Things I Like...and a change of plan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ak5K4M3X2c

Since there has been an overabundance of thoughts regarding things I dislike or that bother me, or things by which I am overwhelmed (as there are many of those in India when traveling alone),  I have decided to make a list of some things that I like or am grateful for.  These items came up either by their notable absence or presence, or by way of a memory here on my travels.   I suggest you do the same if you are having trouble with negative mental states...you are welcome to note some "likes" down below in the commentary field if you so desire.

I like being healthy.

I like doing my laundry in a bucket.

I like absence of white noise caused by a nearby T.V. or  radio.

I like being able to communicate at a reasonable volume and not having to scream over the mindnumbing techno beat that sounds just like the last 50 in some club designed to drown out reality. 

I like not feeling judged for wearing comfortable and practical unisex cotton clothing.

I like the sound of footsteps.

I like showers.

I like being around people who speak of mindfulness and act accordingly.  I like being able to look to those people for insipration and guidance.

I like being in a place where monetary wealth is not the measure of success in life.

I like that I lost my favorite scarf and I don't really care.

I like learning from my mistakes...and then recognizing that because I have learned from them that they are not mistakes but lessons.

I like realizing I am not limited to the things I thought I was. 

I like getting the hang of something new which prevously made me feel helpless.  This joy is a special gift reserved only for those people willing to try new things and make fools of themselves...the greater the fool, the greater the joy.

I like seeing people's faces and not a layer of makeup.

I like seeing man and wild animals living side by side.

I like seeing the swastika used in its original context: as an affirmation of the goodnes in life, as a symbol of the changing seasons and their ultimate oneness, as a representation of simultaneous motion and stillness.

I like being barefoot. 

I like not having a mirror or clock around all the time.

I like not having hair.  It's one less thing between my body and the world.

I like sitting quietly.

I like my in breath.

I like my out breath.

I like not having or needing money in my pocket.

I like being around people who encourage me to keep my Sila (the 5 precepts) and who don't make me feel bad for not wanting to put poison in my body and lose myself in unskillful actions.

I like recognizing that just because anger is present in my mind, doesn't mean I have to identify with it.

I like being grateful with no particular object of gratitude.

I like that she remembered after five years.

I like mosquito nets.

I like smiling and dancing with no perceivable reason to do either.

I like that I have enough friends and family where it is a pain in the ass to send them all postcards.

I like meeting people that don't want anything from me.

I like playing the guitar.

I like helping people that want my help.

I like that my family supports my travels and my progress along the path even though they don't totally get it all the time and they'd rather I go somewhere close like Canada, where they have drinkable water and don't have 3 million diseases.

I like knowing that the ability to be happy does not depend on external conditions or circumstances.

These are just a few...and there are many many more. 

I recently spent a few days at the Vipassana Center in Galta, outside of Jaipur near the Monkey Temple (pictures on facebook).  I had planned until very recently (so recently in fact, that the post cards and emails I sent out yesterday have the old schedule written on them) to move onto Agra today and then on into pilgrimage territory...but things have changed.  I won't try to explain in too much depth other than to say that something inside me is telling me to stay.  I don't know whether I started something I haven't finished or what, but I am staying for an 8 day course on the Mahasatipatthana Sutta (Discourse on the Great Establishing of Mindfulness, the text used most often in the teaching of Vipassana [insight/ looking deeply] meditation).  It is strange as I don't particularly agree with Goenkaji's interpretation of much of the text and since I wasn't particularly impressed with the facility...but that is not really the point.  I feel sicker when I think of leaving and healthier when I move back in the direction of the pagoda (an architectural symbol of the enlightened mind, which in this case conatins individual meditation cells and is supposed to strengthen the vibration of samadhi (concentration), looks like a stepped pyramid that comes to a point...a big stupa...its really hard to explain without a visual, look it up haha).  It may just be the recognition that I am overwhelmed and need to be in a quiet place where people aren't trying to sell me things, a place where I can gain composure and stability before continuing on, a place of refuge...but  I had my first really absorbed sit since being in India inside the pagoda and I feel like there is more work to be done here.  It may be nothing but I don't think so, what is the point of looking deeply and exploring the body and mind if you are going to ignore what you find in the name of a schedule.  I will have to do a litle reworking of the trip after I finish the course but oh well.  There is no schedule so important that it trumps health, peace and happiness.  I wanted to let everyone know so that when and if I go dark on the blog and email (I don't know whether I will get any signal in the students' quarters) that its not because I was attacked by a monkey or caught something more serious than the cold I've had since being sandwiched between those two Japanese tourists in the dorm bed at Pearl Palace.  I will send Metta out in all directions and I could use some support if you can manage it...but remember, only send out Metta to others AFTER you have sent Metta to yourself...if you can't wish happiness for yourself, you are of no use to others. 

"I know it would be outrageous
To come on all corageous
And offer you my hand
To pull you up on to dry land
When all I've got is sinking sand."

-David Gray

Create stability within yourself, create refuge where it cannot be stripped away by anyone.  Then you can reach out to others.  Be good and be well...We'll speak again soon.