When I hear the well-worn sound of that old Buddhist chestnut, “Everything is impermanent,” I always wonder what’s happening in the mind of my fellow amateur philosopher. Is the contemplation of impermanence bending the mind towards a complete relinquishment of grasping at the wily stream of life, or is it trying to encase that crazy,…
The breath does not really need to be singled out as a magical pathway to awakening or liberation. There is no special cosmic significance of breathing. It is only convenient. But of all of the bases for meditation, it is by far the most convenient. In the beginning it is convenient because it is the…
I want to say a few final words about what looks to us like the end of Jim’s internal formation. First of all, some bookkeeping: the transformation does not mean that the next time he looks at a pair of shoes his heart overflows with joy. It’s very likely that with a formation like this…
Jim Bootman’s internal formation was not straightforward to transform. It was what we might call a real stinker. This is the case with any internal formation that pre-conceptually shapes the felt implications of objects of mind. By the time you’re “investigating,” you’re already carrying out the agenda of the formation. You’re reinforcing it. This is…
Jim Bootman is transformed. He has a newfound emotional literacy, an increased intimacy with the people around him, a sense of solidity in his function as a father and husband. What more could he want, other than the complete eradication of this cursed anxiety? In fact, this very thought is one of the last in…
How long would you like for it to take Jim Bootman to completely transform his workplace anxiety? Should he transform it as quickly as possible? What does, “as quickly as possible,” mean? This is not a choose your own adventure question, for us or for Jim. That is why the next period we will enter…
Let’s briefly review what happened here: from the perspective of Jim Bootman, he has just transformed a peripheral formation, something that popped up and situated itself between him and his anxiety. Should we climb up upon this accomplishment, throw our hats into the air, jump up and down, hoot and holler, pull out our revolvers…
The line between the simple recognition of what is happening right now, and transformative insight that radically restructures what can happen right now, is non-existent. No line! No difference! Your darling mind does not care what falls under the gaze of loving awareness. Awareness has no agenda. That is its superpower. But even your mischievous…
Progress In time, George Reginald Bootman the Third, Jim for short, enters into a phase we shall call progress. This is a very, very superficial designation. It is not that, from our perspective as outside observers, familiarization wasn’t progress. It is that before Jim began to practice with his internal formation, his point of reference…
Gather round, gather round! I will tell you a story. I heard it from the old turnip-seller down at the market. It is the kind of story that walks from mouth to mouth, from village to village, from time long past to time unforeseen. Maybe you have heard it before, maybe not. It is the…
