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RE: Richard's insight practice

RE: Richard's insight practice
Answer
9/19/14 9:48 AM as a reply to Richard Zen.
For noting throughout the day I returned to the Mahamudra Moonlight book I read years ago.  I'm pretty sure I didn't understand it then but it's much more understandable now.

The complexity in these books can be difficult to do in practice so I tried to simplify the 4 yogas down:

1. Welcome all experiences (including obstacles) - This seems to relax the body instantly when it's tried.  This is best used when you put yourself in situations that will test your equanimity. Consistency in mindfulness needs to be there for it to work. Returning to the breath time and time again can restart the process.
2. Don't examine the meditation - This keeps you noting and makes the consistency improve.  There's naturally less self-referencing which can only be of help.
3. Don't look at experiences as deficient - If you're welcoming the experience you need to feel it's good enough (especially if it's a difficult situation).
4. There is no inherent meditator or meditation - When the above steps are followed this step is more inferred because it feels like this. Also the first step is all that's needed and the steps afterward simply support it further when the mind goes off.

The obstacle I introduced myself to is Toastmasters.  My first meeting was quite good (it's a supportive environment) but It'll be challenging public speaking fears.  You can see the reactive embarassed looks on people's faces when they get up there. emoticon  The practice is meaningless unless it's used in new, uncomfortable, challenging situations.

I made a mnemonic to remember the steps which when repeated often can condition the right habit so you eventually don't need the mnemonic anymore.

The Buddha welcomed the examiner and found no deficiency in his/her meditation.

RE: Richard's insight practice
Answer
9/26/14 8:02 AM as a reply to Richard Zen.
It's pretty clear now the difference between intentions that are habitual vs. intentions that go against preferences. Intentions that are habitual are so fast (you can see this when noting while driving or doing any automatic work) that they look like they arise at the same speed as actions. The 1 second notes are so slow that many actions are already complete before you can note intentions. emoticon 

Any movements to adjust your seating, scratch an itch are clearly happening on their own and without consistent mindfulness the habits perniciously act own their own. Intentions are an "about to" feeling when you have to deliberate and push against your preferences. If it's within your preferences it quickly acts, if you don't stay present consistently and relax the intention/action.

For the most part my equanimity is still improving. Feeling sorry for myself continues to release faster and faster. Everything just appears to be in a space of knowing (which sometimes feels very fabricated.) Consciousness as a separate entity is gone. Consciousness to me is just whatever is happening. It used to feel like consciousness had a location and it's clear it doesn't.

Thoughts aren't a problem precisely because if you don't treat them as a problem then they don't hurt at all. This is the case even if you're not paying attention but that is likely due to past periods of mindfulness practice. Paying attention to thinking will make the thinking (even negative thinking) seem harmless. Use metaphors of the ocean and waves for thinking and consciousness and view them as an inseparable part of the mind. As soon as I think "this shouldn't be there", "this is deficient in some way" the aversion creeps up.

I've also noticed when noticing bare attention that thinking can move more freely but when noting the thinking subsides. For practical reasons we need to switch from one to another being careful that bare attention doesn't turn into inattention.

http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/76/talk/8932/

RE: Richard's insight practice
Answer
9/30/14 9:15 AM as a reply to Richard Zen.
I've noticed with noting intentions that much of the habit that arises is rehearsing. After teaching dharma to so many people (including in imagination) the habit is really strong. There's embedded in the rehearsing lots of telling what to do for people that I don't like  emoticon 

RE: Richard's insight practice
Answer
10/3/14 2:45 PM as a reply to Richard Zen.
Okay now that I think I'm gaining much more control I've going to push myself everyday to go against useless habits and leave them behind for good. If there's a preference I'm going to think about opportunities to do differently. The goal is to refrain from those habits and to do nothing at the minimum (just to avoid doing the wrong thing) and ideally do more work and expand myself.

The benefit of getting busy will also create a momentum to not fall into a quick sand of complacency and procrastination. The thread won't be about perfectionism but a record of pushing against complacency, and developing renunciation. The goal will be to have some record keeping of the power of habits and aversion. If any meditative discoveries are made they will be included.

RE: Richard's insight practice
Answer
10/7/14 8:54 AM as a reply to Richard Zen.
Last night I was doing some noting and I reduced the verbal note from outloud down to mental and then just to consistent bare awareness (because I felt it allowed more detail). I started noticing that my mind was going into a dream like state (but still wide awake) and there were several bits of mental talking from different people with separate identities. A lot of it was incoherent but I could tell it had some kind of affect and without that kind of mindfulness it's running in the background. I'm thinking I may have tapped into an area where views are stored from different people I've met. Whatever mental conditioning a person has is deep inside. It was the deepest not-self experience I've had so far because the sense of agent disappeared and every experience, movement and intention became not-self. I'll try to see if I can do this for more than a few minutes. This may be the first time I could actually note a wandering mind without feeling totally lost in it. I'm eager to see what more can come from bare awareness.

I think Daniel's instructions in MCTB says it right in that if there's distractions there should be MORE noting during this time. Maybe if there's a sensation of any kind it has to be noted consistently enough to be seen for what it is and there seems to be so much embedded in consciousness when you take a deeper look. It also challenges some of the perceptions that sitting down is doing nothing when in fact the mind is constantly doing something.

RE: Richard's insight practice
Answer
10/10/14 8:14 PM as a reply to Richard Zen.
Now that I'm making myself busy and making committments, those actions have made it hard to return to procrastination habits and indifference. I recently joined Toastmasters and did my first ice-breaker speech. The meditation practice has made the nervousness much less, yet nervousness is still there at the beginning of a speech. I think it's pretty obvious I have plenty of emotions but they don't seem to hurt much at all. Considering I find the Buddhist texts that believe in eliminating emotions quite scary then I think I've found a happy medium. If you like what you're talking about then you get excited to continue and it all looks natural.

I had little preparation due to other committments and I had too much content but I have found I have a sense of humor and descriptive quality with my wording that got the Toastmasters people less bored. Of course all the praise leads to serotonin and it gets to your head but it was quite healthy and I can disregard it when I compared my current skills to what is expected in business environments that are often demanding and hypercritical. Having a cheering section provides that extra motivation to stick your neck out.

I've also started to talk to professionals to get more information on my career path by creating coffee meetings and I've gotten more information about how things are and challenged some negative beliefs that wouldn't have been challenged if I stayed introverted. Stepping into that extroverted world is a breath of fresh air. More dopamine and serotonin in the right contexts is healthy because it's guilt free and sends you in the right direction.

When going against preferences the results of that are similar to cognitive therapy in that the rewards for going against preferences create new and better preferences/desires. There are times where I relax and just meditate to replace time I might waste online or watching TV or some other pointless endeavour.

RE: Richard's insight practice
Answer
10/10/14 7:23 PM as a reply to Richard Zen.
I had little preparation due to other committments and I had too much content but I have found I have a sense of humor and descriptive quality with my wording that got the Toastmasters people less bored. Of course all the praise leads to serotonin and it gets to your head but it was quite healthy and I can disregard it when I compared my current skills to what is expected in business environments that are often demanding and hypercritical. Having a cheering section provides that extra motivation to stick your neck out.

This is great to read, especially as you've given the community some great summaries of "good chemistry", like here:

[url=]http://dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/discussion/-/message_boards/message/4539340;jsessionid=62105ACD8C9C592F98A68DFFA69846B4?doAsUserId=U4FYRpmIICQ%3D%2F-%2Fmessage_boards%2Fmessage%2F10847%2F-%2Fmessage_boards%2Fmessage%2F95028[url=]

RE: Richard's insight practice
Answer
10/10/14 8:18 PM as a reply to katy steger.
katy steger:
I had little preparation due to other committments and I had too much content but I have found I have a sense of humor and descriptive quality with my wording that got the Toastmasters people less bored. Of course all the praise leads to serotonin and it gets to your head but it was quite healthy and I can disregard it when I compared my current skills to what is expected in business environments that are often demanding and hypercritical. Having a cheering section provides that extra motivation to stick your neck out.

This is great to read, especially as you've given the community some great summaries of "good chemistry", like here:

[url=]http://dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/discussion/-/message_boards/message/4539340;jsessionid=62105ACD8C9C592F98A68DFFA69846B4?doAsUserId=U4FYRpmIICQ%3D%2F-%2Fmessage_boards%2Fmessage%2F10847%2F-%2Fmessage_boards%2Fmessage%2F95028[url=]

Yeah I noticed that. I find wisdom faster than I can apply it but it's sinking in at whatever pace it's going to LOL!

RE: Richard's insight practice
Answer
10/10/14 11:40 PM as a reply to Richard Zen.
Richard Zen:
Last night I was doing some noting and I reduced the verbal note from outloud down to mental and then just to consistent bare awareness (because I felt it allowed more detail). I started noticing that my mind was going into a dream like state (but still wide awake) and there were several bits of mental talking from different people with separate identities. A lot of it was incoherent but I could tell it had some kind of affect and without that kind of mindfulness it's running in the background. I'm thinking I may have tapped into an area where views are stored from different people I've met. Whatever mental conditioning a person has is deep inside. It was the deepest not-self experience I've had so far because the sense of agent disappeared and every experience, movement and intention became not-self. I'll try to see if I can do this for more than a few minutes. This may be the first time I could actually note a wandering mind without feeling totally lost in it. I'm eager to see what more can come from bare awareness.

I think Daniel's instructions in MCTB says it right in that if there's distractions there should be MORE noting during this time. 
during this time. 
The dream like state you describe where thinking takes the backseat is what happens to me right before popping out of that state into the three moments leading to cessation. I do not do any noting at this stage of high eq....I dont "do" anything but let it happen. Maybe make a resolution and see what happens.
good luck,
~D

RE: Richard's insight practice
Answer
10/11/14 12:59 AM as a reply to Dream Walker.
Dream Walker:
Richard Zen:
Last night I was doing some noting and I reduced the verbal note from outloud down to mental and then just to consistent bare awareness (because I felt it allowed more detail). I started noticing that my mind was going into a dream like state (but still wide awake) and there were several bits of mental talking from different people with separate identities. A lot of it was incoherent but I could tell it had some kind of affect and without that kind of mindfulness it's running in the background. I'm thinking I may have tapped into an area where views are stored from different people I've met. Whatever mental conditioning a person has is deep inside. It was the deepest not-self experience I've had so far because the sense of agent disappeared and every experience, movement and intention became not-self. I'll try to see if I can do this for more than a few minutes. This may be the first time I could actually note a wandering mind without feeling totally lost in it. I'm eager to see what more can come from bare awareness.

I think Daniel's instructions in MCTB says it right in that if there's distractions there should be MORE noting during this time. 
during this time. 
The dream like state you describe where thinking takes the backseat is what happens to me right before popping out of that state into the three moments leading to cessation. I do not do any noting at this stage of high eq....I dont "do" anything but let it happen. Maybe make a resolution and see what happens.
good luck,
~D

Thanks for the tips.

Ahh the elusive cessation. I have to be careful because I wanted it so badly before and that's exactly what makes sure you don't get it. 

RE: Richard's insight practice
Answer
10/11/14 11:59 AM as a reply to Richard Zen.
Does it have to though?  Wanting something badly can be seen through as much as anything else. Just let yourself be excited the same way you let your mind wander or you let your emotions arise and pass. emoticon