10. F. Today Pema gave me a metaphor for what I am seeking as a room protected by snakes which are only painted on the ground in front of the door. Helping God would be seeking ways to kill or eliminate the snakes. Help me with the fortitude to find the room and the courage to walk over the painted snakes. Help me to shed whatever else it is that I need to shed
9. APAPG. I feel on more certain ground about music now as a presentation of appearance. The crickets are chirping along with the musicians.
8. APAPG. I am in the same room. I am seeing this space as part of a long term shelter in which a grand event has played out. The nest is now near vacant. The flow of lives. Life’s transitions
[long break here]
7. APAPG. Watching the sunlight against the curtain, lighting up the vases on the window sill, reflecting off some unknown object that reflecting the sunlight against the bottom half of the sink and a leg of a table in front of it from my vanatage point in the next room. As I watch for a while the reflection is in slow motion. A dog is barking outside, maybe having its own experience with the presentation of appearance
6. APAPG. . Sitting on the porch, I close my eyes and enjoy the warm breezes massaging my skin. Nice example for experiencing the transitory nature of things.
5. F. I slowly try to comprehend. There is the basic self, the “I AM”. That self sees appearances that are a presentation by God/Being. That self is an appearance. That is all there is to it.
4. APAPG. The second time I do this in the room, I begin to think that we might be better off without some of the “things”. Are they blocking the appearance of God? But no, they are part of the appearance.
3. APAPG. (Appreciate the Presence of Appearance as a Presentation by God). Adding new forms of stopping today. I am in a room and I look around and things seem new to me in some way. But I am a little perplexed this time too. I still see “things”
2. Gr. (Gratitude) I start to think of the usual list (getting longer) and add a new one. After the morning PaB session I went out and got on my bike and road down the driveway, and a little bit down the street in each direction, and then back up the driveway (uphill). I am ecstatic
1. TGT. Another new day to be alive on this beautiful planet
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Lately I have become aware that my mind seems to be trying more and more new ways to distract. I can’t ignore all the things that are being raised in my mind, but I am becoming increasingly suspicious about them.
