Squirting Squirrels

 I have a big squirt gun sitting in a quart of water right beside the door from the kitchen to the deck. When a squirrel sneaks up to the deck and starts munching the sunflower seeds sitting on the railing, i sneak over to the door and fill up the gun with water. I open the door as quietly as possible. Of course, the squirrel can hear me. Some squirrels are dare devils and wait until the last second before they take a flying leap off the second-story deck. Others skedaddle as soon as they hear the turn of the doorknob.

Sometimes, they take cover under the deck for a few seconds before they run across the yard toward the trees. I've learned to aim in front of where they are running because the water travels only a little faster than the squirrels.

I'm not sure i'm teaching the squirrels what i want them to learn. I want them to stay away from the bird seed, but that is like teaching starving people to stop stealing bread. The squirrels are hungry!

The squirrels have learned (1) to keep a lookout for me moving inside the house, (2) to run as soon as they see me. Some of the squirrels have even learned broken field running in order to avoid being "rained on" by the water from my squirt gun.

What have i learned? That the squirrels are hungry.

Winter Wonderland

It's a winter wonderland here today. Big fat snowflakes falling. Pine trees bowing under the weight of the snow. All is still.

"Hear rest" is one of my favorite meditations. It's like listening to the sound of silence.

Pay attention to your throat. Relax your throat and keep it relaxed. Notice that every time a thought crosses your mind, you experience a sub-vocalization and your throat tenses up a little bit.

Relax your throat. Relax into stillness.

Feeling Left Out

 Last week, my 6 a.m. meditation buddy, Elizabeth, reported that, during meditation, she had felt a very familiar feeling of being left out. She recalled a reading group she was part of, but she hadn't heard from them since last summer. Were they meeting without her?

Feeling left out is one of my very familiar go-to places. I could give you a hundred examples, similar to Elizabeth's. They are meeting without me. No one told me about.... Everyone else is (or has).... They all seem to know about [something i don't know].

Elizabeth said, that during meditation, she felt the thought from a place of Awareness, and the thought turned into a pleasant vibration. The thought was gone. Gone.

I said, "Well, that gives me hope."

The following morning, i saw HOPE floating among the trees in my yard.

The belief that I am being left out is just a thought. A thought that, if i pay close attention, is a vibration. 

Sound is a vibration. You can "hear" sound throughout your body as it vibrates your bones. That vibration can be pleasant. Though roaring motorcycles might be unpleasant. A thought is nothing more than inner hearing; hearing an inner sound with a very weak vibration. But it does vibrate. Use all your mindfulness to notice this.

The thought/belief of being left out dissipates into emptiness.