Lost Coin Class Notes 7/24/07

*NB:  Next week's meeting (August 31) will be at Daniel's house.*

*Daniel's Talks*

Daniel mentioned that we can listen to his dharma talks, if we'd like, on Kanzeon's website (the Zen Eye site--Kanzeon has four sites).  Daniel will give us passwords, as it is usually a subscription-only service.  Some of his talks are also on youtube -- search for "Doen Sensei" to find them.

*Meeting Spaces*

Daniel and others have been looking for a new place to hold our meetings, but so far have not found one that's entirely satisfactory.  The search continues.  If anyone knows of a place that would hold at least 25 people, have bookshelves, a phone, and be someplace Daniel can arrange and decorate, please let Daniel know.  He feels now that it's worth it to make this a permanent arrangement, e.g. by entering a lease, because he feels so good about the group.

In the meantime, we can meet at McGillis, Daniel's home, or possibly a meeting room at Arlene's office -- but for next week, we'll meet at Daniel's.

*Continuing last week's topic*

(I apologize--I missed last week and so can't draw connections between the two weeks.)

Daniel read from *Beelzebub's Tales* (p. 356), wherein Gurdjieff writes about an organ called a "Kundabuffer," which is stuck in people and makes them very self centered, vain, etc.  The main point is that people will believe just about anything as long as you express it in a way that appeals to their egos.  We aren't objective; we don't really examine what we see, hear, or are told--but that's what we're working on in this group.

Daniel said that in last week's small groups we talked about beliefs we have.  He strongly suggests that we keep a journal on the beliefs and thoughts that we have.

Daniel will be using a lot from one of his teachers, Dave Daniels, during the next 12 weeks or so.  Dave taught him to start from the point of not trusting anyone.  We're told to trust everyone, but that's not objective, subject to proof, or true.

Trusting a person is a *rare* circumstance.  If you trust everyone you'll be completely out of line with reality--that's what we're working on.  The reason we can't trust others automatically is because they're so self involved.

The question of whether this is a very "dark" worldview was raised and explored.  Daniel commented that reality is what it is, and we can't make it be lighter or darker.  Daniel pointed out that everyone is trustworthy in some respects, but questioned why we might start out from the proposition that we want to trust everyone?

Kim:  There's a difference between *mis*trusting someone and *not* trusting them.

DS:  Exactly.  It's "not trust" rather than mistrust.

Arlene likened this to "discernment" in Tibetan Buddhism, in which one makes no judgment one way or another when we first meet someone.

Daniel used the example of the US government's telling us that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.  A lot of people trusted that information, but it turned out not to be reality.  A whole world was moved because we took someone's word "just because they are such-and-such."

So many things we accept on trust.  Wouldn't it be better that it's actually *true*?

Cindy pointed out that each person's "I"s can make a difference, for example if a fearful I thought that X was true, where a different I might not think the same thing to be "true."

DS:  Be objective.  For example, in a new relationship:  you want it to be The One, but you're getting signals that don't ring true and you ignore them.  Why?  Because you want them to be true.  Be objective.

You're not "supposed" to do anything other than to be objective.

Being objective about others is what we're working on now; before, we'd been working on being objective about ourselves.

Arlene:  failing to be objective is often based on hopes and dreams.

DS:  Especially when someone's feeding those to you!

Arlene:  Or when we're fooling ourselves.

Cindy:  Or you try to work it out from one center and it makes sense, but you ignore your other centers.  Need to check it out on multiple fronts.

DS: Take a person who's emotionally congruent.  How do you imagine they'd feel to themselves?  Transparent, like they're not hiding anything.  But you don't get that often, so don't go expecting it all the time.  You'll respond to people with different centers.  They'll use their intellect to try to hook you into trust by appealing to your greed, anger, and fear.

*Three Ways to See Through Concepts and Thoughts*

When you meditate enough, you see that "thought" is not the whole world, it's just one way of perceiving the world.  We trust "thought," so if you can't put in in words in a way that satisfies you you don't think it's real.  The opposite is also true.

These methods will help us see through our thoughts and beliefs:

1.  *Meditation*.  When you slow down enough, you'll see words as only *one*way of perceiving the world.  Art comes from this place; it shows you a direct vision of reality.

2.  *Contemplation*.  Ask yourself:  these things that I think I believe are reality, can I prove them?

One example of Dave's style of making this point:  You're a man.  You believe that blonde women don't like you.  Can you prove that?  According to Dave, you *will* prove that because every time you are around a blonde, you'll act like such a fool that she won't like you.

You have to be able to actually *test* a belief like that.  (In the Fourth Way, this is called "objectivity;" in Tibetan Buddhism, it's called "critical intelligence.")

3.  *Seeing*.  This is not contemplation or meditation--it's actually learning to look at things objectively as they're happening, and not just at yourself.  Daniel gave the example of a man who goes to gamble, and finds a stunningly gorgeous female dealer at the Blackjack table.  He *knows* she's there only to keep him playing, to make him want to impress her, etc., and therefore keep losing money--yet he keeps gambling there.  In that example, *knowing* why she is there is "seeing."

All advertisements and media are based on the idea that you're not going to work on seeing, that you're going to choose to trust instead.

It's helpful to look outside yourself, perhaps at what some "strange" (to you) cultures believe.  Choose a belief--realize that you're responding "well, that's kind of crazy!"--and question how they can prove that belief. Then do the very same thing with your own beliefs.

*This Week*

   *read the chapter "The Terror of the Situation" in *Beelzebub's Tales*

   *do your regular meditation

   *find more time for contemplation of your beliefs and journal about them. Why do I believe this?  Where did it come from?  Who taught me this?  Etc.
   *practice seeing:  try to look at what's actually going on instead of trusting in your beliefs.


We broke into small groups and talked about some beliefs we hold and questioned them.  Afterwards, Daniel said that a lot of what came up had to do with relationships, so we'll be focusing on that area.
