Lost Coin – San Francisco Group
Meeting Notes
February 15, 2010


Welcome to Rebecca, Sterling, Arlene, & Ziggy, our Salt Lake members who are moving to San Francisco soon.

It would be nice for us all to know what each other does so that we can offer what we do as a community. The idea is to help each other. I keep coming back to that because its very important to me. Two things that are very important to me are that you help each other, are nice to each other – create good energy that way- and also that you excel and succeed at what you do.

Daido always used to say that we were perfect and complete as we were. It is so important to remember that. That where the name Lost Coin comes from. Like a person who has something valuable in their pocket and they don’t know it- so the lost coin is you.

Start from the idea that you’re perfect and complete and that’s gotten covered or lost a little bit and that what your practice is about is finding that.

You don’t want to be so perfect and complete that you don’t care about others.

As we observe ourselves we become aware of the mechanical things that we do. Certain things come up over and over. The way we cut down on the mechanical manifestations is simply by first being aware of them. One way is to just observe your posture for a week.  
Don’t be too judgmental with yourself or others. 

You all should be sitting half an hour a day- first thing in the morning. When you sit you’re learning to drop thought. The practice of dropping thought is very complimentary with self-observation.

As you become more conscious you have more choice and something I want you to be more conscious of is your actions with others cause that will really change your life.

Every time you identify with a pattern you fall asleep in it. The idea is not to separate from your life but to be one with your life. These patterns are the ways that we separate from our life.

This week just try to capture a snap-shot of yourself. Something- just learn how to use the camera - we’ll talk about it and refine it next week.

If you’re not allowed to look at other people then you’re not really here. What you want to develop is the idea that you’re here- you’re one with being here.

In Buddhism they think of enlightenment and delusion- delusion is our lives – it’s the fragmentation of the one- but being one with delusion is enlightenment so how do you practice that? By being completely one-with- your –life. When you eat chocolate you just eat chocolate. The other thing we’re doing is taking out the things that stop that.

Your life is here-  if your going to be one with something –and that’s your practice- live your life right here right now, with everything that comes with it. It’s a visceral effort, its not something you have to figure out. Practice by abandoning yourself. Most of the time we make ourselves suffer, when you’re practicing right it will make you happy.

There are certain things you want to drop and certain things you want to Be. Climb way into your body. Drop what’s mechanical so that you can be one consciously with your life, and enjoy it. Appreciate your life. Just 5% more consciousness can make a big difference in anybody’s life.

Start at the beginning-it would be really nice if you like other people before you have compassion for the whole world- start by liking people. Step 2, be nice to other people.
