Class Notes – September 21, 2010
 
Doen wants to focus on meditation. He will give a short talk and then we will sit for 45 minutes and then share what we experience – the process .
Slowing the mind in meditation is not just that thoughts slow down. In a normal mind state it is like a bunch of little people in sneakers are running across the mind screen. When you meditate, it isn’t that these little people will move slower – there are less of them – more space on the screen. Where these little people were once covering the screen – now there are holes in the patterns of runners and now you seen the screen – when you see enough screen you see something you haven’t before – it is like seeing the TV instead of the projection on the Tv. What you realize is that you are the screen not the people running across it – when you realize you are the screen – the way it changes your feeling and outlook are profound. All the little people running across the screen are creating anxiety, etc. – seeing the screen helps you see transendance.
 
People think when you sit you get an idea and will see things different. It is more like taking a drug. After taking a medication – you don’t figure out what it does to you – it just does it – like meditation, it will change you. Just by taking the little people off the screen – it will change you – the very act of sitting changes your mind – but it takes time.
 
It allows you to see life as it is in the now. The now is really just this instant. Instead of seeing life as a story, you see  what is in front of you. If you see a tree – you are the tree, the rest is a story. You go into a different realm.
 
The pitfalls of meditation – you have thoughts of sitting – just let it go – let it off the screen so you can see the screen.
 
Doen wants to focus on sitting for a while. On the blog – the  focus is more on excellence – the self-development side. In London he will be doing a session on practical zen.
 
You are working on getting a bunch of people in sneakers off of your mind – oh, and by the way, these people, they don’t like you, they tell you: you are going to get cancer, you are going to lose your job, etc.  It would be great if they just said you are eating cantaloupe – but that is not what they do – don’t let them trick you.
 
Questions and Answers
 
One student commented on how her allergies were helping to create negative mind states. Doen reflected on a quote from Don Juan that we can make ourselves miserable or we can make ourselves strong – they take about the same energy. He read that 35 years ago and thought they were some of the most profound words he had ever read. 
 
Another student commented they had a hard time reading Carlos Castenada. Does recommended starting with his third book and skipping the first two.
  
Student’s Observation on the Experience of Sitting
 
Student #1:  found it had hard to get out of her anxious thoughts (she is in the middle of a move, etc). She was trying hard to stop her thoughts and going back to breath counting.
 
Student #2: had a similar experience to student #1. Her thoughts were future oriented, the “to-do” list. She was also counting her breaths to settle down.
 
Student #3: will often find herself in “nothingness”, which is very pleasant. Often she will come back and realize she was in a great space. Today however, she was focused on a noisy stomach.
 
Student #4: is often focused on future thoughts and has to concentrate to bring back the mind – even when counting breath he needs something visual so he sees a visual number in his mind when counting his breath. When he sometimes opens, he then feels it in the rest of his body.  
 
Student #5”noticed his heart moving his body. When his mind goes off, he knows when it comes back. What helps him concentrate is working on MU, that is when he really starts to settle down and stuff drops away.
 
Student #6: it is a constant stream of “runners” with the same message – lost wallet and all the implications.  When she sits she remembers what Doen said, “don’t waste your time.” She really enjoys her thoughts – past event or future – enjoys the entertainment of thoughts.
 
Student #7:  initially she can get into a very calm and pleasant state – then she has a diversion into thought and comes back, then a small nap, then calm, then thought, etc.
