Michael and I sat down at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in June 2023 to chat a little about life while positioned between East and West Germany during the Cold War and how ensuing fear contributed to stress, an interest in existentialism and what to do and how to be. We also explore loneliness, rate of change over time, the three characteristics of existence, expatriatism, belonging, interconnectedness, ground (of being), groundedness, and trust.
Causes and conditioning factors of different types of kamma
Optimism of the 1960s and 70s
Rise and fall of dhamma in the world
Interplay of trust
faith in capacity (for equanimity)
testing limits/boundaries
learning from mistakes
growing self-confidence
hinderance of doubt
Trusting the wisdom of the body
Perhaps I felt the general anticipation of the day’s meal quickly approaching and reverted to the habit pattern of a rapid fire jumping around and circling back on topics while oversteering and not providing adequate time for responses in our unplanned conversation. In short, rushing, and for that did a bit of a disservice.
Michael’s book Milestones on the Path of Dhamma: Stages Of Inner Freedom is based on his own experience of 30 years of Vipassana meditation in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. He describes 14 milestones of a progressive meditative development which leads to increasingly subtler stages of the body-mind process. It is probably the first independent comprehensive study by a long-term student of S.N. Goenka that clearly explains important psychological insights that are bound to arise in anybody who seriously walks on this path. These Stages Of Inner Freedom ensures us that even today we can still witness the same milestones that the ancient texts like the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta mention, one after another, provided we correctly understand and apply the teaching and continue our daily practice.’
In this ninth installment of the ongoing live series with Wendy Nash inquiring into meditation practice on and off the cushion we explore language and the variability in interpretation especially in the light of how we use English terms for ideas and may not actually understand them
Wendy writes:
I was thinking about the history of translating Pali terms and how culture has played a big role in poor translations, e.g. dukkha, sunyata, sati, dhamma, sangha, bodhi.
Now that you [Josh, me] live outside the US and are learning Danish, it gives a new perspective on how tricky it is to translate well and how easy it is to misunderstand what people are trying to convey in their own language.
We also mention Wendy’s work with transportation, home retreat, love, belonging, the myth of impartiality, dream like nature of reality, love (as demonstration), waking up, “what ever we think the truth is it’s always other than that,” etc.
And as far as translating Pali I found the following articles from puredhamma.net of particular interest, which we may or may not discuss some of:
*There’s naturally an ongoing open call for meditation (related) questions for the (roughly) monthly “Meditation Q & A” either by the various social media means listed; integratingpresence[at]protonmail.com or Wisdom App to type/ask live.*
Background
Regular, current and past visitors to Integrating Presence may recall the monthly series “Ask Us Anything” I did with Denny K Miu from August 2020 until January 2022 — partially including and continuing on with Lydia Grace as co-host for awhile until March 2022.
For a fewmonthsthereafter I did various Insight Timer live events exploring potential new directions and/or a continuation of the Ask Us Anything format while weaving in other related teachings to these events.
Then, after chats with meditation coach Wendy Nash, it became clear to start a new collaboration similar to “Ask Us Anything” simply and clearly called “Meditation Q & A” especially due to the original intent of the Ask Us Anything’s being “discussions about meditation and related topics.”
Audio: Language: Meaning, Interpretation And Impartiality | May 25, 2023 “Meditation Q & A With Wendy Nash” #09
This article is a hodgepodge collection of various ideas and approaches to particular challenges in various areas of experience. It collects prior Integrating Presence blog posts along with new material.
Challenges: Family, Ex-partners, difficult folks and their social media
Are you a cyber stalker? Do you check in on what your ex is posting on social media? If so, are you noticing how detrimental this is as well as a type of short-term relief from obsessing about them that may actually make it even worse? What about when encountering enemies and checking in with family? Similar or different? What are the solutions for this?
Each of the Five Daily Reflections applied to each of the Five Clinging Aggregates
Is it wise to apply the Five Clinging Aggregates of body, hedonic tone, perception, mental formations and consciousness to each of the Five Daily Reflections of old age, sickness, death, separation and self-responsibility?
Advanced Information and Multidimensional Cosmic Drama
This is actually kind of the opposite of mundane. A lot of information and experiences of non-everyday, beyond-this-world phenomena and stuff not often mentioned in the mainstream can seem very important. And maybe it is. However, if overwhelm creeps in, could the perception of all this be just another drama albeit however influential, grand, refined, intricate, or advanced?
Deep, Whole-Body Listening and Speaking
modify: inspire concord and at proper time
How many times have we wished to be met, seen and heard more optimally? What kind of impact — incident by incident and cumulatively — does not really feeling seen or heard have? After realizing the significance of this how can and ought we meet, see and hear each and every encounter? One way seems deeper and more embodied presence, embodied listening and embodied speaking and speaking wisely — without falsehood, non-harshly, non-frivolously, with helpfulness, at the proper time, and promoting concord instead of division
Insight Dialogue — ‘Insight dialogue is an interpersonal meditation practice that brings together meditative awareness (e.g., mindfulness, concentration), the wisdom teachings of the Buddha, and dialogue to support insight into the nature, causes, and release of human suffering. Six meditation instructions, or guidelines, form the core of the practice.’
What is the point of truth‘s opposite? While falsehoods can bring a false sense of power and comfort they are actually distracting, confusing, foolish and unhelpful illusions leading away from wisdom. Truth may not always be pleasant but it’s a requirement for anything worthwhile. Without knowing the truth of something there really is little possibility to course correct.
While not really a question, the pleading from Bāhiya of the Bark-cloth to gain a teaching from the Buddha resulting in this profound utterance from the Bāhiya Sutta:
“Then, Bāhiya, you should train yourself thus: In reference to the seen, there will be only the seen. In reference to the heard, only the heard. In reference to the sensed, only the sensed. In reference to the cognized, only the cognized. That is how you should train yourself. When for you there will be only the seen in reference to the seen, only the heard in reference to the heard, only the sensed in reference to the sensed, only the cognized in reference to the cognized, then, Bāhiya, there is no you in connection with that. When there is no you in connection with that, there is no you there. When there is no you there, you are neither here nor yonder nor between the two. This, just this, is the end of stress.”
The Way to the Beyond — Questions to the Buddha from a brahman teacher’s students to test if truly awakened. Questions on discernment, contentment, being free, greatness, overcoming aging, grief, doubt, craving, sagacity, entanglements, emancipation, birth, Dhamma, consciousness, nothingness, death, etc.
What is Mindfulness and the Deeper Questions About It?
The main thing worth mentioning is in the question itself. There’s now so much written and spoken about mindfulness I don’t feel called to contribute anything significant at this time other than a few questions below and urging meditators to temporarily place aside all they’ve been taught and even come to know on their own about mindfulness to contemplate what actually is mindfulness, how does it work and what are the deeper questions about mindfulness for continuing contemplation leading to further knowledge and vision culminating in realizing awakening and release for the meditator, others and all beings everywhere as well as leading to practical, helpful wisdom in the meantime?
Some other mindfulness questions:
How did “sati” get translated as “mindfulness”?
Origins of the word “mindfulness” and “sati”?
When and how does attention become mindfulness and mindfulness become awareness? Or do they?
How does that which hinders and unhinders mindfulness happen? What are these processes (like)?
Some have a challenging time even trying to tune into the feelings and experiences of others. Then there’s the flip where some seem to have no choice but to feel others and get completely overwhelmed by it. I wrote an extensive article about the latter where I mostly apply various understandings and techniques from dhamma teachings which often do not directly address empathic overwhelm but seen and applied in certain ways surely help
What is false care? What is true care? What is the importance? Does it differ for men and women? If so how? How does how we view care and enact care differ at different points in our lives? How does it change? How can we care in the most optimal way moment by moment?
The Progressive Breath Awareness Booster course primarily addresses the breath through approaches, observations, perceptions, practice ideas, and with inquiries ranging from simple, commonplace, practical and broad overviews to the bizarre, obscure, esoteric, and minutia. This aim of this course is not to overwhelm, for overthinking, for comparison, or judgement; rather, it primarily intends leveraging cutting edge material to increase and enhance the likelihood of maintaining and prolonging bare awareness or breath for and during breath practices as well as in everyday life.
Below is a small sampling of the creative breathwork portion that if not included in the course itself may be included in some form or another in a later bonus track:
Sightseeing breath:
If breath had eyes, what would it see? How would it look at things?
Equanimity cultivation breath:
Using the following phrase with the breath in order to cultivate equanimity: “Is that so?” and then, if it is so, using the simple question: “So?”
Transmuting Into Equanimity Breath:
Breathing in whatever is (now) transmuting (its energy, consciously and/or unconsciously) into equanimity
Parasite breath:
Imagine and practice with what would it be like if breath was as a parasite or leach attaching itself to the body
Core bhramavihara breath:
Establishing appropriate ((levels) of) the Brahmaviharas as breath container and/or breathing in and out of the Brahmaviharas
Dreamworld Delineating Breath:
Either on the in or out breath asking and/or discerning if this is a dream. And/or imagining dreaming on the in or out breath and awakening and/or being awake on the other half breath
Trance Blasting Breath:
Each breath, no matter the intensity level, blasts further into and integrates into whatever trance (canceling) work is already underway
Vigilante breath:
Gurus, world leaders, ideas, thinking, emotions, pleasures, and desires haven’t set you completely (free) the way you want. What if it is time to let the breath take over your life, surrendering all power and authority to breath?
Plate Droppings Mediation
Meditation consisting of addressing whatever drops on your plate and/or what is already there. Do you ever see what’s on the plate as droppings aka animal excrement? Do you ever drop the plate?
In more commonplace meditative language: what sensations, feelings, emotions, thoughts, memories, plans, sights, sounds, movements, and other phenomena are present? What is the rate of change of these phenomena coming and going? How’s your relationship to how you are viewing, being with and responding to them? And after meditation, contemplating: how might there be wiser and more skillful ways to view, respond and be?
Sensing and/or visualizing past, present and future Buddhas, going from one to another, tuning into the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha fields associated with each Buddha, expanding these in all directions while also connecting to a common thread running throughout them all and even going beyond into other realms for this.
Past Buddhas on the left, future Buddhas on right, past lives behind, (any) future lives ahead, higher realms above, lower realms below; start one lifetime at a time noticing the strongest approximating Buddha, Dharma, Sangha fields then holding and/or being in these fields for one level all around then expanding to two, three (lifetimes) and onwards
Can meditations and techniques like How to Invoke the Medicine Buddha be drawn upon to create (other) similar dissolvable energetic medicinal constructs (for liberation)? If so, how, and what are they? Please reach out to share or share in the comments along with anything else from the material here
Recently got this ping from Dharma friend Kyle Shive whom I’ve enjoyed very much studying, practicing and talking deep dhamma with in real life and online:
I started my Zen channel today! Like and subscribe. I’m gonna start doing a video once a day. Taking old Zen stories and giving them a little modern twist: https://youtu.be/2bvXLo5TrYU
Here’s some recent ones from Kyle with extra resonance at the moment of writing this:
As demonstrated above, Kyle is a crack voice artist and creator. Hire Kyle directly via Fiverr.com to get affordable, professional American male voice overs.
This isn’t for those with huge egos. Nor for those subject to delusions of grandeur. It’s for those who belittle themselves. And for those who’ve been belittled. Who think and feel, “why bother; my day to day life is insignificant and greatness is only for a select few.”
Imagine showing up for every interaction like you were:
delivering life altering news like doctors do everyday; birth, cancer, loved ones dead after surgery, etc.
on the level of the president, or world leader announcing a nationwide disaster or war
part of one of the biggest pranks or hoaxes of all time
contributing to many listeners most vivid and lasting memories
meeting the architect of the matrix (movies) where depending on how it goes the entire reality itself hangs in the balance
granted significant fame soon after, guaranteed
assured to fall into ill-repute and infamy soon thereafter
experiencing the airing of War of the Worlds radio drama in reverse where instead of hearing an announcement beforehand that this was just a make-believe drama, where most people missed this key point, and took it to be real, you actually interact as if this was just another fancy production to be consumed and forgotten about but found out later no, it was just as important as an alien invasion
were tipped off that somebody’s goons were waiting to take you out afterwards; how would you then show up to your last interaction under such circumstances?
Now it’s time to eat my own dog food. How can I and my guests also bring such gravitas to the interviews, podcasts and chats I put out publicly without being cringingly over the top corny, cheesy or eye-rolling?
There’s obviously bigger implications too. Due to the boredom starting to surround information overload, and instantaneous communication tech everywhere all the time, it’s more important than ever to cut through all this noise, regularity, and the mundaneness of I’ve-seen-and-heard-it-all-before.
How can we show up better right now, in this moment, even in the very instance of reading this? And what of this can we take forward to apply again and again to build upon the betterment each moment offers of opportunities?
I somewhat recently started recording chats with folks online again and recording them, but for the time being, much of them just for my YouTube channel. I may or may not go back and add them to my traditional podcast feed later
Amrit Singh and I talk about spiritual practices, Kundalini Yoga, service work, working with anger, India, Sikhism, lost dogs, coaching, and his upcoming teachings on Kundalini Yoga. [Note: I was mistaken on what the temple was I visited in Chicago; it’s actually the Baháʼí House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois]
Christian de la Huerta [please excuse my lack of pronunciation] a spiritual teacher, personal transformation coach and leading voice in the breathwork community and I discuss how to go about systematically teaching and even just speaking about presence and embodied heart-centered consciousness
Tim went from a Certified Public Accountant to an Ordained Minister to a Master of Multiple Ancient Arts & Sacred Sciences (Meditation, Reiki, T’ai Chi, Yoga & Qigong) and to being the most prolific author of children’s books alive today. We chat a little about this as well as creativity, challenges, some life stories and plenty more
Zane Landin and I talk about internal communications, writing, PR, National Geographic, the link between self-love and mental health, moving, logic and emotion elevating into a balance of wisdom and love, respect, worthiness, bridging generational divides, importance of dialog, fear, labels, diversity, division, intersectionality, finding purpose, and more
Artist Michaell Magrutsche and I talk about his work and approach to the art world, the techniques of popular artists like Banksy and Jeff Koons, system-based methods and approaches, how creativity works and how to tap into it more, awareness, nature and the like
The Meditation Conversation podcast host Kara Goodwin and I talk about how to use the heart(-mind) to amplify the lightbody and how to use loving-kindness to amplify the heart. We also talk heart openings, heart “pain”, light and dark, stress, compassion, worthiness, humility, gurus, seeing and knowing for oneself, open inquiry, investigation, discernment, standing in the power of one’s light, forgiveness, spiritual codependency, shame, blame, guilt, beginners mind, etc.
As well as the Open Wisdom Wednesdays I hold live from time to time on Insight Timer:
A kind of rambling Wisdom App chat addressing the WSJ.com article “ChatGPT Heralds an Intellectual Revolution” but now I feel even more reassured about our human wisdom after getting this ChatGPT answer to “Why is our experience inextricably linked to our body and its place in the world?”:
ChatGPT DALL-E Bot, [Mar 4, 2023 at 11:28:41 AM]:
Our experience is inextricably linked to our body and its place in the world because our body is the primary means through which we interact with the world around us. Our senses, such as touch, sight, smell, taste, and hearing, allow us to perceive and interpret the environment we are in. Our physical body also plays a crucial role in shaping our experiences. For example, our height, weight, and physical abilities can affect how we navigate through space and interact with others.
Furthermore, our experiences are shaped by cultural and societal norms that are often tied to our physical bodies. For instance, gender roles and expectations are often based on biological sex differences. Similarly, racial and ethnic identities can influence how we are perceived by others and how we navigate social spaces.
In summary, our experience is closely tied to our body because it is through our physical form that we engage with the world around us and navigate social structures that shape our lives.
UPDATE JULY 15, 2023: Back in Denmark. New gallery added below. And these word of prose by Graham Brown that seem a fitting share via a friend at Chithurst:
Here, at the end of the world, all afternoon it’s soaked and poured. Grey clouds looming like a paradoxical blessing. We close our eyes in order to see, we don’t know the question but keep asking. The mind waffles, and the heart is resilient. The heart that just wants to open and open, the heart that longs to Leap out of itself, to embrace the beloved. And the mind says stop being such a pray and the heart replies Fuck You. Keep breathing. Nestled up in this tiny hut against the great ambiguity, and the karmic consequences of drinking too much tea. I nip out between the shrubs while the sky floods
Thick beads of rain Plopping On this happy lucky Wally
Due to travel and practice plans starting off in England in mid April I may be offline for awhile, especially during living at monasteries and on retreat. In the meantime there’s some scheduled blog posts auto-publishing as well as any new material if and when time and connectivity allows. Wendy and I still plan to do a Meditation Q & A in May, but likely not in June. I plan to respond to emails and messages if and when I can. May you all be and practice well.
In this eighth installment of the ongoing live series with Wendy Nash inquiring into meditation practice on and off the cushion we explored external and internal war and conflict due to Anzac Day each year in Australia on 25 April. We also discuss (witnessing) violence, non-harm (in relationships), ill will, how complicated war can be, unwillingness to change, “mental forecasting,” ambiguous loss, internal dialog, meeting our needs and feelings, working with death in contemplation/meditation and its wisdom, working with pain in meditation, safety, how hedonic tone can drive behavior, (how) anger (feels bad, can stem from righteousness, provide false empowerment and how its energy can be transformed and applied skillfully)
Due to ongoing technical challenges, for now we’ll forego trying to patch into Insight Timer live as it is not designed for multiple remote sources. Join these Q & A’s when they happen live via:
*There’s naturally an ongoing open call for meditation (related) questions for the (roughly) monthly “Meditation Q & A” either by the various social media means listed; integratingpresence[at]protonmail.com or just showing up on or Wisdom App to type/ask live.*
Background
Regular, current and past visitors to Integrating Presence may recall the monthly series “Ask Us Anything” I did with Denny K Miu from August 2020 until January 2022 — partially including and continuing on with Lydia Grace as co-host for awhile until March 2022.
For a fewmonthsthereafter I did various Insight Timer live events exploring potential new directions and/or a continuation of the Ask Us Anything format while weaving in other related teachings to these events.
Then, after chats with meditation coach Wendy Nash, it became clear to start a new collaboration similar to “Ask Us Anything” simply and clearly called “Meditation Q & A” especially due to the original intent of the Ask Us Anything’s being “discussions about meditation and related topics.”
(Note: If listening to this as/in a podcast (app) please visit the episode page for part two)
Randi and I talk about how the movie “A Dangerous Method” inspired us to explore: Freud and Jung, anima and animus, feminism, certain kinds of sexual normalizations, gender, identity (politics), self-censorship, status, roles, gender confusion, transhumanism, law of gender/gender principle, racial grids, hive mind, genders in past lives, emotions, heart, forgiveness, belonging, biology, womb births, etc.
In a follow up we explore the origin of forgiving, its meaning (and purpose) and how it can be turned into the art of letting go. What is the energetic significance of the art of letting go in relationships and in the building of the joint field of energy that all relationships (friends and partners) are built upon? We express ideas and impressions to begin the inner work of letting go including self-nurturing and reparenting to heal
Audio: The Art of Letting Go and Starting Anew with Self-Nurture
Integrating Presence 