Living in Nyamshak
Sojong Reminder from Anam Thubten 8/2020
Dear Dharma friends,
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Most human beings, regardless of profession or lifestyle, generally share a common daily rhythm of going to work, eating at home, sleeping and waking. No human being can completely transcend these habits. They make life feel more egalitarian - that we are more or less the same, and even quite ordinary. True spirituality is not about being special, but continuing to grow and evolve while being as authentic as we can be every day. As the purpose of contemplative life is to live consciously, our activities are about more than just survival. We intentionally try to engage our lives with a more enlightened state of mind each day.
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The traditional teachings often categorized the life of a dharma practitioner into two periods: nyamzhak or meditative equipoise, and jethop or post-meditation. Nymazhak is a period of formal meditation, such as sitting in silence, on a cushion, in the right posture. This is also referred to as “sky-like state of mind”, because our mind untangles itself from thoughts and feels itself spacious and free. In such moments, our personal self is no longer the ground of our being. We’re relating to reality from the perspective of non-judging, pure awareness. Countless “aha moments” show us what the nature of reality actually is, and it’s quite different from what the usual thinking mind perceives. It’s not merely a cognizant recognition of the big picture of reality, but an inner awakening accompanied with profound joy. This joyful awakening morphs into love or compassion in response to whatever situation might arise moment to moment.
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The moment we rise from the mediation cushion, we usually fall into a habit of forgetting what we’ve just seen. We fall back into the old state of mind. To help us make sure that awareness continues into the next period, the idea of post-meditation was created. The post-meditation period is about not forgetting what we’ve seen during the meditation, and to navigate all situations by remembering the true nature of realty. Simply thinking about post-meditation helps us let go of our inner struggles and set our intention for how we want live all of the hours we’re not mediating.
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During this Sojong, let’s reflect on how we live our everyday lives, especially during moments when we’re engaged in mundane activities. We might like to make a commitment to live in awareness wherever we might be.
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With palms joined,
Anam Thubten
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