Saturday, May 12, 2007
Clearing the Mind
Can you coax your mind from its wandering and
keep to the original oneness?
Can you cleanse your inner vision until you see
nothing but the light?
Can you step back from your own mind and
thus understand all things?
Lao-Tzu
At times, it seems all but impossible to concentrate the mind on deep meditative practice. At others, concentration comes easily.
Yesterday, I had only ten minutes for my morning energetic meditation, but somehow those ten minutes were sufficient to allow a profoundly centered practice. Somewhere I have read that Zen monks of certain traditions were required to send energy into their big toe to demonstrate mental clarity and proficiency. That seemed quite remarkable to me at the time. But yesterday morning, because circumstances were right, I was able to do just that, and sent sweet currents down through my legs and to my big toes, first one then the other, at will.
Later that afternoon, I came back after "being in the world" (riding buses, eating in a noisy restaurant, generally being buffeted by the energies of a city). I then tried to pick up my practice once more, but found I could do almost nothing by way of sensing energies. So--I simply did my "preliminary chi gong exercises" (simple stretching) and let that be my second practice.
I for one cannot "make the experience happen" just by desiring it. I can "let the experience happen" by responding when the occasion is right. But "it" determines the actual result. And, for my part, I must come without expectation, in an attitude of non-attachment.
And, for me, the ecstatic experiences are not continuous throughout the day. I usually snap into a different state of consciousness once the meditation is over. And that is good, because, since I live in a city, I cannot afford to go forth in an altered state. I must stay alert, follow my friends' advice not to "space out," lest I stumble on the curb or lose awareness of who or what is around me. City life can threaten in many ways.
Only when I am in a totally safe environment can I afford to relax into "mystical consciousness," and become what I see (and there are one or two places even here in the city where such relaxed mental states are possible--among the flowers and trees of the botanical garden, or on certain nature walks along the edges of the ocean and bay.)
