Today's writing assignment was to think about any of the many mysteries in the world that you want an answer to, even if it doesn't seem possible, and share the mystery with the class and explain why it appeals to your imagination.
The students came up with many great mysteries, and amongst all of them I think we covered all the basics with a few unique ones.
The first mystery was about where all the religions came from, and who imagined them, and who came up with the good one's channeled from God and who came up with the silly ones. Also, what's with all the animal worship? Why this animal and not that animal?
My favorite mystery was about the pyramids in Mexico and Egypt, that specifically the pyramids at Teotihuacan outside Mexico are on the same "magnetic line" or something like that. I just did a little research online and I'm not exactly sure what the student was talking about, but it sounds good to me, because I love my pyramids. Especially the ones at Giza and Teotihuacan...
There were many other mysteries brought up by classmates: chicken or the egg? Clinical death? Time travel? After life? Who stole the cookie from my cookie jar? That was mine actually. I'm still mad about it.
The last mystery was about meditation. I thought this interesting because I'd just checked out a book about meditation by English philosopher and West Coast celebrity entertainer/author Alan Watts, and finished it last night. The woman wanted to know how people who report great feelings of happiness and contentment after meditating are able to do so. "How do you pull your being down into your stomach? I don't get it!"
I told them about the only time I truly meditated according to any traditional system. It was four years ago, June 2009, at a music festival (yeah, I know, it already sounds suspect) with a spiritual healer/wandering synchronicity slacker. He's all over my first book. I'd been really sick and out of breath after a visit to New York City the month before. When I got to my third Bonnaroo, I saw this man who I had seen six times around the country, the first being in this same place, Bonnaroo, three years earlier. I finally met him and he told me he does Qi Gong breathing, and takes donations based on how good people feel afterward. I sat in the lotus position, he told me to close my eyes and focus on nothing else but breathing, and then he chanted weird things in Hindi around me, even though Qi Gong is Chinese. Apparently he had wandered all over India. I had just been considering switching the starting point of my first journey to India instead of Thailand. He made me feel much better, and the feelings of breathlessness and fatigue only returned once, a month later, when I was incredibly stressed out.
A year later I found myself meditating inside the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt, and at the end of the year I was doing the same on top of the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico. I didn't have much training, and I always like to add my own imagination to any process the universe goes through the bother of having me have. But according to the masters, the main benefit of meditation stems from focusing on breathing and letting your mind's thoughts slowly slip away so that you feel clarity and focus on the bliss of being. If, during that process, your mind wanders amongst myriad thoughts, that's okay, it's all part of it. But eventually you should settle into a relaxed focused rhythm which simultaneously lets go of your sense of self and control. As long as you're aware of that part, you can meditate any time, anywhere, and goes wherever you want to go inside your mind.
Today, after class, I took a quick nap at home and got in the car. I checked out a nearby park and then headed for highway 1. I eventually found a spot on the beach to watch the sunset on the Pacific. I'd brought my headphones and materials to read, but I didn't even open my bag. I just sat and listened to the waves and watched the sun and the birds flying overhead, and breathed in and out at somewhat equal rates, and let my mind go where it felt like going. I felt very clear and very good about everything. A lot of the issues swirling around my brain had clear solutions to them. I enjoyed the drive back home, and got on the internet when I got back to my room.
The first thing I saw was a post from my friend Glenn, describing the diversity of his news feed, but limited to only four categories. It seemed like he was both celebrating and bemoaning the predictable diversity of the daily din. Realizing that most of my status updates fit into one of the four categories, I tried to spice it up by adding some information about lemurs, a delightful primate from Madagascar. It was kind of an inside joke.
Right after I moved away from New York City, Glenn moved there, so when I came back to visit in May of 2009, I accompanied him around Manhattan during a day of job searching. Once we got sick of that we made our way to Union Square to meet a girl I knew and her friend. However, on the way we saw a place of business and spiritual guidance production created by a science fiction writer. It said there was a free 15 minute video every half hour, and Glenn was interested because he's a mischievous skeptic. Normally we might be weary of mixing with a group notorious for its aggressive salesmanship (not to say it's the only one of its kind), but we were together, and had a strong history of righteous rebellious behavior at one another's sides, so we figured we'd be safe. We were, at least mentally. The movie didn't make any sense at all. It just kept saying that when you're older you might remember stuff that happened to you when you were younger, and it might not make sense and ruin your life somehow, so you should buy their book which explains everything. Especially if life ever bothers you at any point, or if you ever feel tired or confused. We both commented that the air quality in the room was strange. Glenn thought there was too much oxygen, and I thought too little. Either way, breathing was hard.
After the film we left and thought we would be on our way, but they wouldn't let us go. They kept insisting we fill out a questionnaire about the movie. Glenn had decided to take on the role of my British pen pal (he's an actor), and I had decided to take on the role of the person playing a completely different game whose answers make no sense in the limited context of their sheet. I wrote the score to a basketball game as the answer to one question, in reference to a Seinfeld episode. When asked what I would like to learn more about, I wrote I wanted to learn more about lemurs, because that was the first thing that popped into my head. I didn't know she was going to scrutinize the answers and go over them with us face to face before she let us leave. She wanted to know why I liked lemurs so much. I said we can learn a lot from everything, so I imagine lemurs would have something to teach us too. In fact, we could learn a lot from all of the animals, as we were animals too. She said that science teaches we are nothing more than animals, but her business--er, faith--teaches that people are spiritual beings, especially if we gave her thirty dollars for a book about it. Glenn chimed in with his perfect British accent and said, "Some might say that humans, are, a spiritual animal." She didn't like that. She kept telling me I could read the science fiction book if I gave her 30 dollars, and then I'd be happy, and I kept telling her I was saving all of my money for a book about lemurs, which wasn't totally true, but we were on our way to a book store, so it wasn't a complete lie. If forced to choose, I would have chosen the lemur book. I honestly found them more fascinating. She got mad at the last mention of lemurs and told us we could go, slamming down her thirty dollar revelation of universal prophecy. When we got outside we were never happier to breathe New York City air. We had a great lunch with my friends, and then went to this really famous bookstore near Union Square. It was there that I bought my copy of The Alchemist. It's about a boy who goes on a spiritual journey and brave adventure to the pyramids at Giza in Egypt. I accept no one set of words as the final and concrete truth or representation of truth, but still, I really love that book (and it only cost about $10). It really helped me survive around the world and achieve my dreams. It still does. Amongst many others, of course. Diversity is always key.
Which brings me back to lemurs. This is what I shared on Glenn's page and then the news feed so that his news feed would be more diverse:
Here's to you, whatever mystery you find yourself drawn to,
and here's to lemurs too!
The students came up with many great mysteries, and amongst all of them I think we covered all the basics with a few unique ones.
The first mystery was about where all the religions came from, and who imagined them, and who came up with the good one's channeled from God and who came up with the silly ones. Also, what's with all the animal worship? Why this animal and not that animal?
My favorite mystery was about the pyramids in Mexico and Egypt, that specifically the pyramids at Teotihuacan outside Mexico are on the same "magnetic line" or something like that. I just did a little research online and I'm not exactly sure what the student was talking about, but it sounds good to me, because I love my pyramids. Especially the ones at Giza and Teotihuacan...
There were many other mysteries brought up by classmates: chicken or the egg? Clinical death? Time travel? After life? Who stole the cookie from my cookie jar? That was mine actually. I'm still mad about it.
The last mystery was about meditation. I thought this interesting because I'd just checked out a book about meditation by English philosopher and West Coast celebrity entertainer/author Alan Watts, and finished it last night. The woman wanted to know how people who report great feelings of happiness and contentment after meditating are able to do so. "How do you pull your being down into your stomach? I don't get it!"
I told them about the only time I truly meditated according to any traditional system. It was four years ago, June 2009, at a music festival (yeah, I know, it already sounds suspect) with a spiritual healer/wandering synchronicity slacker. He's all over my first book. I'd been really sick and out of breath after a visit to New York City the month before. When I got to my third Bonnaroo, I saw this man who I had seen six times around the country, the first being in this same place, Bonnaroo, three years earlier. I finally met him and he told me he does Qi Gong breathing, and takes donations based on how good people feel afterward. I sat in the lotus position, he told me to close my eyes and focus on nothing else but breathing, and then he chanted weird things in Hindi around me, even though Qi Gong is Chinese. Apparently he had wandered all over India. I had just been considering switching the starting point of my first journey to India instead of Thailand. He made me feel much better, and the feelings of breathlessness and fatigue only returned once, a month later, when I was incredibly stressed out.
A year later I found myself meditating inside the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt, and at the end of the year I was doing the same on top of the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico. I didn't have much training, and I always like to add my own imagination to any process the universe goes through the bother of having me have. But according to the masters, the main benefit of meditation stems from focusing on breathing and letting your mind's thoughts slowly slip away so that you feel clarity and focus on the bliss of being. If, during that process, your mind wanders amongst myriad thoughts, that's okay, it's all part of it. But eventually you should settle into a relaxed focused rhythm which simultaneously lets go of your sense of self and control. As long as you're aware of that part, you can meditate any time, anywhere, and goes wherever you want to go inside your mind.
Today, after class, I took a quick nap at home and got in the car. I checked out a nearby park and then headed for highway 1. I eventually found a spot on the beach to watch the sunset on the Pacific. I'd brought my headphones and materials to read, but I didn't even open my bag. I just sat and listened to the waves and watched the sun and the birds flying overhead, and breathed in and out at somewhat equal rates, and let my mind go where it felt like going. I felt very clear and very good about everything. A lot of the issues swirling around my brain had clear solutions to them. I enjoyed the drive back home, and got on the internet when I got back to my room.
The first thing I saw was a post from my friend Glenn, describing the diversity of his news feed, but limited to only four categories. It seemed like he was both celebrating and bemoaning the predictable diversity of the daily din. Realizing that most of my status updates fit into one of the four categories, I tried to spice it up by adding some information about lemurs, a delightful primate from Madagascar. It was kind of an inside joke.
Right after I moved away from New York City, Glenn moved there, so when I came back to visit in May of 2009, I accompanied him around Manhattan during a day of job searching. Once we got sick of that we made our way to Union Square to meet a girl I knew and her friend. However, on the way we saw a place of business and spiritual guidance production created by a science fiction writer. It said there was a free 15 minute video every half hour, and Glenn was interested because he's a mischievous skeptic. Normally we might be weary of mixing with a group notorious for its aggressive salesmanship (not to say it's the only one of its kind), but we were together, and had a strong history of righteous rebellious behavior at one another's sides, so we figured we'd be safe. We were, at least mentally. The movie didn't make any sense at all. It just kept saying that when you're older you might remember stuff that happened to you when you were younger, and it might not make sense and ruin your life somehow, so you should buy their book which explains everything. Especially if life ever bothers you at any point, or if you ever feel tired or confused. We both commented that the air quality in the room was strange. Glenn thought there was too much oxygen, and I thought too little. Either way, breathing was hard.
After the film we left and thought we would be on our way, but they wouldn't let us go. They kept insisting we fill out a questionnaire about the movie. Glenn had decided to take on the role of my British pen pal (he's an actor), and I had decided to take on the role of the person playing a completely different game whose answers make no sense in the limited context of their sheet. I wrote the score to a basketball game as the answer to one question, in reference to a Seinfeld episode. When asked what I would like to learn more about, I wrote I wanted to learn more about lemurs, because that was the first thing that popped into my head. I didn't know she was going to scrutinize the answers and go over them with us face to face before she let us leave. She wanted to know why I liked lemurs so much. I said we can learn a lot from everything, so I imagine lemurs would have something to teach us too. In fact, we could learn a lot from all of the animals, as we were animals too. She said that science teaches we are nothing more than animals, but her business--er, faith--teaches that people are spiritual beings, especially if we gave her thirty dollars for a book about it. Glenn chimed in with his perfect British accent and said, "Some might say that humans, are, a spiritual animal." She didn't like that. She kept telling me I could read the science fiction book if I gave her 30 dollars, and then I'd be happy, and I kept telling her I was saving all of my money for a book about lemurs, which wasn't totally true, but we were on our way to a book store, so it wasn't a complete lie. If forced to choose, I would have chosen the lemur book. I honestly found them more fascinating. She got mad at the last mention of lemurs and told us we could go, slamming down her thirty dollar revelation of universal prophecy. When we got outside we were never happier to breathe New York City air. We had a great lunch with my friends, and then went to this really famous bookstore near Union Square. It was there that I bought my copy of The Alchemist. It's about a boy who goes on a spiritual journey and brave adventure to the pyramids at Giza in Egypt. I accept no one set of words as the final and concrete truth or representation of truth, but still, I really love that book (and it only cost about $10). It really helped me survive around the world and achieve my dreams. It still does. Amongst many others, of course. Diversity is always key.
Which brings me back to lemurs. This is what I shared on Glenn's page and then the news feed so that his news feed would be more diverse:
Here's to you, whatever mystery you find yourself drawn to,
and here's to lemurs too!
CELEBRATE THE MYSTERY OF OUR
ADAPTABLE DIVERSE SPIRIT ANIMALS
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