Fragrant Heart Blog

In some traditional meditation practices there can be an emphasis on detaching from feelings.  It has caused a lot of people to believe that that is the way to become liberated from suffering.  Detachment from feelings, especially negative feelings leads to greater suffering, and I believe to greater attachment to those feelings.  They become the shadow side of the personality that comes out as projections on others, resentments, belittling of others and judging others harshly.  Each time we disown something within us it doesn’t go away, but goes deeper within the psyche causing havoc in the life as well as in the lives of others.  For example I know someone who locks every door in the home including the bedroom door at night.  This person then says he doesn’t want any “scaredy cats” in his life or, “how frightened people are out there in the world”.  Who’s really afraid?  He is, but projects his fear onto others. 

In your meditation practice feelings will arise at times.  It is the nature of meditation.  Accept and allow them to be there.  Observe them as arising,  “Ah, so this is the feeling of fear”, for example.  Also notice the sensations in your body.  Be curious about them.  Where, for example, in your body do you feel fear?   Breathe in and out of the strong sensations if they begin to overwhelm you.  And lastly, honour your feelings, the positive ones and the negative ones.  They are all there helping you to become more aware of your response to life.  Honour your feelings, and honour yourself as a human being capable of having feelings.

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In July I attended a workshop called “Big Mind, Big Heart.”  It’s the work of Genpo Roshi, a Zen Buddhist teacher, who has in my opinion bridged the gap between a sitting meditation practice and a form of voice dialogue that moves through the psychological barriers to a transcendental state of being. 

At the workshop held here in Auckland by a visiting teacher trained by Genpo Roshi, I experienced a real recognition of all the inner voices that run my life.  At the workshop we all shared the same inner voices.  For example, there is the voice of the controller, the voice of the protector, the voice of the sceptic and so on.  What was delightful and at times so funny was how these inner voices just wanted to be heard, and how they have a job to do and to do well.  At the end of the workshop as the transcendent voices spoke, like the voice of Big Heart, such deep compassion and love filled the whole room. 

It’s an experience that has certainly deepened my own meditation practice, and one that I would recommend to anyone following a spiritual path.

There’s a lot of information on the Internet about Genpo Roshi and the teachings he is giving.

I came across an article in a magazine written by Jack Kornfield, called “On Meditation and Western Thinking.”  This was written back in 1990/91 in Noetic Sciences Review. 

For long time meditators and teachers like Jack Kornfield and Genpo Roshi, how to integrate meditation with western mind thinking has been a challenge.

Back then Jack Kornfield wrote, “Most people need to start their spiritual practice with a deep grounding of self acceptance.  Without loving kindness, self acceptance and compassion, the experiences they have don’t get integrated into their lives.”

I took up meditation because my life became so chaotic, and I wanted to reduce the anxiety that never seemed to go away.  Meditation has certainly helped, and it is the foundation to both my daily living and unfolding spirituality.  However, I also needed help to change the limiting core beliefs that were subconsciously running my life in ways I didn’t find conducive to my well being.  I couldn’t always make the shift from meditation where I experienced all sorts of altered states, to daily living.  I could feel such deep abiding compassion in meditation and loving kindness but I wasn’t always able to translate that into my relationships, and most of all in my relationship to myself.  

In next week’s blog I’ll tell you about a workshop that I found very enlightening, and one that sets about bringing that integration into western thinking.

I’ve been thinking about how rhythm becomes a natural part of meditation and deepens a meditation practice.  When I sit in meditation I may begin by focusing on the breath; the in breath, and the out breath.  If I do it long enough I become aware of the rhythm of the breath that allows my body and mind to settle into a flow.  Sometimes it’s beyond words to describe accurately what that is like. 

However, I begin to realize more and more that when I experience rhythm the same altered state of awareness occurs whether sitting observing the breath, walking, dancing, spinning on my spinning wheel, or knitting yarn into garments.

People come to me sometimes to learn the basics of meditation.  I ask them how much time they could devote to a sitting practice.  I also ask them what they love to do.  Some people love to garden, others to do cross-stitch.  Some like to swim, jog, walk the dog, or play with their grandchildren.  Some like to cook, or to draw and paint.  What do you love to do that encourages rhythm and flow in you?  Perhaps you may not have a sitting meditation practice.  What if you were to bring one pointed focus to something you truly love to do?  You might find that that could turn into meditation; a moving meditation of flow and rhythm, deeper awareness and expanded consciousness.