In Eight Steps to Happiness Geshe-la says "'Self' and 'other' are relative terms, rather like 'this mountain' and 'that mountain ... 'This' and 'that' therefore depend upon our point of reference. This is also true of self and other. By climbing down the mountain of self, it is possible to ascend the mountain of other, and thereby cherish others as much as we presently cherish ourself."

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Bulletproof

As I've mentioned before, I feel protected by my faith. It is true refuge.

Saturday we had an emptiness retreat in Seattle taught by Gen Khedrub, who said we tend to go for refuge to samsaric distractions and busyness. So true. That's one reason it's helpful to have something like cancer to remind you of what's important.

Here's something to contemplate: Gen Khedrub also said your mind won't tolerate the ramifications of emptiness if you're very attached to worldly pleasures.

He also quoted another Teacher as saying meditating on emptiness is like getting a suntan - you can't do it all at once : ) I like that.

This one-day retreat had a wide range of practitioners. For people who'd been meditating for a while, Gen Khedrub advised learning how to remain with what we already know. It's true that we find new ideas exciting, and can get bored with what we think we already know. The way he was describing our impatience rang true to me: Why can't I remain with my insights on emptiness? Why does my mind prefer to go off and organizing something instead? How can I allow more time to go by, keeping my mind on emptiness?

Sometimes I like to think of my meditation sessions as like airplane flights, logging the miles. We're taught that realizations come drop by drop; one day we'll find that our bucket is full ... like frequent-flier miles, that at some point are redeemable for a special trip. (With Gold status, you reach liberation; Platium for enlightenment?) And your baggage is taken care of ... because you don't have any anymore ; )
You can also see that you can acrue miles much faster if you stick with one airline.

When I was emerging from the first meditation, I got this image that I was surrounded by bulletproof glass - it wasn't that the bullets were missing me, it was that they couldn't hit me. I was safe inside.

I was talking with Jeff R about my experience, and he said it was like that scene at the end of the Matrix where Neo puts up his hand and all the bullets stop, as though they've hit a clear wall they can't penetrate. He even picks out one of the bullets with curiosity, and then the wall of bullets drops.

Jeff says he thinks of his body as like a candy wrapper. It's a much nicer image than the idea of a meat jacket, but I still like how graphic the meat is. By the way, Longku says he got that image from Rob L.

All right, I need to get a move on. I'm inclined to say I need to get OFF my butt, but actually I need to get ON my butt, on my meditation cushion.
Then later to the gym!

3 comments:

  1. What a refreshing and insightful post!!! I LOVED your analogy about the airplane, baggage, frequent flyer miles, etc. I carry all of my tantric tools in a case that says Bon Voyage. Again, beautifully written and wonderful post. Thank you!!!

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  2. ditto above comment on analogies!! they made me giggle and yet it is sooo true, as i sit here in hawaii working on that "tan"! meditating here twice daily...the one at 2:30am is especially powerful, not that i set an alarm but its the hour of the "liver" and it seems she wants me to pray at this time.....sending love and prayer to you mimi!

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  3. Thank you both.
    "Bon Voyage" indeed.
    Hazel, may you ... and everyone ... spend a lot of time soaking in the sun of blessings.

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