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Taking Hold
lobster
Crusty Veteran
Letting go Eh?
However initially we have to take a hold of the dharma, with determination and fortitude. The mind will not sort itself. It will gibber like a monkey - all over the place . . .
It is why a formal committed practice is so grounding and beneficial. This morning for absolutely no reason I could fathom my monkey mind insisted it did not want to sit. That is very rare. Rare or not, monkey mind sits on Mr Cushion.
Thank goodness for muppet wisdom ...
What gets you to the cushion?
3
Comments
I love the next sequence when Luke, even though he 'does', simply cnnot get the ship to come out of the swamp.
so Yoda demonstrates the Power of the Force.
Luke exclaims -
"I don't believe it - !!"
And Yoda quietly replies,
..."That is why you fail."
We need to have more than a modicum of confidence in our own efforts and abilities, while we practise.
it is not enough to state that the 4 Noble Truths, and/or the 8Fold path are what keep us going, but that our attachments (Greed, Hatred, Delusion) are what keep us bound to Samsara.
That's almost an excuse, a fall-back, a reason for NOT 'Doing'.
Instead, we really have to cultivate and generate a firm belief - in ourselves.
We have to tell ourselves that, yes, sure, it's hard. Nobody ever said it would be easy, and sure enough, we're all here discussing the challenges of detachment, letting go, craving, desire, aversion....
But instead of considering why we are making such slow progress, we should celebrate the miles we have covered.
Enlightenment? in this Lifetime.
Boy, that's a tough call.
But it's not impossible.
Desperation
"What gets you to the cushion?"
Force of habit....
The fact that there is an unconditioned.
Posts like yours. I've been a bad Buddhist today. Now off to the cushion. Back in a few...
there is always a space of mind and in that space you can make the choice to do sitting meditation. But the space is always there.
Samsara
I would have to say my job.
I meditate on the train on the way to work each morning.
Sometimes briefly at lunch time too.
Honestly, breathing. I notice many times through the day how short my breath has become. A single, simple, deep and mindful breath restores so much. Knowing how much easier it is to do that when I keep a regular, seated meditation practice is what keeps me showing up to the cushion.
When my son brought Buddhism into my life, I meditated sitting on a couch cushion at home. I didn't have a clue what I was doing. A few weeks later, spotted a posted for a retreat lead by a Buddhist monk in my home town (astounding!!). I felt I needed an official cushion, so I ordered one to arrive just in time for retreat.
Sitting on my cushion, I watched the monk who would become my teacher tiptoe over all the cushions and take his seat. It was a life changing moment. It's happened to me twice with different teachers. My meditation practice after each of those encounters changed quite a bit. Not in method but something else i can't quite explain. So while I show up to breathe and be, I also show up, in part, due to those memories of those moments. I knew without a doubt that it was what I was supposed to be doing. When it starts to fall away, I remember how I felt and it comes back right away.
I over-use commas, I think...
I know meditation helps cultivate this, the thing that doesn't want to sit and meditate and whips up any number of excuses. I don't listen to it. Normally there is no excuse, I can make time to sit.
It's there the battle wages on, only you don't have to listen to it. It's not a battle of there's only one person fighting. The other just watches.
Yet I'm still not satisfied... There's still a hole there. Buddhism makes to turn towards that hole.
Meditation observes it.
@Earthnina Have you read the channa sutta? If not you should read it.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.090.than.html
I might read this a few times.
With metta chris