BSTRA Ride-Roll-Run Relay: A Great Example of Living in the NOW!

It was a good race on Sunday.  I found out about the race from a friend I work with.  We have been on trail committees together also.  Anyway, I’m a mountain biker and love the kind of riding that was required in this race: cross country on and off road.  29er tires pumped up hard and ready to go fast.

I didn’t know either of my team-mates prior to race day.  Becky was our horse rider (and the head of BSTRA…nice that!).  Jessie was our runner.  A cute young lady that was built lean like a runner (I was once a runner in another life).  We kicked butt.  The horses went first (6.8 miles) and Becky was the second one to the transition area.  The first biker on the course headed out about 10 minutes ahead of me. Then it was my turn.

I got on my Stump Jumper 29er and took off.  I had ridden the course several times before the race and was completely confident in my ability to blaze the trail.  I expected to do a time of about 35 minutes.  I finished in 31 minutes and was THE FASTEST BIKER!  I passed the bracelet to Jessie and she was off on the 5 mile run course.  I have no idea how she did for time (not posted on the BSTRA page yet) but she did great as we came in First Place!  “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” was our team name.  If my memory is accurate: we came in at 2:07:00, 2^nd was 2:10:00 and 3^rd was 2:13:00, so it was a close one.  All I know is, I went as fast as I could and never looked behind me.  Actually, I could have gone faster...

We got nice medals with blue ribbons. I love stuff like this.  I’m competitive to the point of lunacy.  I can tell you this: I don’t remember much about my race. I was on auto pilot almost.  I was on a mission.  I was the epitome of living right now…right then.  Nothing else mattered, just getting over that course as fast as possible. I now know I can break 30 minutes and that will be my goal if they have the race again next year and I hope they do.  It was a great idea for a relay race, especially since the idea is to promote all these ways of enjoying the 5000+ acres in the Douglas State Forest and other trail systems.

This was my first “race” in a very long time.  I had to stop running due to bad knees.  I was heading to a point where I was going to need my right knee replaced.  I loved road races.  I’ll have to find at least one more race for this year…two more would be better.

This race again, was a great example of Right Now thinking.  A mountain bike race meditation!  It was about getting through that course as fast as possible, big ring most of the time in the woods, keeping the eyes open for obstacles on the trails and making sure to have plenty of momentum on the rolling uphills.  Of course, for me, it was also important to ride that course several times before race day.  This turned out to serve me well as many riders got lost due to poor planning and to be fair, the course could have been marked a bit better.

I’m sleeping over at the Zen Center Wednesday night.  I will have some info on that after…

Peace and clear mind…

Three Rabbits and a Dead Cat

Went for a bike ride after work yesterday.  It was a beautiful day.  Was tired and was going to stay home but dragged the bike out and headed for the woods.  Saw a rabbit right away, scampering along doing its thing.  Living in the NOW.  Then there were two more and who knows what those two were up to.  They were all enjoying a marvelous day.  They weren't carrying around anything from the past and they weren't concerned about anything other than what they were doing at that moment.  Marvelous!  It was said before but we can learn a lot from the animal world.

Eventually went to a place to do some hill work (to get stronger at climbing hills).  At the top of the hill there was a dead cat that must have recently been hit by a car.  It looked like my cat Simon, a ragdoll.  They should never go outside. They are not smart about traffic and they are too trusting.  It probably got loose.  This was sad to see but Zen teaches that there is no difference between that dead cat and those living rabbits.

We all come and go on this planet (and perhaps to others).  We live many lives in physical form and our true selves live forever.  That cat's journey in that particular role is over.  We all have roles in our daily lives and roles in each of our lives.  These "roles" are not who we really are.  Who we really are is what we were before we were born and after we die.  It should be a happy time to go back home.  The cat is back home and perhaps soon to receive a new role.  Life and death is the same in Zen as the true self never dies.  The cat is not dead it just no longer needs that particular shell.  That dead cat is not the cat.  Make sense?

This relates well to what is now going on with Ralphy, my dog.  He is going on 15 years old and has been sick off and on for the last year or so.  He has dimentia and can't hear or see very well.  He also is not drinking enough water and is getting constantly dehydrated.  He has been to the vet regularly lately, most recently for a large lump on his neck.  It is getting better with antibiotics.  His dimentia is better with meds.  He sleeps better with the help of Xanax, a tranquilizer.  This life journey for him is coming to a close.  It is sad.  He is part of the family and has been for a long time.  But, it is also not sad because soon he is going back home.

Death is a part of life and life is part of a bigger picture which is beyond what most of us can understand.  We are not the body we inhabit.  We are what is left when our body is gone.  We are what we were before we were born.  We are as infinite as the universe.

Peace and clear mind...

Be the Hawk

This reminds me of last weekend when I was riding in Franklin.  I had to ride through some trails along high tension wires.  A red tail flew above me from behind and landed on the next furthest stanchion, up on the top.  The wires were buzzing loud.  I wondered how they know what they can and can’t sit on.  I decided to be the hawk, to try out the Zen I have been practicing.

When I got close enough, it flew off and headed for the next furthest stanchion away and watched me.  It was watching me the whole time.  Anyway, eventually we both lost interest and I headed down a nice downhill single track that runs from the YMCA in Franklin to Grove Street.   Normally, I have to say (and those that ride with me will agree) I’m a pretty timid rider.  Well, on this downhill I glided smooth and fast and felt like I was soaring or flying.  For a short time, I WAS the hawk.  That was cool.  The feeling was gone before I got to Grove Street but fun while it lasted.

On the opposite side of the coin today, I came home and got myself all riled up because my light for my bike wouldn’t work right.  There is something wrong with the battery pack.  I spent so much time trying to fix it and getting worked up, I ended up deciding to go to the gym only to blow that off too.  I was the battery pack when I came home.  I made myself a piece of technology…busted technology.  That didn’t make much sense.  When I was the hawk, I was free.  When I was stuck inside technology, I was a mess.  There is a moral there…

Peace...clear mind!

Rene Dubos...Dr. Dubos...author of "A God Within"

This is a very smart gentleman.  This was written 40 years ago.  Dr. Dubos had great insight into where we were (are) heading as a race.  This book is still quite relevant today.  He was professor emeritus at The Rockefeller University in New York City, a microbiologist and experimental pathologist.  He wrote many important books including “So Human an Animal” which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969.

It starts off with Theology of The Earth.  God of Earth and The Universe.  God who is within us all.  God.

Then…it takes off on a scientific journey on how we as a race are losing sight of what is important.  Understand, this book was written in 1972.  God within us gets lost in most of the book’s scientific and environmental tangents.  Rene’s intentions are good.  He discusses environmental issues that are going to have a serious effect on the near and distant future (and they have 40 years later of course).

Here’s some tidbits…remember he wrote this 40 years ago.

-          "All ancient civilizations have expressed wonderment at the beauty of the Earth.  Technological civilization has created a progressive loss in concern for the beauty of the Earth.  It has been degraded and devalued as has human life."

-          "There is a demon in technology and it was put there by man.  Man will have to exorcise it before man can once again achieve the 18^th century ideal of humane civilized life."

-          "If present trends were to continue for a few more decades  (it has been 4 decades since this was written), mankind will indeed be doomed – not to extinction but to a biologically and emotionally impoverished life."

From T.S. Eliot:

We shall not cease from exploration,
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

Remember this is 1972.  Rene writes: “The means of communication between and within groups are becoming more numerous, varied and efficient (what would he think of all the ways to communicate we have today?)  Yet, paradoxically, the outcomes of this interdependence and ready communication are the lonely crowd and also a pathological cult of personality.”  This could have been written in present time and still would make sense.

“There is something fundamentally irrational in a society which makes the ways of life of its members conform to the efficiency of technological operations, rather than to their individual needs and aspirations.  Efficiency may be an essential criterion of modern technology, but man is not a machine.  Diversity, not efficiency, is the sine qua non of a rich and creative human life.”  This man was way ahead of his time…

Thoreau had faith in man’s potential but little respect for man’s inability to do much with it.  He believed his contemporaries were failures because the true way had been lost a long time ago.  Thoreau hoped that his return to nature, his traveling the road not taken, would help him find a better future and hoped that others would follow.

Peace and clear mind...

Walking Meditation and Other Ways to Meditate

What a concept.  Meditate while walking.  Sounds dangerous...but no, not really.  The concept of walking meditation is using the action of walking as a form of meditation. It allows us to become mindful and aware of who we are, what we do, and how our bodies exist. It gives us an easy point of focus and depending on how aware we are it can be an intense experience.  It gives us something to focus on besides our thoughts.  In seated meditation, one's thoughts can easily sneak in but while walking, you have things to concentrate on that distract you from thinking.  You have to pay attention to the pace of the group so you don't lag behind or walk into the person in front of you.  You can also look around the room or if you are outside, enjoy what is going on around you.  The idea is to not think about the past or future, just experience what is going on RIGHT NOW. 

Once during a walking meditation, we were outside and there were birds chirping and doing their thing.  The instructor said to become the birds.  Picture yourself as the birds.  If you can do it, you will be free of any nonsense in your head.  A friend of mine recently said "stop and smell the roses" so I came back with "stop and be the roses."  Very Zen!

Now I take this one step further.  I spend a great deal of time mountain biking.  What about mountain bike riding meditation?  If I spend my ride stewing about the day's events or other past events or stress about the future, my ride is not going to be very enjoyable.  So, when out riding I like to just stay in the moment.  Nothing else exists but me, the bike and the woods.  I experience nature and its beauty.  This past weekend I saw a pheasant, a house with a crazy amount of exotic birds on the property, turkey vultures, seagulls, I think a partridge but may be wrong on that one, cats, dogs, people and of course all kinds of trails.  Trails that are smooth, rocky, technical, hilly (up and down).  All kinds of good stuff to keep me in the moment and keep me from thinking of anything other than what is going on RIGHT NOW.  Right now thinking is peaceful thinking.

I also came across some tunnels, bridges, old train remnants, the Blackstone River, brooks and ponds and lakes.  The outdoors is a great adventure for me and I like to document my rides with lots of pictures.  Perhaps too many pictures as my rides seem to be getting shorter and the amount of pictures is increasing.  I want to get a nice digital SLR.  I also want to ride more.  It's all about balance.

Back to walking meditation.  I can do this at work.  At mid-day it makes a great stress reliever.  I used to walk during the day and think about all the "stuff" that was driving me crazy.  Whether it was work stuff or life stuff.  Now I have learned to think of nothing while I walk at work.  I just pay attention to my walk and the things I come across.  This is how to take a break and relax: DON'T THINK ABOUT ANYTHING BUT THE MOMENT.  Otherwise, how are you going to relax?  Thinking about the past doesn't help you relax and sweating the future doesn't help you relax so, STOP DOING IT! 

Working out at the gym can be meditation also.  Just think about the exercises and do them.  Look around and soak up the atmosphere but leave the un-productive thoughts at the door.  When you are at the gym, life's "stuff" does not exist.  It is just you and your workout(s).  It's you and the others there and their workouts.  It's the music, the noise, the sweat.

True Zen Masters are supposedly in a meditative state all the time.  This simply means they are ALWAYS living in the moment.  This is a tough thing to achieve, but the closer you can get, the happier and closer to serentiy you will be!

Peace!  Clear your mind!

A Humbling Six Hours of Meditation Retreat

Most of what you carry around isn't "you."  Most of what the world sees of me isn't "me." - Zen of Ken

Spent seven hours at the Zen Center yesterday, maybe the nicest day of the year so far.  Sunny, warm and wonderful.  A great day to be outside doing anything.  I spent most of that time inside meditating.  Nancy was the Dharma teacher running the show.  There were a couple people from the Kwan Um school in Lexington and four from the one in Barnstable, a kid from Franklin and then some residents and regulars.  A very good group of people. The kid from Franklin was a bit stressed out but we all had our reasons for being there. 

I had my first interview with Dharma teacher, Nancy, from Charlestown, RI.  Nothing of interest to tell there.  I had no profound questions to ask or questions on anything I am struggling with.  So, she just suggested I breathe with my abdomen not my chest…I’ll have to read up on this but practiced it.  I guess it is a more relaxing way to breathe?  I guess I should have asked her.  I had plenty to talk about but the words didn’t come to me.  I’m still a serious newbie. 

Six hours is a long time to meditate especially when you can look outside all day and see how sunny and know how warm it is.  A great way to spend half the day with no worries and no thoughts, however.  No stress with no yesterday and no tomorrow.  Live for what is going on NOW.  That’s what we did today.  That is Zen!

The day started at 9:00 with all of us on the retreat meeting at the Zen Center in Cumberland, RI.  We got some instruction, put on our robes and headed for the dharma room.  Seated meditation started at 9:30.  We did 25 minutes, then 10 walking, 25 more seated, etc.  Six hours is definitely a challenge for anyone's knees, including mine. 

We did do one walking meditation outside in the woods around the property and sat for one 25 minute session in a circle in a clearing around a fire pit.  It was sunny and warm.  It would have been nice to spend the whole day outside.  There was a swampy pond outside and it was full of frogs making their spring noises (early for that but we've had great weather and everything appears to be happening early when it comes to the outdoors).  There are a lot of trails on the property and I have been told I can ride them on my bike.  I just have to stay away from the monastery and around 3:00 the monks do a walking meditation outside and they are to be left alone and given their distance.

We ended the day with a few chanting meditations and then a late lunch.  Everyone's stomaches were growling towards the end as we were all hungry, having had no food since breakfast (whatever we all ate before we showed up).  There was quite a feast: salad, cole slaw made with fruit (yummy), soup, lasagna, rice, water.  We all got to discuss how the day was for us.  Everyone was being positive except the young kid from Franklin who said the day "sucked" for him.  He made us all laugh as he was being a bit tongue in cheek (yet brutally honest).  Like everything, nothing always works and not always going to be a good experience. I don't know what his journey is so don't know why it was a bad day for him.

It was a good day for me.  Peaceful.  Nice to not think for most of that beautiful day.  I had no great revelations or anything regarding my meditations.  Just peace and the past and future did not exist during that pleasant day.  While inside we heard birds singing and the same when outside.  I also saw a male and female Cardinal doing their spring thing.  And again, the frogs.  All of God's creatures were living in the now, not thinking about anything but the moment.  I rode home in silence.

God bless and I hope everyone reading this has a good and pleasant week!

Don't Think...Chew Bones!

Eckhart Tolle.  I love this guy.  A new friend emailed me recently and this quote of his was on her signature line:

“Just as the dog loves to chew bones, the human mind loves it’s problems. We get lost in doing, thinking, remembering, anticipating – lost in a maze of complexity and a world of problems. Nature can show us the way home…”

This reminds me of a recent post of mine:  "The Zen of Simon."  We can indeed learn a lot from nature.  Man used to to be one with nature and most of us have lost our way.  We are sadly caught up in technology and toys and other material things that really don't matter in the grand scheme of things.  We are destroying our planet, running out of something as simple as fresh drinking water.  Never mind things like "pink slime" and other things we are eating.  Most of our food is processed, removing most if not all the nutrients.  Most of our food is controlled and poisoned by companies like Monsanto, a chemical company.  I am going to stop here because this is all for another discussion at another time.

I was aware of the book "The Power of Now" but I was not aware of who the author was and not aware of much about him.  From Wikipedia: In 2011, he was listed by the Watkins Review as the most spiritually influential person in the world.  In 2008, a New York Times writer called Tolle "the most popular spiritual author in the nation [United States]."

I feel blessed to have come across this man and now plan to read his books (I read a lot....always reading at least one book and am currently reading three).  When you open yourself up for God to do His will, it's amazing what can happen.  I recognized immediately that Eckhart had studied Zen.  He has studied many religions and philosophies but appears to lean heavily towards Zen Buddhism.  Fantastic.

I have been going to the Providence Zen Center for just over a month now and already can see and feel that I am changing.  I don't want to dive too heavily into it yet (I don't want to get ahead of myself) but am going to a day retreat there on Sunday which should be "enlightening."  I will have a chance to have an interview/private meeting with the Zen Master.  This is important to me as I want her to know who I am and why I am there.  I also want guidance and help. 

Meditate and clear your mind so you can find peace.  I am looking for peace, for a less stressful life free of anxiety and fear.  I also want to be a better person so I can do a better job of helping the people in my life and people in general.  I already feel God is helping me. 

Don't think...chew bones!