Rod's Summary

This week I decided to start afresh by re-formulating the WH. I transformed the concept of Completeness into a more active mode which focuses on awareness of the Felt Sense of the World (based on the work of Quentin Smith).

The obvious starting place was with consciousness itself. Then came a bifurcation of consciousness into "this-here-now" & "that-there- then." Both have their signature felt senses, and it's the felt sense of this-here-now that I want to explore more fully.

During my Wednesday night meditation I experienced a very strong "felt sense of place" about our meditation space. That space became very clear and palpable, fully 3-dimensional, and extended outside to include the various street sounds.

A couple of days later on a long off-trail hike I tried to capture the felt sense of place of where I was hiking, but for some reason I couldn't focus. Then on Saint Patrick's Day I attended a potluck with Irish music, and the felt sense of "being there" was again quite strong, but not as strong as during the Wednesday meditation.

This evening I meditated for awhile on our deck, out in the cool evening breeze. I looked to recover the felt sense of the world that I had experienced throughout childhood. Back then, life wasn't "about" something, it "was" something. It just was. While meditating I recalled several powerful felt experiences from childhood, like swinging in our front porch swing, and was able to transfer a part of that felt sense to sitting on the deck. I got very close to it, and realized that if I could find it I could carry it throughout the whole day, forever.

I think this mode of actively exploring the felt sense of the world will be a fruitful avenue to get more deeply into the WH.

Reply to Frank from last week: You said, "...here is my Zen masterly comment to Rod: "Why are you making 'designed universe' vs. 'complete universe' etc? Put it down. You have to put it all down." On one level I agree completely. But on another level, it's through exploring such themes that I get to look at the myriad ramifications of the WH. If everything REALLY IS complete then there is nothing that needs to be let go of. In fact, just opposite. Look at EVERYTHING! This, I think, is the sense of Mindfulness. Not to lose everything, but to gain everything. But, then, I'm not a very good Buddhist.

... from Rod