Friday, April 20, 2012

How To Wake Up From Your Fevered Dream Chapter eleven

"There's an exit from the cinema of illusion,on to the street that is the real,but to find it you got to take your blindfold off,and no longer be a spoke in this wheel".Lyrics from Come On Home,by Mike Selley.

Here are some more  exercises.

1.Look at one particular object or a tree or a flower.
It does not matter what it is.However, having said that,it is probably wise not to choose an object or thing that has emotional significance for you.Choose something you feel unemotional about.
While staring,keep your eyes fixed on one point.At the same time  slow your breathing right down.
Tell your restless mind to stop all of its chatter,and attempt to not allow thoughts to come.
Because of your shallow breathing,it is easier to stop the constant flow of thoughts.

At first,thoughts may try to come,but with repeated practice they will cease.
Try to do this once a day.Just look,that's all you have to do.Do this for about five minutes.

2.Your body(which you dream you have) is the form you present to the World.
Your body( your form) reflects your personality.Bad posture must be corrected.Mind and body are one,and a bad posture means your mind has a bad posture.You must correct it.
Your posture  should not be too rigid,nor should it be too slack.Embrace the middle way between the two extremes.

We tend to think that the 'I'  is in the upper part of our body,or is in our heads.Our centre is not central.
The centre is in  your belly.Try to think of the centre of awareness as being in your belly.

Don't droop your shoulders,but keep them relaxed yet upright,while imagining that your centre  is below your chest and before your groin.
You should keep doing this all the time throughout your daily activities.
This loosens the grip of the vice like ego.
Also make sure that your breathing is natural and flows  in and out in a rhythmical pattern.
The important thing to remember is that you should completely exhale,and that way you will have to completely inhale.
This lessens the dominance of the ego,but it should be done all the time.

3. I mentioned earlier  about being aware of your body,and it is a good idea to carry this to the extreme.
Be fully aware when you are about to sit down,Concentrate on the action of doing this.

Concentrate on the action of your hand reaching out to turn a tap on.Be really aware of each tiny movement you make.

When you are washing your hands,look at the soap mix with the water,as you rub your hands together.It is suggested that for these exercises,when you are alone,you slow down your movements.Then when you wash the soap off,concentrate on the action of doing so.

This awareness should be there from the moment you wake up,to the time you go to bed at night..You include every single action you do,from going to the toilet,to combing your hair,to drinking a cup of tea.

4. Do not judge.

First and foremost, do not judge yourself.
Don't judge your thoughts-just observe them.
By judging and getting involved with a thought,you are creating seed impressions.Buddhism teaches that it is the outflows resulting from our varied responses to the play of phenomenon which harnesses us to the wheel of life.(The Teachings Of Hui Hui by J,.Blofeld page 22).

Every phenomenon produces  a reaction within us,leading to some sort of outflow from our minds which acts upon the 'outside' occurrence and causes them to re-act  upon us yet again.-and so on, endlessly.

Do not judge others.By judging others you are only judging their mask and costume(their  fake ego and form)-and not their true self.

It is like judging an actors true nature by judging him on the character he is playing.
You know who he really is;he is you,but he has a different acting role .

Underneath the script and costume and mask,he and you are one.
Judge not-lest you be judged.
That is the end of this chapter.The next chapter will follow shortly.

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