13 Day schedule and Mindfulness Meditation a Buddhist/Mayan Hybrid

I don't think I have posted anything about how important the combination of the Mayan Calendar and Buddhism have been for my spiritual development (not to mention many of the other Shamanistic, Hindu and other religious beliefs and practices I draw from, but these two are my base). The combination of "true Western” and Eastern spirituality seems to have united both hemispheres of my brain. I am more connected to the biosphere and much more sensitive and spiritual than at any point in my life.

To try and go into great detail and pour everything that is in my head into this post would be really difficult so I am not going to attempt it here, although at times is may seem like I am! I am simply going to detail how I use both traditions in my practice. Based on my experience I am convinced that the Mayan people deeply understood the energies that come with each new day and thus created a calendar that works best with the energies that are created as the earth, solar system and galaxy journey through space and time.

The one aspect of the Mayan Calendar I will deal with on this post is how I work through the 13 day week the Mayans called the Trecena. For the Mayan people each week has a dominant energy that is sort of the thread that runs through those 13 days. In addition every day in that week (13 days) has its own unique energy. I have been able, like a lot of people, to make a comfortable Buddhist Mayan hybrid that has enhanced my spiritual potential and ability to be more in tune with creation. This Calendar is what I use as my foundation for "spiritual time." This East-West combination is what I call the East West Hybrid experience.

So, I'll kind of explain how I use the two. Essentially every morning I wake up and go to my shrine room. I take a look at my Mayan Calendar and see what the energy of that day is. I read over the recommendations on how to work with that energy and mindfully start the day. When the new 13 day week begins I review the notes from the previous week I have made in my journal and make goals for the next week based on the dominant energy for that week. I also lay out my meditation practice schedule and will read from a selection of Buddhist Sutras for those 13 days. So, for example the last 13 day cycle began Tuesday September 23. The dominant energy or thread of energy for the next 13 days of this cycle is the sun sign of Dog and this period is most conducive to enjoying family and friends. So, I simply try to flow with that energy, be mindful of it work with it instead of against it. (The new Trecena begins this Monday 10/6/08).

In addition, during the next thirteen days I will practice an aspect of Metta Meditation and work on developing the 1st Jhana stage of concentration meditation. I also look ahead in the week and try to make certain plans based on the energies that may be more conducive for my goals and purposes. One example is that I post to this blog on the sun sign of Wind ( which comes around every 20 days). This is the Mayan sun sign I was born under and is most conducive to spirituality, communication and new ideas. This is one example of how I try to cooperate and use these spiritual energies. So, once I have taken a look at the calendar and get an idea on the energy for the day I start practicing loving kindness meditation in which I quietly recite the following:

May I be well happy and peaceful,
May no harm come to me,
May I always meet with spiritual success,
May I also have patience, courage, understanding and determination to meet and overcome inevitable difficulties, problems and failures in life.
May I always rise above them with morality, integrity, forgiveness, compassion, mindfulness and wisdom.

May my parents...
May my teachers...
May my relatives...
May my friends...
May all indifferent persons...
May all unfriendly persons...
May all living beings...

From there I move into concentration practice by following the breath and once I have gained some level of concentration I transition into mindfulness or insight meditation.

As I go through the day I work to stay present and mindful of the moment to moment experience of existence and also tune in to the energies that the day has created. Each hour on the hour I stop what I'm doing and think:

May I be free of envy,
May I be free of hatred,
May I be free of worry,
May my mind be peaceful,
Just like me, may all beings, all living beings, all beings awaiting birth,
May they be free of envy,
May they be free of hatred,
May they be free of worry,
May their minds be peaceful,
May they be free of sorrow,
May they not be separated from happiness they have achieved.

I also practice this meditation in the evening when I get home as well. When the new 13 day period begins (10/6/08) I will start practicing what is called Odisa Pharana Metta which expands thoughts of loving kindness to more specific groups of people. As I mentioned earlier I also pick a particular teaching from the Buddha and that will be my lesson for the next 13 days.

The thing I like most about the Mayan Calendar is its potential to bind all of humanity together which is most certainly the case for loving kindness meditation as well.

Regarding the Mayan calendar, these energies are not specific to a particular time of birth, although that element is there, but for the most part every one, if they tune into the same station sort of speak, can pick up the same signal and work together in a harmonic way. This is not to say that everyone is going to experience the same energy in the same way. It’s not that cut and dry. Some people will experience the energies in positive or negative ways. The point is to learn how to flow with them and not to try and control them but to work with those energies. For me this is where the Buddhist teachings that all conditioned things are impermanent, involve suffering and are without a permanent self help to negotiate through the constant flux of existence.

If you are interested in exploring this spiritual "East-West hybrid" there are two web sites I rely heavily upon for information and learning. For the Mayan Calendar there is the Mayan Majix web site. Mayan Majix produces a wonderful daily planner and other articles about the Mayan Calendar. For instruction on Buddhist Meditation, I follow the Theravada branch of Buddhism, there is the Bhavana Society web site. Here you can down load guided meditations to practice along with talks.

This has worked really well for me as I have searched for the best practice that suits my temperament and goals. If you find it helpful as you move along your spiritual path that would be great.

May you be well, happy and peaceful! May only the best things in life be your experience.

Mad Drunken Monkey Mind

Last evening I sat on my balcony finishing a book and smoking a cigar. It is my monthly vice and something I look forward to while the weather is still nice. Generally I read some type of revolutionary material, lately it has been Chè but yesterday I had a book I needed to finish so I read that. The sun was going down so I was really puffing on that cigar and it left me feeling ill all day today. I generally take about two to three hours reading, puffing and babysitting a glass of red wine but again I was trying to rush and boy, am I suffering for it today. In addition to having no energy I am suffering from “mad drunken monkey mind” which isn’t helping at all.

This morning my meditation time was hard to get through. First of all it was a struggle to get up at 4:00 a.m. and stay up. Monday is always a little hard because I tend to stay up a little later and sleep in a little later as well on weekends so it can be like being thrown into a cold shower sometimes. I did get through the sitting but dozed off a few times and couldn’t really gain any concentration. I did however gently transition into mindfulness meditation to watch this frame of mind jump all over the place. It was really like a wild animal trapped inside my head! I went back to bed and slightly begged my fiancé if we could take the day off from the gym because I was not feeling well and thankfully she agreed.

As the day has gone on I have given a great deal of thought to a few things. First has been developing kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity or as they are collectively known, the Four Divine Abodes. Lately I have become more aware and willing to strive to be harmless in all my interactions and communications with people and especially those closest to me. For most of my life I have had the tendency to be quite manipulative and have a way of making myself look better by making others look bad. I certainly take advantage of this if I know one side does not particularly like the other. I am determined to be mindful of this behavior and to put a stop to it.

Today’s field trip with the Mad Drunken Monkey mind has also given me the opportunity to better understand how concentration and mindfulness can transition into each other given the proper conditions. So if my mind is jumping all over the place and I am unable to gain concentration on breathing I can use my frame of mind as a subject of meditation if you will. Where is the mind going and where has it been? Has it been in the past or the future and what kind of feelings am I experiencing in the process? This brings me to the other interesting point I spent time contemplating. Just how many minds do I have anyway? Conventional wisdom would perhaps say one mind but my experience says there is possibly one mind that is getting bombarded by faster than light thoughts or even two or three minds or even more which in some cases are able to stand back and observe other minds. (Ultimately from the sense of non self I don’t have nor own anything, there is just mind and the conditions that produce the phenomena of mind but no “mind that is mine”).

I recall hearing someone ask Bhante G the question about what is it that observes the mind and his response was “mind observes mind”. Certainly this mind that rises and falls with boggling rapidity is capable of so much more than I have been “mindful” of in the past.
Finally, this experience today got me thinking more about one of the steps in the Noble Eightfold Path called Right Effort. It reads:

“Here (in this teaching), bhikkhus, a bhikkhu generates an intention, makes effort, rouses energy, applies his mind, and strives ardently to prevent the arising of evil, unwholesome states of mind that have not yet arisen.

He generates an intention, makes effort, rouses energy, applies his mind, and strives ardently to abandon evil, unwholesome states of mind that have arisen.
He generates an intention, makes effort, rouses energy, applies his mind, and strives ardently to attain wholesome states of mind that have not yet arisen.

He generates an intention, makes effort, rouses energy, applies his mind, and strives ardently to maintain the wholesome states of mind that have arisen, to prevent their lapsing, to increase them, to cause them to grow, and to completely develop them. This, bhikkhus, is called Right Effort.”

In the moments when I find myself day dreaming or ego and castle building I can practice Right Effort. Of course Right Effort can and should be practiced at all times but it’s these aimless mind wanderings that make me think about this step of Right Effort and how beneficial it is. So much of my time is spent generating subconscious and conscious karmic volition. Even while I am working my mind can be off somewhere creating scenarios where I am setting my boss straight or humiliating someone with my sharp wit or being the most handsome guy in the room. So many times I am off in an alternate reality building my ego and hurting people in the process that these rouge thoughts and wanderings become the behavior I express to people. The Bible and the Buddha both say “as a man thinks so is he.”

So Right Effort is a great cure for this problem of telling myself stories I want to here and putting endings to them where I am always the hero, always the winner and the survivor. Do you experience any of this too? Right Effort is not simply telling myself better or more acceptable stories but instead being mindful of the frame of mind I want to develop.

Mad Drunken Monkey Mind is not some Kung Fu fighting style it is a state of mind that needs to be observed in a detached manner with mindfulness. It is mindfulness that leads to insight as to the nature of this ever rising and dissolving phenomenon I perceive as a self.
I have to say that I have also gained a slightly better understanding and appreciation of how the physical state can upset a tranquil mind. That cigar left my body in a state of morbidity and my mind felt the consequences. The good thing about the mind is that you don’t have to wait long before a new one comes along.

May you be well, happy and peaceful!

Jhana

I down loaded a guided Meditation retreat from the Bhavana Society web site on Jhana meditation by Bhante G. Wow!

Lately I have been working really hard to practice loving kindness and developing the four sublime states as a way to improve my practice. Even though I still can be impatient, experience moments of anger and hate along with many other flaws, I am noticing an overall improvement and finding my time on the cushion more productive, relatively speaking.

The guided Jhana meditation was nothing short of profound this morning. Bhate G helped clear up alot of things, specifically how Vipassana and Jhana Meditation work together. I had always thought they were completely separate and until now I had no idea that I could work with both at the same time if need be. For me it was like the missing piece in my daily practice. It put me on track and gave me access to a much needed teacher.

In the past I've tried to go on retreats to the Bhavana Society but was unable to attend for one reason or another. I do go for most of the Buddhist holidays and it is such a wonderful place to experience peace and tranquility. I am glad they make these retreats available because it has certainly helped me and I am sure others as well.