A full month of Meditation - Equanimity

We've talked much over this last month about posture, the mind and body, watching the breath. About awareness vs being led about by your mood and obsessions. About what it means to build a strong foundation. Today, I would like to talk about a word that you may or may not be familiar with; Equanimity.

I haven't been able to post for a while due to several factors. My computer experienced a slow unraveling because of a virus that uninstalled many of my drivers and doorways of access that one would normally enter when trying to proceed on finding a fix. My "my computer" icon disappeared and almost no amount of searching would reveal the "device manager". An online tech support proceeded to do further damage until I at long last took the tower to the local computer fix-it shop. $75 and three hours later it is like having a new computer.
And speaking of fix-it, a family member that is fighting a battle over heroin addiction had to hit rock bottom again before rehab could be presented as a viable option.
A furnace malfunction almost caused our demise years before we were planning to die.
My only source of daily transportation began to run like an old man with pneumonia while my youngest son is also finding it difficult in getting around since his non-collision insured car was totaled during one of our famous New England ice storms.
Sometimes life can be tough.
Equanimity is a place of being that is developed with the aid of meditation. Equanimity helps us to deal constructively with our emotions. You know, those school yard bullies that keep you down. It provides us with the vehicle within which we can flow with change. You know, job loss, health problems, money woes: change.
Keep in mind that we are seeking to build a firm foundation. We are seeking to build (and find) compassion. Compassion for ourselves and for the world around us. It seems a formidable task, eh?
Remember this post? We will be able to experience experience as both the holder and the one being held. Relaxed. Secure. Contentment.
Nice!!!

Esoteric, Mystical, Spiritual....Meditation Day 15

Have you ever experienced that sense of awe that hits you square in the chest? The more that you try and describe what it was that you felt, or what it was that made you feel that way, the further away you were from actually conveying your experience.
Meditation experiences can often be described as spiritual: as being mystical or as having sprung forth from some esoteric teaching. I don't want you attach any of these labels to your experience. Just watch. Note. Wonder.

What to do, What to do, with the hands......

The world of hand gestures (mudra) used within the various schools of Yoga, Buddhist and Hindu teachings is vast and something that you need not concern yourself with. We are slowly entering the very deep well of mindfulness; our well is deep with muddy water and we are seeking to make it still; allowing the mud to settle and the water to become clear. We need not entangle ourselves with objects that will weigh us down and keep the water disturbed.

The first hand gesture is know as the Dhyana mudra. It is perhaps the most universal positioning of the hands during meditation.The second hand gesture is the Gyan mudra and the last is the Varada mudra.

Try all three as we begin to explore mindfulness, create compassion and still our minds. We're not in a race here. I want you to relax into your posture and place your hands where they will become part of your "sitting as a mountain."

Prologue: The Compassion Project - Beginning 01/15/2001

We cannot deny that we often live our lives as some very complicated series of moments strung together by memories, used to define where we were and where we came from, balanced by hopes and fantasy for having a better future. Families struggle with job loss and health concerns, bills accumulate; the holiday season manufactures increased weight upon our already burdened shoulders.

Man, it can get you down!
Perhaps you are unaffected by the economic downturn and give little concern to paying your mortgage or making your car payment. Your health is good and the political push for a new healthcare system or the "War on Terrorism" concerns you about as much as the weather in Bangladesh.

I think that we can agree that we are seldom the proverbial "hot knifes through butter" when it comes to sliding smoothly through the everyday issues that confront us.

Our problems vary as much as our political opinions. But the way in which we most often choose to respond to life's difficulties inevitably places an emphasis on enjoyable memories balanced with future hope and expectations. To quote Watts, "With these assured, (memories and expectations) he can put up with an extremely miserable present. Without this assurance, he can be extremely miserable in the midst of immediate physical pleasure."

We focus on the Machiavellian affairs back at the office while we are at home on holiday. We worry and concern ourselves with that which has not yet happened, or may not happen, ever! How often do we keep company with a pleasant memory because our troubling present appears to harsh to face? Perhaps our present is filled with regret over what once was; robbing us of any ability to enjoy what is; right now.

Anyone that has read my posts from the past five years knows that I have tried to cope with loss - and anger. Lots of anger. (cleverly hidden?:>) And disappointment; Disappointment that runs deep.

Attempting to grasp the brass ring of varying levels of coping and adjustment is like trying to catch a blowing wind in a bottle; or like trying to wrap eight pounds of water in gift paper. You are left increasingly frustrated, if not all wet in the process.

I'm reminded of someone that I once hired to work in Quality Control, performing tests and adjustments to materials before shipment to our customers. The simple mathematical equations and formulations were deemed too difficult a task for him. We really liked him and wanted him to succeed so we tutored him endlessly.

One day we asked him rather hopefully, "Dave. What's 10% of 100?" With a scrunched up face he labored intensely trying to give us the correct answer."One hundred and one?" he replied.

Sometimes all the thinking in the world will not liberate from our ignorance!

And this is what I have been leading up to..............

In my twenty plus years of practice, perhaps labeled, (if I must) has been a blend of Taoism and Zen. I can attest that the effortless way that proved to be the most beneficial followed the simple practice of two types of meditation. One taken from the Taoist tradition and one from the Buddhist tradition.

Meditation at its best should be free from expectation. It should not be result oriented. But that is not to say that there are no rewards for those that "just do it." Upon reflection I have come to realize that it was when I was committed to either one form of these meditations or upon both, something mystical happened.

And this is my jumping off point. I hoping that you will join me in beginning a meditation practice utilizing either one or both of these forms of meditation. I am hoping that you will chronicle and share with me your experience.

Its just that simple.

In the next few weeks I will be publishing several links to aid you in beginning one or both of these forms of meditation. The energy that results from this type of meditation practice radiates from you outward.

"The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands,

and then work outward from there."

Robert M. Pirsig

"Leap and the net will appear!