Hi Namaste2All and Steve !
I found this article very informative and thought i'd post here because both of you have turned your cell phone off recently during your visit to Amma- Unplugging from the Technological world we live in today and nourishing your Soul/Spirit. We can all benefit from reading this. Perhaps either of you can share what it was like to step away from your cell phones and Internet(?)
Thanks, here is what I gathered out of the articles...
Phantom Ring -- the cell phone has become like a phantom limb (when it's not with us). Accurate analysis in the article...
Memory Consolidation -- how we need some stillness for the human brain to get stuff from short-term to long-term memory... when we are so flooded with over-info, tv, smartphone, internet, then Memory Consolidation is not effective, etc. -- it's about attention being weakened... it's in long-term memory that connections are made between all the experiences, i.e. - the creative and inspired human discovery realm.
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PARADOXThe double-edged sword of our communication age -- another paradox of this modern world.
-- (why does one spoon of medicine cure, yet the whole bottle kills?)
-- (wind the guitar strings too tight and they break; wind them too loose it will not make a sound)
-- (too little technology engagement and we loose opportunity to expand our sharing and gain insight via books, etc.; too much and we short-circuit, and can waste time and energy)
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BALANCE ?I really struggle in my life with taking the best of this modern world,
yet not letting it consume me.
I feel I get consumed easily into the media (TV and internet), but it's a game of balance.
KEEPING IN TOUCH ?I do not watch any TV news shows, i find the media makes a story out of anything.
I find that I can browse Google News headlines once a week, and keep up very easily with what is consuming the mass consciousness of current world events. I click down into the Science section and read those headlines, and even open and browse some of those articles. I really nearly skip over the business, sports, and entertainment sections, as well as the technology section - because it's just about business of gadgets. SRF Brother Anandamoy would get the LA Times once a week and just read the headlines; he stated this was enough to guage where the mass consciousness was at, etc.
MY SMARTPHONEI work in a very specialized Information Technology job, but until 18 months ago only had a cell phone (with no camera) - it was 5 years old by the time I accepted a Blackberry from the company. I avoided the smartphone because I noticed how it was changing the way folks live and interact. But professionally the time arose, when I could no longer avoid getting smartphone, or else I would need to change my career. I get paid to take care of these big enterprise databases -- and that means keeping them going for hospitals 24/7/365. So I've noticed that I have to force myself to take a smartphone vacation -- not look at the phone, and to trust I'll get a phone call from the Monitoring and Operations folks if there is something that is critical. Yet, I notice, I get in the habit of keeping the phone nearby, so I don't miss that call. And if I'm mowing the lawn, I will not hear the phone, so I try and check that I've not missed calls.
It's a paradox. This is a tool of my service, and we all need to suck it up and be of service to each other. ACTIVELY LISTENING ? BEING FULLY ENGAGED AND "IN THE PRESENT MOMENT" ?I mean, honestly when I'm in a conversation with another person or a few folks, it is a task at times to be 'completely present' and 'actively engaged' in listening, etc. Seems we all challenged by this to a degree -- our human mind is hearing threads of discussion, and it is trying to figure out how to communicate ("oh yes, I hear you, I know what you are talking about", or "what are you talking about, I don't understand, or not heard of that", or "I disagree", or "that makes me think of something interesting").
So then we add all these (smartphone) folks interacting with our lunchtime crew,
and soon we can have an even more dynamic mode of distraction and engagements ?
TURNING OFF THE WORLD (AND DIVING DEEP) ?So when we go to a retreat, or a group meditation --
are we able to leave the phone in the car ?
to turn it off -- not just silence it, and then look at it periodically ?
(because that consciousness and attention, can bring the world vibration into the group).
I choose to leave my phone in the car, and/or sometimes turn it off and take it with me (for any group emergency - we are responsible to each other and the public visitors when we open the doors). But the key is that I must dump ALL attention from that smartphone, and what it represents -- both the good and the bad are left behind. When I go into my dedicated once-a-week long 3 to 5 hour meditation, I tell myself that the world can end, or I can get a call or such, and damn any consequences, the phone and the world is being left behind. Those who need to know - my wife, or even my co-worker, know where I am that day of the week -- they can send the police or come get me for some dire need. Seriously, we have to tell the mind to shut the heck up, and tell it these things ! (Don't we ? !) Show the mind we mean business, and don't test me, because you know my resolve ! (and the mind actually learns that it is beneficial, and that it is not destroyed, but rather made more efficient tool -- so it actually learns to enjoy the process ).
And it can be a struggle some weeks, and it becomes very apparent that we cannot hide from ourselves when sitting in meditation practice for 5 hours ! It is a matter of tuning out restless thoughts and centering to the spiritual horizon, again and again... however much work it might be... But this long meditation, it reveals what ocean of thought our consciousness has been bathing, and where we are at ? ! And even if the thoughts are few, there may be chore of replacing negative thoughts (weeds) with positive thoughts (flowers), then moving on to let go of all and any thoughts... to just let them drift thru, but not give them any real attention or energy... just to dive deeper and deeper into the vibrant stillness within... to the spiritual horizon.
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Well, not sure I've said much... mostly just trying to 'keep company' with some 'good souls'...
Cheers,
----- Namaste2All
Really appreciate you and your insights. The last part about turning off the world and diving deep: sometimes you just have to talk to the mind and tell it to quiet down. the mind rambles on in endless commentary. its remarkable how much importance we place on our thoughts.
it's all kind of unconscious until you start trying to meditate or calm the thoughts down. Thats when people make the wrongful conclusion that they're unable to meditate. It is only because they have let their emotions and thoughts take them over totally and relinquished their souls
to an endless procession of thoughts and emotions. Our emotions and thoughts. How can we ever see things clearly in this subjective state? We are fortunate to have the meditation techniques of the Masters to help us quiet the mind. Friends that support this practice are like having silver. Friends that practice with us are like having gold.
