Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

[Hoko]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

OK then.

Here are my Ango sacrifices:
1) No anger (OK, how about just not getting on the hate train when it pulls into the station?)
2) Less talking. No useless chatter. (In fact, consider me aiming to uphold all of Dogen's suggestions in Hachi Dainingaku...)
3) (This is a big one for me, folks) No alcohol.

May all of you achieve your goals and intensify your practice.
Peace,
-K2
_/_

[will]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

Experience:

No Ustream here. Blocked.


Gassho

[CinnamonGal]

Who is hungry in there?: Exercise in mindful eating

Dear Leefers,

For those interested in cultivating mindful eating, maybe this exercise that Trycycle magazine podcasted can be of help? It offers a good structure for accessing the hunger at different stages and also allows to bring attention to the food itself. I decided to take it one step at a time and eat mindfully at least once a day to start with. Just taking in the colors and the smell for a while makes me fuller faster (or else it gives me a paus necessary to actually realise that I've had enough )!

You can download it in audioform subscribing to their podcasts via iTunes or other podcatcher. I transcribed it for convenience (see below).

Who is hungry in there?


In this exercise we access the seven different kinds of hunger.

Preparation: sit down with some food in front of you. The amount of food does not matter (it can be a whole meal, it could be one cracker). Start by doing it alone, so you don’t feel awkward. Do this exercise at least once a day until it become a second nature.

Each of the seven hungers is associated with different parts of the body. In ME (Mindful eating) before we eat or drink we look inward and we ask each of this body parts if they are hungry. If the answer is Yes then we ask that part how hungry it is on the scale of 0 (Not interested at all) to 10 (Famished). The parts of the body that we look at are the eyes, the nose, the mouth, the stomach, the body or the cells, the mind, and the heart.

Begin by sitting down with some food in from of you. Take a deep breath and relax a bit.
Before you begin eating we are going to access the seven types of hunger.

Eye hunger:

Take the food in with the eyes. Look at the colors and shapes of the food, notice surface textures, areas of light and dark. Now ask the eyes how hungry are they for this food. On the scale of 0 (Not interested) to 10 (I ma going to eat it right now) how would you rate your eyes’ hunger? Do you have a number?

Next you access Nose hunger:

Smelle the fragrance of the food. You may have to lean down or pick up the plate. Don’t be embarrassed. Then move away to refresh your nose and then come back to the food to sniff it two or three times. Now access nose hunger on a scale 0 to 10. You have a number?

Mouth hunger:

Before you eat this food can you tell how hungry the mouth is to taste it? Put your awareness in the mouth and rate moth hunger from 0 (Not interested) to 10 (I’ll eat it right now).

Stomach hunger:

Try to put your awareness in the stomach and feel and rate how hungry your stomach is right now. Is it not interested (0) or is it telling you it is starving (10)?

Body hunger:

As you look at this food can you investigate how hungry the cells of your body are just now?
Bring your awareness in the whole of your body and rate the body’s hungry from 0 to 10.

Mind hunger:

Can you hear what the mind is telling you about this food or this meal? Remember that the mind often speaks in “Should it”/”Should not eat” phrases. Can you rate the mind’s hunger on the scale from 0 (Should not eat it) to 10 (Must eat it!)?

Heart hunger:

Ask your hunger how hungry it is to eat this food. Heart hunger is related to feelings. Rate heart hunger from 0 to 10. For example 10 might be (“I may not feel happy if I eat this. I might even feel anxious if I eat it”). And 10 might be “This food will make me feel comfortable and at ease”.

Before you start eating you also might investigate thirst. On a scale from 0 to 10 how thirsty
are you right now?

Ok, now that you’ve assessed the seven hungers and thirst you are ready to begin eating and drinking. Half way through the meal stop again and do a quick assessment of the seven hungers and assess thirst again. When you finished the meal pause for a moment and do the assessment of the seven hungers again.

_ _ _

If some of the questions make no sense or if you don’t feel response when you ask about a certain hunger Don’t Worry! Just the questions and be open to any answers that might or might not arise. Once you learn to investigate who inside you is hungry and make it a regular routine to stop and ask the questions before you eat, then you can make a more informed decisions about whether to eat or not. Only food and drink will satisfy stomach and cellular hunger. However there are many alternatives to food for satisfying the other five types of hunger. If want to feel satisfied and eat the appropriate amount, we need to learn to take food in through all the sense doors, becoming awake to the color, the fragrance, the texture, the taste, the temperature, and even the sound of our food. And if we want to be content in this moment and to be nourished by whatever comes into our life, we also might find ways to feed not only our body but also our heart.


Gassho,

Irina

[Bids]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

Hi Irena,
This is muchly appreciated, and from what I read I imagine a good help in bringing awareness into, and automatism out of eating.
I had already committed to eating no more then I 'need', useing the point where automatic urges pull me towards 'more' to discover what's behind. I'm starting with one week of eating only fruit and slowly including other foodstufs .... it's going well. So thank you! this gives a kick start and plenty of food for enquiry.

While I'm here .. my further commitments are, to;
Sit daily
Sit live on Saturday (if humanly possible)
Read and study 'Mind of Clover' with this seasons Jukai folk.
Not despair at my ignorance of computer and internet stuff and make effort in that direction till my (virtual) contact with the Sangha is optimal.

Wishing you all strength and foreberance in your undertakings.
Gassho
Nadi

[Bids]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

"Irina"

Gassho N.

[miheco]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

Dear Sangha sisters and brothers,
I don't have a list or any Ango goals to post here. During Ango and beyond I will continue to live simply by following the Middle Way in all my daily activities and twice daily Zazen practice.

In Gassho,
Jintai

[BrianP]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

My Ango pledge

Less Facebook more Treeleaf
Add second meditation session in the evening - 20 minutes
Eat mindfully & slim!
Make my prison work more effective.

Gasso,
Daiku

[Al]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

Sat in the Zen hall yesterday morning with ZenDave, and this morning as well. Find the computer distracting at first but enjoy the community when someone joins in. Addressed my lower back pain in another post. My dog is joining me often for morning sits (she thinks they're morning naps). So far so good!

[Shonin]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

Shinkai, you can just call me Dave. ZenDave is what happened when i discovered Dave was taken and i had a non-creative moment. : )

[kfrance0]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

Not much of a noteworthy experience, but I thought I'd share... a couple of nights ago, my first zazen sitting since the ango started got off to a rocky start. I hurt my back at work a while ago, and take an occasional muscle relaxer when I go to bed. They can make me a bit dizzy, so I wait til after zazen to take them. I got the pill out and put it and a vitamin in a little plastic lid on the bathroom counter, so when I was finished I could just go in, take them, and then go right to bed. Now, my cat finds this whole zazen thing fascinating...not only do I have to spend the first few minutes getting my mind to settle down a little, but the cat's got to take a few minutes to settle in, too. Usually, I'm able to ignore her and let her putter around and do her cat-thing. This night, though, I heard a clicking noise and then some smacking-lips noises coming from the bathroom...just like the sound a cat would make if she knocked something...like a small plastic lid with pills in it...into the sink, and then started eating them! So I jump up and rush in there, picturing having to rush a cat to the emergency vet clinic in the middle of the night for eating Soma...and find the pills were fine and she was just licking water up from the sink!

So I kinda did one and a half zazen sessions that night.

[Govert]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

Hi,

My commitments for the Ango are :

- Zazen at least 25min twice a day
- Zazenkai (recorded or live version)
* Chant before eating ( outloud or not)
* Insert metta practice
* Sit the 2 days retreat
* Work daily sewing a rakusu
* Quit using sugar and not buying new books but read those that are unread waiting in my library
* Be mindful while eating and leave no traces ( clean up rubbish that spreads around my place)
* Write to my foster kid in Haiti at least twice and enrol for a second child to support

Gassho

Joris

[Shohei]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

elo,

sit everyday.
sit 2x daily for 30min
lay off tv
lay off gum ( replaced a habit for another habit :X)
be more present in a lot of ways... when with my family ill be with my family when at work ill focus on work etc.
read a min. 1hour.
whine less
catch the zazenkai on Saturdays (most will have to be recorded)
sit the Wednesday night sitting in the zen hall
Chant the meal sutra and cut out the things im supposed to have cut out for health reasons and pack my lunch. (sheesh im dense)
work on sewing a new kesa
stick to it

Gassho
Shohei

[Jundo]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

Not much of a noteworthy experience, but I thought I'd share... a couple of nights ago, my first zazen sitting since the ango started got off to a rocky start. I hurt my back at work a while ago, and take an occasional muscle relaxer when I go to bed. They can make me a bit dizzy, so I wait til after zazen to take them. I got the pill out and put it and a vitamin in a little plastic lid on the bathroom counter, so when I was finished I could just go in, take them, and then go right to bed. Now, my cat finds this whole zazen thing fascinating...not only do I have to spend the first few minutes getting my mind to settle down a little, but the cat's got to take a few minutes to settle in, too. Usually, I'm able to ignore her and let her putter around and do her cat-thing. This night, though, I heard a clicking noise and then some smacking-lips noises coming from the bathroom...just like the sound a cat would make if she knocked something...like a small plastic lid with pills in it...into the sink, and then started eating them! So I jump up and rush in there, picturing having to rush a cat to the emergency vet clinic in the middle of the night for eating Soma...and find the pills were fine and she was just licking water up from the sink!

So I kinda did one and a half zazen sessions that night.

Cats are great teachers. So are pill bottles and accidents at work. We sit with all of those, even when rushing to the emergency clinic.

It is all only One Grand Zazen Session!

[CinnamonGal]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

Hello everyone,

Good to hear about your experiences. Here is a few points from me so far.

* The whole giving up stuff things (coffee and alcoholfor me which was an occasional glass of good wine to go with a fantastic meal that i really enjoyed) I choose to see in terms of what I get instead of what I don't get. When it comes to coffee I get positive health effects and do not pollute the system. Instead I use green teas and enjoy a cup much longer than I enjoy a cup of espresso. This is a plus!

I miss wine more than I thought I would. It is so much about sharing a good meal with friends, the amazing smell and the memories of the warm and distant places wine awokes...

*I find the motivation to sit much stronger these days even though my dream of shared sitting with someone in the Zen hall has not come true - the time difference is an obsticle. :roll: I know I sit with all of you. Sometimes cats sit with me, too.

*Found a little article in Trycycle magazine on how to tune up the meditation practice:
http://www.tricycle.com/feature/meditators-toolbox


Gassho,

Irina

[frogman]

Re: Experiencing Ango - PLEASE SHARE YOUR ANGO EXPERIENCES HERE

Hello everyone,

I noticed others have posted that they will not be purchasing any luxury items. I thought this was great and have decided to add this to some of the goals I am trying to accomplish for Ango.

This has been a big relief. I now have a full 100 days of not "working" towards a big purchase. No more comparing reviews on the internet, trying to find the best price or trying to figure out where I am going to get the extra cash. At first I thought this was going to be a sacrifice, but it's quite the opposite.

Anybody else feel the same?

gassho,

Bryan