M. wrote:
“Does anyone have trouble
blocking negative thoughts
during meditation, like I do?”
Dear M.,
I am delighted to read
that you have difficulty
blocking negative thoughts.
For that means
that your mindfulness
is vulnerable and sharp.
Well done!
For without mindfulness
there can be NO enlightenment.
Your confusion
is NOT your fault
for, over many, many centuries…
people have been obscuring
the Buddha’s teachings
of acquiescent matriarchy
with teachings of patriarchy:
rigid, and fearful, and controlling.
Often masquerading
as self-help teachers
or manifesting coaches
these guys tell folks
that some thoughts are bad
and must be pushed away…
and that some thoughts are good
and must me contrived,
reached after,
and held on to.
Which is the exact opposite
of what the Buddha taught.
It is as if
the Buddha’s teachings and techniques
were a beautiful ruby
dropped in a steaming pile
of doggie doo.
Come, let us return
to first principals.
A tale is told
that in the Buddha’s first discourse
he spoke of the four noble truths.
From a certain point of view:
FIRSTLY there is stress
and plenty of it.
SECONDLY we humans have the tragic talent
of taking whatever stress life throws at us
and making it much, much worse.
How do we do that?
By striving to shove
away from us,
that which we dread
and by neurotically reaching,
for that which we desire.
THIRDLY there is a state
where there is a cessation
(or Nirvana, if your prefer Sanskrit).
NOT of the presence of dread and desire
BUT merely of their tyranny.
And FOURTHLY the accomplishment of this freedom
is NOT dependent upon the caprice of celestial beings
(real or imagined)
BUT rather, the attainment of this liberation
depends merely upon mastering
the techniques of Buddha’s eight-fold path.
Oh sure,
any idiot can be happy
when they are experiencing pleasurable:
sensations, flavors, scents,
sounds, sights,
emotions, intentions, thoughts,
memories, and imaginings.
But it takes a real master
of the Buddha’s path
to find peace
in the midst of a shit show
as if they had slid
into the eye of a storm
rendering them:
lucid, perceptive, yet serene.
The Buddha’s set of techniques
are NOT terrible difficult
when properly taught.
FIRST there is the active contemplation of love,
SECOND there is the active contemplation of letting-go,
THIRD there is the passive practice of mindfulness,
and FOURTH there is the passive practice of meditation.
There are four variations of this cycle of practices,
one, for each of the four bases of mindfulness:
circumstance, body, relationships, and mind.
By applying the same four techniques
to all that we perceive
the duality of dread and desire
is quickly transcended
like a butterfly
shedding its chrysalis.
You could learn these sixteen variations
easily enough
in this livestream’s guided meditations
beginning momentarily.
Let us conclude
with a simple
call to action
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as such the production of these livestreams,
blogs, and class materials is supported
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just like you.
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