the Meditation Circle

Not that anyone around this joint is spiritually awakened—or as far as we can tell, but who knows? But this is just cute.

“When you’re alone, watch your mind.
When you’re with others watch your speech.”

~ Author unknown

“The beautiful lotus grows out of the mud. Without affliction and suffering, we cannot make a Buddha.“

~Thich Nhat Hanh (from “The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion“)

IN ADDITION TO THE REGULAR WEEKLY gathering of The Meditation Circle from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation building, 520 Kanawha Blvd., W., 25302, on the west side of Charleston, WV, the Circle also gathers 11 a.m to noon Saturdays at the PeaceTree Center for Wellness, 5930 Mahood Dr., Huntington, WV, 25705 (about ten minutes east of the Huntington Mall at Barboursville). A Peacetree community yoga class (by donation) precedes the Saturday sit from 10 to 11 am.

BEGINNERS AND THOSE WISHING TO DEEPEN a home meditation practice are welcome at both circles. We are a meditation group in the round, with facilitators and no formal teachers. Small donations are welcome to help our generous sponsoring spaces with their electric bills and for occasional visits from teachers for day retreats.

“We think our unhappiness is caused by the outside world. As a result, we direct all our energy and mental capabilities outward. We get engrossed and sometimes even obsessed in trying to straighten out the people around us, as if their perfection would bring us relief.”

~Bhante Gunaratana (“8 Mindful Steps to Happiness”)

Beginning October 22nd, practice of the Eight Pieces of Brocade Qigong form will be offered on Tuesday evenings from 5:45 until 6:00, prior to the evening meditation . This time will provide an opportunity to stretch and prepare for the meditation period to follow. Qigong is a Chinese system of breathing exercises, body postures and movements, along with mental concentration, intended to maintain good health and control the flow of vital energy. Instruction will be provided.

By LYNN J. KELLEY | from ‘The Buddha’s Advice to Laypeople’

Here we are, considering the fourth framework for cultivating mindfulness: principles/phenomena/dharmas. Specifically, we’ll take up how we can practice mindfulness with the hindrances. As a reminder, the hindrances are:

1. sensual desire,
2. anger,
3. sloth-and-torpor
4. restlessness-and-worry, and
5. doubt.

To be clear, we are mainly thinking of our own hindrances, not other peoples’. We can learn from observing other folks’ mistakes, but the errors we make ourselves are the ones most likely to make a lasting impression on us.

Before we get into specifics on each of the hindrances, we should remember that the fourth framework asks us to observe the conditions that lead to the arising of the hindrances and the conditions that lead to the fading or overcoming of the hindrances. Unfortunately, there is not a simple list of things to avoid and things to draw near to us. Because our life experience is unique, we need to figure some specific things out for ourselves.

Ven. Anālayo offers an excellent metaphor in his book “Satipaṭṭhāna Meditation: A Practice Guide” (p. 154). We can imagine ourselves as a chess player…

Our friend has just made a threatening move, attacking our queen (gardez!). We will not get angry because of that. After all it is a game and the other player is our good friend. Yet at the same time we do want to win.

With this type of attitude, wanting to win without getting angry, we examine the situation: “Let me see, how did I get into this? How come I am now in the situation of being about to lose my queen?” On examining how this happened, we keep a lookout for the type of move that will save our queen. In other words, we try to identify the condition that will lead us out of this situation.

Ven. Anālayo goes on to point out that by seeing an arisen hindrance as a chess move, we are less likely to take it personally. That is, we don’t need to see our sensual desire or anger as something to feel guilty about or get annoyed with. It is simply what is happening now. It is also likely that whatever our favored hindrance is will arise in the future. Can we prepare ourselves by changing our attitude to our own obstructions, or by adjusting how we handle them?

The degree to which this particular mental condition can actually function as a “hindrance”, in the sense of obstructing our inner clarity, is inexorably interwoven with the degree of our identification with the images and associations it conjures up in the mind.

That is to say, the more closely we identify with our desire or anger or agitation or sloth or doubt, the harder it is to work with. By creating a little distance between “me” and the present obstructive mind state, we make a space we can work in.

The hindrances obstruct our mental clarity and actually block our pathway towards non-clinging, towards liberation. Only we have the power to mindfully, methodically, remove those obstacles.

NOTE | Follow future posts by Lynn E. Kelly by subscribing to her free blog at https://buddhasadvice.wordpress.com/

“The Buddha simply taught basic principles for people who want to wise up:

The first principle is to realize that your actions are important, that they make a difference, that they come from your ideas and intentions, and that they can be changed for the better.

Second, focus on what really is your responsibility, and let go of things that are not.

Third, train your mind to develop better and better answers to the question that focuses on what you’re really responsible for: what you can do that will lead to your long-term welfare and happiness.

Then take advantage of the tools the Buddha offers so that it’s easier to give up the things that you like doing that are harmful, and to get yourself to do the things that are difficult but will lead to the long-term happiness you want.”

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu “Wisdom for Dummies”