Lucas' journal: love & simplicity

[ZenDancer]

Hi there fellow travelllers!

I've just signed up to the forum, having been listening to Leo's podcasts for some time now. Reading through some of the other journals I'm taking a lot of inspiration and positivity from the commitment you guys are showing in your self-development. I've been practicing Zazen for some years now, and I'm also very influenced by Advaita figures like Ramana Maharshi and Jiddu Krisnamurti. What these schools of spirituality all have in common, for me at least, is a very simple, no-nonsense, dogma-free approach to spirituality and God, devoid of magical thinking or overreliance on ritual. Much like Leo in many ways. While I find this kind of pragmatic, open spirituality fundamental, I've also found there is an important place for devotional practice in my life, because it's a way to proactively and consciously practice love... to sort of operationalise love as a practice in daily life. To love god is to love everyone and everything, and loving everyone and everything makes life feel pretty damnn good! As Timothy Leary once wrote 'Do no good, but for God's sake feel good, and nature's order will prevail'.

I'm starting a journal to keep myself accountable, as there are several areas I want to work on in my own life and personal development. The two practices I'll be focusing on from the get-go are:

Metta practice: proactively practive loving all those I enounter each day. This is generally as simple as silently wishing them joy and fulfilment as I encounter them

Limit my use of screens/technology: I've found that cutting down the amount of time I spend with netflix or the TV is fundamental. I haven't quit it completely (yet), but binge watching TV is the opposite of midful presence, and I've found that making time for quiet and contemplation in the evenings, when the 'day's work is done', is crucial.

I look forward to sharing my journey with you all!

Lucas

[ZenDancer]

Hello peeps,

I’ve been getting back into my daily metta practice today - basically wishing love, joy and happiness to everyone I see as I go about my day. In the past I’ve found it can be really powerful and transformative because it both keeps me in the present moment and brings me to a place of love and compassion for my surroundings. I carry around a little tally counter and, as I’m walking from place to place wish good things for those I see. I find using a tally counter as I do it helps me keep it going and maintain. Today I wished love, joy and happiness to 120 different people. I’m going to see how long it takes me to get to 1,000, and then take it forward from there.

Today’s metta count: 120

The other daily targets I want to work on through this journal are:

1. Limiting TV time
2. Exercise
3. Meditation
4. Quitting sugar
5. Intermittent fasting (20 hours fast followed by 4 hour eating window)

Hugs,

Lucas

[ZenDancer]

Hello fellow travellers,

Well, today was not by best ever... missed several of my daily targets... I woke up feeling 'meh' and succumbed to old patterns... no point in wwallowing in it though, I just need to get up early and do better tomorrow...

Today's checklist:

1. Exercise - done
2. Meditation - done
3. Quitting sugar - blew it
4. Intermittent fasting (20 hours fast followed by 4 hour eating window) - done
5. Limiting TV time - blew it... zoned out in front of TV tonight
6. Metta count - 155 (Total so far 275)

Another thing I want to start making a daily habit is photography. I work in video production, but I've neglected this area of my creative life for far too long... so I need to discipline myself to carry my camera with me at all times... starting tomorrow!

Hugs,

Lucas

[ZenDancer]

hello gentle readers,

I am officially exhausted... I went for a run this morning, and did my usual 10K, but I probably pushed myself a little too hard as I've been feeling exhausted all day. I'm going to hit the hay early, and give myself a pass for not meditating today... my body just needs some sleep... it was a mixed bag on my daily goals, but I'm feeling good and positive.

1. Exercise - done
2. Meditation - nope
3. No sugar - done... feels good to have a sugar free day. I'm a sugar fiend, but I'm 44 now and my body can't be doing with processing that crap anymore
4. Intermittent fasting (20 hours fast followed by 4 hour eating window) - done
5. Limiting TV time - blew it... zoned out in front of Netflix for two hours this afternoon
6. Metta count - none today
7. Photography - done - got some nice shots of protester in Paris.

I'm looking forward to meeting up with some mates tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a few line from my old mate Timothy Leary:

Escape the Trap of Beauty and Goodness

As you return,
Remember
Choose beauty, so you define ugly
Select good, so you create evil
As you choose your joy, so you design your sorrow

The coin you are now imprinting has two sides
Better to return into the flow of the Tao

For indeed,
The opposites exist for you alone
Beyond your heads and tails
Dances the unity

All wounds harmonise
All games end in a tie

Your God stands on the pitcher's mound
... nods to his catcher
... winds up annd throws
... a shoulder high fast ball
Right into your devil's glove

[ZenDancer]

Howdy peeps,

i haven't posted in a few days. I've been doing pretty good on my dailies, but one thing that's become very clear to me is just how difficult I find it to jsut be still and do nothing. I meditate daily, but even the act of meditating is a kind of 'doing' because I deliberately sit down and take a specific period of time to focus on my breath and mindfulness. Over the course of my life I've struggled with, and overcome, several additions - booze, drugs, food... and I know they were all tools I used to self-medicate the pain inside me. Over the past couple of weeks I've been trying to limit my consumption of Netflix and TV, and I'm amazed at how difficult I have found it. My usual habit of zoning out in front of some crappy show for an hour or two each evening is proving hard to break! Why? Because it's my 'last addiction' and without it I am obliged to sit with the discomfort inside myself each evening... but then, that's the point. I have been revisiting Eckhard Tolle's writing, and I find his language on the 'pain body' really helpful... that's exactly what it is... 

Having practices Zen meditation for some years now, I am also reminded of the basic Buiddhist principle of accepting the reality of suffering... I re-read an old book by the Zen priest Norman Fischer, and came across this: 

Quote

In difficult times, the key thing is to turn toward the suffering instead of trying to figure out how to get rid of it or paper it over with all kinds of positive things. We need to learn how to turn toward suffering, really take it in, find the meaning in it, and let it open a path for us to a new life. There’s nothing more beneficial than being able to be present with the breath and with the body to what’s happening when we are suffering, without flailing all around in resistance. 

 

I need to learn to sit with my pain, rather than trying to avoid it... simple, but difficult...

Hugs,

Lucas

[ZenDancer]

Howdy peeps,

This evening, I'm sitting in, home alone, and staying with the stillness and the quiet. Since I joined this forum very recently, I've realised just how difficult I find it to be still when not meditating. I've been practicing Zazen and self-inquiry for a few years, and I'm reasonably well-practiced in getting on that cushion and sinking down into the stillness inside of myself, but practicing mindfulness during the rest of my day has been something I've never really bothered with... until now... I've decided to follow the good example of some others here by posting a weekly review of how I've done on my daily targets... So here's goes the rundown for week one:

As you can see, there's plenty of room for improvement!