one line that leapt out to me as particularly resonant (among a slew of resonant lines and concepts):
"People will often say they can’t meditate, or they’re no good at meditation, or they’ve failed at meditation, by which they usually mean nothing spectacular has happened and/or they can’t stop thinking, as if not thinking and having some spectacular experience were the goal."
thank you for that and this and these and those and all!
I think of your encounter with Jean Klein and that he said that "there's too much said about meditation.I think you must discover the meditation that's not meditation. You're already here. There's nowhere to go." But it years later when it dawned on me that the suffering, change, and emptiness are the very nature of mind that I stopped expecting enlightenment.
Yes, expecting enlightenment, or seeking it, is one of the most common ways of avoiding it. As the great Zen Master Dogen said, "If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?" And yes, all our suffering and confusion is in the mind. And it all disappears every night in deep sleep along with the one who appears to have it.
Ah yes. Very well said, thank you. When people ask "Do you meditate?" and you say yes, the next question often is, "What kind of meditation do you do?" Although I've written on this subject, I find this question always hard to answer--likely because the kind of answer I think they're looking for I can't give them. (Like maybe, "TM," "Kriya," etc.) Rather it's: "The kind that permeates my day." "The kind I do while I'm sitting on the toilet peeing." "The kind that's an ongoing practice of presence." "The listening kind."
Silently reading your latest, Joan, my awareness opened and grew sensitive to flowing fields of sensation even as words and thoughts -- yours and mine -- moved through me. I felt something else, too, as I reflected on my spiritual path, especially in the last few years. The availability and simplicity of just being, even momentarily not looking for something to fill my mind and attention. I didn't have to name the feeling but the word 'gratitude' popped up, and seemed apt. You're a much appreciated ingredient in all this. Thanks once again.
Your words bring up the feeling that everything is where it is. Nothing to be changed.
There are some things I never heard before, or thought about, or took in: "The me is only a powerless thought-image, a kind of mirage......" - I am intrigued by the "powerless thought-image" and that the "me" is just one of them. - love it!
dear joan,
thank you for this! and all!
one line that leapt out to me as particularly resonant (among a slew of resonant lines and concepts):
"People will often say they can’t meditate, or they’re no good at meditation, or they’ve failed at meditation, by which they usually mean nothing spectacular has happened and/or they can’t stop thinking, as if not thinking and having some spectacular experience were the goal."
thank you for that and this and these and those and all!
love,
myq
Possibly the best piece on meditation I have ever read. Excellent! Thank you.
I think of your encounter with Jean Klein and that he said that "there's too much said about meditation.I think you must discover the meditation that's not meditation. You're already here. There's nowhere to go." But it years later when it dawned on me that the suffering, change, and emptiness are the very nature of mind that I stopped expecting enlightenment.
Yes, expecting enlightenment, or seeking it, is one of the most common ways of avoiding it. As the great Zen Master Dogen said, "If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?" And yes, all our suffering and confusion is in the mind. And it all disappears every night in deep sleep along with the one who appears to have it.
Ah yes. Very well said, thank you. When people ask "Do you meditate?" and you say yes, the next question often is, "What kind of meditation do you do?" Although I've written on this subject, I find this question always hard to answer--likely because the kind of answer I think they're looking for I can't give them. (Like maybe, "TM," "Kriya," etc.) Rather it's: "The kind that permeates my day." "The kind I do while I'm sitting on the toilet peeing." "The kind that's an ongoing practice of presence." "The listening kind."
I’m learning so much from you.
Thank you Joan! You have the gift of being able to describe what is often indescribable
Silently reading your latest, Joan, my awareness opened and grew sensitive to flowing fields of sensation even as words and thoughts -- yours and mine -- moved through me. I felt something else, too, as I reflected on my spiritual path, especially in the last few years. The availability and simplicity of just being, even momentarily not looking for something to fill my mind and attention. I didn't have to name the feeling but the word 'gratitude' popped up, and seemed apt. You're a much appreciated ingredient in all this. Thanks once again.
Thanks again for making it simple and possible! Deep gratitude!
Your words bring up the feeling that everything is where it is. Nothing to be changed.
There are some things I never heard before, or thought about, or took in: "The me is only a powerless thought-image, a kind of mirage......" - I am intrigued by the "powerless thought-image" and that the "me" is just one of them. - love it!