Lost Coin – San Francisco Group
Meeting Notes
September 27, 2010


What Do You Want?

For thousands of years, religions and governments have been perpetuating a conspiracy: telling people what they should want. Part of the conspiracy is telling us that to go with what we want is somehow bad. This conditioned way of thinking has also been passed down for generations by our parents.

Original sin – this is something religion told us because they want us to do what they want.

Organized religion has told us that our worldly and spiritual desires are in conflict. The truth is people’s wants are naturally spiritual and material, without the influence of groups and other people.

Doen called the Gurdjieff Foundation every week for one year. When he finally sat down with a man from the foundation, the man asked him, “What do you want?” After years of studying with Genpo Roshi, he told Doen that he had one more Koan for him: “What do you want?”

The basic question behind every Koan is: “What do you want?”

What you want is the best guide that you can have.

Often, we are on auto-pilot so we never do what we want to do. In order to reset ourselves from being on auto-pilot we have to wake up. A great practice to help us do this is to say to ourselves, “I am.” This takes you out of the conditioned way of thinking and allows you to see yourself as you are.
 

The Sneakers on the TV Screen

[Excerpted from Lost Coin website]

[Imagine that there is a television screen and a large number of sneakers are scampering across it.  The screen is crowded. That screen is our mind and the shoes are our endless thoughts. As we train and practice we can see the shoes slowing down.  Sometimes, they slow down so much that we can see the screen itself.  Eventually the screen is what we see, rather than the shoes.  The screen is really who we  are.  The shoes hide that.

Seeing the screen lets us cut loose from where we are stuck: all those familiar shoes.  That translates into the ability to change both our actions and perceptions: to get unstuck.  From that we develop the increasing ability to adapt to all kinds of circumstances. This ability to adapt is the road to excellence and mastery. The Ancients called it The Way.

The fact that Darwin said adaptability is the key to survival and evolution is certainly no coincidence.]

Through Zazen, you improve your ability to wake up and clean out your conditioned way of thinking.

People don’t change, but people can become a better version of themselves. This implies that you, as you are, are cool. Our practice is to learn to develop our ability to fully be ourselves.

Imagine talking to your parents and telling them exactly what you want. Is it difficult?

What you want is what you want. Start where you are now. Practice is about seeing reality. Learn to see what you are doing mechanically.

Comedy is one of the few times when you hear the truth.

If you can get behind what you really want, it will make all the difference in your life. No matter how imperfect, if you become one with it, it goes much better. Be one with what empowers you.

A Zen Master used to begin every day by having a conversation with himself:

“Master?”

“Yes?”

“Do not be deceived by others.”

“Ok.”


This week’s practice: Remember “I am” as often as you can.
