tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10004322138446966002024-03-14T04:01:29.355-04:00Mondo Samu Welcome to Mondo Samu - Questions and Answers about my self-work.
Mondō: "questions and answers"; a recorded collection of dialogues between a pupil and teacher.
Samu: Work service; meditation in work.Mondo Samuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930533160277850039noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-62445551634369050232022-05-26T07:00:00.002-04:002022-05-27T05:45:47.013-04:00Life is good<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtVmPPo6JTBdZWXcV05C4cvU_xHxWnJQoLLpvJyJoSe44sXXgO6qpBQtto-utSI58Yg8iJo71xxjXdS4MwgMT3mL1qqKknDrdTuJ-rbYX5dV6KjQjvtH8cXZ4zn59Q_4seLlguPZ-y46GJgbmIt364grD8-wh1VeO8rYX2TqQBTQd2tdSIFsV5Qxbplw/s5538/braxton-stuntz-XT8ueKGQtNg-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5538" data-original-width="3682" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtVmPPo6JTBdZWXcV05C4cvU_xHxWnJQoLLpvJyJoSe44sXXgO6qpBQtto-utSI58Yg8iJo71xxjXdS4MwgMT3mL1qqKknDrdTuJ-rbYX5dV6KjQjvtH8cXZ4zn59Q_4seLlguPZ-y46GJgbmIt364grD8-wh1VeO8rYX2TqQBTQd2tdSIFsV5Qxbplw/w266-h400/braxton-stuntz-XT8ueKGQtNg-unsplash.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">Photo by </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/@braxton?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="text-align: start;">Braxton Stuntz</a><span style="text-align: start;"> on </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/lake-canoe?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="text-align: start;">Unsplash</a><span style="text-align: start;"></span></td></tr></tbody></table></p><blockquote><b>"Try to be mindful. And let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings -- Like a clear forest pool." ~ <i>Ajahn Chah</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Life Is Good. </p><p>I feel very calm and contented this morning. Like a still forest pool, as the man said.</p><p>The mind is such a funny thing. I noticed my mind casting about today, looking for something to be agitated by. The mind is sometimes like a canoe, on a lake, that wants to be a waverunner. After several weeks of crazy busy schedule, things are finally settling back down to normal. At least for a week or two. </p><p>I have a full time "day job" that is wonderful. A great company, and a great wise livelihood career, which keeps me busy all day. But of course I also teach the dharma and lead meditations in many different communities, plus pursue my own dharma education, study, and practice in the evenings and on weekends. These feed me in all the moments I'm not spending with family or work, so that I can show up and do my best for both of those. The last few weeks has been busy in all of these areas.</p><p>I had a ton of wonderful opportunities the last several weeks to lead other Sangha's, lead mediations for other groups and projects, do guest blogs, and even a fun interview with an author/photographer for a book. These things were all exciting and fun, and created big waves in my calm lake, so to speak.</p><p>My canoe-mind could be forgiven, then, for getting accustomed to them and thinking that it's normal. It happens so fast, that change. The mind gets a taste of new and exciting things and next thing you know it's trying to live its best life as a waverunner.</p><p>But now that things have settled down, I was relaxing with a cup of coffee, just enjoying the morning weather on my front porch, when I noticed a different tone or flavor of my mind than I would have expected. Or, I guess I should say, I noticed that my lake was calm but my canoe-mind was looking for the next big wave, and the tiny ripples of it's disappointment in finding only calm pleasant waters was the subtle tone I picked up on.</p><p>I've been offering the "Right Now, It's Like This" phrase a lot with some meditations lately and perhaps with it so fresh on my mind I noticed this Canoe/Waverunner thing a little easier today, and let it settle on its own. I found myself smiling at the mind with the same smile I had for the mischeivous squirrels eating the birds seed from our feeder, and being equally contented with the internal mischief as I was with the yard shenanigans. Feeling very grateful for both wild waves and calm waters this morning.</p><br /><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-62184244395946750282022-02-18T17:30:00.017-05:002022-02-18T17:30:00.172-05:00Guest Blog Post - The Unusual Buddha<p>I'm so pleased that I got to write about some of my favorite passions in a guest post for <b><a href="https://theunusualbuddha.com" target="_blank">The Unusual Buddha</a></b>! <a href="https://theunusualbuddha.com/2022/02/18/you-got-your-technology-in-my-spirituality/" target="_blank">Here's a link</a> if you'd like to read (just a few of my many) thoughts on the intersection of technology and spirituality!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://theunusualbuddha.com/2022/02/18/you-got-your-technology-in-my-spirituality/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-MlHuTyhTIsGLAgsP-ovfm0FeTKFoFlYBGiKKlaVrlHls_V3jdJR_rgAZTluTcdPXbpryCCCHY1YNPmlBoEXiMON2TqgYX1-jacLVJEo9Ksxfw41gBzmmp3y_uo1Vr3Hbvth5ovoFDI4-qjYxwwm7pL0DjgrTiM8Hw_G7DR355MMi2vZvke0XG_AoLw=w426-h640" width="426" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-81197977489275160022022-02-12T11:17:00.001-05:002022-02-12T11:17:27.958-05:00Mindful Snacking<p>Working from home has a lot of benefits. One of the challenges I hear from a lot of people is the constant access and ability to easily snack non-stop. This is a way in which mindfulness can be so basic yet so incredibly helpful. Once you have even the most basic mindfulness practice - Just enough to pause before doing something and check in to the body - you can use that to really help in a lot of ways.</p><p>You can set the intention to pause before you get up from your desk or, if - like me - you prefer to stand regularly, you can take a pause before you walk. For me I set a few mindfulness rules that cover a lot of situations. </p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Whenever I walk during the workday, I walk mindfully.</li><li>Before I walk, I set the intention of where I'm going and what I will do.</li><li>If I eat, I check in with my body to see if I'm actually hungry.</li></ol><div>With my Apple Watch reminding me to stand every hour, I have everything I need to keep me from eating too much during the day. </div><div><br /></div><div>At 10 minutes to the hour, each hour, my watch tells me I need to stand. I treat it like a mindfulness bell and I push back from the desk, take a deep in and out breath, and stand up. Not only does this serve my health as intended but it's also an opportunity to practice a couple of minutes of mindfulness routinely which is great for rewiring the brain to do so naturally. </div><div><br /></div><div>Before I move I decide what I am going to do. Bathroom? Kitchen? Step outside for fresh air? A Combo? And once I've decided, I walk as mindfully as possible not thinking about the thing I'm headed to do, only about the steps to get me there. I don't do full zombie-walk, but I walk with deliberate intention and my mindfulness on my steps and body.</div><div><br /></div><p></p>If I'm going for a snack, I do two things that help tremendously. When I arrive in the kitchen I check in with my stomach/body and see if I'm truly hungry or just eating because I can. If I'm truly hungry, then I check in with my mind on what snacks it wants, and then I choose an alternative that's healthier unless I really really want that first thought. I do these things because so often my body is not actually craving food but my mind is. When we are not mindful, these two things can seem like they come from the same place. And I "test" the idea of a healthier snack because so often I actually find that I prefer the healthier option if I bother to truly ask myself what I want. <br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><b>Am I really hungry right now?<br /></b><i>"Yes."<br /></i><b>For what?<br /></b><i>"Chips and dip."<br /></i><b>How about red grapes instead?</b><div><i>"Ooh, that sounds even better!"</i></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">More often than not, I'm either not hungry or I am perfectly happy - if not happier! - with the outcome and I've integrated mindfulness several times in a short period into my day! I do have one other little trick, however. If my body really does want food and it really does want the less healthy choice, I go for it. I don't deny myself that choice if it was made with wisdom and discernment. But my last little trick to help myself out is I take the smallest amount of whatever snack it is and will simply come back if I need more. This discourages eating more than I need and also what you'll find is that most often one last of something (especially when snacking) is enough. A single piece of dark chocolate instead of three. 5-7 mixed nuts instead of a handful. 2 grapes instead of 6. </div><div><br /></div><div>It sounds like a lot of work, but it's all a matter of seconds and a few thoughts. You might be amazed at how effective this all is. Give it a shot and let me know.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-32888543411296060822022-02-02T18:00:00.001-05:002022-02-02T18:00:00.172-05:00<p>I had a timely reminder this morning that the intention, for me anyhow, is not to "lose weight" but to live a longer and healthier life. As soon as we focus on losing weight we set ourselves up for failure and disappointment any time we are "not losing weight". "Losing weight" is diet culture - and this next part is absolutely critical - which implies a beginning and an end. Living a longer and healthier life is a journey instead of a destination. It's not about the finish line, it's about the crossing.</p><p>If we weigh ourselves daily and those numbers inexplicably go up a bit at a time when we feel we're working harder than ever it can hit us hard in the motivation feels. We can get discouraged and science has shown us that that one negative feeling carries a lot more power than a great many positive feelings. If that sounds specific it's because it is! I weighed in several days ago (I try to only weigh myself once per week) and I had lost 6 pounds. Fifty percent more than my estimated amount. Since then, I've worked even harder in Supernatural as I learn to love this whole new exercise option. So today when I stepped on the scale I expected (...<i>there's that word</i>...) some amount of loss and instead was actually up one pound!</p><p>I immediately felt that rush of disappointment, the internal dialogue "How is that possible?! I've been working hard, eating right on target, sweating twice as much!" and because of my practice I also saw the next part arise and clearly saw it had no foundation whatsoever other than that dialogue...the doubt. I would tell you what the doubt said to me, but I let it go the moment I saw it arising...it never quite got off the ground. </p><p>Instead I reflected on my previous 2010 success, and how that looked. I remembered weighing myself every day and noticing the ups and downs, and that weighing daily is often very skewed. I recalled that I focused on living a better life, not on losing weight. I focused on how I felt each day instead of how I looked or the statistics that I saw on the scale.</p><p>Today, one pound in the wrong direction apparently, I feel fantastic! I am sore in that great "I'm working out" way. I am motivated and happy. The rest will be the fruit of <i>that</i>!</p><p>Cliche's are cliche for a reason...it may sound cliche to say that "it's about the journey not the destination" but it's the absolute truth and may even be the key to the whole thing, so instead of worrying about the scale every day, focus on how you feel about your efforts!</p><p>Keep it up!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-43870698422303698092022-01-31T17:30:00.001-05:002022-01-31T17:30:00.173-05:00There it is.<p> There's an experience one can have when meditating where, as best as I can describe it, you sort of drop into the body. This sounds a bit strange because obviously you ARE in your body, right? Well if you've experienced this you already know what I'm talking about and if you haven't yet, and you meditate with regularity, you likely will. </p><p>I think everyone tends to experience it differently, and different practitioners will likely try to tell you what they think it is and which practice it is a part of, or a step within. I'll leave that to you to determine (you're really the only one who can!). But for me I experience this shortly after the beginning of most of my meditations, when I've already settled in to my posture, spent some time with an anchor point (I use the tip of the nose), and followed my breathing for a bit. At some point I experience this "dropping in" or what I would call embodiment. There's a rush of energy through the body from top to bottom, which if it were accompanied by a sound, would sound like "WHOOOMP!". And the peaceful feeling "<i>There</i> it is."</p><p></p><div class="tenor-gif-embed" data-aspect-ratio="1.79775" data-postid="14852146" data-share-method="host" data-width="100%"><a href="https://tenor.com/view/whoop-there-it-is-whoop-yr-tumblr-there-it-is-gif-14852146">Whoop There It Is Yr GIF</a>from <a href="https://tenor.com/search/whoop+there+it+is-gifs">Whoop There It Is GIFs</a></div> <script async="" src="https://tenor.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script><p></p><p>Suddenly I find myself <i>truly</i> in my body. Not a bunch of slightly uncomfortable individual parts and experiences but one big whole experience together with no discernible boundaries, and then I notice a small round bright spot in the center of my closed-eye field of vision. Before this moment, that would be a sort of liquid movement of dark shades of blue and black like when your eyes are just closed but you still see amorphous shapes of different shades of dark. That spot stays in the center and steady and is bright instead of dark. Again, this is my experience and yours may differ. But I would suggest that the "embodiment" feeling, regardless of the specifics, is roughly similar.</p><p>I experience it as a sense of joyful homecoming.</p><p>Now...the reason for today's post is that I've now been back on the Mindful Eating and Mindful Living path that brought me to Buddhism for about 17 days (the exercise portion has been sporadic until recently) and today feels like that moment in meditation I described above, but with regard to the EvolVR implementation of my M.E.A.L.S. program. What I mean by that is that I've been getting more and more excited about it with each day I've been back at it. Today, at day 17, I suddenly no longer feel like this is a thing that might happen...I feel like I've dropped in ("WHOOOMP!") and it's here and happening now and there's no boundaries between the ideas and parts and people involved, but rather one big unified community in it together. "<i>There</i> it is."</p><p>I don't have a clue if anyone else in the community we're building feels it or will just think this is super weird, but this is where I am with it today and it feels great. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, but I figured I'd chronicle it here.</p><p>As always, if anyone has questions or comments hit me up.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-90203908656627633442022-01-26T11:58:00.000-05:002022-01-26T11:58:29.540-05:00Don't Expect Applause<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Really when we meditate, what is it we are doing? Much of what we are doing is training the mind. Perhaps all of what we are doing. It is said that there are 84,000 Dharma Doors or ways into the dharma, and one way is the Tibetan Practice of Lojong.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was only introduced to it myself just this month so it’s new for me in formal introduction. But once I started studying it, it felt like an old friend. My very first thought was that it was a Tibetan version of a koan, which isn’t exactly true, but that’s the most obvious connection you might make when you start learning about it. So many of the slogans were already very familiar territory for me. I’ll come back to slogans in a moment.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, this is just one more way to practice the dharma, and it’s a way that is supposed to be particularly effective at training the mind, hence the name “Mind Training!” It utilizes aphorisms, known as slogans, which as I said makes me think of Koans.</span></p><p><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A teacher named Atisa is credited with its creation but he developed it after studying with a sumatran teacher for 12 years and then cultivated it beyond. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think I read that it was developed fully over the course of 300 years. Think about that for a second…a training for the mind that was established and then honed for <i>three centuries</i> before being considered ready for prime time! That, to me, puts some serious weight behind it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>These 59 slogans</b> are kind of grouped into 7 areas. And of course there’s been many commentaries done on them over the years. The ones I’m using for my practice this month are the book “</span><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=training+in+compassion+book+norman+fischer&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8" target="_blank">Training in Compassion: Zen teachings on the Practice of Lojong by Norman Fischer</a>” </span><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and the <a href="https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/lojong-slogans/" target="_blank">Tricycle articles by Judy Lief</a>, as well as the practical daily usage of <a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=pema+chodron%27s+compassion+cards&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8" target="_blank">Pema Chodron’s Compassion Cards</a>, the latter of which solidified my love of this practice.</span></p><p><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The seven points or groupings are:</span></p><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The preliminaries which are the basis for dhamma practice</span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slogan 1</span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The main practice of training in Bodhicitta</span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slogan 2-6</span></p></li><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slogan 7-10</span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Transformation of bad circumstances in to the way of enlightenment </span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slogan 11-16</span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Showing the utilization of practice in one’s whole life</span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slogan 17-18</span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Evaluation of Mind Training</span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slogan 19-22</span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Discipline of Mind Training</span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slogan 23-38</span></p></li></ol><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guidelines of Mind Training</span></p></li><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="2" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: lower-alpha; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slogan 39-59</span></p></li></ol></ol><p><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">My assignment this month in my Dharmacharya program is to choose one to write about. It was a tough call because there were many that I enjoyed, and several I found challenging for different reasons. Some are difficult because the practice isn’t one I normally do (Tonglen). Some are challenging because they’re very, very in depth. But t</span><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">he slogan that jumped out for me first was the last, and after reading them all and working with about half of them this month (I’m taking them one per day so it will be another month before I work through them all) I’ve chosen to write a bit about:</span></p><p><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"></h2><h1 style="text-align: left;"><blockquote>59. DON’T EXPECT APPLAUSE (Don’t expect to receive credit for your good deeds, just do them anyway!)</blockquote></h1><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.giphy.com/media/5R2YzhtLB1Q7Nf6dyl/giphy.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="480" height="259" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/5R2YzhtLB1Q7Nf6dyl/giphy.gif" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I knew when I read this one that I’ve made a lot of progress in my lifetime on this, and most of that during my buddhist practice. But I also knew that I have a “long way to go and a short time to get there”, in the immortal words of the great sage Jerry Reed. I’ve come a long way with this slogan’s practice and I largely feel I’ve got it fairly well in hand, but I also know I have to pay close attention to it and <i>always</i> question not only </span><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">what</span><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I’m doing but also (and most especially) </span><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">why</span><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s an ongoing practice – a mindfulness practice, really – that I must be prepared to stay with always, lest I slip into old habits of the ego. It’s a challenge I’m prepared to face for the long term, which is why I consider it the most difficult. To further quote The Snowman’s song “East Bound and Down”... I’m “gonna do what they say can’t be done!” </span></p><p><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those old habits of the ego are not so far in my rear view mirror that I don’t still feel the suffering they can cause, and these days I’m watching the road ahead much more attentively than I did in the past. In my younger days, and even now when I’m not mindful, I can often fall into the trap of doing good for the sake of being seen doing good. A low form of generosity, to be sure. The highest form of giving then, is said to be that of the bodhisattva giving with an utter disregard for the benefit to oneself, only out of compassion.</span></p><p><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other aspect of this slogan is that it’s not limited to just good deeds and generosity, but anything at all that one does and then seeks praise or applause for. It could be an accomplishment in one’s own life such as a promotion at work, or washing the dishes at home. And take it from me, spouses don’t generally find it all that impressive when we do the same chores they do and wish to be congratulated for it! </span></p><p><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even as I write this blog post, a portion of which will serve as my homework for the month, the irony of that is not lost on me. Blogging is in some way a fame seeking endeavor. Assuming you have followers or want them. Luckily I blog solely out of the hope that it will be of some use to someone who might see it. It’s essentially a journal that I hope others may find useful. But, I must be mindful of what’s going on “behind the scenes” as I write and what my intentions are. So it’s the intention of the blogging, not the blogging itself, that I look for. </span></p><p><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do I just want to be seen as being knowledgeable about Lojong or Buddhism? Am I trying to come off as a great and wise teacher or gain notoriety as one? Am I sharing the dharma out of compassion for other beings in the hopes that they will find something useful in these words? Is it a mixture of all of these things? If I’m sharing for fame and glory…why? </span></p><p><span style="color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyone who knows me would likely say that I am enthusiastic, to say the least. And that’s the main effort for me. I have to pay close attention to the difference between enthusiasm and bragging. I guess really it just comes down to the fact that when you do anything, be it acts of generosity or awesome feats, if you do it with the expectation of being lauded for it, you’re more firmly establishing a false sense of “I, Me, Mine” and thus missing the mark of the dharma entirely, not to mention devaluing the good deed you may have done.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-14620277054416337452022-01-24T13:00:00.003-05:002022-01-25T08:36:13.178-05:00Timing Is EverythingAs anyone who's been here before knows...I lost 110 pounds in 2010 and managed to keep all of that off for years. After a while I gained about half back and have been there for years. Manytimes over those years, I have tried to get back to "Full Savor" as a regular routine. By "Full Savor" I mean back to the routine of activities that enabled that loss and maintenance. With the benefit of hindsight it is crystal clear what worked, what didn't, and what must be done.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIhWRjFWPMh9VS0E4jYsUJDNHhZltEWW-ZPG0DY7pEH3h-IFP7eERihUhc5Vdz8JXHFyPRu3huqwHNzmMUnDgry04KA5csRHOPODuiuRQiApvBu_g6gqNCU6XYT2RPgSsFQmiYHke-n1iS5tkw17Sz9rbRv2Y7gJNJjpfJDNR45AAClJvnFJ8GlD6XQQ=s2045" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Shoes, Phone, "Savor" book" border="0" data-original-height="2045" data-original-width="2045" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIhWRjFWPMh9VS0E4jYsUJDNHhZltEWW-ZPG0DY7pEH3h-IFP7eERihUhc5Vdz8JXHFyPRu3huqwHNzmMUnDgry04KA5csRHOPODuiuRQiApvBu_g6gqNCU6XYT2RPgSsFQmiYHke-n1iS5tkw17Sz9rbRv2Y7gJNJjpfJDNR45AAClJvnFJ8GlD6XQQ=w320-h320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><div>What worked:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Tracking calories with the LoseIt! app.</li><li>Mindful Eating</li><li>Mindful Living (exercise)</li><li>Consistency (all the ways in which I supported routine maintenance of the above)</li></ul><div>What didn't work:</div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Any combination of the above that wasn't all of the above.</li></ul><div>When I lost weight, it was because of applying the "what worked" section above consistently for 11 months. </div><div><br /></div><div>When I kept the weight off for several years it was also due to consistently applying the above. </div><div><br /></div><div>When I gained weight back a tiny bit after several years it was because I stopped tracking calories. I gained a little bit, I stabilized, and I was totally ok with that. I was having to eat less and exercise more than I felt suited my life. The weight I was at wasn't my goal weight but it was a great weight. I was happy, felt great, and all was well.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>When I later gained more weight it was because my exercise routine at the time involved driving to a park where I walked, but my vehicle broke down and was totaled. It took a long time, perhaps a year, to get another vehicle. During that time I wasn't able to reliably maintain my normal routine. It became sporadic. It wasn't the park, but the time of day that made that work so well for me. Eventually I was working twice as hard to get half the exercise, and weight started coming on. Over time I got another vehicle, but had lost the diligent routine of "Full Savor" mode.</div><div><br /></div><div>For several years now I could have gotten back in the routine but I stabilized once again at around half the weight I originally lost. What I mean by "stabilized" is that my current healthy eating and no exercise landed me at about the halfway point and leveled off. So I got comfortable with that. Big, but not so big that I felt unhealthy. Don't get me wrong...I'm definitely not healthy, but I'm still significantly more healthy than I was in 2010.</div><div><br /></div><div>Over the years I've tried to reboot the "Savor" life, that helped me so much, many times. And I've been chagrined at the lack of easy success I enjoyed the first time around. WHY? This is the question. As I said at the beginning, it's crystal clear now. For the seemingly easy weight loss and maintenance that I enjoyed to occur all of the items in my "What worked" list must be present.</div><div><br /></div><div>The thing that's not on that list is the invaluable, intangible joy and cold fusion style fuel that comes from those things all firing in sync with one another. When that routine is in motion, a sense of pride and joy that feeds back in to that list and makes the "Consistency" part happen. And it becomes a sort of perpetual motion machine. </div><div><br /></div><div>But it is oh so fragile. A delicate machine that will run in perpetuity so long as that balance is in place. When one of those things gets a little out of whack and (this is the key) stays that way for too long, the whole things grinds to a halt. And it is exceedingly difficult to get it running again. This doesn't mean you can't falter...it means that timing is everything. You have to be mindful not only of your food and exercise, but of your routine. If that routine is interrupted, you have to be mindful to get it back in order ASAP.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've tried and failed many times over the last few years to rekindle that perpetual motion machine. Typically it runs for a week or three, and then rambles to a halt. I've also noticed that the time you can allow it to be down is longer the longer it's been in motion but it's still a matter of days. For me. Three days seems to be the norm, but when I was at my peak I could survive two weeks of interruption and still dive back in and keep it running. Your experience might differ, but this has been mine.</div><div><br /></div><div>So remember that it's not "Mindful Eating, Mindful Walking"...it's "Mindful Eating, Mindful LIVING". All of life. </div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Atlanta, GA, USA33.7489954 -84.38798245.4387615638211528 -119.5442324 62.059229236178844 -49.2317324tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-16670560901559050132022-01-16T09:33:00.000-05:002022-01-16T09:33:18.010-05:00Meal Time!Many years ago, I came up with a program I called Mindful Eating And Living Sangha (M.E.A.L.S.) based on the success I had with the book "Savor" in 2010. I envisioned a network of small groups who would routinely get together and practice the following:
<div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Recite the Five Contemplations</li><li>Share a Mindful Eating experience</li><li>Read and discuss the book "Savor"</li><li>Practice Mindful Movement</li></ul><div>The idea was that I would start the first group -- at that time I was overextended -- and lead it for a year. Enough time, based on my own experience, to embody the process and experience "successful" attainment of one's goals. Once that year was done, the people in that group (from my larger local area) would go off and start another year long course which they would lead, and so on and so on.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JA7CKvoKEmE" width="320" youtube-src-id="JA7CKvoKEmE"></iframe></div><br /><div>My hope was that this year-long grassroots-group exploration will deepen my own practice further, help others establish mindfulness as a way of healthy living, and - hopefully - encourage them to go out and spread the practice through starting similar groups. If successful, it could see a viral growth since those who complete the year, may hopefully create groups of their own and repeat the process, again and again.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>The first MEALS group was wonderful and fairly successful. No one in the group experienced the dramatic transformation I did, but they all got various benefits from it, and if there was even a small improvement to one's life, I would call that a success. But alas, no one carried the group forward and MEALS went into hibernation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, it has been stirring for the last year, and it seems to be waking up now!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://c.tenor.com/L1frNYLxdi4AAAAd/wake-up-morning-coffee.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="308" src="https://c.tenor.com/L1frNYLxdi4AAAAd/wake-up-morning-coffee.gif" width="308" /></a></div><div><br /></div>I've been teaching the Dharma in Virtual Reality (a story for another day) for the last couple of years, or since the pandemic started, and it's just wonderful. The possibilities are limitless! Back in July of last year I started thinking I could bring MEALS into VR, but was stumped as to how. <div><br /></div><div>Mindful movement is somewhat doable, meditation is for sure, but how about food? I tucked the idea in the back of my head and began mentioning it here and there. There was a little interest but nothing ever woke the beast. Finally, one friend in the community approached me about the book that had helped me, and the seed was planted. He started reading, experienced immediate, noticeable benefit and water and sunlight hit the seed and it started to grow!</div><div><br /></div><div>All of this to say...MEALS v2 is in the early stages of coming into being at last, thanks to RickRolled (his tag in VR). He asked me for a meeting with a few people, I agreed. Next we discussed how to go about getting together and it blossomed into a full blow open to the public event with nearly 20 people attending from within and beyond the community of <a href="http://www.EvolVR.org" target="_blank">EvolVR</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>The session was beautiful, informative, heartfelt, moving, and productive! We are getting the people interested together via the<a href="https://discord.com/invite/gdSZNm3" target="_blank"> EvolVR Discord Server</a> and will be scheduling another meeting soon. I'm extremely excited about it.</div><div><br /></div><div>As a final note, perhaps due to the coming of the aforementioned meeting, I woke up on Monday of last week suddenly extremely motivated to rekindle my full "Savor" practice and I've been hitting it all this week and loving it. I also, unrelated, have been practicing Lojong for another Buddhist practice training I'm involved in and it has helped and complimented my practices greatly! More on all of these things to come!</div><div><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-89800442204218231562021-07-07T11:45:00.004-04:002021-07-08T08:26:23.747-04:00Where are you going?In the opening pages of Savor there's a section that speaks on habit energy. It starts by sharing that classic Zen story you've probably heard before:
<blockquote>A man on a horse can be seen approaching in the distance by some villagers. As he gets closer, since he looks to be in a great hurry, a villaber yells out "Where are you going?" to which the man replies "I don't know...Ask the horse!!"</blockquote>
That horse is the many ways in which we find ourselves mindlessly grabbing a soda any time we are thirsty, or eating a dozen cookies instead of one, or buying cookies instead of a healthier choice! <div><br /></div><div>When I started out with Savor 11 years ago, I could identify a great many ways in which I allowed my habit energy to carry me through life. The one that always struck me as the most outstanding was going in to a coffee shop for a coffee, but walking out with a Denti Flapuccino (I don’t want to get any Barstucks legal notices because this isn't about bashing them) and a large chocolate chip cookie. About 900 calories instead of 20.
I would have the thought of a coffee and the initial intention to get only a coffee. Waiting in the line, I had ample time to mindlessly tune out and scroll my phone or whatever. All the while standing in front of the baked goods rack. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now...this gets complex, but the short version of what would happen inside me was kind of like this: </div><div><br /></div><div>"I'll have a coffee.", I would think. </div><div>scroll, glance up, scroll, glance around, scroll </div><div>Then I would have a thought, "Man a frap would be so good"
"Nah, I need to lay off the flapuccinos." </div><div>"Well, I do, but it's Saturday, so I could enjoy one today and then Monday I'll start my diet." </div><div>"No, I'll just get the coffee." </div><div>scroll, glance up, scroll, glance around, scroll </div><div>Walk out of the store with my Flapuccino and....a cookie?!
*takes bite of cookie* </div><div>"What the...when did I order the cookie?!" </div><div><br /></div><div> Now, I have a lot of friends that work for BarStucks. I asked why they have 8 people working and not one around to take an order. Initially she said that they have a mandate to stay in their workstation no matter what. It's a completely ridiculous way of operating, especially when there never seemed to be a cashier at an "order here" station. No one else could move from their two foot square except that person who keeps the customer moving. Completely ridiculous. </div><div><br /></div><div>Unless...</div><div><br /></div><div>…you don't really <i>want</i> people to move fast. Maybe you'd like for them to spend some time in line by the baked goods rack waiting to place their order. One article I read from 2016 says that 79% of shoppers will make an impulse purchase while waiting in line at the checkout, that last six feet to freedom. So there's that. </div><div><br /></div><div> But let's go back to the process going on in my head and body when I was in the line. There's a couple of very deep complex things happening there that might not be completely obvious. </div><div><br /></div><div>First, I wanted a coffee, I resigned myself to coffee, and I had the thought of a different drink but I decide firmly on the coffee. Then bought a different drink. Why?
Well, I have learned enough about myself to know that - for me - when I walk in the store that choice has already been made. In fact, most of the time, before I park my car or even pull in the parking lot, somewhere inside I have already decided I'm having that 500 calorie drink. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's a seed planted right at the very first thought of going for coffee. It's SO deep, and so tiny that I can hardly tell you when it happens even after 11 years of working to see it. But I do know it happens, and I know that - and here's the first really crucual thing that's not obvious - I'm not talking myself in to getting the drink...I'm talking myself out of it. That choice was already made, and now I'm trying to change my mind. </div><div><br /></div><div> This has something to do with the fact that we can't NOT think about something that someone tells us not to think about. If you say "You should definitely NOT get a frozen 500 calorie drink" my mouth says "yeah, that's true..." while somehwhere inside me I'm saying "I'm totally getting a 500 calorie drink". And from that point on I'm scrolling through my phone, waiting in line, while I pretend to talk myself out of it. I'm not sure if everyone works this way, but that's what I've learned about me. </div><div><br /></div><div> Now the second things is even less obvious. Somewhere wayyyyyy down below that internal struggle that has a little bit of my attention is another struggle. This is the one that says:</div><div><br /></div><div>"Psst! I know we are here for coffee, and we both know you're having a 500 calorie frozen sugar drink instead...but dude...next time you look up, check out that sweet looking cookie!" </div><div> "you mean the chocolate chipcookie? 240 calories?" </div><div> "No dude...that's not a chocolate chip cookie....that, sir, is a Triple. Chocolate. CHUNK. Cookie from heaven! I mean...you can't get it, we alreday know that...I'm just sayin. Look at that thing." </div><div><br /></div><div> So...while I think I'm trying to get a coffee, my brain is doing whatever the hell it wants, and I'm barely aware of one thing, much less all the others.
This is our habit energy. Or mine anyhow. And as the book Savor says...
<blockquote>“We have to learn the art of stopping—stopping our running so that we can be present for and embrace our habit energies of worry, blame, guilt, and fear, and calm the strong emotions that dictate us. We have to learn to live fully in the present moment. We need to practice breathing in and breathing out with all our awareness. We have to learn to become mindful.”</blockquote>
If we can take even just ONE calming in and out breath to pause and think before we go in to the proverbial coffee shop and look down deeply at what is happening in our experience, we can choose with intention and stay focused. I have verified this to be true! I lost a lot of weight with this one simple practice! </div><div><br /></div><div> What's the catch? Well, there is a small catch of course. We need this to be easier, and to be easier we must focus on it often. Daily meditation is a must. But luckily it can't, and doesn't have to, happen all at once. Start with a single breath. Three breaths. A minute. Five minutes.
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-22618008567000047912021-07-03T12:54:00.002-04:002021-07-03T12:57:30.818-04:00What year is it?!<p> Well, it's July 3rd. If you know what Mondo Samu is, or who you think he is, then you probably already know my history and all about my old blog. If you're new here you may be wondering what/who the heck is all this about. Either way, go back and <b><a href="https://www.mondosamu.com/2019/08/lets-try-this-one-more-time.html" target="_blank">read this post</a></b> to get caught up. Then come back here....I'll wait....</p><p><br /><div class="tenor-gif-embed" data-postid="19523205" data-share-method="host" data-width="100%" data-aspect-ratio="1.585987261146497"><a href="https://tenor.com/view/waiting-mr-bean-gif-trending-wait-gif-19523205">Waiting Mr Bean GIF</a> from <a href="https://tenor.com/search/waiting-gifs">Waiting GIFs</a></div><script type="text/javascript" async src="https://tenor.com/embed.js"></script></p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>You're back! Great...let's get started. Again.</p><p>So if you read that post, or the handful of others from 2019, you may be thinking "wow, he was back on track with his exercise and working on it...wonder what went wrong?"</p><p>Well, you see, there was this little thing called the Covid19 Pandemic. Lots of things happened. Lots didn't. And in the blink of an eye...here we are. The year is 2021 and we are MAYBE just starting to emerge from this pandemic. Don't get me wrong, it's still very much active. But vaccinations are slowly happening, and life is becoming again. Not returning to normal. That's not a thing. But it is becoming. Becoming a somewhat familiar-feeling, but entirely new, thing.</p><p>Anyhow, this isn't about the pandemic. It's about fully embodying my dharma practice. If you caught up on the blog, you know that I was already living a pretty great life in 2019. Practice was strong, except I wasn't sure what - if any - direction I was headed in terms of teaching. I had somewhat accepted that I was a teacher and I was slowly accepting what that meant for me sans the "official" training I thought I needed to wear that title. Health was great, except I wasn't exercising steadily which had resulted in gaining back half of the weight I lost when I discovered the dharma 11 years ago today...ten at that time.</p><p>So I had rebooted the blog to help myself get back on track, and I had blown out the old posts to keep from limiting myself to being a "diet blog" but to instead live up to the name I had given it. Mondo -- a sort of discussion between a teacher (all of us) and a student (also hopefully all of us) about the work or service we do. It was never meant to be my name...but it kind of became that as well.</p><p>And here we are. Now...I'm happy to report that at that time I had gained over half the weight back, but after a year and a half of sitting on my but all day at home I have lost about half of that half! How did I lose weight while also doing nothing remotely resembling exercise?? Well, it was a breeze. I changed my job criteria from world travel and eating out all the time to working and eating at home. Doesn't exactly seem like a recipe for weight loss, right?</p><p>I think this is a very important lesson though. What could be at the root of losing weight when you sit on your but and don't travel?! Something that is huge...no pun intended. Restaurants everywhere, at least in America, give us SIGNIFICANTLY more food than we need to eat in a single meal. And even when you eat healthy vegan or vegetarian foods, if you're eating way too much of it...you will gain weight, of course. Which is NOT mindful eating, by the way.</p><p>So what this shows me is that. when I was on the road, I was eating significantly more food than I needed because I was eating mindlessly and not wanting to waste food. If my OLD blog was still around you'd see that that was a major factor in how I lived a life of largess in the first place.</p><p>So for a world crisis that changed many things and had many far more horrible outcomes, this was one thing - among many - that I actually benefited from during this last 1.5 years of weirdness. </p><p>Now...let's try this once more. I'll try to keep posting about both health and dharma (which are really the same, after all) and we'll see how this goes. Today, on the 11th anniversary of me discovering the dharma and turning my life around...I'm also re-reading "Savor" By Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung. For probably the 11th time as well. I hope you'll find something useful for you or someone you know in these posts and I look forward to seeing what comes next!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-74400095423946370992019-09-13T09:38:00.000-04:002019-09-13T09:38:12.856-04:00SUGARI've been at my resumed health focus for several weeks now and things are going well. I've been exercising daily, which is the real victory here, and eating healthy most of the time. I saw this Dave Kellett "Sheldon" comic strip today and I had to share it here. It made me laugh because I can really REALLY identify with Grandpa here.<br />
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Early in the process of mindful eating and living -- and trust me, one month is still early in getting back in the daily habit! -- you catch yourself slipping more and more as you bring mindfulness to bear on your daily life. The good news is that -- like with Buddhism in general -- this is the darkness before the dawn. Mindfulness has a way of shining a light on your bad stuff before it gets better. It's very common for practitioners to feel they are actually "getting worse" before they start seeing the benefits. The sad truth is, they're just waking up to how they really were all along!<br />
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In a normal day, most of us run on habit energy, caroming through our day doing whatever we think of to do without a lot of attention on these machinations. But as your sitting practice grows, and mindfulness grows, and discernment arises, you get better at seeing the cravings, then you get better at letting go of them. But it doesn't happen overnight and one slip -- at least for me -- can mean starting over from scratch in a few days when you realize what you've done. Or even in a few minutes. Luckily, I'm starting to feel the benefit of a month or so of dedication combined with the clearer more mindful awareness of my habits again and I'm making less poor choices.. I hope that I'm posting more and more of these as the months go on and I re-establish strong awareness of both the eating and the living, and less and less of the slips.<br />
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Enjoy this laugh from Dave Kellett's Sheldon! And<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smallfish/anatomy-of-authors?ref=section-comics-illustration-featured-project" target="_blank"> check out his KickStarter for his new book</a>...he's a great guy!<br />
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Geo <br />
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<br />Mondo Samuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930533160277850039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-22658436778225667032019-08-30T09:43:00.000-04:002019-08-30T09:43:23.626-04:00Walking Practice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In my last post I talked about how my meditation schedule has changed in the mornings. I thought I might share what I'm actually practicing. Previously I would typically wake up and:<br />
<ul>
<li>Recite the Five Recollections</li>
<li>Begin a silent meditation for 30 minutes during which I would...</li>
<ul>
<li>Start with concentration meditation briefly, then...</li>
<li>Move in to an open awareness practice, followed by wrapping up with....</li>
<li>A quick Metta Bomb (one of my favorites taken from Pablo Das) practice at the end.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
Since the new schedule has been in place, I have less time for the silent sit, and more time for doing practice while I walk, which I've always enjoyed doing. So now the practice morning looks like this:<br />
<ul>
<li>Walking Meditation begins with...</li>
<ul>
<li>The Five Recollections, followed by...</li>
<li>24 Brand New Hours by Thich Nhat Hanh recitation</li>
<li>Breath Awareness for a bit, then...</li>
<li>Walking with my Ancestors practice from TNH, followed by....</li>
<li>Mindful Walking for a bit, and finally...</li>
<li>Metta or some other heart practice, then just before work I do...</li>
</ul>
<li>Silent Sitting practice that is just open awareness the whole time.</li>
</ul>
Though I am rooted in Theravada Buddhism, I first encountered Buddhism (and walking meditation) through Thich Nhat Hanh and I still enjoy some of those practices today. My walking practice, the recollections, the 24 hours bit, and the ancestor stuff are all from TNH and they're lovely to do. I recommend them for anyone regardless of what tradition you call home. <br />
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<ul><ul>
</ul>
</ul>
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<br />Mondo Samuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930533160277850039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-25579408803125387372019-08-29T14:14:00.003-04:002019-08-29T14:14:43.707-04:00Shake it up!<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The answer, provided in this book, is not to begin with what you put on your plate. Rather, you begin with what is already inside you, with your awareness and experience of every moment you live—what the authors call mindfulness” ~ <i>Thích Nhất Hạnh & Lilian Cheung. “Savor.”</i></blockquote>
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I am cautiously optimistic that my exercise routine is getting back on track. Cautious because I've gone stretches as much as two weeks following my food and exercise plans precisely only to have one rainy day, or one take out pizza brought home by my wife, derail it. To be clear I'm not blaming the weather or the wife. It's my fault alone.<br />
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I did perfect all last week, until the weekend, then I indulged a little more than I should, and didn't walk as much as I should, but I still did moderately ok. Monday I hit it hard again and have done great all week. The interesting thing is that last week I struggled to get moving in the mornings, and could definitely see all the ways my mind was trying to get me off the hook. It was a successful week, but not a fun one.<br />
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This week, I've woken up early (even by my standards) and been ready to go. I have felt more energized as I walked, rather than less. If history is any indicator this is the sign that I'm settling in to the habit, rather than pushing myself to do it. I hope so, as my walks this week have been energizing sessions of exercise and meditation practice that have really set the tone for my day in a positive way.<br />
<br />
Along with all of that, my new morning routine has -- by necessity -- shaken up my morning routine and the results have been surprising. Typically, I wake early in the morning...five or so...and I meditate for 20 minutes. I LOVE morning meditation as it just seems to come easier. I fall in to concentration smoothly and I'm refreshed so I never fall asleep. It's just easier.<br />
<br />
With the new schedule, I'm getting up at the same time,or earlier, and I'm hitting the streets first thing. I guess this isn't my new routine, it's my old routine that I fell out of. But the part that is different is that I have a teenager now and through a series of conditions, I now get to leave for work super early! SO, my shake up is that I can now get to work early enough to grab a coffee and meditate at the park near my office. This is giving me a shorter meditation time for my morning sit - down to 20 from 30 - but means I'm meditating AFTER exercise which means my mind is fully alert and I have more going on. This doesn't sound good, but I find it's more to sit with, which has a different but not better quality. Also, I get to meditate in nature! This is especially nice...at least right now. And best of all I walk in to work freshly meditated.<br />
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I thought this new schedule was going to be a problem, but even with the reduced time meditating on my first meditation of the day, I find the quality of it is better and my overall day is benefiting greatly from all of this. Can't beat that! <br />
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We'll see how it's going in a few weeks. I'll keep you posted!<br />
<br />
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<br />Mondo Samuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930533160277850039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000432213844696600.post-12775488123488751772019-08-21T16:09:00.000-04:002019-08-27T13:14:05.162-04:00Let's try this one more time....Well, this is weird. I started a blog called Mondo Samu almost 10 years ago. About 5 years ago I drifted away from it. I tried getting it going again a few times, but never did. Last time I posted was in 2016.<br />
<br />
When I started it it was about my efforts around weight loss and Buddhism, though I wasn't buddhist yet. I think every time I tried to get back in to it, I felt like I had to write about weight loss and what I really was interested in was Buddhism.<br />
<br />
Well, now, closing in on the tenth anniversary of the blog, I find I need to write about both again. Let's talk about weight loss first. July 3rd, 2010 I hit my breaking point with my weight. I knew something had to change and I had no idea how to do it. In a comedic moment of what many might say was serendipity, I stumbled -- right at the exact moment I needed it most -- across Thich Nhat Hanh's book Savor. Really it was Dr. Lilian Cheung and TNH, but it is often credited to TNH. Long story short, I lost 110 pounds in 11 months and kept it off for many years. And lived happily ever after.<br />
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As for Buddhism I was hooked instantly and haven't looks back since. I LOVED the four noble truths the moment I read them as they appeal directly to the geeky tech-support guy in me. A simple problem solving system that is nothing short of elegant. So my buddhist path has unfolded daily and gotten stronger over time and I look forward to talking about that a lot.<br />
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Why now? Why get this going again in 2019? Is it because the anniversary is looming? Because I'm bored? No. It's because a minor vehicle issue a few years ago disrupted my routine and in short order I had fallen off of my exercise routine. Blah blah Blah, and here we are with me having gained over half the weight back. I'm not happy to say that....less happy to say it publicly....but it's reality. So, while I'm in much better shape than the last time I had to get serious about weight loss, I'm also 10 years older and finding it MUCH harder to do again.<br />
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So...what I've done is archived the old blog. Some of those posts were great in my eyes, some of them did not stand the test of time. I felt like they were worth holding on to for reference, but didn't need to be here. I created the brand new blog you're reading here, redirected the domain to it, and will keep that old one around for any info I might need in the future from the old days. It is a bit of a journal, after all.<br />
<br />
Here I will -- hopefully but no guarantees -- post once again about weight loss and Buddhism and see if keeping a blog will help keep me dedicated when all I really want to do is sit in a coffee shop and play boardgames but really should be out walking.<br />
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If you have any interest, I welcome your time and attention here. Mondo Samu was the name of the blog, and became a nickname that has caused great confusion. Now it is a blog once more. Hopefully the name will be applicable once more!<br />
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Let's do this.<br />
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<br />Mondo Samuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07930533160277850039noreply@blogger.com0