Lessons from the Floor, Volume 1

• My cat LOVES when I meditate.
• TV is the enemy of mindful living.
• It does not take a lot of time to begin to notice the postive effects of zazen.
• The above bullet point is true, even if I only practice three times in two weeks.
• When I focus on my breath, the moment and my posture, I become peace. My cat and my clients have noticed this.
• While practicing, my thoughts/feelings frequently wander to deciding to become a vegetarian.

Okay, so I'm doing my best to not turn this into an apology, as apparently faithfulness to a spiritual practice is a very difficult thing to develop. My previous post asserts that any time dedicated to mindfulness will be fruitful and I have found this to be true. I will continue to move forward with my practice and live with intention.

Experiment: No Attainment with Nothing to Attain

As you, my theoretical reader, may have noticed by now, I am very thinking-oriented when it comes to my spirituality. Unfortunately, everything I've studied about feeling connected to a higher power mentions the importance of actually doing something, not thinking about doing something.

My previous adventures (church, zen center, yoga classes) have all been okay, but unfulfilling. Most likely because I have associated being inconsistent in my practice with feelings of guilt. Also, I keep waiting for something to happen. A new consciousness, speaking in tongues, something. Which is probably why it never "worked".

Well, I'm over that.

I listened to a podcast yesterday that said something to the effect of "any time spent in practice is useful". According to the Heart Sutra, there is nothing to attain in spiritual practice. It is sufficient to just be.

Here's where the experiment part comes in: I would like to spend 20 minutes per day doing some form of religious practice. I would like to rotate the type of practice I do every 28 days. This does not preclude engaging in multiple forms of practice on any given day, I just want to start manifesting a consistent attempt to pursue the divine.

I will start tomorrow. This first 28 days will be dedicated to zazen, or seated meditation. I will write about this on a regular basis.

I am not making a promise here, but I am attempting to set an intention for the next month of my life.

INTENTION:

To approach spirituality in a humble, personal and committed way

Comparative Shopping

A fair and balanced website on comparative religion:

http://www.patheos.com/

Mission #1: Intelligent Design

The most recent quandary that has been keeping up at night has to do with the concept of intelligent design. Intelligent design accepts evolution as a process that has taken millennia to accomplish and has resulted in the natural world as we experience it. The main posit of intelligent design is that there is a Creator pushing or urging (the syntax depends upon whom you read) the universe in a particular direction. Looking directly at Genesis, creation is"good" and humans are"very good"; the highest of all creations. As human beings, we are able to empathize with one another, we have morals/ethics/values and we can create art and tools.

Okay. Here's my dilemma: Evolution = natural selection, right? The traits that are most effective in aiding the survival of a particular species are the traits that get passed down. But there is a jump that believers in intelligent design make that I am not prepared to make: there is a "right" or "ideal" or "very good" result. Are "effective" and "right" the same thing? Is our position at the top of the food chain purely evolution or the result of being chosen for the job?

In my personal life, I have attempted to apply the concepts of the Buddhist Eightfold Path in order to determine the most "effective" options or choices at any given moment in my life. For example, is it more effective for me to call my mother in order to prevent her from laying yet another guilt trip on me or to keep watching that rerun of The Simpsons? Not is it "right" for me to call her and "wrong" for me to avoid her? (And for the record, it generally depends on the episode.)

I know that jumping from surviving family dynamics to questioning whether or not there is a Creator or creative force that causes us to live and move and have our being is a tad dramatic. Yet, I can't help but think that it's a little ego-centric to assume that since we have a pre-frontal cortex that we are what God's favorite children. Maybe our ability to have morals and emotions is just an effective way to enhance the survival of our species.

And then again, I really love being a human.

The current books I will be looking to for information to assist me in arriving at a personal conclusion: Genesis, The Blind Watchmaker: Why Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design by Richard Dawkins and Radical Amazement: Contemplative Lessons from Black Holes, Supernovas and Other Wonders of the Universe by Judy Cannato.

Other recommendations and discussion WELCOME! I would be especially grateful for a reliable source regarding brain evolution.