The final day of the conference, or just the start of a new chapter?
There was a lot of meditation today. And thus, a lot of progress, a lot of momentum, a lot of motivation -- all through an act of stillness. It still boggles the mind; until you boggle the stillness. Yeah, I don't know what that means either but you heard it here first, folks.
I started the day with a movement class held by a famed choreographer. We essentially rolled around on the ground while chanting "Buhmmmm" and "Bahmmmmm." I'm not sure there was any mystic tradition associated with it but I can't deny that letting myself be free enough to do so along with 20 other spirited individuals did make me feel like I was 'game on' for whatever else the day held. I retired to my room and typed several pages on an analogy of the mind/body/heart being like a glass container of liquid and the soul/God/observer as a particle floating in the liquid of our mind chatter / body sensations / heart feelings. I need to polish it a bit, but I'll share it eventually.
Chade Meng Tang, the Jolly Good Fellow of Google and author of "Search Inside Yourself" and one of my primary reasons for attending the conference was doing a breakout session with Buddhist PhD, Shinzen Young. The topic: Science and Meditation. They are both self-purported geeks and they weren't kidding. While I could 'surf' with most of their waves, I definitely felt out of my depths. But intrigued and interested in learning more about their mutual goal to democratize enlightenment in our lifetime.
Next was a hosted table conversation on the practice of Qigong. I have always been curious about Tai Chi and although I didn't (and still don't) know if Tai Chi has any relation to Qigong, I was compelled to attend. Master Mingtong Gu introduced a brief overview on the core purpose of Qigong and then guided us in a physical practice. But that's just it, it's not a physical practice. Well, it is. Wait. As best I understand from his primer and the reading materials provided, Qigong is a martial arts practice that uses sound, breath and visualization to work with energy. So when we did the 'physical' practice it was a practice that used our physical body to elicit sound vibrations which awoke and opened our emotional fascia to allow us to present loving kindness to the new cavities. Yeah, I know, a little woo-woo. But I loved it. And I am hooked on learning more.
The afternoon concluded with back-to-back (by my choice) meditation sittings with renowned teacher Sharon Salzberg. Following the second sitting she shared stories about her long history with meditation. She spoke of how people would reject the practice saying 'their' meditation was swimming or hiking or listening to music. While she didn't begrudge them those acts, she encouraged them to also learn how to meditate by focusing on the breath. Because when you find yourself in a stressful work environment and about to say something you'll regret to a co-worker across the conference room table, you can't very well jump in a pool or put on headphones. By returning to the breath, we return to the body, we return to the moment, we return to our priorities and we return to our values, making us much more likely to behave or react in a way that is beneficial. The three skills she associates with meditation are 1) Concentration (de-fragmenting and creating focus) 2) Mindfulness (fostering an unbiased perception of the present) and 3) Compassion (the ability to evaluate a situation with loving kindness, like a freeze frame capturing the good history along with the bad rather than a hyper focus on one or the other).
The closing comments from the conference were a call to take our knowledge out to the world; share the wisdom 2.0! I made several commitments to myself on how to do this, one being to return to my non-attended, though not-forgotten blog and put these 'thinks' out into the world for others.
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