Lost Coin Class Notes   September 8, 2009

Retreat Update
	-	Make sure to let Rebecca know if you are coming to the workshop and which days you will be attending.
	-	It is okay to bring friends.
	-	The workshop will cover four to five major points.
	-	In the future there will be more seminars than workshops, which entail discussions.

San Francisco
	-	Daniel will return from San Francisco every other week in order to continue teaching classes in Salt Lake City.
	-	The format for class may change the weeks Daniel is not here for example he may use video cameras.
	-	There will be weekly class exercises.
	-	On the weeks that Daniel is in town, there will be more time for meeting with Daniel before class.
	-	The future meeting place is still to be determined.

Lost Coin
	-	Your practice is in your daily life.
	-	Each of us must work on creating love and joy in our lives.
	-	We all need to build a strong "I".
	-	For your work, choose things that you are weak at and strive to strengthen them.
	-	Daniel noticed that Zen people are not as capable of Gerdjieff people because unlike Zen monks who did their work in a monastery, the Gerdjieff members made their life their practice.  However, he also observed that the Gerdjieff people needed to spend more time looking inward.
	-	How do we practice Zen without a monastery?  We practice in our daily life.
	-	When we can't accomplish what we what, it is because we are too insecure, too weak, and too fearful.
	-	Our egos are too small and we must work on building an "I".

About an "I"
	-	Why do we not have an "I"?
	-	Daniel asked, "If you had an I with some certainty what would you do?"
	-	Build a permanent "I" that is an "I" worth having.
	-	You will be unhappier for the things you didn't do rather than if you tried something and didn't succeed.
	-	If the "I" is asleep, it cannot make decisions.
	-	Have you ever sat down and tried to do or be everything you can?
	-	Worrying about what others think about what you do with your life is a disease.
	-	A good teacher or coach will try to help you support your "I"
	-	Unlike American culture, Japanese culture does not like individualism.
	-	One way to develop is permanent "I" is to practice knowing when you are asleep.
	-	Point 1 = "I", I am, aspire, your vision
	-	The main gift a teacher can give you is to help you come through your fear.

Building a stronger "I" by examining our fears
	-	Wouldn't life be so much nicer if we lived without so much fear?
	-	The broad category of fear is fear even if it looks like there are many different types of fear.
	-	Sometimes we have so many fears that it would be easier to look at what we are not afraid of.
	-	Two of our biggest fears are of failure and other people.
	-	Working with fear by looking at an issue objectively.
	-	Fear is at work when you are constantly thinking, "If I do this, than what if that happens?"
	-	Overcome the fear by taking action.
	-	If that doesn't work than take another action.
	-	We all have integrity why not trust ourselves?
	-	What do you want to do in the long run?
	-	If you are not doing what you want to do, than it is because you don't believe you can do it yet.
	-	Most of us are afraid to fail at what is meaningful to us.
	-	You figure out what you want by doing it.
	-	For most of us, we are afraid of the unknown.
	-	By being afraid of what we want, we don't have the courage to live.
	-	While you can do things, do things!
	-	Now is a good time to start.
	-	Supplement developing the "I" with a strong sitting practice.
	-	One of the main reasons people don't empower themselves is because they have been told that they are bad.
