how to enjoy our practice

the next few entries i will be sharing what i have learned from the plum village tradition's retreat =)

the essence of this style of practice - learning to enjoy ur practice =)
its about dwelling peacefully n happily in the present, learning to use the breath to bring ourselves back to life in the present moment, smiling n at ease...

i shall list 2 helpful techniques here, which actualli been sorta covered in my last entry haha

1. conscious breathing - this is probably the primary technique to help us (as is common with many other schools =))

we may like to recite

breathing in i know that i am breathing in
breathing out i know that i am breathing out

conscious breathing is the key to bringing our body n mind together and the energy to substain mindfulness from moment to moment...

2. use of gatha - there is plenty use of the gathas to help remind us to return to the present moment, here's one nice one

breathing in, i calm my body
breathing out i smile
dwelling in the present moment
i know this is a wonderful moment

these are deceptively simple techniques but trememdously effective means to enhance n enrich our spiritual practice, enjoy! =D

a different flavor of zen

just completed a weekend retreat at PKS under the guidance of venerables from the Plum Village in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh...

one of the first activity was... singing!

my my, some of the first thoughts that went thru my head was - zen dun sing!
haha interesting narrow egoic definitions of what zen is or not ;)

could feel some resistance energy within...
letting go the thoughts, residing in the uncomfortable sensations
(i am not realli that enthu to sing at a zen retreat i suppose haha =P)
...then just doing it for the weekend =)


breathing in i smile =)

breathing out i relax ahh...

(one of the many many gathas Plum village like to employ in our practice)

ahhh.... it was a realli wonderful retreat loh =D
like a sundae morning breeze...
so gentle, so refreshing, so much loving kindness at the retreat =)
a truly different flavor of zen but i am loving it!
this style of practicing realli knows how to enjoy
reminds mi of the famous one liner -


present moment, wonderful moment =)




Waking up in the morning, i smile =)
knowing there are 24 brand new hours before me.
i vow to live fully in each moment,
and look at beings with eyes of compassion.
(another wonderful gatha)



thank u venerables for your wonderful teachings and sharings...
palms together, deep bow...

and oh another interesting note, one of the venerables was my JC schoolmate =O
what a small world, respect her for her devotion and dedication to the practice of wisdom and compassion, another deep bow...

sharing at Dana Citta

did some sharing at Dana Citta today with the wonderful gang of kevin n co of the Om music workshop...

there was heavy rain pitter patter pitter patter
but it didn't dampen the spirits of the gp at all n we started off with some wonderful music playing =)
i later shared on mindfulness also did a simple raisins meditation,
n everyone had fun with the raisins =)
but next time i think i muz rem to remind pple not to gobble up the raisins the moment they are being passed the raisins haha =P

the group is using buddhist music to inspire spiritual practice, i think its wonderful work and fantastic music keep it up u guys =D
n i understand there's an upcoming concert so JIA YOU all the best =D
thanks for the opportunity to share =)
reminds mi to keep up my own mindfulness practice loh keke =P

Book Review - At Home in the Muddy water by Ezra Bayda

finished reading Being Zen a while back (4th time reading it haha) and started on At home in the muddy water... the 4th time reading it as well =)

this is the companion volume to Being Zen (see my book review on it) and it continues in the same style - of sharing the teachings of zen practice and its application to our everyday life in unfancy, simple to understand language.

the book is divided into 4 parts:

part one Ezra reminds us what spiritual life is really about - the willingness to open ourselves to whatever life presents - no matter how messy or complicated... and also discuss the basics of practice - to cultivate awareness by clarifying our mental process and experiencing the physical reality...

part two he moves on to practicing with attachments, addictions and money

part three he discuss on relationships, trust issues, sexuality, forgiveness, dealing with loss...

part four he offers advice on how to enrich and strengthen practice in the messiness of our everyday living...

what makes this book highly recommended, such a valuable practice manual that make mi reread and reread (together with Being Zen) is that Ezra clarifies what practice is in a way that is so easily to appreciate and to put to the test in everyday living and also how to practice in the midst of a wide range of everyday concerns...

there's a verse that is recited during zen meditation retreats...

May we exist like a lotus,

At home in the muddy water,

Thus we bow to life as it is

unkindness

as much as i would like to think of myself as a "kind person"...
paying attention to my life,
can't help but realise that i am jus holdin on to a "self image" that is ultimately untrue...

noticing the moments of unkindness to others...
catching the unkind thoughts, speech n actions in my life...
if mindful enough, may be able catch such negative energy "red handed"
(instead of being a post -activity reflection =P)

labeling the beliefs n thoughts that drive the unkindness...
experiencing the emotions and uncomfortable bodily sensations that accompany it...
if i could be realli mindful and attend fully to the unkindness, experiencing the "unkind energy" with precision n honesty, then may come to a point that the unkind energy "melts away", recognizing that it is just a combination of "unkind thoughts" (breaking indentification with the thoughts and hence able to drop the "unkind storyline") and intense bodily senstations and realise that the unkindness is "not all that real" either...

instead of calling myself "kind or unkind", i find it helps to just be mindful in everyday activities so that when unkindness arises i can pay attention to it and attend to it...
i think that only by attending to my unkindness that a more genuine kindness can then arises =)

lost in the world of worrying

just a while back i was caught up in a whirlwind of worrying thoughts...
something actualli quite simple, quite straight forward
something gone wrong at work
and all i need was to do a few simple things...
instead of accepting things as it as n taking one step at a time,
- my mind kept spinning in "what ifs" and fear of consequences...
and i lose "orentiation", practice never occured to mi haha
spinning in the world of worry
- everything became gloomy like a dark cloud
that covers the sunlight n my entire world become dark...

then consulted a fren on the matter n something he said triggered a relief within mi...
suddenly i rem to breath haha
breathing in... 1... 2... 3...
residing in the uncomfortable bodily sensations...
then just taking one step at a time
taking care of one task... this... then move on to that...
was the world of worrying real??
if u say its not real, i may have growled at u growllll....
if u say its real, where is it now??
i dun know...
moment to moment trying to rem to just breath, just taking care of one thing at a time...

bad mood day =P

today found myself in bad mood... much of the dae haha =P
probably past daes of accumulated busi work (still accumulating!! =P)
plus veri little sleep amt to lotz negative energy n emotions getting stored within...
was not even aware how much the negative state of mind was running my life...
until i became aware of couple of times of emotional reaction to things/people that normally would not have triggered my emotions at all...
how my emotions and bad mood colour my perceptions, thoughts and reactions!
how unkind i had been to people or events ard mi!
labelled my thinking when awareness came in, and stayed with the intense bodily sensations, there is so much negative energy coursing thru my body...
just had a sitting for 30 min, n much of the negative energy flowed on...
where is "my bad mood"? much like a bad dream...
today's experience of the whirlwind of emotions made mi taste the truth of impermanence a little more...