Earth Hour

Last night was Earth Hour.  From 8:30 to 9:30 PM, people world wide (their local time) were asked to turn off everything that used electricity in their homes.  In our home we lit candles in the zendo and went and sat, without a timer.  It was a very interesting experience and revealed a lot to me about the subtle way (as well as the gross) that I rely on technology in my life.

The process itself was very beautiful.  Normally I use an electronic timer to mark my periods of sitting.  Sitting without one of any type felt very open.  I have sat down to sit without a timer before, but the agenda of the day often creeps in, quietly pointing out all the other things that need to get done.  Last night, at least for an hour, there was no agenda.

In my sitting practice I am finding that there are both subtle and gross levels of commentary that creep up in the mind.  Gross commentary is what we normally recognize as distraction in sitting.  Some thought comes up and we follow it, feeding it, helping it to grow and develop.  When we notice we have done this, we acknowledge it, let go and return to the practice.  Not putting energy into the subtle commentary is more difficult.  Subtle commentary is some form of "oh you are doing that again" or a charged spike of "ahhh-haaaa" or "hmmmmph".  Early on in my practice, I found that the subtle commentary was very helpful, as it was the voice that pointed out the gross commentary.  However, even on its own, the subtle commentary can pull us away from the moment.  Although subtle commentary does not  tend to grow and unfold if given energy, it still moves into the foreground of the mind, obscuring the broad scene.  I have the sense that this too should float by without receiving undo attention.

We did not sit the whole hour.  After a certain amount of time, we brought some of the candles upstairs, poured wine, sat down on the couch and watched the world sit and rest through our front window.