Sunday, April 8, 2012

Why They Call It Practice

Saturday evening
Struck anew by the realization that living my daily life I don't have to be caught in my circling mind trails.  Just return to my breath.  Of course that's how you meditate - you realize your mind is wandering, go back to focusing on your breath or counting your breaths.  But the point is not to do that; the point is, you are practicing for life off the cushion.  So, in life you are brushing your teeth and you think, Tomorrow I will probably see So-and-so and if she says . . . and anger arises, and off you are, lost in thoughts about something that happened last week, and something that could happen in the future, none of which is here in the bathroom with you.  You don't have to follow that line of thought.  You can return to brushing your teeth. That's the point of the whole thing - getting to be here. And you don't get there by thinking about being mindful.

So what we do when we meditate is train.  We train like athletes or musicians to notice what we do and think and feel, to direct our own actions or thoughts.  And our minds have been out of our control most of our lives, so . . . it takes a while.
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Sunday morning - Doing lapcat meditation (a fundamental practice in the Lineage of Sherlock), I searched for a video I could watch at the same time, and found this clip of Nyogen Yeo Roshi.

I liked his way of talking about being trapped in this skinbag.  Now I have to go get my skinbag dressed for church.

I know, it's not a chocolate rabbit.  I hope you got one.

1 comment:

  1. no chocolate bunnies here either
    Getting over a stomach virus. Happy Ostara Eostre Easter! Terry

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