A frenzied, forward leaning...

A good hearted fellow recently wrote:

“What are the distinguishing features

of centeredness?

How will I know I’m centered?

What can I be looking for

...or listening for

...or feeling for?”

In our good hearted enthusiasm

we could exhibit

a frenzied,

forward leaning,

seeking energy.

Imagine a man

whose feline overlord

is hiding under the sofa.

In his enthusiasm

he could craw about

on his hands and knees

blindly whipping his arm

underneath the sofa

mere moments away

from pulling back

a bloody mess of a stump.

To continue with the metaphor,

a much wiser minion

of her royal floofster

could walk slowly into the kitchen

open up a can

of kitty’s favorite wet food

and let her come to him.

How could we apply this

to our practice of

the Buddha’s meditations?

We could persistent in following

the meditation instructions

received during the livestream

for five minutes, ten minutes,

twenty, or even forty minutes

and observe the results.

But remember to do so not actively

but passively

not analytically

but viscerally.

We metaphorically

lean forward

out of desire,

and we also lean forward

out of fear;

fear that we might NOT

be able to center ourselves.

But of course

we do NOT center ourselves,

rather, we allow ourselves

to center

for centering is a natural process

that occurs every time we fall asleep

in a very coarse sense

and it occurs every time

we breathe out

in a very, very subtle sense.

So the only thing we are actively doing

is bringing our mindfulness to a process

that is already latent

within our every exhalation.

Let us conclude

with a simple

call to action

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