Buddhism Part Two

Today I went to another center. A Meditation Center. Unlike my last visit to the Buddhist Center, this was an instruction on meditation. We sat in a small room (we meaning me and two other dudes) while Lynne instructed us very calmly and patiently how to meditate the Shambhala way. Apparently there are many types of meditation. You are free to meditate however you like, but they prefer you not mix the types, as then they may not know how to instruct or help you. So in this type, you sit on a tall foam block, instead of a small pillow. It was a little easier for me to sit this way. Your eyes are open. You are not looking at anything, but kind of focusing 2-3 feet in from of you. You acknowledge your thoughts and label them "thinking". This is good for me since I like to categorize and organize things. Your thoughts are just that: thinking. You concentrate on your breath. Feel it. Hear it. Live it. So we practice, then we talk about it. Then we practice again. Then Lynne gives us the ins and outs of the center and etiquette, etc. After that, she asks if we would like to sit in on the last part of the public meditation. "Sure!", I say. I'm game.

So we go into the public meditation room where meditation is already in progress. We go sit down and start to meditate. Easy enough right? Wrong. Of course I am consumed with thoughts, and try to label them "thinking". Then that sends my thoughts on another tangent. Much like the Bing commercials about search overload. Goes a little something like this. "This guy is breathing heavy. Wait, that's thinking. Yup, I'm thinking. Is it Saturday or Sunday? It's Sunday. I think. Man! I'm thinking again. Breathe. In. Out. Do they have the windows open in here? That dude totally has a mosquito on his arm. I hope it doesn't come over here to me and bite me on the face. Great. Now I'm itching. Is it a mosquito or am I just paranoid?! Why would they have the windows open and let mosquitoes in here when they know everyone is trying to concentrate. Who can concentrate with mosquitoes biting them? Not me. That's for sure. Wait. Where's the Buddha statue? What's that brush thing? Looks Native American. I wonder why they have so much rice in the bowls. Dude, that's thinking AGAIN!" At that moment I hear the familiar sounds of the singing bowl and someone says we'll now start the closing chants. Ok, I say. Not so bad. Maybe got 1-2 good seconds of meditation in there somewhere. That counts for something.