The Awakening of the West

One finds that no matter how sincere one's intention to be attentive and aware, the mind rebels against such instructions and races off to indulge in all manner of distractions, memories and fantasies....The comforting illusion of personal coherence and continuity is ripped away to expose only fragmentary islands of consciousness separated by yawning gulfs of unawareness....The first step in this practice of mindful awareness is radical self-acceptance.

Such self-acceptance, however, does not operate in an ethical vacuum, where no moral assessment is made of one's emotional states. The training in mindful awareness is part of a Buddhist path with values and goals. Emotional states are evaluated according to whether they increase or decrease the potential for suffering. If an emotion, such as hatred or envy, is judged to be destructive, then it is simply recognized as such. It is neither expressed through violent thoughts, words or deeds, nor is it suppressed or denied as incompatiable with a "spiritual" life.

In seeing it for what it is--a transient emotional state--one mindfully observes it follow its own nature: to arise, abide for a while, and then pass away.

-- Stephen Batchelor, in "The Awakening of the West, from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book

Amberite?

( I wasn't sure who to expect... )

I &hearts Sand Volleyball

I just got back from two hours of sand volleyball clinic. It's a good thing I didn't sign up for a league this year, 'cause baby I am outta shape. Two laps around the sand courts and I was huffin' and puffin'. But I definitely learned a lot, including that my overhand serve may not be a lost cause after all. I just need to extend my spine like in tadasana and stand up straight.

So next time, I take more bottled water, plus a couple hand towels to scrub the sand off. I forgot about taking towels until I was leaving, and I was running late. (You shoulda seen the shower after I was done washing all the sand off. Anyplace I have places, I pretty much had sand.) And get more walking in to build the cardio fitness up. Yeah.