It's not necessarily new, I don't think. I think I've touched on what I'm hoping to maintain now before. I'm hoping now won't be the same as before where I reach this sort of revelation, but then slink back into my habit of uncontrolled thoughts and wandering mind.
I think I've reached a point where I can maintain a struggle to clamp down on it and not get discouraged or frustrated, but keep the struggle going. It's nothing new, it's just reaching a point of development after years and years of sitting where I might actually get some consistency and discipline going.
The basics are the same. The focal point is breathing, concentrating on breathing as the foundation of practice. Second, moving out from the breath to body awareness; acutely aware of physical existence, being here, sitting here, focusing on it. Then sound is my third pillar, maybe because I'm very aural, but holding my concentration on breath, body and sound to maintain awareness of the moment. Pay attention to every sound. If my mind is wandering, sounds happen, but I'm not acutely aware and focused on them. If I'm acutely aware and focused on them, my mind isn't wandering. Finally, also maintain an awareness of time, or the concept of time, as each moment passes through.
For me, I have to be aggressive, I have to get 'angry', proactive. When thoughts form, they push concentration out of my mind, so I have to maintain concentration and force thoughts from forming, or shutting them down as soon as I'm aware that they're there. It's one or the other, either thoughts are formed or I can maintain concentration. Once thoughts start forming, concentration slips away. If concentration is maintained, thoughts don't form.
The practical side of this is that it's practice to shut down negative thoughts when I'm going about my business in life. Controlling thought formation obviously is a good skill for controlling negative thought formation.
In regard to "enlightenment", I'm thinking that it is not some great state of mind that people can reach with the proper effort. Enlightenment already surrounds us, it is the fabric of our very existence. We're steeped in it, swimming in it. Water is to fish what enlightenment is to us.
Maybe fish have no awareness of water, it's just fact, it's just there, it's the foundation of their existence and there's no questioning it until they're taken out of it. Maybe it's the same with humans and enlightenment, we're already fundamentally touching enlightenment, but we're taken out of it by our egos, attachments and aversions, and only then are we aware of it, but only as something separate from us.
Otherwise, enlightenment is already right here, it is every moment, but to get an idea of it, it's necessary to experience what a fundamental moment is, and a good technique towards that is sitting meditation.
Rainbow V toy camera, Solaris FGPlus 400 color film. March 21-26, Taipei and Kaohsiung:
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| Building the park along Park Road. The road came before the park, so maybe they should name it Road Park :p |
