Lost Coin Class Notes CLASS NOTES MARCH 13, 2007

Do a thorough study of yourself,achieve excellence in everyday, is impeccable.

Daniel will give us personal tasks to do in the near future.  He will assign us into groups of 4-5 to do certain things.

Review sitting meditation., keep going back to it.  Stop the mind and conscious thought.

Silent Illumination:  no conceps or words, not slowed down but not at all. When you sit with stopped thought it will feel like you are holding your breath.  Now be more assertive with STOPPING THE MIND,  have no images or thoughts. You start to see peoples mundane clattering as they are suffering.  They are vocalizing a form of their suffering.

We really need to understand our negativity, we start right away being responsible in our lives NOW.]

In relationships, anyting can drive you appart.  European couples seem to be a bit more distanced, less like siblings more romantic.  This keeps things going better.  Better to keep your individuality and is OK to have some distance.  The thing we do most unconsciously is negativity.  If we choose to make someone feel bad no good comes from it.  It is important to see the negative inner state, it never does any good for us.  Just seeing the negativity helps it decline.  "Even while in Kyoto, missing Kyoto", Be where you are.  Don't start your day with negativity.  Only through consciousness do we choose not to be negative, the negativity chooses you.

Conscious Suffering:  You decide to rock climb, you have a reason to do it- you put yourself in a student position, muscles hurt, danger, fear.  To reach a certain goal and have to suffer unpleasantness to reach that goal is conscious suffering.  The other kind of suffering is not conscious, negativity is not a conscious choice.  What does iti mean to consciously suffer, what value is in it?  Conscious suffering is the way of the warrior, is the way to go.  Students with big egos do better at first in the 4th Way because the ones that are insecure will not start this process.  It is not always bad to attain ego.  Look at will, effort and conscious suffering.  If it is done toward an end it is conscioius suffering without the end it is not.  First part is to see how we really are, this is uncomfortable.

START TO UNDERSTAND, CONTINUE TO LOOK AT NEGATIVITY, AND CHOOSE CONSCIOUS SUFFERING, DO THIS ONCE OR TWICE THIS WEEK, AND LOOK IN THE BOOKS TO RELOOK AT CONSCIOUS SUFFERING.

Conscious suffering comes more natural to some.  If you learn to consciously suffer you can move.  Going to the gym is a good example, conscious suffering to make your body strong.  In the Monastic way the Japanese would meditate in ice cold water falls as conscious suffering.  Conscious suffering makes you strong and can make your ego strong.  Anger is not strength.

What is stopping you from going to the next step?  Conscious suferintg is the ability to bear uncomfortable feelings.  Most conscious suffering comes from others.

SIT 10 MINUTES LONGER THAN YOU LIKE, PLAY TENNIS LONGER THAN YOU LIKE, DO SOMETHING TO EXPERIENCE CONSCIOUS SUFFERING.

What keeps a person from stepping in and doing what needs to be done?  They can't bear the suffering a little longer.

MAKE IT CLEAR, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONSCIOUS SUFFERING AND NEGATIVITY, THAT MAKES YOU A WARRIOR.

Patting yourself on the back for doing something you don't want to do is being a victum.  Not inner considering is conscious suffering.  It is work for us not to inner consider.  In relationships we don't do some things we may need to not internally consider.

(BOLD PRINT MEANS TO WORK ON THIS)
