If we really want to get rid of suffering, completely and totally, then clinging has to go. The spiritual path is never one of achievement; it is always one of letting go. The more we let go, the more there is empty and open space for us to see reality. Because what we let go of is no longer there, there is the possibility of just moving without clinging to the results of the movement. As long as we cling to the results of what we do, as long as we cling to the results of what we think, we are bound, we are hemmed in. Meditating on No-Self: A Dhamma Talk (Edited for Bodhi Leaves), by Sister Khema(1994)








Sunday, August 26, 2012

Opium

Is it all just opium for the mind?  Went 12k today, a good mindful run, very mindful, close to 99% mindful.  How you ask?  Following something called the "five bases of the breath".  I took this from Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo (Phra Suddhidhammaransi Gambhiramedhacariya) and his work on Sammadhi, which is also concentration.

It kind of goes like this, these five bases are the tip of the nose, the middle of the forehead, the very top center of the skull the middle of the brain and the middle of the chest near the sternum.  A series of trips back and for forth starting at the nose and going to the forehead, and back to the nose for a specific number of times, then from the forehead to the top of the head, and on and on.

I did this the entire run, I think i broke the concentration twice the whole run.  That is quite nice to me.  If I consider what Friday and Saturday were like, this run was really very different.  No unwholesome thoughts, thus keeping the various ugliness/fear/greed/craving, long list to follow.... where it was not arising.

The run itself was a good workout but I really feel tired after CELTA then yesterdays hard mental work and sun and then I didn't sleep well do to bad food choices last night, so really feeling lethargic but at the same time, not feeling anything, or trying to.

The interesting thing was when I worked the area from mid brain to chest/sternum, after the run I felt like my chest was on fire and that I had burned the inside of my lungs.  Still as I write this, it feels the same.  Really and interesting sign.

But, is all of this just opium for the mind?  Or is it helping? 

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