Still, in the City by Angela Dews

Author:Angela Dews
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2018-09-04T16:00:00+00:00

KICKBOXING WITH THE DHARMA

by Ellen Furnari

I was very pleased to be asked to teach an introduction to Vipassana Buddhism at the university. I had recently moved to a city in New Zealand’s south, in pursuit of a higher education degree, and knew very few people. I figured teaching would be both deeply satisfying, as it always is to share the dharma, and a way to connect with new people.

The class was being taught in the student union, a large three-story building. I was assigned a comfy room with some chairs and a sofa, and there were also some sitting cushions and mats available. I greeted folks as they came in; we sat down, introduced ourselves, and said a bit about our backgrounds and what we wanted from this five-week course. After a brief introduction, about which I remember nothing, I started to lead a meditation focused on breath as a way to get present, settle, and focus.

At about the same moment, music started to blare, the room rumbled from the bass, and the rhythmic thump of people jumping on the floor above (jump ropes, jumping jacks?) began in time with the rhythm of the music. It turned out that we were underneath the kickboxing studio. How exciting! What to do?

It was one of those moments in teaching when you can cry, laugh, or just make use of the moment. I must admit I was torn between the crying and laughing. But instead, I acknowledged awareness of sound and offered the invitation to notice where the mind was going—resistance to what is, the emotions arising, whatever was present. The challenge is, can we befriend whatever is in this moment? Can we not pretend this huge noise and vibration is not happening? Not get lost in the irritation, or amusement, or whatever it might be? But can we be friends with and kind to the mind that hears, that reacts, and that has opinions and views of how a meditation class is supposed to be?

Another night, when the class upstairs must have been discussing something, as there were no noises emanating from above, someone started what sounded like a car, minus muffler, in the street below. Of course, it coincided with a moment when we were meditating. Luckily, I happened to be directing people to be aware of the arising and passing of sound. These loud noises, that seemed to go on for five to ten minutes, gave us all a whole cacophony of sounds arising and changing to be aware of. Imagine how hard it would have been if it had been totally silent!

Throughout the course, there were innumerable moments to talk about being with things as they are. We want perfect conditions for meditation—if only my cushion were a bit higher, if my chair were padded, if it were quieter, darker, lighter, earlier in the day, before a meal—then surely I would achieve my desired state of a quiet mind, calm and content, and focus on whatever meditation object I have chosen.

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