What is mindfullness? 1979 JKZ at UMass apply Zen practice for patients to handle pain. Attentive, aware, careful, mindful of___, bearing in mind. Knowing WHAT you are doing. aware of motive, consequences, CONTEXT — the wy of what you are doing. knowing yourself is even deeper. Sattipathana sutta and Wakeful: 4 foundations of mindfulness: apply 4 stages to 4 things (koshas) body, feelings, thoughts, truths. perceive clearly, observe over time, make yourself tranquil, librate yourself.
10/19/22
When I met Sensei he asked me “what is effort?”. rejected my answer: “no, it’s sweat!” He’d written One Inch Buddha: commentary on Hashimoto Roshi’s commentary on Dogen’s Right Effort essay. Years later he told me “Khanti paramam tapo titikkha” patience/perseverance/persistence is the greatest paramita/virtue. 10 paramitas. Meditation: calm yourself > center yourself > unify yourself. That’s more than just knowing yourself (observe and learn), it’s an active transformation. It requires persistence. All will grow in time.
10/5/22
What are the qualities of mind when you are on vacation? settled, serene, present, wholehearted, playful, energetic, calm, alert, feeling at home, beauty, relief. Let’s be able to do that as needed without coffee/etc. overcoming our obstacles to that develops our ability: self-control, will power, maturity. basic training. Short cut to jhana is remembering that such perfect stillness is possible and recreate it. Allow it to form without constraining it to match the previous experience. Each of us has a superpower and a weakness in meditation. maybe not falling asleep, sensitive to sounds, etc. Appreciate yours and grow. Tao Te Ching 15.