Today Paramananda made the journey from West London to Brighton to join our sangha on day 6 of the Rainy Season Retreat. Yet again the shrine room was well attended with 40+ people coming for the morning and afternoon session.
Paramananda pointed out that if we are going to have an idea of a ‘self’ then its best to bring it into the heart and the body. It is so easy to have an abstract idea of a ‘self’ and one simple way to work towards a more open expansive attitude to it is to bring it back into the body - for example imagine it located in the heart, or the solar plexus and notice your experience.
He also pointed out that he was quite against the idea of ‘getting rid’ of anything - he was more interested in ‘including everything’! Finding a way to be that allows everythig to be there. In the end we are just trying to have a deeper experience of ourselves and that involves coming into relationship, into alignment with all of our experience. So much of our life is do with avoiding, moving away from Reality - let’s not do that in our meditation practice.
He also encouraged us to reflect on the benefits of collective practice and notice the difference to meditating by ourselves - open ourselves to the support we receive from sitting with others; there are so many years of practice between all of us in one shrine room! One of the main things people want is to feel connected, not just to themselves, but also with nature and other people.
“To not feel at home in your own body is fairly unbearable…..” “On the other hand to feel at home in your body is to accept its nature - for example the fact that bodies are meant to grow old and die, that what they do. Getting older is not a problem from the point of view of the body - it is only a problem from the point of view of the ego. …… and even the ego is not too much of a problem as long as we don’t take it too seriously……”
Thursdays
I have had my dream–like others–
and it has come to nothing, so that
I remain now carelessly
with feet planted on the ground
and look up at the sky–
feeling my clothes about me,
the weight of my body in my shoes,
the rim of my hat, air passing in and out
at my nose–and decide to dream no more.
William Carlos Williams
Paramananda pointed out that if we are going to have an idea of a ‘self’ then its best to bring it into the heart and the body. It is so easy to have an abstract idea of a ‘self’ and one simple way to work towards a more open expansive attitude to it is to bring it back into the body - for example imagine it located in the heart, or the solar plexus and notice your experience.
He also pointed out that he was quite against the idea of ‘getting rid’ of anything - he was more interested in ‘including everything’! Finding a way to be that allows everythig to be there. In the end we are just trying to have a deeper experience of ourselves and that involves coming into relationship, into alignment with all of our experience. So much of our life is do with avoiding, moving away from Reality - let’s not do that in our meditation practice.
He also encouraged us to reflect on the benefits of collective practice and notice the difference to meditating by ourselves - open ourselves to the support we receive from sitting with others; there are so many years of practice between all of us in one shrine room! One of the main things people want is to feel connected, not just to themselves, but also with nature and other people.
“To not feel at home in your own body is fairly unbearable…..” “On the other hand to feel at home in your body is to accept its nature - for example the fact that bodies are meant to grow old and die, that what they do. Getting older is not a problem from the point of view of the body - it is only a problem from the point of view of the ego. …… and even the ego is not too much of a problem as long as we don’t take it too seriously……”
Thursdays
I have had my dream–like others–
and it has come to nothing, so that
I remain now carelessly
with feet planted on the ground
and look up at the sky–
feeling my clothes about me,
the weight of my body in my shoes,
the rim of my hat, air passing in and out
at my nose–and decide to dream no more.
William Carlos Williams
