Buddha Belly

On Tuesday, Jason met me after work to attend a meditation seminar with me and my friend Sarah. We walked into the class and realized it wasn't a one-off, but rather a series of classes. We'd already missed six.

Thankfully, the teacher was super welcoming and took the time to explain concepts to us newbies. It was pretty compelling nonetheless. We talked about how to stop the cycle of obsessive thoughts - and the concept that we control our thoughts (and therefore our attitudes). I definitely forget that sometimes. I remembered when I was getting over my ex, I felt like I couldn't stop thinking about him, it was driving me mad. I finally started just yelling "Stop!" out loud everytime he creeped into my head. And you know, it worked... eventually. Definitely something I'd like to get better at.

We also talked about the idea that too much pleasure always equals pain. Think about it.

Finally, we talked about how fleeting pleasure is, and how endless the pursuit of it can become. We think that (simplistically) a pair of shoes is going to make us feel better. It does, in the moment, but then that moment fades and with it the pleasure... (don't I know!) On a deeper level, he said even the pursuit of pleasure in the sense of our relationships fades. I wasn't really sure I understood that as well. He finally said that the only true pleasure, and therefore peace, comes from within. You decide how you view the world, you decide how you interpret others, you decide to be happy. That I liked.

Lately, I've been trying to do more of that... not be a slave to my emotions, but rather recognize and control them. I try to reinterpret things so that I realize that most of the things people do have nothing to do with me! It makes me a more understanding person, and a better friend, I think. You've gotta take your own ego out of the equation.

After our enlightenment, we all went out to dinner at a cheap-o place on Indian row (in keeping with the theme). It was so great to have Jason meet Sarah - I knew they would totally hit it off. I noticed throughout the night that Jason demured on his accomplishments. He didn't mention his language skills, his grad school, or his European project. It was kind of amazing. I asked him about it later, and he said, "I was just really interested in getting to know Sarah better." DAMN! Talk about taking your ego out of the equation. Sarah called me the next day and told me how great she thought he was, intelligent without pretention, able to be silly, and modest. This is the first time she's 1) called me after meeting a bf 2) said how great he was. I'm definitely doing things better this time around.

Jason invited me to go skiing at his parents place upstate this weekend. He said, "I just can't seem to get enough of you. I can't wait to have you all to myself this weekend!"

Ditto.

*scorpio*