Open Road Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue

 

June 15, 2021

 

You are equally as beautiful as the universe.

—tag on a Yogi Tea bag

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It is easy to see the conventional character of roles. For a man who is a father may also be a doctor and an artist, as well as an employee and a brother. And it is obvious that even the sum total of these role labels will be far from supplying an adequate description of the man himself, even though it may place him in certain general classifications. But the conventions which govern human identity are more subtle and much less obvious than these. We learn, very thoroughly though far less explicitly, to identify ourselves with an equally conventional view of “myself.” For the conventional “self” or “person” is composed mainly of a history consisting of selected memories, and beginning from the moment of parturition. According to convention, I am not simply what I am doing now. I am also what I have done, and my conventionally edited version of my past is made to seem almost more the real “me” than what I am at this moment. For what I am seems so fleeting and intangible, but what I was  is fixed and final. It is the firm basis for predictions of what I will be in the future, and so it comes about that I am more closely identified with what no longer exists than with what actually is!

 

—Alan Watts, from The Way of Zen, p. 6

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Esoterica 

 

Shall I write for the ages? Shall I compose 

for a scholar’s delectation? Shall footnotes

be the explication implement for my puzzles, 

my utterance reeking of the lamp? Shall glossy 

lyricism enamel my philosophies? Shall I play 

cat and mouse, merciless with a reader’s mind? 

Shall I strive to conceal my meaning so teachers

may tease their students for the great shazam? 

 

Do not hang my painting  in the parlor, 

said Van Gogh—I see it in the cabin of a boat

storm-tossed at sea, as a help to frightened sailors.

 

—Kim Stafford

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Takes a heap of meaning to make a body happy

 

There have been complaints these days about meaninglessness.

 

The spiritual end of our civilization seems to have broken down. We were originally set up to be monotheistic, and not polytheistic. The gods were banished and all space taken by Jehovah on his golden throne. That worked through the Middle Ages, but the Industrial Revolution put a spoke in the wheel. Almost unnoticed, the gods started coming back.

 

There are those who would turn Jehovah out and bring the gods back. Monotheism, polytheism, whatever. The important thing is to live a meaningful spiritual life. But a lot of Christians, Muslims and Jews are invested in monotheism, which is the idea that if there is one god there can’t be many. Logic won’t allow it. Others say that religion needs to be founded on paradox, in which case, there can be one god or many, depending on your visionary angle.

 

—Charles Erickson

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let’s pretend

 

instead of pretending that we are afraid

that we must improve

that we have enemies

that the future will arrive someday

 

let’s pretend everything is sacred

pretend this is Paradise

pretend every moment is precious

pretend we love everyone

 

pretend our joy knows no bounds

pretend we are the whole wide world

 

—Johnny Stallings

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You can take any object whatsoever–a stick or a stone, a dog or a child–draw a ring around it so that it is seen as separate from everything else, and thus contemplate it in its mystery aspect–the aspect of the mystery of its being, which is the mystery of all being–and it will have there and then become a proper object of worshipful regard. So, any object can become an adequate base for meditation, since the whole mystery of man and nature and of everything else is in any object that you want to regard.

 

—Joseph Campbell, from Mythic Worlds, Modern Words: On the Art of James Joyce, p. 130

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I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least,

Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself.

 

Why should I wish to see God better than this day?

I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then,

In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass,

I find letters from God dropt in the street, and every one is signed by God’s name,

And I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoe’er I go,

Others will punctually come for ever and ever.

 

—Walt Whitman, from “Song of Myself”

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And this our life, exempt from public haunt, 

Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 

sermons in stones, and good in every thing. 

I would not change it.

 

—William Shakespeare, from As You Like It, Act II, scene 1

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Here are some excerpts from Michel’s meditation journal. The numbers refer to passages from the book Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh. (JS)

 

May 3, 2021  #113  The Beautiful Earth

 

This one ended up not being about the entitled topic: certainly it does start there…and ends where we can help others find/touch peace more often in their lives, realizing that the Earth and all it contains is already beautiful. I appreciate that Thây tells/reminds us that we are “able to”—“We can allow ourselves…” How often do we do this—allow ourselves to do anything for ourselves?; let alone, walking mindfully or touching the Earth. Certainly, it can be a greater challenge for those of us located in the box. But, we can let our spirit soar outside this box, our minds don’t have to be imprisoned along with our bodies. (As an aside: How many do you know and/or notice whose mind is as trapped as their body, unable to see any beauty or kindness inside here?) Even walking on concrete we can touch the Earth. Even looking at concrete walls, or at a sky above, we can recognize the beauty of the Earth around us—as we once knew it, or as we can see it now in faces of people, or pictures, or birds flying overhead. We can allow ourselves to live, breathe, see, feel, and even “be” outside the box. We only need to “see” it…

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May 24, 2021  #128  Peace is Contagious

 

I guess I have not experienced this truth yet. I see war as a result of greed, hatred, delusion: this is contagious, in a way. Peace has certainly been a byproduct of meditation practice, as has happiness with ease. I wonder if this is the intent of using “contagious.”

 

Wouldn’t that be wonderful? If we could get many to meditate and peace were to spontaneously erupt. Then, as a result of all the peaceful people and the contagious nature of peace, that Peace broke out all over the world. What would that world look like? Would it be astonishing or amazing? Or, would we all, as active meditators, know it was what we expected to occur?

 

Peace is the antithesis of greed, hate, and delusion (The Three Poisons). Meditation is part of the path for overcoming the self-told lies leading to these three poisons. So, if this is known—(this is known, isn’t it?)—then why don’t more people pursue peace this way: divesting of false narratives, of grasping for what others have, and the desire to erase the otherness?

 

It all comes down to choices. We each make choices. Some will blind us to reality, and others bring sharp relief. Each person gets to choose. When one discovers the path of peace, he or she wants others to share in it—contagious.

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May 31, 2021  #133  Where the Buddhas Live

 

….We are all sleeping Buddhas. And, we all share this planet together. We can all love ourselves, in the now, as it is, as we really are, seen in the “others” with whom we share the air we breathe, the sunlight that warms our body, on this planet provided for us to live. Where do the buddhas live? In you and in me and in each person we encounter. Can you see it? Can you feel this?

 

Love

Michel Deforge

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One of my favorite “children’s books” is Cosmic View: The Universe in 40 Jumps by Kees Boeke, published by John Day, 1957. It has long been out of print but some amazing soul has scanned the whole book to a PDF: 

 

http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/cosmic-view.pdf

 

And in 1968 Canadian Broadcasting made a film based on it: 

 

https://letterboxd.com/film/cosmic-zoom/

 

We take size and our reactions to it almost by rote, not seeing how very relative our slice or box of the universe is. And these two, the book and film, remind us of  that. In addition there is a great French movie, Microcosmos, about the life of insects in a field in France. 

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117040/

 

Talk about different worlds and sizes! Which is just what I have done in this recent poem of mine, that I am attaching.

 

love, 

Deb

 

Opening the Hubble Galaxy Calendar

 

In a summer field the camera inches closer, the air’s hum becomes louder, thicker and we watch small creatures move through wilds of grass and dirt, beings so tiny our lordly bodies rarely see them, human vision inattentive to antennas, faceted eyes, and carapace. How unimaginable these day-long worlds are to us and we to them, our one hundred years beyond reach in the universe of insect life.

 

Ants, worms, and crickets, dynasties of arachnid and lepidoptera rush to mind each morning as I open another color-enhanced photograph from the Hubble telescope, each one bringing the unexpected into view: the Horse Head Nebula rearing as if a stallion, a butterfly configuration composed of galaxy upon galaxy, streams of gas and water, glowing fire. What can we know of 100 million light-years, these interstellar worlds?

 

O, how like insects we are, hands and legs, thorax and mandibles all waving in the limitless dark.

 

—Deborah Buchanan

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#161 Think Globally

 

“…When we see things globally we have more wisdom and we feel much better We are not caught by small situations…”

 

I don’t remember when I first started doing this, but I know it was many, many decades ago, during my first rocky marriage. When caught up with tormenting thoughts I would extricate myself by saying, “Look at the big picture. Look at you, now, in this time. This is nothing; you are nothing. In the “Grand Scheme of Things” this doesn’t matter. You don’t matter (you do, but you don’t). It is nothing. Things will change.” I would detach myself, look at the situation from the outside, like a scientist, untethering myself from the suffocating emotional bind. I would think of centuries, of eons, eras, of countries, continents, planets, the universe — and all the inhabitants therein, and how their lives could be monstrous compared to mine.

 

Then I would count up the joys in my life, remembering what I had within and without me that others globally could not experience. I would get specific, enumerate details—loving, supportive parents and siblings; vegetables in my garden ready to pick; good physical (if not mental) health; art; adoring, adorable dog; freedom from addictions (for now); the trees and mountains calling me…

 

If nothing else, the time it took me to go through this process would invariably diffuse the heretofore unbearable situation.

 

I am everything. I am nothing.

 

—Jude Russell

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I love this poem:

 

I am one

Who eats his breakfast

Gazing at morning glories

 

—Basho

 

https://matsuobashohaiku.home.blog/2019/04/12/gazing-at-morning-glories-eating-breakfast-basho/

 

I am still contemplating the story Michel sent about fishing with a straight hook. Picturing this fisherman/fisherwoman sitting with companions who are intent on catching fish for dinner, or sport. 

 

The difference seems to me about letting go of expectations, come what may, but staying engaged with companions in the present moment. A surprise might come that feels magical, but it isn’t about waiting for something better in the future. But the straight hook does make that fisherbeing unique amongst others. I am sending some quotes on this thought:

 

If you always sit in expectation, you’re not in the present moment. The present moment contains the whole of life. 

—Thich Nhat Hanh  

 

Letting go is a painful part of life. But according to Buddhism, we must let go of attachment and desires if we are to experience happiness.

However, letting go doesn’t mean you don’t care about anyone and anything. It actually means you can experience life and love fully and openly without clinging to it for your survival.

According to Buddhism, this is the only way to experience true freedom and happiness. 

Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything—anger, anxiety, or possessions—we cannot be free.

—Thich Nhat Hanh  

 

The greatest loss of time is delay and expectation, which depend upon the future. We let go of the present, which we have in our power, and look forward to that which depends upon chance, and so relinquish a certainty for an uncertainty.

—Seneca  

 

If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction, we lessen the importance of their deprivation. We must risk delight….We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world….( injustice cannot be the only measure of our attention)….We must admit there will be music despite everything.     

—Jack Gilbert

 

Let Go Of Expectations 

 

“If it weren’t for my mind, my meditation would be excellent.”

—Pema Chödrön    

 

She continues:     

 

Every meditation is different. Some of them will be peaceful throughout and you may feel a deep sense of joy. Other times your mind might be wild with thoughts of the day, responsibilities you have yet to fulfill, or emotions that percolate to the surface of your mind. 

 

Here are some steps you can take during your practice so that you avoid unnecessary turmoil and disappointment: 

 

1. Accept whatever shows up for you. If your mind is wild with thoughts, simply let them arise without judgement. When you catch yourself being aware of these thoughts, you can remind yourself to focus once again on your breath.

2. Sometimes you may experience emotions arising. Again, allow them to move through you without judgement. Emotions need to move through us, otherwise they can become stuck within our body and cause discomfort or even disease later in life. The release of that emotion could be the very thing that brings some relief and a quieter mind. 

3. Release expectations of a specific outcome before you go in to a meditation. Some people will enter meditations with the hope that they will be able to manifest money, relationships or health. High expectations of a specific outcome can lead to disappointments when they do not arise immediately. The less you expect of your meditation the easier you will find happiness. 

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OK, you are now ready to begin, take a calm, deep breath.

—Katie Radditz