"In the garden of gentle sanity, May you be bombarded by coconuts of wakefulness". Daily meditation - All Welcome

[mangosTrickyrice]

Quote is from Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, whoever he may be. I found it in Pema Chodron's Places that Scare You and it made me laugh.

This thread is for anyone at all who's interested in mindfulness and meditation. We had posters on the last thread from various Buddhist traditions, Christians lapsed and practising, plus your wishy-washy agnostics . Some of us aim for 10 minutes of meditation practice each day, others focus on mindfulness in daily living, and still others focus on naps horizontal meditation. So really anything goes. The original thread is here if you have a month or 2 spare to read, otherwise just jump in below.

Hi Poshwellies
I also have some posh wellies and I live in the city but they came into their own last week in the snow. If I'm not in my slippers then the wellies are my next favourite item of footwear... I digress (as usual)

Welcome welcome to the coconut tree....

The only Buddhist books I ever recommend are the ones by Sarah Napthali "Buddhism for Mothers". Depending on how old your kids are she has written one for each stage (babies, toddlers, school kids). I'm reading the most recent one and its great. I read Moma Zen and its fine but not as useful as Buddhism for Mothers IMO. I'm also reading Teach Yourself Buddhism latest edition - its a good overview.

Katie - sorry to hear you've failed to get FWBO to relocate to the sticks. Good news - I've found a local group at the university which meets near here and on a night that I'm free. I'm hoping to give it a whirl next week and finally meditate in a group. Perhaps I'll learn how to do it properly. ]

Mango - good to hear BabyM is doing better. NOt surprised you're feeling frazzled though.

Metta to all.
PFS

hello all

I spent yesterday at Matine Batchelor's "letting go" one day retreat (under the auspices of the london insight meditation group) and have to say it was one of the most worthwhile days I've spent. Martine Batchelor is a great teacher. Quiet, unassuming, very present, beautiful, witty, self-deprecating, wise, thoughtful, generous. It was the first REAL dharma teaching I think I've received (not sure quite what I mean by this - it just seemed more informed, confident and insightful than the fwbo retreat teachings I've had - possibly because they were intro retreats so aiming for slightly less aware audience and so a bit less challenging - whereeas think I am (sort of) ready for a challenge now - she said snorting derisively at her burgeoning ego!). She spent ten years as a buddhist nun in Korea so is very well versed in all that but presented her thoughts in such an accessible, beautiful, useful way. Really lovely. definately worth going to a retreat with her if you can ever get to one I'd say.

I took lots of notes and plan to write them up into some semblance of order for myself. If anyone is interested in reading them when I've done that just let me know, or maybe I can post an executive summary on here. Bet I find she just said the same thing in many different ways - the crux of buddhism I find.

It was great timing since, as some of you know, H and I have decided to separate and we told teh kids on Saturday. It's been hard not to feel animosity and anger at H during the resulting fallout and upset felt by the kids (I have the perspective that he just wasn't willing to TRY enough) and so a good old day spent thinking about the value of just "letting go" was invaluable

and so I go to practise it in RL, if I can hold on to not holding on...

metta to you all

XXX

ps poshwellies - I heartily recommend Thich Nhat Hahn's Peace is Every Step - it's a beautiful, simple, powerful book. Much loved by me and Katie anyway.

XXX

Katie - I've started another thread just to draw attention of folk with MH issues (primarily depression)to the benefits of mindfulness practice

any chance you could pop over there and give your take on Life with Full Attention - I haven't read it yet so can't comment

the thread

ps anyone else with anything useful to say on mindfulness as a means of combating depression feel free too

Hi All,
PB good to hear everything went well with Martine B. Yes, please do post up your executive summary. I'd be really interested in reading it.

Here's a lovely quote which people may find thought provoking. (I'm really trying to focus on it when I have mean thoughts about DD's natural father.. quite difficult when I keep thinking he's a tosser!)

"We don't have to let go- we simply don't have to not hold on."
_ Goldstein
Tricycle Magazine.

Hope all well.

Fluffy
I can't tell you how helpful I've found that quote over the last few days. It really has spoken to me directly (like a slug to the gut, in fact!!) and I find that bringing those words to mind, combined with reminding myself to take one day (or even minute!) at a time, is really helping me with my 'ishoos'! Thank you.
Martine B day sounds fantastic Peanut. I would LOVE to read your executive summary, please do post it for us all
It sounds to me like your extremely difficult and challenging situation is being handled with an underpinning core of deep-rooted calm and steadiness - which i am sure is informing how you are interacting with your nearest and dearest at this time, and helping them come to terms with the big changes afoot. Metta to you all x x x x x we are all thinking of you
Justa, thinking of you too, we have not forgotten you.
Hugs to all
X X X

YES PFS - me too! I meant to say it to you previously. It is hugely valuable - much more so than a simply admonishment to "let go" - hat seems far too hard.

Here to Not Holding On - Clinks glass mindfully

Thanks for the kind words Katie - there is a steadiness of a sort there somewhere - but I need to pay close attention so that I don't get all caught up in the eddies of the bruised ego and whyme-isms

It'll be ok, of course it will

justa - hope you & all the family are doing ok too

XXX

Another vote for hearing a summary of Martine's thoughts - only when you have time though peanut, you're coping with quite enough stuff atm. You do sound very centred though, good for you I'm sure it's only going to get easier from now - the decision is made and you can stop agonising over it and get on with living in a new way. (how much easier said than done is that? Hope I don't sound too glib and that yswim)

Great quote about not holding on - it reminds me of that stage babies have where they can grip things, but can't consciously let go. You have to distract them with something else, then they let go automatically.

Justa - the farewell fireworks sound like a lovely way to remember your dad. Pleased to hear you and family are doing ok in spite of everything. YOur mother sounds amazing -- could you get her online to tell us about sufism?

I'm off to my first meditation / Buddhist class tonight... am hugely nervous - which is v unlike me. It's Theravada tradition
And -- I've found out there's a Thich Naht class on tomorrow night but I can't imagine DH (aka Mr Sceptical) would be happy to babysit two nights in a row whilst I sit on a cushion with appear of "nutters" (his phrase).

Shall report back - god I hope my tummy doesn't rumble during the meditation!

Metta to all

Hello all,

Just back from meditation class - but it wasn't my cup of tea, the atmosphere wasn't helped by the fluorescent lighting. I wanted a candle. At least my tummy didn't rumble.

Tomorrow I'm off to suss out the Interbeings as DH has kindly offered to babysit again. Peanut - what should I expect - they say they have a tea meditation.????

toodlepip

x

For those trying to practice mindfulness I was sent this link by the InterBeings (what a funny name) for their magazine

Might be of interest to someone....
iamhome.org

HI All
Justa - I think your mantra is beautiful and so appropriate for a new born.

I'm at home today as DD is off school with stinky cold and tummy ache. We've been surfing on Youtube and DD happily watched a cartoon about the life of the Buddha!
I've found some really interesting clips of interviews with Pema Choudron and THich Naht... worth looking at. The inteview with PC on why she became a Buddhist is v funny. (it was because she hated her 2nd husband)

Hope you're all having a lovely day. BTW I went to the local Interbeings meeting and it was wonderful - really inspiring - especially the walking meditation.

Metta to all

Just watched why Pema Chodron became a nun, she's great, isn't she? And I think the guy who wrote the article about negativity she talks about is the same one who gave us our title for the thread. I'm looking for it online, so far only found this quote:

"We all experience negativity ? the basic aggression of wanting things to be different than they are. We cling, we defend, we attack, and throughout, there is a sense of one?s own wretchedness, and so we blame the world for our pain. This is negativity. We experience it as terribly unpleasant, foul-smelling, something we want to get rid of. But if we look into it more deeply, it has a very juicy smell and is very alive. Negativity is not bad per se, but something living and precise, connected with reality."

? Chogyam Trungpa, from ?Working with Negativity,? in THE MYTH OF FREEDOM and the Way of Meditation, page 93. Shambhala Library edition.

Don't know if anyone's planning on meditating this evening, I'll be sitting (early in the morning local time). Justa, you've made me think about metta bhavana again, I haven't done that for a while

Hi girls!
Fluffy, I'm so pleased the Inter-Galactics were a good experience for you - that's fantastic. Excellent.
I am going to look out that Pema clip - been dipping into 'The places that scare you' this week so she has been on my mind.
Have resurrected my little meditation group after a several-week lull, and we met this morning in my living-room, which was lovely. A good friend of mine (school mum) came along too, which suddenly brought the average age down by about three decades but age is of course of total irrelevence when it comes to matters of the spirit and my elderly Quaker pals are wise, funny, extraordinarily well-read and a pleasure to learn from and sit with.
Forgot to sit last night (became non-mindfully entranced by 'The Devil Wears Prada' on telly instead, oops!!) but will be there next Sunday!
Hugs to all
K xxx

Katie - please don't call the interbeings - the inter galatics cause I'll now go to tomorrow"s meeting and start sniggering!! Your QUaker meditation group sounds lovely.

Mango - sorry I didn't join you last night, I toddled off to bed rather early. Plsd to hear you enjoyed the Pema Ch. clips....

OK I"m going to ask a really basic question... once you read the general books about Buddhism, what do you read next? For example if you read about Christianity at some point you'd read the Bible..... so is there a text I should read?

And.... which Pema and Thich N H book would you recommend?

Thanks in advance xx

that's peanut's name for them - i actually call them that instinctively now out of habit! i blame that naughty irreverent legume!
i have just started 'when things fall apart' by pema, all over again - it is simply wonderful. i've also read 'the places that scare you' - in fact that was given to me by a zealously buddhist friend of mine at a time of great strife. very helpful too.
TNH 'peace in every step' is great.
much love to you all!
xxx

I've only read The Places that scare you - can certainly recommend it but nothing to compare it to.

at inter-galactics - they do have the trekkiest name

Thank you Justa for those titles... I shall google them. (BTW hope you / family / mother are doing ok)

I had a lovely meeting at the Thich Naht group -( aka InterGalatics by the irreverent!!) it's really nice to meditate in a group after practising by myself for the past year..

Last night I found a Pema Chodron guided meditation on the Oprah website of all places.... so I started doing it.... everything was going well when suddenly there was a break for an advert!! I gave up on Pema / Oprah at that point!!

HOpe all well xx

Fluffy,

Here are a few books I've liked:

• if you can cope with the old fashioned english, and pali 'What the Buddha Taught' by Walpola Rahula (theravada emphasis)

• Lotus in the Stream by Hsing Yun (chinese buddhist master)

• Three Pillars of Zen (Roshi Philip Kapleau)

• The Monk and the Philosopher by Matthew Ricard (bit heavy going)

• Going Buddhist by Peter Conradi is an interesting account of someone on the path

there might be a few others, will have to think...

fluffy...

I forgot - try here for theravada suttas online: www.accesstoinsight.org/

mahayana: www4.bayarea.net/~mtlee/

also lots of ebooks here: www.buddhanet.net/

I haven't read many of the original suttas/sutras I've heard they are often not easy to get your head around, hence a lot of people write books to paraphrase the teachings and make them more accessible.

I keep meaning to try to read some !