The Arm's Length Between Realities
Mark Epstein is both a practicing Buddhist and a Freudian psychoanalyst. Sounds crazy, but in Thoughts Without a Thinker(no better title for a book is possible...with the exception of The Book of Secrets) and in a couple other books he very methodically outlines how these two modes of thought often times overlap. I will offer one point of warning before I continue; Epstein holds that mediation without psychotherapy is just plain dangerous. Maybe it's self-promotion, and I'll admit that in the case studies he cites psychotherapy was either necessary or at least extremely beneficial, but if you can get past those fifteen pages(~130 - 145), it's actually a great book on Buddhism.
Now to the reason I've titled this post "The Arm's Length Between Realities." In Thoughts Without a Thinker Epstein refers to the depth of peace and compassion that can be found within mediation. But in the same breath, he also notes that by developing this level of mindfulness, every other aspect of life becomes more rich and vibrant. Afterall, we can't spend out entire lives on a zafu with eternal incense burning. So when we stop levitating and leave the ether behind to "live in the world," the "being not of it" becomes so much more apparent. I could continue in this realm of the ontological, but I think to illustrate a little more clearly, I'm going to have to dip into the ontopractical.
I try to refrain from speaking of my mediation sessions, but in the interest of brevity, let me just say that today's meditation was by far the most mindful mediation I've experienced. It brought so much peace and quiet, but at the same time it brings so much pain. As more and more of that mindfulness leaves the meditation cushion and follows me out into my daily life, the distance between the two realms grow exceedingly closer. To use Zimmerman's example, imagine concentrating your whole of attention on a headache, or a pain in your knee, or any other feeling whether emotional or physical. Though it is helpful and, if nothing else, the best learning experience possible, it is also excrutiatingly painful...afterall, we normally just block these pains out of our mind or deal with them in small, measured doses. But tonight, with as much salient information surrounds me right now in regards to how alone I truly am, topped off with the fact that these experiences have less and less distance to travel from the daily life to the life of concentration, these feelings are getting the best of me. This is the difficult part of "sitting on a pillow and not talking." I'm keeping mindful of my efforts not to form attachments to these feelings, but I feel like a reed in the ocean with wave after wave of this feeling beating against me. I'm not holding on to any of the water, but that doesn't stop it from constantly surrounding me. Anyways, this too shall pass. Afterall, the mindfulness of the pain also lends itself to other areas of life. Just a strong coincidence that the realms became closest on a day I happened to be feeling more alone than normal.
Namaste.
Now to the reason I've titled this post "The Arm's Length Between Realities." In Thoughts Without a Thinker Epstein refers to the depth of peace and compassion that can be found within mediation. But in the same breath, he also notes that by developing this level of mindfulness, every other aspect of life becomes more rich and vibrant. Afterall, we can't spend out entire lives on a zafu with eternal incense burning. So when we stop levitating and leave the ether behind to "live in the world," the "being not of it" becomes so much more apparent. I could continue in this realm of the ontological, but I think to illustrate a little more clearly, I'm going to have to dip into the ontopractical.
I try to refrain from speaking of my mediation sessions, but in the interest of brevity, let me just say that today's meditation was by far the most mindful mediation I've experienced. It brought so much peace and quiet, but at the same time it brings so much pain. As more and more of that mindfulness leaves the meditation cushion and follows me out into my daily life, the distance between the two realms grow exceedingly closer. To use Zimmerman's example, imagine concentrating your whole of attention on a headache, or a pain in your knee, or any other feeling whether emotional or physical. Though it is helpful and, if nothing else, the best learning experience possible, it is also excrutiatingly painful...afterall, we normally just block these pains out of our mind or deal with them in small, measured doses. But tonight, with as much salient information surrounds me right now in regards to how alone I truly am, topped off with the fact that these experiences have less and less distance to travel from the daily life to the life of concentration, these feelings are getting the best of me. This is the difficult part of "sitting on a pillow and not talking." I'm keeping mindful of my efforts not to form attachments to these feelings, but I feel like a reed in the ocean with wave after wave of this feeling beating against me. I'm not holding on to any of the water, but that doesn't stop it from constantly surrounding me. Anyways, this too shall pass. Afterall, the mindfulness of the pain also lends itself to other areas of life. Just a strong coincidence that the realms became closest on a day I happened to be feeling more alone than normal.
Namaste.
posted by J.B.P. at 11:42 PM
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