He suggests that “in the course of allowing these words to pour through you, perhaps a practice here, turn of phase there, a jungle scene or a bit of clearly enunciated wisdom will attract you, will attach to you, will be something to which you will cling. Calm insight will show you why that particular thought came into your focus. And when you have absorbed what you need, then that bit of stuff will be dislodged to float on down the stream of your passing thoughts, leaving you, more than ever, here now”.
I am always drawn to female dharma teachers. They seem rare in Zen.
So when I arrived at the chapter in the book that
described the dharma teachings of Achaan Naeb, a woman in her late
seventies who has established centers for study and meditation in
Thailand, I already felt
honored. I was listening.
Jack Kornfield writes that a visit to Achaan Naeb is a chance to hear clear and direct Dharma.
“She may first instruct the visitor to sit comfortably and then ask them not to move. Shortly, of course, one automatically begins to change position.
Jack Kornfield writes that a visit to Achaan Naeb is a chance to hear clear and direct Dharma.
“She may first instruct the visitor to sit comfortably and then ask them not to move. Shortly, of course, one automatically begins to change position.
“Wait, hold it. Why are you moving? Don’t move yet!”
The
teaching of Achaan Naeb point directly to the most obvious source of
suffering, our own bodies.
If we simply stay still and try not to move,
eventually there will be discomfort. This discomfort increases until we change posture. Almost all of
our actions throughout the day follow the same pattern. After waking, we
arise and go to the bathroom to ease the bladder pain. Then we eat to
ease the discomfort of hunger. Then we sit down to ease the pain of
standing. Then we read or talk or watch tv (or write a blog) to
distract us from the pain of our turbulent mind. Then we move again to
ease another discomfort. Each movement, each action is not to bring
happiness but to ease the inevitable suffering that comes from being
born with a body.”
I spent a few days making an effort to be mindful of all of these movements away from discomfort.
I spent a few days making an effort to be mindful of all of these movements away from discomfort.
I was astonished at the level of my habitual conditioning
to physical movement.
I decided to distract myself by going to the library. My task to keep my posture while greeting suffering had proven completely unsuccessful. I was waiting in line to check out my armful of books, when I noticed a darling little girl about four years old. She had a violet colored ballet dress which had been hastily thrown over her blue jeans and pink shirt. Her mother was involved in a discussion with the librarian, and had left the little dancer to her own devises. It was clear to me that she was impatient. Her body was starting to feel discomfort. She flapped her arms against her body; she jumped and stretched; she leaned against her mother and pulled at her mother's arms; when all of that movement failed to relieve the tension in her body, she ran as fast as her little pink rubber boots would allow to the very end of the library and back. Back and forth she ran, just trying to relieve the sensations in her little body.
Wow! She was so innocent. She so innocently practiced moving away from the discomfort in her body. It was so natural for her to do this, so instinctive… so human. I have much gratitude to this little girl who was my teacher this day. I could hear my mother complain to friends about my constantly spinning and bouncing body. “Be still”, she would say. I surely had been practicing a long time.
So the simple dharma of Achaan Naeb, is not so simple.
I decided to distract myself by going to the library. My task to keep my posture while greeting suffering had proven completely unsuccessful. I was waiting in line to check out my armful of books, when I noticed a darling little girl about four years old. She had a violet colored ballet dress which had been hastily thrown over her blue jeans and pink shirt. Her mother was involved in a discussion with the librarian, and had left the little dancer to her own devises. It was clear to me that she was impatient. Her body was starting to feel discomfort. She flapped her arms against her body; she jumped and stretched; she leaned against her mother and pulled at her mother's arms; when all of that movement failed to relieve the tension in her body, she ran as fast as her little pink rubber boots would allow to the very end of the library and back. Back and forth she ran, just trying to relieve the sensations in her little body.
Wow! She was so innocent. She so innocently practiced moving away from the discomfort in her body. It was so natural for her to do this, so instinctive… so human. I have much gratitude to this little girl who was my teacher this day. I could hear my mother complain to friends about my constantly spinning and bouncing body. “Be still”, she would say. I surely had been practicing a long time.
So the simple dharma of Achaan Naeb, is not so simple.
Nx
