1:30 p.m.
The horrible weather, with the wind and rain and cold, disappeared yesterday and I had a wonderful evening in the allotment. Sitting at the side meditating, as the Dom Bliss did some weeding, was just so very nice. This is the way life should be, thinks I. The Dom Bliss at one point gave me a goosegog to eat, and a sample of the blackcurrants and red currants, and a cherry!
I'm so happy about not drinking any more beer. I did not have any night sweats or funny dreams at all. Never quite made the grade as an alkie then!
Sometimes you try to make a decision about something like booze, and though you'd like to, you cannot carry it through. Millions of fag smokers are like this. Sometimes you maybe don't care enough, or you haven't got enough oomph behind the decision somehow. Self disgust is a good one though. You can use self disgust. I'd really like never to drink alcohol again, but another year off would be good. Let's hope!
I'm calming down. The flat being empty last week wasn't a help. This morning before I came here to type, there was a significant development in the after effects of the vase breathing. So, although I put my sleeping bag in the hut yesterday, I may not need that yet. No beers and no jobbie (how wonderful it is not to have to go to work for another five weeks!) with seven or eight hours meditations a day should be enough for the next wee while.
I'm heading to happiness now. You can be very happy while you're meditating and it's as if there were two joes when you do that. Anything the flatheid joe ever thinks is nonsense anyway, but worse when it's infected with the addictions. Thoughts arising due to the pollutions are worse. If I stay off the beer, I will become euphoric.
You will have to go to a dinner party on Friday, Hotboy. How will you handle that? Well, Jack, I will eat a cannybliss yogurt just before I set off. That gives me about an hour and a quarter. By that time the flatheids should be on their second glass of wine. Occasionally, I will leave the room and get out of my face on hair for a bit, which you can do on the cannybliss yogurts. Hmmm? Maybe one day I'll be able to sit among the flatheids with my noise blockers on and my eyeballs rolled up. Really, it would be better if I could get away from the flatheids altogether, but I can't afford to go to the Samye Ling. So needs must. If I have to lie there and think of England for a couple of hours, so be it!!
The wind and rain and cold are back!
5:30 p.m.
The weather wasn't as bad as expected. I meditated for while after reading a wee bit of the Book of the Three Inspirations in the Botanic Gardens. Beautiful spot! Here's something I read. The translation is by Glenn H. Mullin. This is how they count the time once you'd taken a big breath and squeezed it ... "one places one's right palm on the left, strokes three times, and then snaps the fingers six times." (How long is that, Jack? Got to be 8 seconds minimum, Hotboy!) "The best practitioner can repeat 108 cycles of the measurement; the intermediate can repeat 72; and the smallest can repeat it 36 times while holding the breath. All three of these (have reached the stage at which they) are able to triumph over death."
By my reckoning, the best type of practitioner is holding their breath for maybe 14 minutes. Is the world record for breath holding not approximately 9 minutes? The worst kind of practitioner is still holding their breath for about 6 minutes.
Got a way to go there, Jack! A long, long way!!!
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8 comments:
I've read some interesting commentary on the fifth precept that makes the point that even if you don't find that your personal consumption causes you or others noticeable harm, it can indirectly cause harm by presenting an obstacle for people who do have problems with it and are trying to abstain.
For example, if you serve alcohol at a party, some people may come who are trying not to drink, and the cues to drink from the social situation may be hard for them to resist (I personally find it difficult to be around people who've been drinking if I haven't been drinking as well). Made me think. I think a lot of the reason I avoid a lot of large social gatherings is that I'm not much of a drinker (though I'm not teetotal either). Those sorts of public drinking events often do become snake-pits for various forms of nastiness.
And I love visiting botanical gardens. I used to regularly visit some that were nearby when I was going to school in Southern California, when I wanted to get off campus and go somewhere peaceful.
I say RaBadBoy!
Good to hear that you've given up beer. I'll send you a nice bottle of MG and some tonics to go with it. I'm sure you will enjoy it.
MM III
Somebody! The trouble I have with alcohol is that I really like getting pissed. Always have. This is a carousing and boozing culture. But at the end of the day as with almost any drug you end up with the grief, sorry, lamentations ...suffering in this life! The Botties are just a wee walk away from here, across a park.One of my favourite places! Hotboy
Mingin'! If only I'd stuck to the G and Ts! If only...! But it's TOO LATE NOW, Mingin'! I've decided to be happy instead. So hee, hee, hee to me! Hotboy
BTW If I have to get high on hair, I'm in trouble cos I got a No1 last week. Nae hair!
If there's a dole office near Samye, I may end up there. If you retire while living with somebody solvent, you get no pension.
Have you worked out the exchange rate between weeks at Samye and undrunk Erdingers?
I used home-brew Kaliber to get off the booze, and self-disgust got me off the fags, with a little help from the cancer of course. You could try that.
I say!
Its a known medical fact that the tonics help prevent malaria. I only imbibe for health reasons, obviously, but the side effects are quite enjoyable as well.
MM III
I really shouldn't comment except to note that alcohol is my favourite accessible drug. The cannybliss is nice, but just not as nice. I am trying hard to find the happy medium when I can stop after 2 glasses of wine instead of 12. If my goddamn liver enzymes weren't so over-active, it would be a lot easier.
Albert? Is it you? You can live at the Samye in a hut if you give them £40 a week for food and have a good reason. Don't worry! You've got them!
Mingin'! Good to have an excuse and I know it's true about the tonics!
Ion: Alcohol is wonderful! Shame I can't get the dose right!Hotboy
Hotboy! What set off my prior ramble was reading your wonderings about what it would be like trying to maintain abstinence from alcohol when in social situations where saying no to alcohol becomes much more difficult.
I myself struggle in contexts such as this one not to sing the praises of alcohol, because I am quite a fan of it (though I'm fortunate in that I've never much liked drinking enough to get sloshed--though there have been a couple of notable exceptions)... But as you say, it also often has some nasty consequences.
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