Puget Sound Sunrise Photo by Tim

We had the second meeting of our Taking the Leap Meditation Book Group at Yoga Bliss yesterday.  We came together for gentle yoga practice, meditation and discussion of the next three chapters in Taking the Leap:  Learning to Stay, The Habit of Escape and The Natural Movement of Life.

In our movement practice we explored how to stay and to observe our tendency to escape the present moment.  We penetrated subtle sensations of movement by slowing down, feeling gravity, weight, pulsation even vibration.  In stillness we observed how the breath moves the body in both “gross” and subtle ways.

In formal sitting  and walking meditation we explored entraining our awareness to the breath.  We then allowed awareness to shift to physical sensations, feeling states (pleasant, unpleasant or neutral), thoughts and emotions and then a wider focus to take in sensory experience both inside and outside our body/minds.  We allowed each focus to have its “natural life”, that is, not prolonging it intentionally with thought, then returned to the breath.

We shared our reflections on the readings including personal experiences of getting hooked and then getting off the hook.  We concluded that the pauses, the breathing and reflecting really help.

In Learning to Stay, Pema describes our tendency to escape the present moment in the face of anything we don’t like.  She goes on to describe the root of our discontent as being self absorption and fear of being present.  We have no tolerance for uncertainty.  She challenges us to pause and explore the many ways we avoid even the subtlest unease or discomfort.  We all have our greatest hits – I am a master procrastinator and can magically disappear in the face of conflict.   It’s really hard to feel the adrenalin rush of fear when I’m in a confrontation.  I don’t think I’m alone in feeling the agitation and anxiety over the fluctuating health of friends and family, the economic impact on our home and livelihoods, not to mention the health of the planet and our diminishing resources.  I doubt my steady diet of activities, books and films strengthens my ability to really listen and be present with people without an agenda.

Isn’t this self-reflection yet another form of self absorption?  Well maybe it is.  Yet the simple act of pausing to meditate or to take three conscious breaths is starting to take affect.  The ability to see myself more clearly and to  stay present is starting to grow.  This clarity has prompted to me look more deeply at the consequences of my choices from the food I choose to buy and the number of trips I take with the car, to the true human cost of my i-Phone.  I’m also noticing the unsavory aftertaste of some of the things I consume – with my mind and my mouth.

In The Habit of Escape, Pema introduces the concept of shenpa the charge we feel when we get hooked.  We get hooked when we feel that urge to distract ourselves from the present – the urge to satisfy a craving – to avoid feeling the fundamental restlessness of every day life.  Most fundamentally, we get hooked by our attachment to who we think we are.  Just notice the charge and physical response you feel the next time someone says a harsh word or provokes you.  I think we’re all in the same boat.  We’re sensitive, vulnerable creatures.  We’re easily wounded given the right circumstances.  I’m fifty four years old and I still have trepidation around family get togethers.

So what’s the big deal?  The big deal is the impulse to go from feeling “shenpa’s”  charge to forms of protection that not only don’t work but that worsen our shared situation.  It’s often a small step toward dehumanizing the person or persons that ignite our charge.  This dehumanizing can harden into forms of prejudice that augment the level of misunderstanding and suffering in the world. So we’re encouraged to work with charged feelings while they are still in their fluid state, before they ultimately harden into the fixed views that keep us on the hook.  Hopefully, if we train in life’s ordinary challenges we’re preparing ourselves to cope with the more serious ones.

In The Natural Movement of LIfe, Pema describes us as all being “a mixture of aggression and loving-kindness, hard-heartedness and tender open-heartedness, small-mindedness and forgiving open-mindedness.  We are not a fixed, predictable, static identity that anyone can point to and say, “You are always like this. . .”  I like the spirit of this message.  Everyone deserves the goodwill extended by “the benefit of the doubt.”  I catch myself making snap judgments of people followed by doubts about my assumptions.  Then I wonder what is motivating these assumptions.  If I take a few moments to reflect the tangled threads always seem to lead back to the thorny knot of ego stuff.

One student observed that we are sometimes correct in identifying cruel or unjust behaviors in others.  This presents a challenge to assert boundaries or to act to prevent harm.  We don’t have to accept or tolerate behaviors which spring from cruelty or ignorance.  If our assertions and actions are informed by the realization that we share the experience of human being perhaps our natural intelligence will help us to respond in ways that de-escalate aggression in ourselves and others.

I like the challenge and the simplicity of these teachings.  We don’t have to struggle to untangle the inner knots.  If we become familiar with them we can loosen their strands gradually with our willingness to pause, stay present and relax!  Sounds easy.  Try it.  Breath in deeply.  Breath out completely.  Do it again.  Let yourself off the hook.  It does feel good.

I’ve put together a list of “homework” suggestions including “mindfulness” practices, questions for reflection and next week’s reading.  You can find the homework at:

Taking the Leap Meditation Book Group Meeting 2 Homework

I sincerely hope you find Pema’s guidance helpful.