Integrating Presence

Embodiment Coaching | (11/30/2021 — “Ask Us Anything – LIVE” With Denny K Miu And Guests Lydia Grace and Elizabeth Foster)

For this month’s regular open-audience, open-discussion “Ask Us Anything” — continuing discussions about meditation and related topics — Insight Timer teacher Lydia Grace rejoins Denny and I along with friend and practitioner Elizabeth Foster for a roundtable about embodiment coaching.

After introductions we speak much about the body and embodiment, especially in relation to experience and working with others. We continue sharing embodiment wisdom and beyond:

being in the body
integrative somatic trauma therapy training
dark night(s) of the soul
human design
dark ages in the Western culture, intellect, and information compared to Experiential Eastern approaches
polyvagal theory
social engagement system
“science of safety”
dysregulation of nervous system
wisdom of the body
Lydia’s body speak method
holding space, mediation, safety, consent, trauma
shame, guilt and self-doubt
intuition
being present to whatever is happening in the moment
pain and despair
holding space without judgement
facing pain and trauma
reconnecting to our power
addressing internal and external judgement
being seen, heard and validated
recognizing and naming emotions to de-identify
mindfulness
hold self-judgement in limitless consciousness
allowing experience that’s already happening anyway
pausing
pain vs. suffering
guarding the sense doors
holding on to past memories
The Body Keeps The Score book
Thai medicine
blockages and the protective role of holding trauma in the body
interconnection of various traumas
being told about storing resentment in the shoulder and releasing it in meditation/contemplation/reflection resulting in restored mobility
cellular memory and debris
“A.B.C. — A Bigger Container” teaching by Charlotte Joko Beck via Jill Shepherd
self-honor, self-respect, self-validation, worthiness
Can you love yourself exactly as you are right now, equal to the idealized version you wish you were; have been in the past; or are desperately trying to become?
karma, thoughts, memory, electrochemical interactions
yin treasure organs and yang vessel organs and energies
the connection of “between cells” to the “triple warmer” meridian
Eastern traditions knowing body through deep meditation and Western through dissecting cadavers

Cahokia Mounds: Star Map Of The Pleiades And University For Navigation And Astronomy?

Shortcut to this blog post: https://tinyurl.com/cahokiacodes

Since I live right across the river from the ancient world heritage site Cahokia Mounds the place occasionally comes up in conversation. The two extensive articles below, with potential significance for many areas of reality, address subject matter not commonly propagated about the ancient earth works. I also toss in of couple of my visuals that are in no way associated with the authors work. I can’t stress enough to follow and support them. Please do so. If to relate Cahokia to subject matter on Integrating Presence, perhaps it’s an ease and heighten sense of body awareness, at least when when I visitWhat follows is for information, resource, research and original author support purposes only.

Please follow and support the author Wayne Herschel at The Hidden Records. I take zero credit for this article https://thehiddenrecords.com/cahokia-mounds-sioux-bird-man.php

CAHOKIA MOUNDS STAR MAP ILLINOIS USA

No that’s not Johnny Depp above as Tonto in the latest Lone Ranger movie, its a real historical picture of the Cahokia/Sioux bird man spirit/deity/ancestor. Click the image to see the historical source picture that was a black and white image with colour added.

What is the connection? What is a ‘bird man’? I have spent over a decade researching the American Indian mound builders, especially right here at ground zero. Nothing quite gelled here in my attempts of recognising star patterns.

Only recently I found out why. A cataclysmic flood appears to have washed away two primary mounds down to their almost invisible bare foundations lost in the wild vegetation growth. That upset all star correlation permutations, until January 2014 when they were shown in the lidar radar photograph that experts sadly missed.

From here the first ‘snowball’ effect occurred… it solved all the other North American ancient site layout plans including the most famous site of them all… Serpent mound in Ohio. It records a genesis of the first people of North America encoded in a clear message. This will be the grand conclusion of the article here at the bottom of the page.

The first American Indian ‘pyramid’ city of Cahokia as shown below, is said by many scholars to be not just their first major city in North America but it was so massive 1000 years ago that it was one of the top 10 largest developed cities on the planet ref .

If this claim is true then it is here where all the secrets lie, with its mound layout plan and with the artifacts found here.

It was a ‘pyramid’ building mound culture like the Stonehenge Barrow builder types in the UK and the sizes of the mounds compare with many average sizes in Egypt. This view below Looks from the direction of the primary solar mound I propose matching all the other star maps around the world towards the largest ‘Monk’s Mound’ and its lost causeway. The causeway was magically partially visible in the Google Earth 2005 image (that follows later) Just like their earlier counterpart ‘brothers’ the Maya, they placed causeways between the main monuments.

THE MISSING MOUNDS AT CAHOKIA… APPEAR

My book The Hidden Records, only had a short one page summary on the Cahokia Mound history sadly as it had absolutely no visible correlation with any star constellation at all.

It already had the bird man cult, star obsession and ritual matches as per many other ancient civilisations that I propose as Pleiades ‘star visitor’ ancestor civilisations.

To start with, the research claims by scholars on Cahokia on the layout plan and the history was strangely so conflicting that it clearly suggested the area with the mounds was either badly flood damaged and hence no longer clearly possible to conclusively categorize each mound. But as the years passed I periodically checked Google Earth images to see if they had newer or older overlays available to look for missing mounds.

Dharma Questions: Miscellany — Part 6

This irregular “Dharma Questions” series deals with “dharma” meaning both the truth of the nature of reality and some Buddhist teachings. Please see this post on the intensions for questioning and not questioning. Amongst other things these questions can be, but not necessarily:

thought experiments
borderline musings not meant to be answered
from laziness of not contemplating or researching them yet

“Lotus Flower — Padma – Symbol of Purity. Can be any color except blue

For the (early) non-personal Buddhist symbol of a lotus, why is it said a blue one can’t be used?
Are there any trickster(s) (archetypes) in Buddhism? Perhaps Mara or Devadatta? Why or why not?
Can techniques leading to a non-dual state also provide a condition for susceptibility to unwholesome mind control especially if and when discernment is inadequate? (For example, someone might say “oh that’s just an illusion, there is no separateness, since everything is one it’s all good.”)
How to best inform audiences that the great Mahayana teachings — or any teachings for that matter — are not:
1. to a certain extent, for pacification of past unwholesome actions
2. to justify, uphold and maintain (righteousness of) unwholesome/unskillful/unwise ideologies, beliefs, institutions, systems, etc.
3. for bypassing
4. for chastisement
5. for belittlement
6. for superiority
7. to be considered as complete, ultimate, and total unchanging teachings
8. to support past, present or future unwise lifestyles
9. (adult) bedtime stories
While this body is not me not mine what about other claims of ownership on it? [the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office claims the power to assign ownership of your DNA to private companies and universities who apply for patents on your genes….To date, more than 4,000 genes have been assigned ownership to corporations and universities by the U.S. patent office…. you cannot transfer ownership of something unless you first own it yourself]
Hypothetically, say someone without any meditation instructions chose the breath as meditation object, and without any further intent, how long then before one starts going towards Samatha-like practice versus Anapanasati? Would someone realizing awakening with the breath naturally discover Anapanasati the way the Buddha taught it? How can we know?
If/Since the goal of establishing/attending to mindfulness of the body is:
“Thus he lives contemplating the body in the body internally, or he lives contemplating the body in the body externally, or he lives contemplating the body in the body internally and externally. He lives contemplating origination factors in the body, or he lives contemplating dissolution factors in the body, or he lives contemplating origination-and-dissolution factors in the body. Or his mindfulness is established with the thought: ‘The body exists,’ to the extent necessary just for knowledge and mindfulness, and he lives detached, and clings to nothing in the world. Thus also, monks, a monk lives contemplating the body in the body.”
. . . Could it then be possible — since the Buddha clearly laid out six contemplations of the body in the Satipatthana Sutta quite sometime ago — that the (the various physical manifestations and beings associated with of the forces and armies of) Mara have deeply studied and carry out countermeasures against this? If so, would it make sense to keep an open mind about refining and expanding on these six body contemplations as well as considering additional new ways to continually achieve bodily insight of body to “the extent necessary for bare knowledge and mindfulness.”? Why or why not?
If/when (conscious) awareness of the boundless nature of the Brahma viharas (momentarily) lapses, do the Brahmaviharas temporarily cease being boundless? Why (not)? How is this known?
How did the Nagas get the teachings they gave to Nāgārjuna?
Why does Mahayana add Nirvana to the the three characteristics and call them Dharma Seals?
With all Buddha’s (psychic) powers and skillful means, why couldn’t he (directly) stop the battles/wars that he tried to stop?
Do the defilements have a discernible origin? If so, what? If not, why not?
Can seeds of/in alaya consciousness be destroyed? Why or why not? Where are these “seeds” stored and how?
Could the following be one reason the Buddha put such emphasis on mindfulness of breath: It is said by some that certain “higher” beings are constantly observing and monitoring every moment. What if we were one of those types of monitor beings doing the same to/with our breath from a place of (secondary) inbuilt purpose, power, effortlessness, and joyful duty — observing and monitoring our each and every moment with and through breath including breath itself? Also, if this human body is designed to confine the spirit and/or be tethered to it, could the Buddha have went along with this, not fighting or changing, but mastering it by what’s mentioned above?
Is waking up from being lost in thought(s) the only reference point for reestablishing mindfulness?
How and why does this sense of “I” seem to be bound to (the perception of) a/this body, instead of say a submarine, spring (time) or an angel wing?
What calls forth our (given) names (into identification)? And how? In other words, how do I know I’m “josh” and to say “josh” when asked for my name or someone says my name?
If truth is so obscured due to being entrenched, engulfed, enmeshed, and mired in deceptions — and next to impossible to ascertain in such a state — would it make sense to consider (propagating) more wholesome, skillful and wise deceptions in order to ween off such extreme deceptions to arrive at truth? Why or why not?

Beyond Just A Healing Place: Lisa Frey Of Fat Cat Longevity

September 16, 2023 Update: While Lisa currently does not run Fat Cat Longevity one can still reach out via:

fatcatlongevity@gmail.com
https://facebook.com/freyflow

After participating in events and facilitating meditations at Fat Cat Longevity for quite some time now, I finally sit down with the care and wellness honcho herself Lisa Frey:

short bio
teaching
More Natural Cures Revealed book [amazon affiliate program link]
health and life coaching
how Lisa came upon Mary’s House of Healing
visiting Lunar Healing
how she started Fat Cat Longevity
singing bowls
rotating Wednesday meditations at Fat Cat
Lisa’s work with clients
weight loss
identifying and changing habits
looking inward
self talk
choices
self care
empowerment
encouragement
self-awareness without being judgmental
inner child work
journaling
programming
childhood and adult trauma
healing trauma with energy work and meditation
memories, perspectives and perceptions
narcissism
gas lighting
boundaries
manipulation
“success” with unconscious survival tactics as a habit
deception
abuse
everything as love or a cry for love
resent for over-giving
being assertive
not always saying yes
feeling good about self-care
boundaries shedding light on manipulation
self-honesty
talking about and stating feelings
integrating new affects of healing
micro and macro narcissism
subleasing to psychologist Amber Quintas (sp?)
Wednesday book club
weekend availability for events, retreats, workshops

Audio: Beyond Just A Healing Place: Lisa Frey Of Fat Cat Longevity

An Integrating Presence Meditation Circle at Fat Cat Longevity Wednesday November 17, 2021

Experience meditation circling from 6:00pm – 6:45pm Wednesday, November 17th, 2021 at Fat Cat Longevity [https://facebook.com/freyflow] downstairs next to Peace Love Coffee at Mary’s House of Healing, on Main Street in St Charles, MO.

After participating in several online meditation circles, and facilitating my first one in September resulting in beneficial feedback, I wish to continue.

We’ll each bring our meditation experiences to interacting with one another and can then apply beneficial circling takeaways to deepen and enrich our meditation practices.

We start by taking on truth and presence as ground rules by refraining from speaking deliberate falsehoods while setting aside talk of past and future events and of folks who aren’t in the circle.

Additionally, for energetic cleanliness, we take self-responsibility for welcoming our experiences with acceptance while leaning into communication, relation and articulation.

Then, after a brief period for questions, and a few moments of silence, circling starts.

Without giving too much away, most of the circling involves verbalizing and mutually interacting with various mindfulness based meditation practices.

The practice wraps up with another short silence followed by a group debrief and ends with another moment of silence.

Mary’s House of Healing
524 South Main Street
Downstairs at Fat Cat Longevity next to Peace Love Coffee…
St. Charles, MO 63301

November 17th 2021 — 6:00pm – 6:45pm

Doors open: 5:50pm — Doors close: 6:05pm

Cost: Fat Cat Longevity price packages, monthly membership or generosity inspired donation

South Main Street

Multi-month Pāramitā (Attainments/Perfections) Challenge For August, September And October 2021

When presented with “The Pāramitā Challenge” I accepted and here we are. In addition to the Pāramitās or Perfections, so far, the challenge also includes precepts and the 52 Stages of the Bodhisattva Path and Bodhisattva vows.

So far, instructions are to journal contemplations resulting from observed intentions, opportunities, and actions to be generous, moral and ethical while arousing faith in the Triple Gem then seeing where/when confident and where/when in doubt.

For whatever reasons the first month I received was for October 2021, so I started recording right away and kept recording after receiving August and September. Therefore, while these first three months are condensed into one long recording, and still in chronological order for the listener, going forward recordings plan to be one month at a time until ending, thus spending a proper full month on each. While mostly very listenable, quality is sometimes less than ideal due to recording environment. I also edited out most of the silences between speaking to save on listening time.

I’ve not taken Bodhisattva vows, and so with little instruction in Mahāyāna Buddhism, apart from maybe a smidgen of the zen stuff, there’s the benefit of beginner’s mind is a nice way to put it. I shoot from the hip with a lot in this recording and will often use a Theravada lens and a lot of inquiry as I ponder out loud. It may come off at times as criticism and sometimes it may actually be, but these are mostly solo efforts at summonings what is really meant by the material.

(Past) material for the Pāramitā Challenge is now at https://maba-usa.org/paramita-challenge.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/paramis-dave-wood.html

The Pāramīs in Theravāda Buddhism:

Dāna pāramī: generosity, giving of oneself
Sīla pāramī: virtue, morality, ethics, proper conduct
Nekkhamma pāramī: renunciation
Paññā pāramī: wisdom, discernment
Viriya pāramī: energy, diligence, vigour, effort
Khanti pāramī: patience, tolerance, forbearance, acceptance, endurance
Sacca pāramī: truthfulness, honesty
Adhiṭṭhāna pāramī : determination, resolution
Mettā pāramī: goodwill, friendliness, loving-kindness
Upekkhā pāramī: equanimity, serenity

Wisdom Snippets: Inquiry / Investigation

“…people are prepared to transcend all moral boundaries to sustain their view and to fixate upon it beyond all reason. Beyond investigation. Investigation is considered a conspiracy. To actually try to find truth is considered a deviant occupation…”
~Ajahn Sucitto

Why even bother with investigation or inquiry? Perhaps inquire, assess and question with intent to lead toward true knowledge, liberation and the (long-term) well-being of all. Know the truth of the way things actually are and then align with truth to bring great happiness. But how and why does aligning with truth bring happiness? Maybe it’s time to investigate for oneself?

One of the primary draws to the Buddhadharma (for me) is the encouragement to deeply, throughly, and fully investigate horizontally, vertically, and beyond. “Ehi Passiko” is a Pali phrase meaning come and see for yourself — or, don’t take my word for it, you must look into and investigate so you know for yourself.

Some modes of investigation:

go to/discover the root (causes and condition(s)
the origin(s)
who (all) is involved?
discover and examine any and all (core) intention(s)
what is the gratification
what is the danger
what the escape
who benefits?

[revised and amended old tweet:] #ProTip: when investigating go to the root (condition), the origin(s) and who (all) is involved. Also discover and examine (core) intention(s) along with asking: what is the gratification, what is the danger, what the escape? Who benefits?
— j dippold (@JJDippold) January 15, 2019

Let’s revisit a bit of an older blog post as a type of Buddhic apophatic chisel to carve a bit deeper into Why and Why Not to Question/Inquire (reposted here):

First and foremost obviously, zero harming
Not for denigration; to invalidate and/or say something is being done wrong
Not to challenge anyone’s knowledge
Not to discredit anyone or anything
Not to challenge authority
Not to promote one viewpoint over another
Not to upset the (surrounding) status quo and certainly not to divide
Not to test
Not for domination
Not for control
Not for distraction
Not for delay
Not to mislead or misguide
Not to disrupt
Not for uneasiness
Not to enact any agendas, known, unknown, or otherwise (other than valid reasons to inquire/question)
Not for grandstanding, gaining favor, merit, credit, or brownie points
Not to impress
Not to destroy
Not to uphold
Not to rebuild or reconstruct (from a place of loss or defeat)
Not for any specific changes
Not to prove who’s right and who’s wrong from a place of righteousness
Not in order to prove one’s doubt
Not for the requirement to receive an answer
Not for any unskillful, unwise, unwholesome reasons associated with modern day schooling systems aka educational institutions
Not to nitpick and get lost in the weeds
Not to leave others behind
Not to patronize and/or speak down to anybody
Not to dumb down oneself for a better chance to be under/overstood
Not to ask one thing but mean another
Not to personally prove oneself
Not to suggest preferences or desired outcomes without clearly stating them
Not to ask because one can
Not to be seen and/or heard (in order to be heard and/or seen)
Not for mere curiosity

Ven. Sāriputta said: “All those who ask questions of another do so from any one of five motivations. Which five?

“One asks a question of another through stupidity & bewilderment. One asks a question of another through evil desires & overwhelmed with greed. One asks a question of another through contempt. One asks a question of another when desiring knowledge. Or one asks a question with this thought,1 ‘If, when asked, he answers correctly, well & good. If not, then I will answer correctly (for him).’
On Asking Questions
Pañhapucchā Sutta (AN 5:165)

By name alone buddhistinquiry.org is a great include, not to mention the vast knowledge and resources there

Some inquiry techniques:

practice of sitting with a question by holding it in awareness in meditation/contemplation/reflection and then inquiring about what’s behind and underlying each answer
feeling into the truth of something
zen practice of being the koan question

Practice-In-Place Roundtable | (10/26/2021 — “Ask Us Anything – LIVE” With Denny K Miu And Guests Lydia Grace and Joanne Muir)

For this month’s regular open-audience, open-discussion “Ask Us Anything” — continuing discussions about meditation and related topics — Denny and I hosted a open roundtable on “Practice-in-place” with fellow Insight Timer teacher Lydia Grace and Joanne Muir. The term “Practice-in-place” comes as a wise meditative response to “Shelter-in-place” induced by reactions to Co-V.

Amongst discussion about now using more technology in our practices and sessions we also get into, not necessarily in this order:

Energy work
32 parts of the body in the Iddhipāda-Vibhaṅga Sutta — An Analysis of the Bases of Power (SN 51:20)
Feeling fear
Not being wrong about being in fear
ego as an overstimulated nervous system
PTSD
Healing
Matt Kahn’s main teaching of deserving more love not less
Mindfulness/Bodyfulness when interacting with technology
Dharmic Strategies For Empaths
Body as a tool
Emotional intelligence
Techniques and methods
Polyvagal Theory and The Embody Lab
Brahmaviharas
Trauma
Being a hero to others still going through the same thing we’ve already mastered
Thai massage
Presence
Puja
Eating your own dog food
Shell shock
Sharing, processing, integrating and extremes of information
Mountains
“Surmountable by wisdom are all things”
Information into knowledge into wisdom
Fast food spirituality [I toss out a lot of nuggets quickly maybe due to limited time]
Providing information and resources to our students/consumers
Roundtables and collaborative formats

Lydia’s Insight Timer circle Embodied Living

(Mostly Regular/Daily) Virtual Meditation Groups

Some of my original notes not mentioned:

wake up call for me as I’m taking on more and more computer time. I turn off cell phone as much as possible and use a wired internet connection to help stay more embodied and not get lost in a wireless virtual reality of screens and have minimized dependence on two-factor authentication and apps with functionality exclusive to their mobile app
importance of supporting both those formally practicing in real life and those who “practice-in-place”
spirit rock retreat center looks like it is reopening next year
my online 1/2 day retreats with beth upton and ajahn succito’s online retreat love as the breath of life
real life opportunities via dharmagates.org:

In-Person Retreats:

Bhavana Society one month or longer residency
Silent Retreats with Beth Upton options for 10 days, 20 days, one month
Zen Sesshins at Great Vow Zen Monastery residency, week-long retreat options
Retreats with Gil Fronsdal at the Insight Retreat Center week-long retreats
Remote Meditation Interviews/Instruction with Beth Upton donation-based

Hermitage & Self-Retreat Opportunities:

Hermitage Program – Lama Foundation, Lama, NM
Prajna Mountain Forest Refuge – Sangre De Cristos, NM
TAT Foundation List of Self-Retreat Centers – USA

Note: self-retreat opportunities are generally only recommended to those who have an established relationship with a Buddhist lineage and teacher, and for those who have done extensive meditation practice

Audio: Practice-In-Place Roundtable | (10/26/2021 — “Ask Us Anything – LIVE” With Denny K Miu And Guests Lydia Grace and Joanne Muir)

Or listen via Insight Timer (app or website)

Join “Ask Us Anything LIVE” next month, November 30, 2021 at our new time of 4pm Central via:

Facebook [custom link redirecting to Facebook Live at 4pm: dennykmiu.com/facebook]
YouTube on Denny’s 如是我錄Thus I Recorded YouTube channel

Join Denny live Saturdays online for Yi Jin Jing and mindful joint, stretching, breathing, and qi exercises at 8:00am Pacific via:

Wisdom Snippets: Some Of What The Four Protective Meditations Deter

This is a slightly edited extract from the notes for the now published post Studying And Practicing With “The Iddhipāda-Vibhaṅga Sutta — An Analysis Of The Bases Of Power”: Summary, Findings, Observations And Comparisons (7 of 7):

Perhaps the four protective meditations on foulness, death, loving-kindness and the Buddha are helpful to address non-benevolent powerful forces not so keen on the rise in power of those whom align with more benevolent intents.

Meditation on death could perhaps deter those who threaten with death to invoke (and feed on the subsequent) fear. Death meditation could also deter those who would like to keep on and on with tactic after tactic to block progress with the faulty reasoning that one’s current existence is eternal so what’s the big deal with messing around with someone if doing so is only a blip in the grand scheme of things.

Loving-kindness can protect against mischievous beings only crying out for kindness (and not really realizing it); for those who still have a conscience but have temporarily forgotten it; and towards those who seek to provoke anger, violence, ill-will and retaliation (as fuel).

Meditation on death and loving-kindness may protect against any harmful actions of nihilists since they resonate with death and the energy of loving-kindness may be a reprieve from their bleakness.

And of course meditation on the Buddha — and the true awareness represented thereby — appeals as a deterrent for more seemingly middle of the road, non-benevolent forces, especially those who seek to connive using (false) knowledge, deception, distractions, deterrents, tricks, foolery, games, etc.

Finally meditation on foulness can deter (those forces appealing to) lust, seduction and misuse of sexual energy.

Recollection of the Buddha’s qualities (buddhanussati bhavana) can be practised to overcome the lack of interest and boredom during meditation which will also bring a sense of respect and confidence (saddha) in the Buddha and inspire the meditator to continue meditating with joy and gladness. Loving kindness meditation (metta bhavana) can be the antidote to feelings such as resentment, anger, ill-will and hatred which can appear as a mental hindrance (vyapada) and negatively affect one’s meditation. When the meditator’s mind is overcome by sensual desire (kamacchanda) and lust negatively affecting the process of meditation, contemplation of the unattractive nature of the body (asubha bhavana) would be the protective meditation of choice. Finally, recollection of death (marananussati bhavana) can be practised as the powerful antidote to laziness, lethargy and lack of motivation while creating a sense of heedfulness, urgency, motivation and energy in the meditator to continue with the meditation.
https://drarisworld.wordpress.com/2018/12/01/four-protective-meditations-caturarakkha-bhavana-in-theravada-buddhism/

I also wonder if being energetically or psychically attacked if one is able to meditate on nibbana (or other high level thought forms, intents, wishes, resolves, etc.) for the last mind moment if this will deter attack

An Integrating Presence Full Moon Meditative Experience At Fat Cat Longevity October 20, 2021

[11/3/21 UPDATE: Pro audio edit noise removal versions now available]

When opening to this month’s regular meditation at Fat Cat Longevity I quickly realized I’m often not as enthusiastic about significant moon days as other meditators and practitioners seem to be. May this be to our advantage though and stoke beneficial, balancing momentum for this first facilitation of a guided full moon sitting with the intentions to set aside distortions and point in the directions of well-being, true knowledge and realizing awakening.

Focusing primarily on the body in order to experience the full moon in potentially nuanced ways, I guided participants through various observations, inquiries, connections, remembrances, energies, considerations and perhaps even imaginations and visualizations while in states of meditation, contemplation and reflection.

For about a half an hour we touched on:

reflection on symbolism, information and ideas we have about the moon and the ideas, symbolism and information of others about the moon. What is our relationship to this?
Can we temporarily put most or all this aside and tune into the body? And while we’ll use other methods, can we intend to use the body as the primary way to perhaps experience the moon in ways we haven’t yet?
if too much, can easily disengage, let the words wash over and come back to the breath
feelings: emotions, moods, and nervous systems in self and others — feel these in the body
water element: tides, ocean waves and movements, rhythm of breath
3-way comparison from memory: immerse in memories of deeply connected to earth, sun, moon . . . contemplate and reflect moon being exact distance between earth and sun to cause
energy: frequency, vibration, radiation = notice which is now most predominate with moon
deep remembering: connect and tune in to ancient memories, knowledge and observations of this moon we know now (and perhaps other moons). Note what arises. Now feel into the truth of anything that arose. What now feels more authentic and less authentic?
contemplation: how would life be without this moon, with no moon, with a different moon
contemplation and imagination: if the moon had a heart, what would it be like? feel into the heart of the moon? what does this moon heart need? use this to recall connection with communities we’re apart of, and recalling moments from the past that make relationships worthwhile, or resolving for change, or both; and perhaps plans to strengthen relationships especially to one’s self
reflection and consideration: using the body, what might be helpful, and what might not be helpful from this evening’s exploration for our wellbeing and realizing being free? And consider HOW might this be, without any need to know exactly, or even know at all right now
classic equanimity image of full moon on still water; notice if the image is still, if not, intend for this without attaching to outcome
metta for all beings everywhere

Audio: An (Evergreen) Integrating Presence Full Moon Meditative Experience — Recorded live at Fat Cat Longevity 10/20/2021

[11/3/21 UPDATE: Replaced audio with professional noise removal edit]