Jed McKenna?

Matthew Wight, modified 14 Years ago at 9/20/10 2:52 AM
Created 14 Years ago at 9/20/10 2:52 AM

Jed McKenna?

Posts: 39 Join Date: 9/18/10 Recent Posts
Anyone else here into Jed McKenna's work?
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Florian, modified 14 Years ago at 9/21/10 12:04 AM
Created 14 Years ago at 9/21/10 12:04 AM

RE: Jed McKenna?

Posts: 1028 Join Date: 4/28/09 Recent Posts
Hi Matthew,

Yes, I read the books, and found them very inspiring. They fuelled my practice for months last year.

I used his version of Mindfulness of Death (described in Vol. 3, Chapter 34) for quite some time.

What do you get out of the books?

Cheers,
Florian
Matthew Wight, modified 14 Years ago at 9/21/10 12:12 AM
Created 14 Years ago at 9/21/10 12:12 AM

RE: Jed McKenna?

Posts: 39 Join Date: 9/18/10 Recent Posts
That everything we believe we are, everything we believe the world to be, every verbal thought, etc, is really just a mental map we create of reality, but not reality itself. We wind up mistaking that map for reality.
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Florian, modified 14 Years ago at 9/21/10 2:53 AM
Created 14 Years ago at 9/21/10 2:53 AM

RE: Jed McKenna?

Posts: 1028 Join Date: 4/28/09 Recent Posts
Okay, so what are you going to do about it?

Jed provides quite a few clues in that direction, as well.

Cheers,
Florian
Matthew Wight, modified 14 Years ago at 9/21/10 3:03 AM
Created 14 Years ago at 9/21/10 3:03 AM

RE: Jed McKenna?

Posts: 39 Join Date: 9/18/10 Recent Posts
I don't know to be honest, I can't really seem to function in this environment with out mental maps and models. When I meditate I can detach myself from using any maps and just observe, but I can't stay in that state while working or interacting with others or doing anything really other than meditating.
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Florian, modified 14 Years ago at 9/21/10 5:09 AM
Created 14 Years ago at 9/21/10 5:09 AM

RE: Jed McKenna?

Posts: 1028 Join Date: 4/28/09 Recent Posts
A few things to try, if you haven't, besides formal sitting meditation:

Walking meditation. Can be done any time one finds oneself walking. Just note how each foot touches the ground.

Jed's "spiritual autolysis", his journalling on steroids. The instruction is, "Write down something true". Write a statement that appears to be true, then question the assumptions behind it (maps, models in your words) and question those. Repeat until the truth is arrived at.

Or his twist on the Mindfulness of Death exercise (which can be combined with the jounalling approach): "Why shouldn't I kill myself right now?". It's certainly powerful, but there are also less potentionally damaging approaches.

Other things to try throughout the day (not necessarily from Jed's books):

Pretend you're watching yourself doing stuff, commenting on it mentally, whenever you can remind yourself. "Watch Florian taking a shower". "Watch him close his notebook computer". "Watch him open a door".

Keep a meditation word or mantra running during the day. Resume whenever you remember.

Or keep track of the breath during the day, whenever you can remember.

All of this can be fuelled by Jed's suggestion: "Further!".

To get back to your original post: I got a lot out of reading Jed's books. I once remarked that if I hadn't come across MCTB (Daniel Ingram's book) first, then the Jed books would have been my all time favorite modern enlightenment books.

Cheers,
Florian

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