Linking view and meditation. Gutenstein Retreat, 2006
James Low
Guttenstein Summer Retreat
8-10 Sept 2006
Edited Barbara Terris
Excerpts
…As long as the seed is just a seed, weeds don’t matter – weeds only become important once the sprouting has occurred. So when we start to engage in meditation and spiritual activity, we often encounter more problems in our life, not less. We become more sensitive to difficulties that surround us…
… It is not that this world is a dreadful place that we need to get out of. Rather it is that this is a wonderful world that we don’t quite live in – we don’t fully participate in it because we are not fully present.
So the Buddha’s teaching on impermanence is designed to help us relax and accept that flow is what there is. If we can trust the flow of life, if we can allow ourselves to be flowing with others in the flow, we will find that what we need comes to hand, comes to mind.
This involves learning to relax the body, so that we don’t hold muscular tension. It involves allowing speech to flow freely, not to over edit, not to block, but to stay present. And with our mind, to trust that thoughts will arise…
… Practice letting go of our attachments, opening to our connection with others, and settling into the natural spaciousness of our being…