sometimes it happens for me..and i feel.." where have i been"?..it is a good place to be... but as you say the mind must quieten down. billllll are your sailing days over? did you step ashore in cuba? .merle
Merle, First of all - I want to tell you that whatever changes you made or different actions you took in posting this post renders your post much more readable on the website. I hope you continue this way. I did not sail all 7 seas,just one really - the Caribbean sea which includes the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba, Haiti and the islands that curve southwest from there towards South America. Stopping, or at least slowing down, your chattering mind is exactly what zen training is all about. It's called the 'monkey mind' in a lot of zen literature. There are many techniques for that but the primary one is zazen (zen meditation). It starts out by concentrating on just a few things (like counting your breathes 1-10) and ends up finally dropping all activity. This complete stillness is called 'shikantaza' and can be translated as 'just sitting' and is also called 'clear mind'. There are many websites that have good instructions on how to begin sitting zazen, but the best way is always to find a zen center and go for a beginning seminar and zazen instructions. ...Bill! --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, Merle Lester <merlewiitpom@...> wrote: > > > > Billllllllllllll beautiful!..did you sail the 7 seas?..... pity i get > seasick!..i have a question? > how do i stop my chattering mind? > Â last night it would not stop..hence no sleep..no don't tell me to > breathe..that did not work either > Â the moon is full and i feel like i am going to explode > merle > > > Â > Merle, > > My mind used to be kind of unruly, but never extremely so. Â It's pretty calm > most of the time now. > > Here is a photo of my boat OB-LA-DI under sail. Â It was a 51-ft Formosa > cutter-rigged pilothouse ketch: > > > > ...Bill! >
