likes and dislikes

[nowornever]

me: "When boredom comes, I run away. Any advice?"
Zen Master: "I like, I dislike!... When I chased happiness, it ran away. When I went the opposite way, happiness always caught me."

Before practice I run away, when I practice I want to run away. Any advice?

[Wonky Badger]

I'm not sure. But I've noticed that the less I expect, the less there is to be unhappy about.

[t]

Running is practice...

[ground]

If mind has something to value, it will surely have something to despise. If mind has something to affirm, it must have something that it negates. If mind takes one thing to be good, then all other things are nongood. If mind has affection for one person, then all other persons become people whom he has a grudge against. Mind does not abide in forms, nor does it abide in formlessness. It does not abide in abiding, nor does it abide in no-abiding. If mind has abiding, it will not avoid being roped in. If mind has a place where it functions, then it is bondage. If mind values dharmas, dharmas will keep you back. If mind honors one dharma, mind necessarily will have something it considers inferior. When you try to grasp the meaning of sutras and treatises, you should not value understanding. If there are places that you understand then your mind has something to be connected to. If mind has something to be connected to, then it is bondage. The sutra says: 'It is not through inferior, middle, or superior dharmas that one attains nirvana.' Even though mind has entered delusion, you must not produce a thought of delusionlessness. When mind arises, rely on Dharma to gaze at the place it arises from. If mind discriminates, rely on Dharma to gaze at the place of discrimination. Whether greed, anger, or stupidity, rely on Dharma to gaze at the place they arise from. Not seeking the place they arise from is cultivating the path. If there is arising of mind, then investigate and, rely on dharma, tidy up!




excerpt from The Bodhidharma Anthology, J. L. Broughton

[Lobster]

I practice

It has been a busy day.
All you want to do is sit quietly for a few moments.
Will this be something difficult to do?

Or will you just sit?

If you can not sit, do yoga or tai chi.

just sit. All that running . . . motor mind . . .
Go for a mindful drive. Get to a destination and sit.
Will you turn off the engine?

[Hanzze]

Herding Water Buffalo

...It's the same with the practice. When we keep watch over our mind, when awareness keeps watch over its own mind, whoever keeps track of the mind will escape from Mara's snares.

It's like keeping herd on a water buffalo:

one, rice plants;

two, buffalo;

three, buffalo's owner.

The buffalo wants to eat the rice plants. The rice plants are what the buffalo wants to eat. The mind is like the buffalo. Its objects are like the rice plants. Awareness is like the buffalo's owner. When we keep herd on a buffalo, we have to follow it to make sure it doesn't eat the rice plants. We let it loose, but we try to keep watch over it. If it gets near the rice plants, we yell at it. When the buffalo hears us, it'll back off. But we can't be complacent. At the very least, don't take a nap in the middle of the day. If you take a nap in the middle of the day, the rice plants will be all gone for sure.

Beating the Buffalo

The mind is like the buffalo. Its objects are like the rice plants. Awareness is like the buffalo's owner. What do you do when you keep herd on a buffalo? You let the buffalo loose, but you try to keep watch over it. If it gets near the rice plants, you yell at it. When the buffalo hears you, it'll back off. But you can't be complacent. If it's stubborn and won't listen to you, you have to take a heavy stick and really beat it.

And then where do you think it'll go?

Teaching a Child

...So in this practice we're told to sit. That's the practice of sitting. And then you keep watching. There will be good moods and bad moods all mixed together in line with their normal nature. Don't simply praise your mind; don't simply punish it. Have a sense of time and place with it. When the time comes to praise it, give it a little praise — just enough, don't spoil it. It's like teaching a child. Sometimes you have to spank it. Take a small switch and spank it. You can't not spank it. In other words, you have to punish it sometimes.

But you can't keep punishing it all the time. If you punish it all the time, it'll simply go astray. If you keep on giving it pleasure, keep on giving it rewards, it won't be able to get anywhere.

Water Drops, Water Streams

Start out by contemplating your own mind. Always be careful to look after your five precepts. If you make a mistake, stop, come back, and start over again. Maybe you'll go astray and make another mistake. When you realize it, come back, start over again, each and every time.

Your mindfulness will gain a higher frequency, like water poured from a kettle. If we tilt the kettle just a little, the water comes out in drops: glug... glug... glug. There are breaks in the flow. If we tilt the kettle a little bit more, the drops become more frequent: glug-glug-glug. If we tilt the kettle even further the glugs disappear and the water turns into a continuous stream. There are no more drops, but they didn't go anywhere. They're so frequent that they've turned into a continuous stream of water. They've become so frequent that they're beyond frequency. They meld into one another in a stream of water.

108 Dhamma Similes

*smile*

[nowornever]

Bowing helps me do things, without likes or dislikes. When I sit thinking wanders off, I pull it back and forth evelastingly. Bowing helps me be here and now as I feel my body all the time while moving, besides this is a Buddhist assana. I am not strong enough to sit a lot. First I must drop my likes and dislikes.

[Hanzze]

Are they lesser already or is it more a liked distraction? I never heard that Buddha advised to endless bows. For sure its very good to train effort and discipline, but like in doing sports.    Bliss hormones can easy take control. I am not sure if we can always speak from piti, I guess there is a high potential of worldly joy.

Its maybe comparable with walking meditation, which is very needed especially for beginners, but also there, the risk of joy is very big. So maybe it is good to integrate some sitting secessions, especial when it starts to make one feel deeply happy doing this thing. Mind is trick and it runs where ever it can hide. *smile*

Your teacher will have experiences, but maybe its good to give him some feedback's of how the mind reacts.

Such a practices might increase some kind of saddha (faith) and devotion as well, even some mental power could be attained, but such a practice would not easy lead to get rid of like and dislike. It just would render it to another degree, which might be more subtle and more difficult to find. *smile*

[Spiny le Norman]

me: "When boredom comes, I run away. Any advice?"

One approach is just to sit with the boredom.  Actually boredom isn't really all that bad, it's just another state of mind which eventually passes.

Spiny

[nowornever]

Spiny-have you ever tried to sit with your biggest enemy?
Mine is boredom...it is like meeting Devil.
I hope I will be able one day to do it, not yet unfortunately?
What in yr life is is Devil? What is it you escape from? If nothing, congratulations, if something, how will you answer it?

[Hanzze]

Boredom is the state of mind, where it can not find anything to identified. The "I" get not feed. But actually it is still doing but more subtle. Just try to look your mind running around silently, there will be never boredom again. *smile* Things which normal people see as suffering and pain, are actually the yogis best friend.

[ground]

me: "When boredom comes, I run away. Any advice?"
Zen Master: "I like, I dislike!... When I chased happiness, it ran away. When I went the opposite way, happiness always caught me."

Before practice I run away, when I practice I want to run away. Any advice?

Stop practicing!!
Your practice seems to have become a ritual because you are saying "before practice" ... there is neither before nor after as to right practice.
Stop practicing and watch ... there is nothing to do.

[nowornever]

"Continue practice is very important" ZM Seung Sahn

"Continue practice" - typical advice from a Tybetan Master for a solo retreater(now Lama Rinczen) if he has difficulties practising for 3 years alone.

[ground]

Well, you may also continue. It won't make much difference
You asked, I gave advice. You don't accept it, no problem 

[nowornever]

Don't worry. Writing a reply means not practising therefore listening to u... Thank u 4 yr teaching.