The meeting between the Don’t know mind and Metacognition (part 1)
The most important thing in Meditation--In the eyes of a Zen Teacher and a Neuroscientist in the field of mind-body:
The meeting between “Don’t know mind” and Metacognition.
The most important thing in Meditation--In the eyes of a Zen Teacher and a Neuroscientist in the field of mind-body:
The meeting between “Don’t know mind” and Metacognition.
(Part 1)
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I often wondered why I was fighting so hard for a big dream but went nowhere. Why do feelings and experiences continue to repeat themselves? How could I change this pattern? Many times I tried to fix my states of mind, but ultimately, my life hadn’t changed much.
These questions were rolling over and over in my head:
What is the secret of life?
How does life work?
What is the rule behind manifestation?
After over 10 years of seeking and searching for an answer to my questions, I found it in the intersection of meditation and neuroscience.
My experience in Zen meditation started when I met a Zen Teacher.
One day, I decided to start my regular meditation practice at a Zen meditation center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In the beginning, I often found myself confused by the process itself and what results it would bring me.
“Keep your ‘don’t-know mind’ and just do the job,” the Guiding Teacher often said, “regardless of your likes and dislikes.” It sounds simple, yet is very hard, as my analytical mind wanted to have answers for everything. But the “don’t-know mind” requires just looking at what is happening without trying to squeeze an answer for it. Yet not knowing why gains and losses happened often disturbed me very much.
Several years passed by. I went through many moments of doubts, exhaustion, hope, and re-affirmation of my purpose. But eventually, the mystery of life was unfolding like the dark sky getting brighter and brighter as the Sun rises in the morning. What seemed very confusing at the beginning turned out to be the single solution for every life problem.
The guiding Teacher, Dharma Master Barry Briggs, often said: "First you must know who you are. If you truly find that, then you can live effortlessly." This “that” can’t be described in words. But, I just see that when I get lost in my thinking mind, life starts challenging me with obstacles.
Dharma Master Barry’s teaching helped me trust in my own being and walk firmly on my own feet on a challenging path. His teaching style is simple and focused. He has a systematic way of working and teaching, very organized and balanced, and has a surprising way of responding. His students can rarely predict how he will reply to their actions or speech. He has the heart of a Buddha: full of love and compassion, and a pure passion for his students’ progress. Yet, he is precisely strict in what he does and says, which later I understood was helpful for his students’ growth. My trust grew. An interesting thing is that Teacher Barry always knew my state of mind when encountering me and gently helped me get out of the “clouds” in my head. He never forced his students to practice, but when he was present, everybody was in good spirits, and our discipline of the practice naturally grew. The most important “technique” that I have learned from Teacher Barry is to keep practicing consistently, and do it with all I have.
Teacher Barry never used big words; he never talked about miracles or promised anything. He just said: “Don’t check! Just decide and do it, moment by moment”. I couldn’t digest many of his words right away, especially when my mind interpreted those words based on my past experience and knowledge. I wanted to debate with the Teacher sometimes, and he allowed me to express myself without judging me. Only when something went wrong was it the time his students got help. I saw my life had changed in a way I never thought it would. For the first time, I encountered moments in which each action is full and complete by itself. For the first time, I understood that love heals the deepest pain; compassion transforms the most hatred. Having love and compassion for oneself alone is enough to feel full the joy of living and love for life.
Thank you, John Ziemba and Jon Hodge, for your editing and your Zen mind!
References:
https://www.cochisezencenter.org/teacher/
http://www.oxherding.com
https://kwanumzen.org/our-teachers/
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