Once again, a member of our Sangha has completed a significant retreat–Robert just returned from a Korean Zen retreat organized by the Kwan Um School in Providence, Rhode Island. During this evening’s discussion he compared aspects of Zen practice and vipassana practices.
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The phrase we typically use is “mindfulness of the body”; this week’s talk is “mindfulness for the body” to emphasize the importance of taking good care of the body, which is the foundational vehicle for spiritual development. We talked of how important it is to not give in to the inactivity that the creature comforts of our culture promote and the effects that chronic stress has on the body. We then explored the benefits of regular meditation practice to cultivate a more relaxed body, and the value of insight (vipassana) practices to provide the discipline to exercise regularly.
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In order for the teachings of the Buddha to remain vital, it is necessary for each succeeding generation and culture to validate the Dhamma with a dedicated meditation practice, epitomized by attending retreats. It is the custom of the Orlando Insight Meditation Group to provide opportunities for members who’ve recently completed a significant retreat to describe their experience during a Wednesday night meeting.
Tommy recently completed a 5-day retreat with Paul Linn of Florida Vipassana. The benefit of these opportunities is allowing the participants to “think our loud” about what they learned. Much of what is experienced on a silent retreat happens outside of conscious awareness. We also know that recently acquired memories “metabolize” in the mid-brain for several days before being consolidated into long-term memory. Verbalizing the experience integrates the insights about the practice for the returning retreatant, while listening to the report hopefully inspires the listeners to dedicated meditation practice, including retreats.
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Continuing the discussions on how to bring the ancient wisdom of Buddhism to contemporary life, Peter read some excerpts from the suttas to describe what the Buddha taught regarding the acquiring of wealth and how to wisely make use of it. The example of the wealthy merchant Sudatta, commonly named Anathapindika was discussed as an example of wise stewardship of wealth. We then talked of how our meditation practice can be effectively applied to the temptations of this consumerist culture. The topic of voluntary simplicity was introduced, as Duane Elgin spoke recently at Rollins College about cultural transformation.
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Continuing the discussion of Right Livelihood as manifesting in a culture much more complex than what the Buddha knew, this dialogue focuses on how relationship dynamics relate to the three characteristics the Buddha emphasized, that is, impermanence, dissatisfaction and interdependence. Modern research regarding attachment security and how levels of anxious arousal degrade a couple’s ability to negotiate conflict was explored. We also discussed modern relational psychoanalysis as related to mutual interpersonal influence.
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In this dialogue, we explored the distractions that interfere with regular meditation practice, contrasted with the opportunities that are also present in our time to deeply practice and understand the liberating teachings of the Buddha. The practice of Right Livelihood was renamed “Right Lifestyle” to reflect the increasing complexity of current culture, and that the goal of spiritual practice is living a wholesome life.
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