Quietude

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Dorena

Quietude, also known as shamata or samatha (Sanskrit), shi-ne (Tibetan), samatha (Pali), and calm abiding, is defined as:

The single-mindedness that is imbued with the exceptional bliss of practiced ease due to deep, single-pointed meditation on its object.

Shamata is considered the mental platform necessary to achieve insight into reality and the direct experience of emptiness or ultimate reality. Shamata is characterized by pleasant physical sensations, effortlessness in holding one’s meditational object in awareness, the ability to move fluidly and intentionally between objects and the occurrence of this state as soon as one sits down to meditate. It is a bright, vivid, and exceptionally calm state and not trance like in anyway.

Meditators progress towards shamata by passing through nine stages starting with complete scatter-mind, moving to the ability to hold the object in awareness at all times, then the disappearance of narrative or discursive thoughts and increasing calm until finally shamata is achieved.

Personal Power

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Dorena

I am at a loss to accurately describe the happenings of the last few weeks. I feel a little like the tree bending in the wind. Pleasant and unpleasant things have occurred and yet I have been able to keep an attitude of gratitude towards it all and hold the curiosity inherent in the question, “How does this benefit me?” I also been able to honor my gut reactions and know that they are not me and that I do not have to act based on impulse or propelled by my emotions.

The happenings?

First, one of my closest friends decided she no longer wanted to have any contact with me. Then I found myself in a whirlwind of positive and empowering activity at the same time as I was fighting back the expansive energy of spring in hopes of more intense practice period. I moved forward on a couple of projects that seemed complementary to my goals only to encounter some unforeseen breakdowns in communication blocking further movement in the intended directions.

Apricots in bloom in front of proposed garden

For instance, I’ve begun volunteering at the women’s recovery house next door to mine. I am still establishing the program, but right now I take a couple hours twice a week to teach chi gung and do gardening. I have been wanting this to happen for quite awhile and I am looking forward to the experience. This morning I was informed that the garden project was being “shut down” because “corporate” found out about it and they have other plans for the space we were going to use.

My logical mind said, “Great, how does it get better than this?”, but my emotional body felt confused, hurt, rejected, sad, and a little frustrated. Let’s consider the rejection reaction. In the past, I might have dismissed that as me “taking it personally”. Now, I know that I am incredibly sensitive and intuitive. It very well may be a personal rejection. Or it could just be the circumstances hit a sore spot. The best part is that due to my awareness and clarity of mind, I get to decide how to take care of myself and how to react regardless of my emotional reaction. I am not a slave to my emotions. Feeling rejected is unpleasant, being rejected doesn’t have to be. I have choices I never had before.

All this leaves me curious. It seems like my positive shift brought me a greater sense of competence and personal power. However, then, the back lash of my forward movement tried to erode my self-efficacy. Yet, I wonder if I created the back lash by fighting back the expansive energy. Which then makes the back lash merely another demonstration of my power! If not, it is an excellent reframe.

Dream Creation

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Dorena

This morning I was riding my bike down an incline and picking up speed. Then suddenly I realized I was about to fly off a building towards a second skyscraper. I quickly grabbed a light post and me and the bike swung around to a stop. When I looked back at the way I had been going to estimate the drop, the building was gone and I was looking at a beach. With excitement I realized I was dreaming.

“Hmmmm… what do I want to do? ”

Many lucid dreamers like to fly, but I was not interested. I decided a nice swim would be great. As I moved into the water I “willed” my clothes off, but they wouldn’t disappear and instead dragged at me. “Some kind of lucid dream, I cannot even get my clothes off.”

As I was leaving the water after my swim, I noticed the crowd of people on the beach and told myself, “Doesn’t matter that I am naked this is just a dream and I’m in control”. I then asked myself, “What would you like to do next?”

Since I have been single for many years I decided a little “male action” would be nice. I picked myself a man and went at it. In the heat of it all I ended up thinking, “This is my dream, how can he have erectile dysfunction?”

Alas, my experience with being awake in my dreams is not much different than being awake in my life. I know I am creating what is going on around me, but I still don’t have any control over it in the moment.

Read my earlier posts on Lucid Dreaming, The Man who Dreamt He was a Butterfly, and Night Practice.