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Writer's pictureLama Jigme Gyatso

The Trap of Rigid Contrivance


What’s that?

You say you want to meditate?

Then be sure not to fall into the trap

of rigid contrivance.


The Buddha was a sage of Matriarchy:

centered, acquiescent, and spontaneous.

All who are born will die,

and the Buddha was no exception.


After his death

it did not take long

for so called leadership vacuums


to be filled by minions of Patriarchy:

scattered, aggressive, and manipulative.


The difference of matriarchy and patriarchy

is not a matter of reproductive hardware

but rather of neurological orientation;


with matriarchy being the wise team

of Mid-brain and forebrain

and patriarchy being the merely clever team

of brain-stem and forebrain.


Remember the tales

of the Buddha’s cousin Devadatta

who was clever enough

to divide the Sangha of monks


but not wise enough

to meet the spiritual needs

of his stolen disciples

who soon abandoned him.


Cleverness,

it would seem,

is a poor substitute for wisdom.


Patriarchy is rigid and controlling

so of course they promote concentration

which seeks to control and constrict

our experience of perception.


Matriarchy is flexible and flowing

and practices the mindfulness,

which is antithetical to concentration,


and seeks to relax all perception

giving it free rein.


Simply put

concentration seeks to forcefully calm the mind

which is rather like making love

in the name of virginity;


whereas mindfulness merely relaxes

into the eye of the storm

content to watch the chaotic maelstrom

that is our life.


Patriarchy promises that peace is found

when we have repressed

all sensation, flavor, scent, sound, sight,

emotion, intention, reason, recollection, and imagination;


whereas matriarchy experiences peace

as it passively blends non-conceptual noticing with inhalation

and physical relaxation, as well as mental release,

with exhalation.


When we read the three meditation manuals

attributed to the Buddha:


the Anapanasati Sutta,

the Satipatthana Sutta,

the Maha Satipatthana Sutta,

and the seven enlightenment factors taught therein,


we see that it was the gentle path of matriarchy

that the Buddha taught

and not its patriarchal counter-part.


So buckle-up, and enjoy the ride

of this morning’s guided meditation

and you will learn all you need to master

the Buddha’s path of mantra meditation.


Tonight we’ll explore

silent meditation.



Let us conclude

with a simple

call to action


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