𝐈𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥?

 

Good question. And, perfectly understandable. A lot of people have the same concern. Even some who have been "Rolfed" say it's painful. What they don't usually mention is that the experience is about pain leaving. Or, that there can be occasional intensity, but not something hurtful. But, as a client you are in charge. Everything proceeds with your permission and acceptance. That's the plain fact. 

Have you ever had an experience of pain leaving? Or, moving into a place of discomfort and discovering just out of being willing to go there it transforms from pain to pleasure? Try it, you'll like it.

This will answer the big question to your complete satisfaction. You don't want to miss choosing to do something good for youself out of a simple misunderstanding. Wrong information. Do you?

Okay? Let's unpack the question ...

But it does depend on three things: 

What do you mean by is? 

What do you mean by Rolfing? 

And, what do you mean by painful?

That may sound like a smart-ass answer, but a few things need to be cleared up and given the necessary context. That understanding will settle the question. Promise.

"Is"

What is the "is" in question? What's the "is-sue"? 

Your body. Every Human body. Any Human body.

We're talking about the individual Human being and their condition in simple, basic bodily terms. In this case, it's about its condition in respect to how it stacks architecturally. What it takes for that arrangement to live in a normal healthy relationship to the constant and ever present force of Gravity. It's that simple. 

Let's take a look. There's  balance, and there's out of balance? Frankly, usually a mix of both. Typical patterns: head forward ... one shoulder higher ... ministry of funny walks.  Those imbalances, though ... ouch! They can be painful. Not to mention the compensations necessary to keep everything together.

How do we look at the body as a structure? What do we look for? 

The body has an anatomical design, its natural and healthy architectural arrangment. There is a set of definite relationships of the many segmented parts; that is ... feet, legs, hips, belly, chest, shoulders, hands, arms, neck, head. This arrangment as a whole stacks up and operates under the influence of Gravity. Just like any physical structure on Earth. We know the rules of Gravity for our buildings. Same for the Human body. Vertical, symmetrical, even. Bada bing!

Imbalances often occur. Bad habits, unresolved accidents and traumas, lack of training, no training — we're self-taught mostly [who taught you how to stand, to sit, to walk?] — modelling significant others who may not have been themselves good examples of balance in the makeup of their own bodies. 

These arrangements accumulate over time, and unless resolved or corrected, they get set into the fabric of the flesh. Such imbalances report themselves as chronic pains and stress. Limited range, sub-par performance, lack of creativity. 

This is what the orginator, Dr. Ida P. Rolf said about that: "Some individuals may perceive their losing fight with gravity as a sharp pain in their back, others as the unflattering contour of their body, others as constant fatigue, yet others as an unrelentingly threatening environment. Those over forty may call it old age. And yet all these signals may be pointing to a single problem so prominent in their own structure, as well as others, that it has been ignored: they are off balance, they are at war with Gravity."

It's plain to see looking at any individual's body in terms of how well it stacks up along the straight line vertical; also looking for necessary symmetries, and levels-evenness front to back.  

In summary, the "is" in Rolfing is your body and it's alignment in respect to the dictates of Gravity. 

"Rolfing"

Rolfing is a legal service mark name held by the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute. It's one of the schools in the field known as Structural Integration. While the question was put regarding "Rolfing" this answers for the entire field of Structural Integration.

Structural Integration is a definitive and peerless approach to Human balance. Unique in that its main goal is to balance the body with the Gravitational field of the Earth. As such. Sure, anything you do that's good for you contributes to balance. But, bodily balance as such, that's the whole Enchilada in Structural Integration. While we have the innate ability to heal and become whole, other than Structural Integration there is no other formal method designed to address whole body balance along the lines of the demands of Gravity. Repeating ... as such. 

Dr. Rolf, put it this way: "This is the gospel of Rolfing^®: When the body gets working appropriately, the force of Gravity can flow through. Then, spontaneously, the body heals itself." 

As is well known, the Human body takes its shape over time through lived experience. On average it's a random bag. We arrive at adulthood with a mix of balance and imbalance fixed into our flesh. 

Balance is normal and healthy. Imbalances require compensations. "Dis-ease." These, unless resolved, set in and we find ourselves living in patterns which are inefficient, limiting performance and creativity, and sapping vital energy to maintain. Ouch! That's painful! Yet, we can be seduced to accepting this as "Just the way I am". That there is no alternative. 

Well ...

Good News! The Human body has a plastic quality. It has taken the shape you're in, and it can be reshaped.

You may be wondering if that's the "painful" part. The reshaping. Stay tuned. No problemo. 

Structural Integration offers individualized assistance to bring the body to a naturally effortless, graceful upright stance; with ease, flexibility, and fluidity. As Dr. Rolf put it, "So you should be easy in your harness".

So much more could be said, but this should suffice. When you decide to do something constructive to bring this kind of balance into your life, all your other questions can be answered. You can add a comment/question below this post.

So now, let's talk about the Elephant in the room.

"Painful"

"Just what do I have to do today to get you into a balanced body?"

Most people look at things like Structural Integration as a therapy. I got a problem; I need it fixed. I've tried everything, maybe this'll do it? With medical attention and therapies typically something is done to you. You're a passive recipient. You take your medicine. You take the shot. Get a procedure done to you. Go under the knife.

Strutural Integration is a system using manual touch and guided self-movement. Rather than "fixing" a symptom, chronic problems get resolved out of fostering that head to toe balance in the whole body.  And, the big difference is that in terms of dealing with "painful" in Structural Integration you are in control*. 

If at any time the contact in a session of Structural Integration is unacceptable, for any reason — whether it be the manual touch itself or the movement instruction —  the process works best when you speak up for yourself. Then the practitioner can change the pace, ease up, slow down, or stop. Net, net ... you are in control. It's your body after all. Your limits are always respected.

That should settle the question on "painful".

But maybe a little more about what is pain. It's a big subject.

We all know pain. It can vary in intensity. An itch, temporary annoyance, a twinge, a chonic persistent ache, to a stop-the-world-I-want-to-get-off 10 on a 10 point scale.

Pain is first a physical sensation. Yet, we give it meaning, have pictures for it. Have stories that tell how it got there. Have situations, places and people who trigger painful feelings. In other words, pain comes packaged. There's the physical felt sense, and the psychological/mental and emotional components too. Getting rid of pain sometimes depends on where to open that package.

This is important to mention since Structural Integration is what's called a "somatic" method. As such, it addresses the whole Human being, but grounded in Anatomy and Physics. There may be a psychological/emotional component but we can get our hands on the body. Knock on wood. Balance the body, balance the mind. The body/mind apparatus is a unity; it all goes together.

*Structural Integration is taught in schools recognized by the International Association of Structural Integrators. An important distinction about this approach is that it is not a therapy. That said, yes, bringing a higher order of balance into the makeup of the Human body may have therapeutic effects. But, the work is a teaching. A training, to learn to live in balance in tangible, and noticeable ways. This is something you take away from the process. As an experience. It's not just intellectual, conceptual. It's perceptual. You own it much in the same way you own how to ride a bike, swim, juggle. Or anything else you've learned to do, and now it's set in muscle memory. 

And, since the method is instructional, you participate. You learn. You put in effort. That's very different from many of the things you can do for yourself therapeutically. 

It takes doing. An effort on your part.

So, what are you waiting for?

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐘

THE SINGLE SUFFICIENT REMEDY

"In prison Khenpo Münsel Rinpoche
taught me this:

"The extent of your realization will be known when you encounter difficult circumstances. You will not know the extent of your realization when things go well."

When you find yourself in a troublesome situation, when you are in great pain, when an intense emotion arises, only then will you know where you are at with practice.

He added:

"Adverse circumstances will reveal your hidden faults." If you are able to hold awareness unwaveringly during such a time, and thus if you are not carried away by the force of the emotion, it is a sign that you have gained experience in practice.

If you were to practice mindful awareness with great diligence for just a month, if you were to recognize even the slightest thought and not allow your mind to wander off into delusion for that time, even in such a short time you would witness great changes.

Fierce afflictions would not faze you so much any more, because you would have gained personal experience in observing the illusory play.

There is in fact just one remedy necessary — mindful awareness.

It is the single sufficient remedy that transforms difficulties inside and out."

~ HE Garchen Rinpoche, April 6, 2011.

From Drikung Seattle

Translation by Ina Dhargye.

𝐌𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡

Yesterday, Sunday June 30, was the last day of Pride Month. 

I have previously been critical over how the rainbow image has been appropriated by the LBGTQ+. I won't get into a wrambling thing about that except to say that the rainbow is for everyone. But, since you started it [!] — that being, how I have a few things to say about a few things — also wondering who the frickin' frick settled on "identity" solely about what you got down there, how you feel about it, and what you like to do with it? 

Please just look into the Yoga Sutras to get the real slim shady on "identity". 

Look, do what you do. No problemo. But ... let's not leave "identity" on the LGBTQ+ shelf. Ironically, it's like we've kept the matter of one's True Identity in the closet. Booyah!

Okay. So ... yesterday.

After the farmers market we stopped by the local fromagerie. That's French for "cheese store"; but where we live it also means paying above $40 per pound for some rare specialtites; of which, there are several. Somebody's proud alright ... proud of the cheese they cut. 

So ...

The door to the shop has a glass insert behind which greeted us with a "Pride" flag. Full on. Fine. I will say we did have a gay time browsing and selecting from what looked like thousands of offerings. And, we're using "gay" here in it's original meaning, not in the once pejorative and/or the switcherood, positively reappropriated meaning.  

On leaving though ... it turned out that that rainbow flag covered the entire door. So there I was fumbling with that flag looking for the door latch for to turn to get on my way home with my veggies and cheeses.

And, that right there pretty much summarizes my take on the pride month. Do what you're gonna do, howsoever you choose. But, do you have to be so in my face about it? And, while you're at it, don't be such an asshole that misses what's Real for your enthusiasm for the seductive phantasmagoria.

And ... speaking on identity, try this in a CLICK.

And ... more!

And ... then some!

The Source Of All Our Suffering ~ Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche

The Source Of All Our Suffering 

~ Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche

"Our instinctive, emotional attachment or clinging to a vague notion of self is the source of all our suffering. From the idea of 'self' comes that of 'other'. It is from the interaction of 'self and 'other' that desire, hatred and delusion arise. There are many kinds of desire including greed, envy and miserliness. Hatred can take the form of jealousy, anger and resentment. Delusion includes mental dullness, stupidity and confusion. From these unhealthy mental states arise actions motivated by them, and their results. The results take the form of all kinds of sufferings, which one cannot escape as long as one identifies with the 'self' who is suffering.

"Thus the only way to remove one's suffering is to realize not-self. The wisdom mind that realizes not-self is like light removing darkness. Just as darkness cannot exist in the light, so suffering cannot exist in the light of the wisdom mind."

– Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche

From the book "Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness" translated by Shenpen Hookham

𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍!

Listen deeply to the screaming mothers

and the whirring of the drones.

Listen deeply to the news man’s lies

and the crashing of the bulldozers.

Listen deeply to the tanks and missiles

as they are rolled into position.

Listen deeply to the dying fish

and the fruit bats dropping out of trees from the heat.

Listen deeply to the gasping biosphere

and the reverberating cries of the long-dead indigenous.

Listen deeply to the vibrations all around you

and to the vibrations deep within yourself.

This is a holy place.

This is a holy moment.

It demands your reverence,

even amid the smell of exhaust fumes and landfill

and of rotting whales washing up on the shore

and of rotting human corpses in Gaza.

Even amid the blaring screens and the smirking lies

of podium pontiffs and Pentagon propagandists.

Even amid the dead-eyed dystopioids

marching through life sedated by smartphones

and sitcoms and sports and snacks and synthetics.

So listen.

Listen deeply.

There are messages here.

Buried in the code.

Hidden in the metadata.

Whisperings of something big.

Something lurking just behind the chatter.

Something ancient,

yet entirely unanticipated.

Listen deeply, kind friend,

because mark my words:

even within our oceans choked with plastic,

even within our minds choked with media,

even within our hearts choked with capitalism,

even within our souls choked with fraudulence,

there are still leviathans.

𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑵!

Then he [Padmasambhava] sang this vajra song to Mandarava: 

“E ma ho! Amazing young maiden whose body blazes with light! Your beautiful form is graceful, supple, and utterly sublime. Lovely one of radiant smiles, unstained by any fault, your vajra body resembles a lovely lotus. As I gaze upon you, young maiden with all the perfect marks, so luminous is your relaxed, youthful form that you captivate my mind with your incredible beauty.

“This flower Mandarava is youthful only once. Listen to me closely, O princess of noble qualities. In this limitless ocean of suffering existence, the obsession with samsara that occurred before can only bring more pointless obsession. Now the time has come to prepare for a meaningful future. Accomplish the sacred Dharma, youthful princess! Worldly activity is endless. The meaningless bustle of activity from the past is all that can be expected in the future. Now it is time to free yourself from activity. 

"Youthful princess, watch your own mind! When one is overpowered by anger, the enemy is mistakenly held to be external. This has caused self and others to fail in the past, and it is all that can be expected in the future. The time has come to tame your own mental delusions.

"Youthful princess, take charge of yourself! Overpowered by delusions, unashamed of the causes of samsara and unable to distinguish them, what else can you expect in the future? The time has come to realize the fallacy of all this and to proceed on the path of Dharma without further distraction.

“Youthful princess, arouse your wisdom! Being overpowered by pride, holding to the ways of a queen, and giving orders to others, you will always remain the same. The time has come to examine yourself and give orders to yourself.

"Youthful maiden, recognize your shortcomings! When you are overpowered by jealousy, you disparage and belittle others. The competition for position and power will always be just as it has been. The time has come to follow the way of the victorious ones.

“Youthful princess, train in pure perception! In this swirling ocean of negative karmic accumulations, unwholesome rebirths will always be just as they have been. The time has come to meditate upon the empty, radiant form of the deity.

"Youthful princess, be diligent on the path of the generation stage! Engaging in confusion-based conversations is the cause for increased delusions. The endless idle words of the past will only be the same in the future. The time has come to recite the essence of empty sound.

“Youthful princess, generate the deity! Youthful princess, meditate on the generation and completion stages, the profound path of method, which is the secret path of the pure awareness holders. I wonder if you have the good fortune to enter upon this path. The time has come to meditate upon impartial, pure perception.

"Youthful princess, develop single-pointed faith!”

The Lives and Liberation of Princess Mandarava: 

The Indian Consort of Padmasambhava

by Samten Lingpa,

Lama Chonam (Translation),

Sangye Khandro (Translator)

Wisdom Publications

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐫𝐢 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢

The Forty Verses On Reality 

by Sri Ramana Maharshi 

(Translated by Arthur Osborne) 

1. From our perception of the world there follows acceptance of a unique First Principle possessing various powers. Pictures of name and form, the person who sees, the screen on which he sees, and the light by which he sees: he himself is all of these. 

2. All religions postulate the three fundamentals, the world, the soul, and God, but it is only the one Reality that manifests Itself as these three. One can say, 'The three are really three' only so long as the ego lasts. Therefore, to inhere in one's own Being, where the 'I', or ego, is dead, is the perfect State. 

3. 'The world is real.' 'No, it, is a mere illusory appearance.' 'The world is conscious.' 'No.' 'The world is happiness.' 'No.' What use is it to argue thus? That State is agreeable to all, wherein, having given up the objective outlook, one knows one's Self and loses all notions either of unity or duality, of oneself and the ego. 

4. If one has form oneself, the world and God also will appear to have form, but if one is formless, who is it that sees those forms, and how? Without the eye can any object be seen? The seeing Self is the Eye, and that Eye is the Eye of Infinity. 

5. The body is a form composed of the five-fold sheath; therefore, all the five sheaths are implied in the term, body. Apart from the body does the world exist? Has anyone seen the world without the body? 

6. The world is nothing more than an embodiment of the objects perceived by the five sense-organs. Since, through these five sense-organs, a single mind perceives the world, the world is nothing but the mind. Apart from the mind can there be a world? 

7. Although the world and knowledge thereof rise and set together it is by knowledge alone that the world is made apparent. That Perfection wherein the world and knowledge thereof rise and set, and which shines without rising and setting, is alone the Reality. 

8. Under whatever name and form one may worship the Absolute Reality, it is only a means for realizing It without name and form. That alone is true realization, wherein one knows oneself in relation to that Reality, attains peace and realizes one's identity with it. 

9. The duality of subject and object and trinity of seer, sight, and seen can exist only if supported by the One. If one turns inward in search of that One Reality they fall away. Those who see this are those who see Wisdom. They are never in doubt. 

10. Ordinary knowledge is always accompanied by ignorance, and ignorance by knowledge; the only true Knowledge is that by which one knows the Self through enquiring whose is the knowledge and ignorance. 

11. Is it not, rather, ignorance to know all else without knowing oneself, the knower? As soon as one knows the Self, which is the substratum of knowledge and ignorance, knowledge and ignorance perish. 

12. That alone is true Knowledge which is neither knowledge nor ignorance. What is known is not true Knowledge. Since the Self shines with nothing else to know or to make known, It alone is Knowledge. It is not a void. 

13. The Self, which is Knowledge, is the only Reality. Knowledge of multiplicity is false knowledge. This false knowledge, which is really ignorance, cannot exist apart from the Self, which is Knowledge-Reality. The variety of gold ornaments is unreal, since none of them can exist without the gold of which they are all made. 

14. If the first person, I, exists, then the second and third persons, you and he, will also exist. By enquiring into the nature of the I, the I perishes. With it 'you' and 'he' also perish. The resultant state, which shines as Absolute Being, is one's own natural state, the Self. 

15. Only with reference to the present can the past and the future exist. They too, while current, are the present. To try to determine the nature of the past and the future while ignoring the present is like trying to count without the unit. 

16. Apart, from us where is time and where is space? If we are bodies, we are involved in time and space, but are we? We are one and identical now, then, and forever, here, and everywhere. Therefore we, timeless, and spaceless Being, alone are. 

17. To those who have not realized the Self, as well as to those who have, the word 'I' refers to the body, but with this difference, that for those who have not realized, the 'I' is confined to the body whereas for those who have realized the Self within the body the 'I' shines as the limitless Self. 

18. To those who have not realized (the Self) as well as to those who have the world is real. But to those who have not realized, Truth is adapted to the measure of the world, whereas to those that have, Truth shines as the Formless Perfection, and as the Substratum of the world. This is all the difference between them. 

19. Only those who have no knowledge of the Source of destiny and free-will dispute as to which of them prevails. They that know the Self as the one Source of destiny and freewill are free from both. Will they again get entangled in them? 

20. He who sees God without seeing the Self sees only a mental image. They say that he who sees the Self sees God. He who, having completely lost the ego, sees the Self, has found God, because the Self does not exist apart from God. 

21. What is the Truth of the scriptures which declare that if one sees the Self one sees God? How can one see one's Self? If, since one is a single being, one cannot see one's Self, how can one see God? Only by becoming a prey to Him. 

22. The Divine gives light to the mind and shines within it. Except by turning the mind inward and fixing it in the Divine, there is no other way to know Him through the mind. 

23. The body does not say 'I'. No one will argue that even in deep sleep the 'I' ceases to exist. Once the 'I' emerges, all else emerges. With a keen mind enquire whence this 'I' emerges. 

24. This inert body does not say 'I'. Reality-Consciousness does not emerge. Between the two, and limited to the measure of the body, something emerges as 'I'. It is this that is known as Chit-jada-granthi (the knot between the Conscious and the inert), and also as bondage, soul, subtle-body, ego, samsara, mind, and so forth. 

25. It. comes into being equipped with a form, and as long as it retains a form it endures. Having a form, it feeds and grows big. But if you investigate it this evil spirit, which has no form of its own, relinquishes its grip on form and takes to flight. 

26. If the ego is, everything else also is. If the ego is not, nothing else is. Indeed, the ego is all. Therefore the enquiry as to what this ego is, is the only way of giving up everything. 

27. The State of non-emergence of 'I' is the state of being THAT. Without questing for that State of the non-emergence of 'I' and attaining It, how can one accomplish one's own extinction, from which the 'I' does not revive? Without that attainment how is it possible to abide in one's true State, where one is THAT? 

28. Just as a man would dive in order to get something that had fallen into the water, so one should dive into oneself, with a keen one-pointed mind, controlling speech and breath, and find the place whence the 'I' originates. 

29. The only enquiry leading to Self-realization is seeking the Source of the 'I' with inturned mind and without uttering the word 'I'. Meditation on 'I am not this; I am That' may be an aid to the enquiry but it cannot be the enquiry. 

30. If one enquires 'Who am I?' within the mind, the individual 'I' falls down abashed as soon as one reaches the Heart and immediately Reality manifests itself spontaneously as 'I-I'. Although it reveals itself as 'I', it is not the ego but the Perfect Being, the Absolute Self. 

31. For Him who is immersed in the bliss of the Self, arising from the extinction of the ego, what remains to be accomplished? He is not aware of anything (as) other than the Self. Who can apprehend his State? 

32. Although the scriptures proclaim 'Thou art That', it is only a sign of weakness of mind to meditate 'I am That, not this', because you are eternally That. What has to be done is to investigate what one really is and remain That. 

33. It is ridiculous to say either 'I have not realized the Self' or 'I have realized the Self'; are there two selves, for one to be the object of the other's realization? It is a truth within the experience of everyone that there is only one Self. 

34. It is due to illusion born of ignorance that men fail to recognise That which is always and for everybody the inherent Reality dwelling in its natural Heart-centre and to abide in it, and that instead they argue that it exists or does not exist, that it has form or has not form, or is non-dual or dual. 

35. To seek and abide in the Reality that is always attained, is the only Attainment. All other attainments (siddhis) are such as are acquired in dreams. Can they appear real to someone who has woken up from sleep? Can they that are established in the Reality and are free from maya, be deluded by them? 

36. Only if the thought 'I am the body' occurs will the meditation 'I am not this, I am That', help one to abide as That. Why should we for ever be thinking, 'I am That'? Is it necessary for man to go on thinking 'I am a man'? Are we not always That? 

37. The contention, 'Dualism during practice, non-dualism on Attainment', is also false. While one is anxiously searching, as well as when one has found one's Self, who else is one but the tenth man? 

38. As long as a man is the doer, he also reaps the fruit of his deeds, but, as soon as he realizes the Self through enquiry as to who is the doer his sense of being the doer falls away and the triple karma is ended. This is the state of eternal Liberation. 

39. Only so long as one considers oneself bound, do thoughts of bondage and Liberation continue. When one enquires who is bound the Self is realized, eternally attained, and eternally free. When thought of bondage comes to an end, can thought of Liberation survive? 

40. If it is said, that Liberation is of three kinds, with form or without form or with and without form, then let me tell you that the extinction of three forms of Liberation is the only true Liberation.

𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

NAMKHAI NORBU RINPOCHE

Some people are disturbed when they hear noises made by other people walking, talking and so on, and they become irritated by this, or else becoming distracted by things external to themselves, they give birth to many illusions. This is the mistaken path known as 'the dangerous passageway in which external vision appears to one as an enemy'.

What this means is that, even though one knows how to continue in the knowledge of the condition of both the state of calm and the wave of thought, one has not yet succeeded in integrating this state with one's external vision. If this should be the case, while still always maintaining present awareness, if one sees something, one should not be distracted, but, without judging what one sees as pleasant, one should relax and continue in the presence. If a thought arises judging experience as pleasant and unpleasant, one should just acknowledge it with bare attention and continue in present awareness without forgetting it.

If one finds oneself in an annoying circumstance, such as surrounded by a terrible row, one should just acknowledge this disagreeable circumstance and continue in present awareness, without forgetting it.

If one does not know how to integrate the presence of awareness with all one's daily actions, such as eating, walking, sleeping, sitting, and so on, then it is not possible to make the state of contemplation last beyond the limited duration of a session of sitting meditation.

If this is so, not having been able to establish true present awareness, one creates a separation between one's sessions of sitting practice and one's daily life. So it is very important to continue in present awareness without distraction, integrating it with all the actions of one's daily life. 

The Buddha, in the Prajñápáramitá Sutra (This text is commonly called "The Heart Sutra.") said: 'Subhuti, in what way does a Bodhisattva-Mahasattva; being aware that he has a body, practice perfect conduct? Subhuti, a Bodhisattva-Mahasattva, when walking, is fully mindful that he is walking; when he stands up is fully mindful of standing up; when sitting is fully mindful of sitting; when sleeping is fully mindful of sleeping; and if his body is well or ill, he is fully mindful of either condition!' That's just how it is!

From: Advice on Presence and Awareness.

𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐙𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐠

Final Words — Teachings of Zen Master Mangong

I have been teaching Zen students on this mountain for almost forty years. Many people come to visit me thinking they are visiting a Zen Master but they only see my form body, the house where my true nature lives. They don’t see my true nature. That is not a problem but it means that they have not seen their true nature.

Because they haven’t seen their true nature, they cannot see their parents, siblings, wife, and children, or anybody. They wander through life in vain, like a crazy person. We have to say that this is truly a world of darkness. Students who receive my teaching must do it with sincerity and dedication, not forgetting the methods I used. Ultimately, being sincere and dedicated is paying back your Dharma obligation, so you will not waste your practice or suffer a mental loss.

You should always retain three things: a place of practice, a teacher and Dharma friends.

 
(Three thousand years after Sakyamuni Buddha, three bodhisattvas of the highest level will appear on Dok Seung mountain. Seven people of great wisdom and numberless practitioners who have attained the Way will also appear.)

You should know that I am an eternal being, not dependent on a form body.
Even when my Dharma speech is not heard anymore, you should still be able to see my true face because it never disappears.

"𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞" 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐚

File this under "I was there, and now I'm here". Or, quoting an early formative teacher, Werner Erhard, "I used to be different, now I'm the same".

Imagine you unexpectedly finding yourself to be that "stranger in a strange land". A fish out of water. That necessary, oh-so delicious slice of pickle that fell out the sandwich. That double scoop of ice cream what plopped to the sidewalk. 

[Go on, make up your own. You got one, I know. We've all been there.]

Or, maybe like that super capable international mystery man operative dropped off naked and penniless in the middle of some unkown darkest and remote jungle only to arrive a few days later in a Rolls attired in the finest bespoke tailoring at the swankest hotel in Monte Carlo; well known to the management, credit unlimited, all the ladies' heads turning, exciting plans for the evening?

Not me. Not even close.

Quite the opposite. Though I have run a few operations in my day. Just sayin'.

But yet, not unlike our movie hero, I once did find myself untied from all the familiar moorings. In my case, however, pretty much ill-equipped. At first glance, anyway. Not knowing how I got there, or what to do. Next steps? Huh? Being there with too many logs in the fireplace it was quite enough in itself to keep the fire alight. Let alone, having much of any view to the future.

Thanks for the compound essence of time to allow for healing.

Stripped of that years-long carefully curated personalized wardrobe of assumed labels and roles. Possessions. Alone, and lonely. Clueless. Witless too ... unsure of everything assumed to be usual and true. Is that even a part of your life experience? I'm not talking like about being lost on the road to Akron. I'm talking about being lost on the road of Life. With not much more certainty than the feel of my feet on the hard sidewalks of the Big Apple. Yet, thankfully, with a handle on the plain unassailable fact of my own existence. With a whole lot of burdensome baggage keeping me weighed down and stuck. Seemingly. 

There's something written by Jagadguru Swami Muktananda Paramahansa, Getting Rid Of What You Haven't Got. That kind of cherished false psychic baggage. The title alone gives the clue.

That was my reality at the time. How about them Apples? And, there in the Big Apple! Out of my personal depth, but not without some deep help.

Oh, not so drastic as to not know which way to turn the faucet, or that you don't cross on a red light, or how to hold a slice of Pizza, or which shoe goes on which foot. But more in the societal sense. Without any idea of my fit in the world.* With a plate full of the Perennial questions, and clearly needing to search for the answers. Who am I? Where am I? How'd I get here?  And, what the fuck is this? Where am I going?

That's me at the Hotel Chelsea. When I got off the bench of the scripted life, and the game of the inner life of self awareness was on. Full on. "In the thick of it" says a friend. In a world clearly in need of repair. 

[How does it go? The world is as you see it. Or, as my little lovely Daughters taught me: What you say goes back to you. Translate: When you point a finger, three more are pointing back at you. Some Apples, indeed!]

PHOTO: Claudio Edinger

In that photo I look like I'm living into my middle name, Daniel. In the Lion's den, keeping cool. Well, sure, it's the Chelsea Hotel, but that "Red Bitch" of a place on 23rd Street could be anything you wanted her to be. Not the safest place for someone unaware that the outer world is a projection of the inner. Your demons could easily jump out of the shadows in that mysterious, magical place. In the literal flesh. And there were plenty of shadows.

PHOTO: Claudio Edinger

And, above, here I am in most most brokenhearted pose. Stoic as usual, but hurting deep down.

So it goes ...

It's 1980 and things changed for me. Radically, and irrevocably. 

My marriage ended in divorce. Painful, yet understandable. No surprise. But, shocking nonetheless. Not the least for leaving the familial scene with my two darling Daughters no longer at arms length. I didn't at the time understand anything about anything to explain away for those kids the hurt they too were feeling now that Daddy wasn't their picture of "Daddy" no more. Daddy needed some understanding on that too. 

My career in advertising vanished. No surprise there either. One day slogging what felt like an uphill climb to the office and passing the ice rink at Rockefeller Center I had a crytallene moment of self honesty. I simply admitted to myself that I did not want to do that any more. And so it went. No more Can't Miss World Class International Top 10 Mad Ave Ad Biggie. Out. And, for good.

So-called friends turned their backs, hid in the bushes. Work colleagues, they were never friends in the first place. Origin family, all miles away in Detroit; and pretty much out of touch. Parents, still there though. But, mea culpa, neglected and underappreciated. I still weep over that. You miss a large part of your heart for not loving your parents. Regardless of the particulars of the story. [Please hear that, "to whom it may concern".]

It's now 2024, and identity is all the rage. I won't get into that thicket any more than to say that what I learned coming out of the Chelsea Hotel is that identity don't have anything to do with any of the inferences that have been tacked on to your persona starting with from breath-one. Those labels, roles, looks, and ways.

Short lesson: You are not your body ... you are not your mind. [Sid Vicious must've realized that very soon after he went to town on Nancy. Pray for them both.]

Looking back at that two-roads-diverged-in-a-yellow-wood moment in my life I am still amazed at the hand of Grace underneath and throughout it all. Essentially, I had it wrong. I was there, but not really there. Playing a role. Like how you must yourself have lived through an experience but missed it for being mentally preoccupied. Or, being a certain way because the social pressure demanded. I was chafing at having been mostly constructed around living into others' expectations, and my assumptions about meeting others' expectations. Not knowing myself. Not being true to myself. I believe the grace was partly that I didn't acquiesce. That burr under my saddle compelled me to take off the saddle. 

Please, don't get me wrong — I think there may be more than a few who've got me wrong [but that none of my bidness] — nothing wrong with saddles. Marriage, family, job, home, car, neighbors, preferences, proclivities, penchants ... you know, all the conventional stuffs what go into our life story. Just now that we know better, let's be sure that things are in perspective. Keeping it real. You driving the horse, not the horse taking you. 

What's real, you ask? I can't say. Don't mean I don't know. Maybe a clue there. Those who know, don't say. But, those who don't say, don't mean they know either. You're on your own. But, like me in my "journey", not really. The Holy Spirit got you. Time for faith and trust. Pray. Repent. Forgive. 

Meditate. There's the world outside, sure. There's the inside too. Create a balance. Build and beautify that castle. There's the interior castle too.

Look, I'm not gonna lay out how to know yourself, and be true to yourself. That is all very well enough laid out in the teachings of the Knowing Ones. Easy enough to get your hands on. Which, thankfully, I did. Like when the student is ready, the Teacher appears sort of thing.

I know, by now you may be thinking there should be more about the Chelsea Hotel. If you want a snootful of that, read this. 

Net, net, the Chelsea Hotel is where this one sailed out from, too. And, amazingly, still with a good wind. [Please, no comments on my style. This is Wronski's Wramblings after all. You've been forewarned.]

* "Fit in the world." Interesting how that resolved itself. Like I said, I got flushed from my career as a Can't Miss High Level International Top 10 Mad Ave Ad Biggie. Obvously, what to do in plain simple terms to make a buck was on the to-do list. 

Along with, and underpinning it all, that tectonic shift in my life. There was a change of heart. I knew I wasn't up any longer for crafting interesting and clever ways to get folks to part with their cash. I wanted a path with a heart. Remember, I said my Rolfer also lived at the Chelsea. Rolf Structural Integration was a WOW!. An education that literally enabled me to find a down-in-the-bones sense of place; my fit in the world. Becoming a practioner of that craft was — and still is — my ticket to ride. What's it about? Short version: "Balancing the Body with the Gravitational field of the Earth." Because, wherever you go, there you are. Understand? Understanding is merely 10 toes in front of two feet. Kapische? 

PS Interesting also, my good friend the Rolfer took me to see the brilliant movie Being There when it was playing in theaters in Manhattan. Being there. Just that. The simplicity of that. Like when it was new to me to live like that. Not knowing. Looking afresh. Open to the creative possibility. Hearing and seeing what, if anything, is to do ... or say. Same as it ever was. 

Creativity. Large topic. Just a few thoughts.

The Chelsea Hotel was known as a stop for creative souls. What is creativity? The Wise Ones assert that "not knowing" is the essence of it. Living empty handed. But not without resources. The empty hand has the most options to choose the right brush, the right color. Versus just working from a preselected set bag of tricks. Of course, you do have to have the confidence born of faith and trust that knows how to be responsible ... that you're able to respond.  Well and appropriately. Knowing you have the palette of colors to accurately and creatively paint the picture of the scene facing you. It's all in Who's got your back. Who's got the lead. Who's in charge. True creativity — in Life — demands trust and faith. And, an untroubled heart. And, a clear head. Relinquishing doership.

I'm working on it. 

You may be wondering if I'm on the right track. Here's a clue. In answer to his question about what to do about the mendacity of the world, my answer to R. D. Laing was this: "I'm going to purify my heart." His response: "That's the most anyone can do."

Here's a link to recollections from my stay at the Hotel Chelsea. 

 

 

𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ... 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬/𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬?

Recently the former President Donald J. Trump was convicted by a New York State Court on 34 counts in a trial over hush money payments. 

Good News! Bad News! Which? You choose. Or, do you? Maybe your choice was given to you. Just sayin'.

To my reading of this highly complex case, there are many issues which will come back to be reexamined on appeal. Some reliable legal experts — Alan Dershowitz, John Turley — have expressed serious concerns over claimed prosecutorial and judicial improprieties on many aspects of the case. Not the least being the whole deal is a political hit job.

Let's let the experts sort that out.

But ... I can't help but notice that with this and all the other cases filed against 45, it's not too much of a stretch to say "they're ganging up on him".

Whatever. But the justification seems to be that he's such a goddam danger to democracy and the survival of the world itself that we need to get him by any means necessary; by hook or by crook.

Problem with that, if it's true — and it sure seems like it might be — folks sworn to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States may have subverted democracy in the name of protecting it. Prove me wrong.

What's more, that huge swaths of the electorate could be so propagandized on all things Trump that they either don't notice the possible mendacity at play, or are willing to overlook it on account of that he's such a dastardly dastard. 

Let's not even go into how the toxic political environment with such doomsday projections should either side of the aisle come to power in 2025 how it could inspire some crazy motherfucker to take matters into their own hands. Or, some crazy motherfucking deep state entity to do the same. 

Interesting times, huh?