Bill!, That is what I do: stop meditating and start over later. Regarding the ashes dropping burly man, I will send my bodyguard demon to come closer to you and see who is doing what first. Anthony
________________________________ From: William Rintala <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, 22 September 2012, 2:00 Subject: Re: [Zen] invasion Beautiful Bill! B Find what makes your heart sing…and do it! ________________________________ From: Bill! <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Fri, September 21, 2012 1:31:01 AM Subject: Re: [Zen] invasion Anthony, If the thoughts are that invasive then I guess you'll just have to stop meditating and give them some attention, although I think when you begin sitting all thoughts seem that way so don't be surprised if this doesn't work. Try concentrating on something like counting your breathes. Count 1 on an exhale and 2 on an inhale. Proceed like that to 10 and then start over. If you loose count start over at 1. If you go beyond 10 start over at 1. Just keep doing that until you are successful and can repeat that sequence successfully over and over again. Then send me another post. As far as the koan about what you should do about the man dropping ashes on the Buddha, come closer and I'll tell you... ...Bill! --- In mailto:Zen_Forum%40yahoogroups.com, Anthony Wu <wuasg@...> wrote: > > Bill!, >  > Some guests are stubborn. You can tell them you are busy or write down what > they want, they still insist on sitting on your sofa and making tea out of > your teapot. Master Seung Sahn has a koan where a burly man keeps dropping > ash on a Buddha image, and nothing can dissuage them. He is also strong that > there is no way you or your family can beat him. What should you do? I have > not had the answer to this koan. >  > Anthony > > > ________________________________ > From: Bill! <BillSmart@...> > To: mailto:Zen_Forum%40yahoogroups.com > Sent: Friday, 21 September 2012, 9:40 > Subject: Re: [Zen] invasion > > >  > Anthony, > > I was always told to just let the thoughts 'flow through you', acknowledge > them but then let them go. The teaching analogy that went with this is 'when > you're busy working in your house and someone comes and knocks on your door, > acknowledge them but tell them you're busy and ask them to come back later. > Don't invite them in for tea and a conversation.' > > Some zen practitioners I know suggest keeping a notebook and pen/pencil near > you when you meditate. That way if a thought comes that you just cannot get > rid of you can write it down, and then can go back to meditating with the > assurance you will attend to the thought later. > > I've never done that nor felt the need to do that, but it might be worth a > try if these thoughts/questions are keeping you from meditating. > > ...Bill! > > --- In mailto:Zen_Forum%40yahoogroups.com, Anthony Wu <wuasg@> wrote: > > > > KG, > >  > > Some say you should not suppress questions when you meditate, but let them > > come and go. Well they come here to stay. It takes time and effort to make > > them disappear. > >  > > Anthony > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: Kristopher Grey <kris@> > > To: mailto:Zen_Forum%40yahoogroups.com > > Sent: Thursday, 20 September 2012, 9:38 > > Subject: Re: [Zen] invasion > > > > > >  > > Same problem is created by attachment to thinking "well" applies to > > meditation! *L* > > > > Your "tip", perhaps pointier than it may appear! ;) > > > > KG > > > > > > On 9/19/2012 6:09 PM, Anthony Wu wrote: > > > >  > > >Merle, > > > > > >I give yo a tip. If you always want questions to be answered, you can > > >never meditate well. > > > > > >Anthony > > > > > > > > > > > >
