There is nothing I dislike: The sequel

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Following 15 nights and days of piercing ear aches, virtual hearing loss, and spiking fever — along with blurred memories of The Holidays, a cancelled sailing trip off Mexico, umpteen clinic waits, and now the 3rd cycle of meds — I’m coming up for air. Still sleeping weird hours (the early-morning garbage truck just rumbled past and I’m wide awake), mood’s up, temperature and appetite normal, aches are fading.

Why am I telling you this?

Because – Eureka! – there appears to be a direct link between all this and the koan practice I described in the previous post. As instructed, I let “There is nothing I dislike” wash over and through “my self.” Whenever the motley crew of Poor Me and I Hate This came into view, I shifted my attention towards “There is nothing I dislike.” Again and again; through sick and thin.

And each time, without fail, the gate to reactivity vanished and another one, still unmarked, opened in its place. Instead of being lured by the Sirens‘ song of suffering, awareness skipped a tiny beat but stayed with the physical sensations of the moment: tightness here, pressure there, ache up there, numbness somewhere else. None lasted for long: they came and they went, provided I kept monkey mind focussed on the here and now. Sounds like work, but was surprisingly easy.

p.s. Many years ago, after instructing me on how to sit, my first meditation teacher suggested I practice for the next 30 years — and left it at that, implying, so I thought, that it would take that long for benefits to accrue. But look, a short 14 years later, it appears that … oh, never mind, get some sleep!

2018-09-17T18:06:12-07:00January 7th, 2015|3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Peter 9 January 2015 at 02:24 - Reply

    this cryptic comment just in from monastic teacher, “way to go!”

  2. melba moore 10 January 2015 at 23:32 - Reply

    Hi Peter I do hope you are feeling better each day. Best Wishes

  3. Melanie 15 January 2015 at 14:25 - Reply

    Hope you’re feeling better now

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