Adult Education

Important parts of our learning often proceed as follows:
From awareness,
to practice,
to mastery;
in an ongoing recycling process.
We never complete any of those three areas of learning.

The areas on which we train our awareness may well be: body, emotion, thought, and, perhaps, 'knowing.'

Part of our practice may best include meditation and contemplation.

As most of us will continue to relate to others in a society, it will help to consider the nature of justice, ethics, morality as part of our understanding.

After some growth and maturity we may want to reconsider the nature of reality.

What do we get?
Well, maybe .....
The the satisfaction of being in the process.
Raised consciousness.
A set of skills.
the pleasure of approaching mastery.
Self-knowledge.
An improved way of being in the world.
A way of educating yourself.
A life of greater meaning.
And, you get growth of understanding.

Snake Peeking Around My Dresser

I found myself feeling a bit down. Not even having completed as much of my construction plans here around Camp Thunderbird nor having a compatible red racer in my bedroom seemed able to relieve my melancholic state.
So, I thought to reviver myself by reviving my practice of morning exercise followed by a period of meditation.

I keep a large set of index cards, each card of which contains brief instructions for an exercise I have found interesting and/or effective. I promise to devote myself to exercise for a certain amount of time and draw cards to fill that time. I may, for example, need a half dozen cards to fill and hour of exercise. This morning I decided on 1/2 and hour of exercise, but drew a card that would take an unusually long 40 minutes. I'm flexible and did the 40 minutes, and it was good.

I also have a set of cards suggesting meditations. Many of the cards suggest what I call seed meditations and the one i drew this morning was such a card. It just contained the words, "relate to food."

After exercising i began meditation. Probably to avoid considering my relationship to food i came to focus on "to relate to." I have meditated enough so that i don't usually have to each time raise my consciousness about breathing, and I didn't this time. Because I have not been meditating regularly and because I had decided to return to sitting in a chair to meditate, I did give some attention to good posture and having a relaxed comfortable body as an aid to my active mind.

As I avoided the "food" portion of my seed meditation, I found my mind moving around "relate" as a relative or a relationship as compared to relate as in to tell a story. I found myself being asked, "
What's your story?" and soon, "How does your story relate to reality?"
One of these days I might benefit by becoming more aware of the story I have been telling myself about food.

Anyway, after a bit of exercise and a bit of meditation, I do feel pretty good.

Still, I am moved to actively consider meanings. My blue dictionary suggests that 'relate' has something to do with 'carry back.' What have I carried back from my experience with food? It goes on to say that 'to relate' is to 'tell or to give and account of.' I wonder how mathematically correct it benefits one to be? 'Relate' also means to show or establish logical connection between. What is the logical connection in my mind between me and my food? Can I establish a more logical connection between me and food? This blue dictionary definitely suggests that I can show or establish my casual connections with food retroactively. Better late then never. Lastly, it reminds me that there may be a social or familial relationship. a dictionary sure has a lot to say.
My red dictionary reminds me that 'to relate' implies narration or story. It also reminds me that 'to relate' means to bring into logical and natural association. So, maybe I can use my food story to direct me to a more natural and logical relationship with food. How can I bring myself into a more logical and natural relationship with food? How can I better know the present state of my relationship with food? How might I begin my story?
'Relate to food' sounds like and imperative, 'You, relate to food!' or it could be the simple statement of fact, You relate to food.'
It doesn't seem unreasonable to consider how one relates to food, does it?

I am willing to better consider how I relate to food.

Just

Try a seed contemplation with justice as your object.

Is there a god in your Psyche? Imagine him (her, it) gladdened by by a just deed of yours. See that god in you dance for joy at the realization of that deed.

Remember, your way is beautiful, pleasant, joyful, and familiar.

The all of reality is one, Look and see.

See that you can trust the way of things and your own experience.

You are awake and alive, Smile.

See that there is a real 'law' and see that it is just.

Tao-like

You may consider these phrases worthy of contemplation:

~ Words have meaning.
~ Understanding is partial.
~ Approach happiness.
~ Reach happiness and be close to perfection.
~ Take 'both' sides.
~ Chaos and doubt are learning places.
~ Great goodness is not kind.
~ How can we argue about reality when all our words are imperfect?
~ Share opinions with respect.
~ What do we know of the beholder?
~ Meet the witness within.
~ The sage does not cling.
~ How can I tell?
~ It may happen any time now.
~ Live with all the opinions.
~ Leave the different viewpoints as they are.
~ Rest in the infinite.
~ Know what it means to follow the middle way.
~ Avoid fame and punishment.
~ Follow the natural grain.
~ Take advantage of what is there.

Help of Old

The intelligent pursuit of wisdom may be said to proceed through levels.

Purification directs to freeing truth.

Attend to the great teachers and to their words of one and many.

Young and strong of wide mind, approach number in an experimental manner.

Think of science as an investigation of principles. Observation is a good start.

Curiosity leads to relating one phenomenon to another.

Find beautiful order in motion.

Aptitude for music is golden. There is healing there.

Smell the roses. Contemplation of beauty is well paid.

Purification is a true way.

Hear high principle and meditate.

There is a bit of the flaming Pleiades in every blade of grass that blows.

Analysis by function, morphology, order, content, structure is useful. However, the most beneficial analysis of man may be by motivation.

The Blooming of a Lotus by Tich Nhat Hanh

I've been slowly letting go of my books so that even though I continue to add to my library, its size is beginning to diminish. One of those books I continue to learn from is "The Blooming of a Lotus."

This is a book of simple word meditations written out in strait-forward, every-day English. It is so laid out as to make it easy and pleasant to practice these healthy, doable, practical meditations with a smile.

These meditations help me to look into myself and around myself in a more tolerant, happy, and realistic way. They help me to more fully see what is really here. They help me to greater acceptance of, and gratitude for, what is. They also, in gentle, pleasant ways effectively help me to a clearer awareness of peace and joy and on to higher levels of real health and abundance.

Its a nice little book of powerful potential.
I'm glad I opened it.

Limitations

My future travels will be different from my travels of the last half century. They will be less physical and more mental. Less of my time will be devoted to geographical travels so I expect to have more time for travels of another sort. Perhaps I'll have more time to devote to these pages and to contemplating your responses.

I want to thank those of you who have encouraged my efforts on theses pages and who have helped me to believe that my words count for something. I hope we will be able to travel together a bit here.

Your emails have provided me pleasant instruction and gratifying inspiration.