Sorry for the lack of content

I apologize.  Life sometimes sweeps you away in other directions and you cannot focus on what you think you should.

I have continued to attend Monday night meditations with the local Shambhala group, but have not extended my practice otherwise.  My goal for this week has been to find twenty minutes each day to sit and meditate; to extend my practice out into the rest of my week.

I continue to read The Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa.  An interesting read.  I particularly relate to the chapter on keeping yourself and your surroundings in order to invite drala into your life.  Self-discipline has always been something I struggle with, and I am sure I will continue this struggle as I meander down this path.

thoughts

As a novice meditation practitioner, when I sit, my mind is flooded with thoughts.  According to the instruction I received last night at the Shambhala meeting, in Shambhala, when you realize you are thinking, you are simply to label it “thinking” and bring your mind back to the breath.  Maybe it is my ego placing more importance on my thinking than is due, or perhaps it is my Western desire to psychologize and question the causes of these thoughts, but I can’t help but think that by stepping back and watching the thoughts as they slide in and out of my consciousness I may be able to learn something.  To be looked into.

 Further reading:

• The Removal of Distracting Thoughts (Vitakka-Santhana Sutta; Majjhima Nikaya No. 20)
• Don’t Feed the Monkeys

First Time Out

:: Local Shambhala Association Meeting 

My evening went like this: show up to the location advertised in the paper only to find that I am the seond person to arrive, after the organizer/timekeeper.  Not such a bad thing, I was able to introduce myself and get a sense of what to expect from the evening.  Once a few more people arrived, we sat down to begin meditation practice.  I was given a few short instructions about posture and what I was to do with the thoughts that arose during meditation and we began.