, and important. Coercive school learning often prevents that from happening and the coercion tends to destroy curiosity. If we allow ourselves to be curious we can become open-minded self-directing lovers of learning. When that occurs we are often compassionate and notice that we are more connected than disconnected to everyone and everything. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Warm and kind regards to everyone.
On May 2, 2014 Conrad P Pritscher wrote on The World Also Has a Soul, by David Whyte:
I have some difficulty separating my thinking from my feeling. As souls are at least semi-incomprehensible mysteries, I think our world is an incomprehensible mystery and in that sense it has a soul. My experience of the universe leads me to believe the universe is an incomprehensible mystery. As God is an incomprehensible mystery, I see the universe as God, and that the universe is not only my partner in life, the universe and I are one. In that sense the universe is my life. One may believe we practice being true to our own necessities by noticing our present experience and accepting it. "It" is both the universe and mone's experience since I believe the universe is like a hologram in which my one part includes the entire whole. I can be more certain this is true for me when I am compassionate and kind. Being compassionate and kind is something like mindful, wise living. Most of what I state I don't know in advance until it comes to me, and in that sense, I know nothing, while at the same time I know everything I need to know at any given time. Warm and kind regards to everyone and everything.,