Lost Coin Class Notes 4/22/08

Business items:  Tawni is looking into establishing non-profit status for Lost Coin

Daniel will be at class next Tuesday and then will be in Florida for the following two weeks.  He is encouraging everyone to continue to meet in his absence.

We should be planning our next retreat. Kim offered to have a daylong sitting at her home within the next six weeks.  Daniel would talk but mostly focus on sitting.

Class notes:

The teaching method Daniel utilizes is Tantric?encouraging you to be in the world.  As Travelers, we are just passing through.  As Orphans, we are not immortal.  Another aspect to cultivate in taking the practice into the world is the Hunter.

The Hunter knows what they want and how to get it.  It is practical and straightforward.  The Gurdjieff equivalent is the Way of the Sly Man: someone who knows what they want, goes after it, and is not taken in by others propaganda.

While at Zen Mt Monastery, Daniel experienced a profound awakening when realized that everything he thought, believed was not true, but rather the product of somebody else?s idea.  It was liberating to look inside and see what was really true.

Engage in this pursuit joyfully.

The only thing that often stands in the way is our beliefs.  Don?t assume you are bad or think of yourselves as victim; empower yourself!  Learn to trust.  There is no original sin?the Zoroaster?s believe that God and the devil are locked in battle, equally matched and the only thing that can turn the outcome is ?we?.

You have a choice to believe that everything that comes through you is the order of the Universe.  Every moment of life, every desire is the Devine.  Nothing in the world is bad; there are however, things that are mechanical.

The Hunter trusts what the want and will help him/her to become a better Hunter.  There is a sense or magical and mystical about this stance. The Hunter doesn?t believe, s/he knows that no one will take care of you. Hunting is the spiritual practice.  If you choose to don?t approach it as spiritual practice, it is life denying.

The group discussed some of the beliefs that arose for them in their practice during the week:

If work is done, it must be done soon, even before the deadline.

27 pages of beliefs:  need to stop and start liking for evidence, however created resistance to this process.

If I ask for what I want, everyone will leave me.

So many beliefs?struggle with them.

Daniel relayed a story of going into a bar.a man might believe that going up to a woman and saying?You have a great figure? is the way to connect with women.  The women run away and he rationalizes this by telling himself, She?s shy, etc.  He keeps approaching women with this line and subsequently keeps getting the same result.  Needs to learn to operate on what actually happens and change one?s approach in response.  The Hunter discards all beliefs and operates on what actually happens.  It is not that s/he makes it happen, but rather harmonizes with what is.  Become the Hunter-Wizard.

Good Hunters are not aggressive, but rather are sensitive to the flow of things (which requires a relief from beliefs).

As you unpeel your beliefs, there is a space that appears.  This practice is intended to free you.  To be the Hunter, you release your beliefs but still need to operate within a world that operates from a position of beliefs.  External Considering is used to transcend this conundrum.

We are working on getting free.  You realize that you are already free.

This is not a belief:  I know from my experience in working with students that they learn a lot by learning to be harmonious and affectionate with each other.  Daniel will strive to create this harmonious affectionate practice with each other.  part of our practice is with each other.

See if things are true from the inside-experience it

In Zen, one can?t describe what cold water is to someone who never experienced cold water.  We need to experience cold water, not the description of cold water.

Skillfulness, sensitivity and elegancy are all interchangeable.

Skillfulness is another name for consciousness.

practice being conscious. Observe things. the Hunter is aware of themselves and others.  Look for magic in it all.  Teaching with out magic is not teaching.

Support each other

Talk about your experiences
