Meditative Movement - Lessons Learned: 10 Years Later [Part 2]
... principles and practices for sharing positive emotions and dissolving dissatisfaction/suffering
Part 2 of Lessons Learned expands the psycho-spiritual-energetic view of the Ready For Better Method and Mastery. It begins with expanded commentary on the eight essential principles, drawn from the dharma wanderer’s direct experience. This is followed by two specific practices the dharma wanderer uses regularly for projecting positive emotion and dissolving negative emotion. The post ends with detailed clarification of the cognitive-behavioral skills [sometimes referred to as skillful means] that are developed and refined by the R4B Method and Mastery.
The Antidote Stage for R4B Mastery builds upon the previous four stages — the Ready For Better Method’s three behavioral stages, plus the eight guiding principles identified earlier in Lessons Learned - Part 1:
The Basic Stage of the R4B Method clarifies how to carefully formulate an aspirational goal, affirmation, mantra or prayer, and safely repeat it in rhythm with movement in rhythm with breath.
When that aspiration is flowing smoothly without stimulating internal conflict, the Intermediate Stage of the R4B Method clarifies how to orally express the aspiration aloud, in rhythm with breath and movement. At this stage the unfolding process accelerates because of an increase in mental focus and mindful awareness, as well as a powerful infusion of intention into brain and body. The quantum field begins to respond more quickly with guidance and opportunities for action.
Be advised the previous post, Lessons Learned — Part 1, clarifies four important CAUTIONS to be aware of when formulating one-pointed personal programming of goals/affirmations/mantra/prayers [see Part 1 for how to mitigate these cautions]:
psychological attachment to goals
enlarged ego and arrogance
insensitivity to guidance
reinforcement of duality.
The embodiment of intention during the intermediate stage increases focused action in the material world and subsequent learning from the consequences of that action. The powerful psycho-spiritual-energetic projection of intention into the surrounding quantum field generates karmic reflections back into the practitioner’s material world. Enhanced awareness of karmic reflections enables the discernment of hints, clues, signs or signals for guidance and focused action, thereby accelerating progress.
The Advanced Stage of the R4B Method adds focused visualization to meditative movement. The addition of visualization brings multiple benefits to sitting/walking meditation and meditative movement by:
expanding the creative potential of practitioner consciousness;
imbuing practitioner body/minds with aspirational intention;
increasing practitioner awareness of guidance from the quantum field; and
enabling progress toward each practitioner’s strategic intention.
This R4B growth process opens practitioners of meditative movement to a more refined realm of existence that is governed by eight fundamental and interconnected principles for compassionate and ethical living:
ESSENTIAL Stage for R4B Mastery
As introduced in Lessons Learned — Part 1, the Essential Stage for R4B MASTERY includes eight interconnected principles for mindful and ethical living. These are shared below with additional clarification:
1. Right Understanding: Seeing life clearly — understanding how craving, attachment, hate and anger create and sustain suffering, while positive states such as kindness and compassion provide momentary relief from suffering and dissatisfaction.
The four immeasurables [kindness, compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity] can be used as a beneficial response to personal and collective dissatisfaction and suffering. This can become the basis of a daily practice — frequently sharing positive vibes out of the body via an open heart with family, friends and all beings encountered as daily life unfolds moment by moment.
Self righteous judgments underlie clinging to anger, resentment and hate of “others”. Such judgments are widely promoted within mainstream/social media. The ensuing political polarization increases media revenue by attracting and holding attention. These negative emotional states interfere with practitioners’ spacious awareness and authentic expression of the four immeasurables.
A simple breathing practice for letting go of negative emotional states is described below. When this practice is applied, empty awareness is more likely to arise. When empty awareness arises, moments of guidance from the quantum field for wise counteractive action can more readily enter practitioner awareness.
Cultivating wisdom includes recognition that humanity’s suffering has existed since the beginning of time and that such suffering arises from causes and conditions that may be identified. Enlightened action can be taken to dissolve identifiable causes and conditions, and thereby achieve intermittent and enduring liberation from personal suffering. This can become an exploratory journey via trial and error, testing various principles, hypotheses and practices through direct experience. The eight principles identified here are certainly worthy of consideration.
2. Right Intention: Committing to act with kindness, compassion, and letting go of harmful self righteous judgments. This intention supports the dissolution of dissatisfaction and suffering, thereby enabling guidance for wise action to arise in awareness. This is the kind of intention that can be expressed as a goal, affirmation, mantra or prayer during sitting, walking and more vigorous movement meditation.
3. Right Speech and Writing: Speaking and writing truthfully, kindly and helpfully; avoiding lies, gossip, and hurtful words. This helps dissolve negative habits previously conditioned by parents, school, mainstream/social media. Local culture shapes beliefs and behavior. Mindfulness cultivates awareness of historical conditioning and aspects of current culture inconsistent with these eight principles. Practitioners can use that awareness as a stimulus for taking compassionate action — initially through meditative reprogramming with right intention. Opportunities for right action will arise in awareness.
4. Right Action: Acting in ways that are ethical, compassionate and avoid harming others—being honest, respectful, and considerate, guided by wisdom awareness arising from the surrounding quantum field.
5. Right Livelihood: Earning a living in a way that does not cause harm or injustice to others. When the dharma wanderer first considered this principle, he recognized that his professional career had been devoted to reducing suffering arising from individual psychological dysfunction and a variety of organizational dysfunctions, most notably a failure of human resource performance management goals and compensation to align with each organization’s higher level strategic goals.
6. Right Effort: Making a consistent effort to develop positive habits and qualities, while wisely choosing to let go of negative ones. Meditative reprogramming can become a method through which right effort takes place. Intentionally using concentration and mindfulness practices with disciplined commitment is a meritorious path.
7. Right Mindfulness: Personally observing physical sensations, emotional feelings, thoughts, and momentary awareness. Living with presence rather than getting lost in regret about the past and worry, anxiety and fear about the future. Using disciplined commitment to explore a variety of meditative practices that support nonjudgmental mindful awareness. Using that awareness to guide wise action.
8. Right Concentration: Regularly using meditative movement to develop one-pointed concentration and focus. Using observational skills to strengthen responsiveness to guidance that arises from the quantum field.
These eight principles expand the field of view for anyone engaged in meditation, especially meditative movement. The principles identify key arenas for consideration by providing a clear map for reflective attention and wise action.
The Essential Stage of R4B Mastery involves practitioners developing strategic alignment across these eight principles for compassionate and ethical living. These principles heighten practitioner awareness of attachments and negative emotions as they arise. Practitioners learn to let them go using deep inhales and slow extended exhalations. Letting go can often enable an important transition into moments of empty awareness.
ANTIDOTE Stage for R4B Mastery
Empty awareness is a strategically fundamental state that prepares practitioners for enlightened action in the Antidote Stage for R4B MASTERY. Mitigation of suffering in the antidote stage stage may spontaneously arise through generosity, kindness, compassion, equanimity, empathetic joy and wise action. The dissolution of dissatisfaction and suffering can also be fostered via meditative movement using carefully formulated goals, affirmations, mantras and prayers that are aligned with the eight principles above.
In the antidote stage, practitioners engage in fundamental practices that serve as antidotes for their personal dissatisfaction and suffering, as well as the suffering of family and friends. They choose to intentionally cultivate and radiate positive vibratory and emotional states out from their body/minds into the surrounding quantum field. This enables beneficial effects that counteract dissatisfaction and suffering.
Practitioners begin to naturally recognize their agency for beneficial action through the enhanced force of their intention. This recognition increases their personal power for manifesting goodness in the apparently material world. As a result of repeated direct experiences, they recognize and become more confident with the energetic linkage between their body/mind/intentions and the quantum field.
Quantum physics gives this energetic linkage across time and space a name: non-local entanglement. The parallel principle of dependent origination, expressed in ancient spiritual traditions, indicates that nothing exists independently from an infinite variety of causes and conditions that are forever evolving.
The presumption that each being is separate from all else is a fundamental misconception. This is the illusion of duality, the presumptive separation of subject [I/me/mine] and object [all else]. Attaining a unitary state of nonduality is the counteractive goal. Meditation cultivates the state of nonduality, free from concepts, attachments and negative emotions — pure primordial awareness.
All beings are embedded in a vast interconnected network of relationships. Wise compassionate action can spread through these relationships to beneficially penetrate all that is.
Positive Emotion PRACTICE — Consider this simple but powerful daily practice to enable a transformational shift in consciousness:
generate positive emotion by recalling a memorable scene that involved distinctly positive feelings …
deeply inhale while sustaining the positive feeling triggered by thoughts and imagery of the memorable scene …
place both hands in a prayerful position at the center of your chest in proximity of your energetic heart chakra …
imagine your torso or whole body filled with light …
then imagine the energetic light of positive emotion radiating in all six directions out from your body on long slow exhalations.
This can be repeated anywhere anytime a practitioner experiences a positive emotion. Repeatedly detecting and cultivating positive emotions is fundamental in the antidote stage. This practice can create a transformational shift in consciousness, thereby increasing practitioners’ daily experience of the four immeasurables, as well as moments of guidance for wise action.
A generic practice to dissolve negative emotions:
repeatedly use a deep inhalation and slow extended exhalation to completely dissolve the negative emotion …
… this enables a subsequent space in consciousness for empty awareness to arise …
… recall a vivid memory of a positive emotional experience from the past …
… when that positive feeling arises, take a deep inhale, imagine your body filled with light, and …
… radiate the energetic light of positive emotion out from your body into the six directions.
The fundamental practice in the ANTIDOTE Stage is to dissolve negative emotions and cultivate the radiant vibration of positive emotions
Skillful Means include ANTIDOTES for Action
The antidote stage benefits from the application of a variety of skillful means that are developed from sustained practice of basic, intermediate and advanced stages of the Ready For Better Method. These are cognitive-behavioral skills that enable wise and transformational management of each practitioner’s body, mind and speech. These cognitive-behavioral skills go far beyond rational problem solving in the material world, because they positively impact practitioner awareness, mental capability and potential for wise action:
Basic Stage of R4B METHOD
careful formulation of goal/affirmation/mantra/prayer develops intuitive reflection and analysis
repetition of cognitive input during movement enhances one-pointed concentration and focus
breath awareness and regulation is strengthened by controlled deep breathing in rhythm with movement and cognitive input
mindful awareness of the breath, visual perception and body sensations is strengthened during meditative movement
capacity for sustaining one pointed concentration and focus is enhanced through repetition of the meditative movement practice
Intermediate Stage of R4B METHOD
orally repeating and continuing to refine input aloud [in rhythm with breath in rhythm with movement] enhances the range of cognitive functions under mindful control
ability to sustain concentration while orally expressing cognitive input [in rhythm with breath in rhythm with movement] continues to enhance mindful focus
recognition of and responsiveness to hints, clues, signs and signals as they arise refines awareness of guidance from the quantum field
Advanced Stage of R4B METHOD
Creative ideas and solutions are enhanced by the addition of visualization to the basic and intermediate R4B practices while sitting, walking and engaging in more vigorous meditative movement.
Essential Stage of R4B MASTERY
Reflective self-analysis of the eight essential principles [see above] expands the range of characteristics for self-awareness, adjustment and refinement.
Adjustment of cognitive input to bring all eight principles into strategic alignment ushers R4B practices into a more complete, wholesome and sophisticated process of personal transformation on the unfolding path to liberation from dissatisfaction and suffering.
Antidote Stage of R4B MASTERY
Reflective self-analysis of the eight essential principles [see above] can expand practitioners’ field of view toward a broader domain for mitigating suffering. This domain extends beyond practitioner body/mind/emotions to include family, friends, community and the planet.
As successful achievement of goals/affirmations/mantras/prayers unfolds, each practitioner’s sense of personal agency expands, thereby enlarging their sphere of intended beneficial influence for greater goodness in the world.
The fundamental practice developed in the antidote stage is to mentally and behaviorally counteract dissatisfaction and suffering through intentional programming and wise compassionate action. The spheres for beneficial consideration tend to naturally expand as achievement of personal results is achieved.
As practitioners experience the varied stages of the R4B Method and Mastery, they begin to engage and trust the spontaneity of their dharma dance as it unfolds within impermanence. As practitioners’ personal suffering diminishes, they become more aware of opportunities to take compassionate action with an open heart. Karmic reflections from the surrounding quantum field continue to arise in awareness. This continues to liberate practitioners from dissatisfaction/suffering and provide guidance for wise action.
As practitioner consciousness becomes more purified from attachments, negative emotions and illusions of separation from all that is [duality], their responsiveness to guidance from the quantum field increases. As obscurations to mindful awareness diminish, moments of wisdom awareness begin to more frequently arise via intuitive knowing. This knowing recognizes and responds to guidance for wise action. Practitioners gain increasing clarity for what continues to be a naturally unfolding path to liberation.
This unfolding path can beneficially be expanded to include each practitioner’s physical and energetic body in the growth process for enhanced health, wellness and well-being. Future posts will likely include this topic, as well as venture more into the topic of nonduality that was briefly introduced above.
In the meantime, may all readers benefit from reflective consideration of the eight principles and two practices shared above. May practitioners of meditative movement continue developing and refining their cognitive-behavioral-energetic skills. Please feel free to share with family and friends, as well as others who might benefit from reflective consideration of this and previous content.
🙏💕🌎
ib
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