A presence I have not felt since....

Sometimes you just gotta put on a Darth Vader mask to amuse the little one. With the mask on, my breath becomes more audible. The sound of the ingoing and outgoing breath easily and continuously pulls the mind's attention to the upperlip, nostrils and tip of the nose. This in turn helps direct and sustain the flow of thought in that particular direction. Directed and sustained thought;  two of the 1st jhana's conditioning factors.

Yes, attaining 1st jhana with a Darth Vader mask on!... while Luk...ahem...Luca tries to take it off.

I cannot wait for The Force to Awaken!!!!

Old McDonald had a......

Often the only thing that amuses little Luca, is a bit of a sing along. Super Simple Songs has been a godsend. So, I use this opportunity to play around with volition.

Have you ever heard a phrase unfinished and your brain just spits out the rest of it to complete it?

An incessant urge to complete an incomplete chunked phrase. Kind of like how Roger Rabbit can't resist finishing "Shave and a Haircut......". You might have experienced this with a song that is stuck on repeat in your head. You try and try to not repeat it over and over, but it just keeps going on and on  and on. "I'm a barbie girl in a......".

That incessant automatic-like function of volition on repeat...again and again and again and.....So, as Old McDonald plays out, my brain, so conditioned to know the words to it, starts to sing along.

This sit is aimed at simply becoming aware of that incessant urge to sing along, to finish the learned phrases. I don't try to stop it but just become aware of that brief instant of mental movement to "do" over and over. Slowly while doing this, the experience of the volitional movement starts to fade, lose momentum and suddenly....stop!...in and of itself. Ignorance of this volitional movement fuelled its continuance. The absence of ignorance triggers its cessation.

Little Luca amuses himself in the meantime while Old McDonald does his thing.

Just Sitting...

Sometimes I have no plans, techniques, approaches or specific ways to practice. Sometimes after a long day at work, all I need is to just sit still for a bit and let current baseline show itself through the the day's constructed thought-walls. Diverting Luca's attention to objects around him keeps him busy while I just sit and settle.  Sometimes that is all that is needed. Just sit still for a bit. The baby timer (baby's boredom threshold) is set at about 15 minutes.

Dana/Giving

Due to a bit of Theravada/Goenka conditioning, I often feel like my practice rides the wave of my past actions. All those hours and days freely given to serving vipassana courses and constructing Dhamma halls and pagodas somehow pays off in the now. At least, it does condition a light sense of "I am not that bad".

Not sure if it is something he has picked up from observing his parents give him attention and food or if it is something innate or a combo of both, but I enjoy seeing little one start sharing and giving. I'd like to reenforce this habit as it is indeed conducive to being happy with a lighter unhindered mind, which is also very conducive for progress in practice. It's no wonder Gotoma gave instructions to many to practice dana first.