#pemako

look for the name: COCO

@lucacangettathisass

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mm6 maison margiela off-shoulder sheer bodysuit in black

simone rocha heart-shaped toe lace-up leather ballerina pumps in black

houbigant paris "pivoine souveraine" eau de parfum

Now is a good time to discuss dynamic concentration. I'll turn this into a full post in the future.

To define the precise meaning and purpose of dynamic in the context of concentration practices, we can contrast it with neutral and peaceful concentration practices.

A neutral concentration practice would be something like jangama dhyana. You sit, close your eyes, and rest your attention on the space between your eyebrows. Simple.

A peaceful concentration practice entails deep relaxation with wakeful attention. This could be something like placing your attention on slow, rhythmic breathing with or without body-scanning.

A dynamic concentration practice involves short repetitive bursts of full body intensity interspersed with periods of rest. For example, the thunderbolt mantra PHET (pronounced like the english word "pet" with a strong initial exhalation for the PHE) can be shouted 108 times like any other mala repetition. Then you rest in relaxed open awareness. And then shout again, then rest again. Back and forth.

Being well-versed in a variety of techniques, when applied appropriately, will help you to overcome common obstacles on the path. Neutral, peaceful, and dynamic practices are each valuable in their own unique ways.

Right now you feel foggy, lethargic, and drained. I am guessing that this is not due to a lack of proper self care. If you are not getting an appropriate amount of sleep, exercise, and food then definitely make those lifestyle adjustments as well. However, sometimes we get more than enough of those things and yet still feel this indolent, restless grogginess.

Dynamic practices cut directly through it. It is like the zen master who thumps their disciple with a dharma stick. One session of dynamic practice may be enough to shake you out of it for a bit. Do it daily until you find some balance.

Here is an effective guided dynamic practice session on YouTube.

Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions about dynamic practices.

May your freedom from suffering be marked by the glorious roars of the badass buddha within!

All of us live with this thing inside of us. We try to appease it by seeking its pleasure and avoiding its pain. We want to provide it confidence and security. We allow it masks of identity. And then we adorn it with validation.

What is that thing inside of us? The feeling of “I.”

Because perfect accomplishment of the above goals is impossible, suffering results. The “I” suffers. But what is that “I” really?

Within each of us is a point of tension that is used as a reference point to interact with our idea of ourself and our idea of the world. That point of tension we have become accustomed to calling “I.”

It may seem harmless enough but this fundamental point of tension becomes ten thousand tensions. The tensions between ourself and our desires. The tensions between ourself and our fears and anxieties. The tensions stored in the body by traumas and fixations and hangups.

The purpose of awakening is to snap out of the reflexive identification with and servitude of the core tension, the core-I. The result is that you are no longer bound to choicelessly go along with the dysfunctional agenda of that core-I. You will also no longer rely on that core-I to know yourself.

Awakening is a permanent shift in which the awareness, the meaning, of your existence is no longer burdened by this fundamental misperception. It is, as you might imagine, an immense relief. It is also a game changer. Such an awakening is the beginning of a maturation process whose inevitable outcome is total enlightenment.

More to follow.