LOSTCOIN CLASS NOTES 10-30-07

Daniel enjoyed his trip to Germany and France.  He spent some time with his friend and French Zen teacher.  This group runs a soup kitchen in Belvadille.  Several hundred people were there to get food, some were homeless and some their weekly check would not cover food for the whole week.  Daniel was spooning food onto their plates.  65-70% of the people would bring their plates up to you, then it is easier to give them more.  The ones that put their plate down, on the other side of the bowl it was harder to give a large serving.  One woman serving next to Daniel was spooning meet onto the dishes.  Some people were vegetarian and would ask for more macaroni and would get more.  Others were resentful that they did not get enough.  YOU NEED TO ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT AND YOU WILL BE MORE LIKELY TO RECEIVE IT.

Clinical Psychology (in the west) is defined as a way to treat mental illness.  It is more about disorders.  Before Freud, it was more about spirit and faith.  The eastern Zen looks into the mind and how it works.  In western Psychology we don't have cures for anything except one thing.  You can cure phobias through progressive sensitization.  We need to work with real psychology.  The Zen Buddhists used the monkey to define the mind jumping around - Monkey mind.  When things are slower the monkey mind slows down.  The monkeys are jumping around still but slower and you can see it.  One function of meditation is to slow down the monkey mind.  We have a retreat at the end of November, notice that afterward you feel allot better.  This week CONSCIOUSLY SLOW DOWN THE MONKEY MIND.   Daniel describes a Hindu drawing of a rider and a monkey on a black elephant.  The elephant turns white as the monkey begins to disappear.

Next week look at how you make decisions and how you made the ones you have made in the past.

Joan wonders if 7's have more monkey mind behavior?  Daniel says quieting thoughts is not based on personality.  Working with Zen students you get to see that a persons ability to quiten the mind depends on effort.

When psychology in the west began to be less clinical it focused on Family Therapy- Virginia Satire.

Dysfunctional Family:
   1.  Dominator- tells the family what to do
   2.  Complier- complies with everything
   3.  Robot- no feelings, stiff, no expression
   4.  Distracter - lots of noise and action, avoids standing still long enough to be hurt.

If you spend 80% of the time trying to limit and control emotions the other 20% is out of control.  Be objective in yourself.  PRACTICE QUIETENING MONKEY MIND MORE AND MORE.  If you have so much control all the time to keep emotions away when they do come they are HUGE.   Daniel notes when he was married he had allot of emotion inside that he didn't communicate to his ex-wife and then when he wanted to let her know some of it it came out cruelly "Do you know what is wrong with you? You are stupid!"

You may be the type that is unsure of who you are.  This mechanical.  We are working on seeing what is mechanical and decreasing mechanicalness.

Daniel works one to one with Zen students.  He will do the best he can to address things to us one on one.  There is not a single one of us he doesn't like or irritates him. It is not that he dislikes certain aspects of us but he can be helpful and work with us to see them more clearly.  In the Zen tradition people like to have personal meetings with Daniel to have more specific teachings.

Eric notes he is not the same person he describes himself as as when he sees himself objectively.  It is different than what you tell yourself.

Circle Process- from a native american origin- each person speaks from the heart what they are feeing at the moment.  No one is to comment, no disruption and do not comment.  Listen to everyone and don't think what you are going to say when it is your turn.  This is done with a talking stick.

The retreat will be a formal talk, one on one teaching, and lots of sitting.

Eric is hoping to support one another outside of class to add to the class.  Daniel encourages us to meet informally.  He wants us to meet when he is gone.  Daniel will pair us off next time to speak with each other outside of class.

Focous on Monkey Mind idea, it is the same for everyone.  You will get more choice, more space.  When you see something in yourself that you don't like and you get into it you make the monkeymind go faster.  If you see it objectively you make the monkey mind slow down.  Just seeing slows the mind.  Don't let it hook you.  Self observation- just look at it.
