Stopping
There is only one expert on stopping that I know. That would be me. I know what I mean by stopping.
It means settling in. It means thinking of stopping. It means collecting myself.
It is what I do at the commencement of the meditative half of what I call Triadic Meditation.
Ordinarily my Triadic Meditation is divided into two elements.
One is the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer which I regard as a universal and intensely secular prayer.
The other half is the Meditation proper which is when I take a Sign and run it through the Ethical Index and conclude with an expression or an intention to act or both.
OK.
This is about stopping which is
the initial part of the Meditation proper.
Since I am generally on a treadmill or walking outside when I start this, stopping is not actually standing or sitting still. I might even be in a place where other people are, so it is not being alone though it could be. Indeed I sometimes do this when I am about to go to sleep at night. So it really can be anywhere under most conditions.
Stopping is being in a position that enables me to sense what is happening.
Today I was out of sorts. Not happy with things. Short. Inclined to grouse. So I let all that be the sign-feeling of my meditation. I didn’t give it a name. I merely let it take over and tell me what it was. It did.
Getting the Sign is what happens when you are Stopped.
Since there are times when
we are perfectly well aware of what is on our mind
and therefore of the sign
we want to submit in meditation,
stopping may simply be
collecting yourself
to run with it.
So stopping is whatever gets you into a mentality that enables you to consider a sign. To allow it to form into something you can consider.
So that when you get to the second step, the Index, you are able to tell yourself,
“I can tolerate …”
or
“tolerance”
… and so forth.
I am adamant about the value of stopping.
But I am not confident of my ability to help others achieve the state I am talking about.
It is a state of nowness.
It is a state of being able to focus on what is there in the moment.
It is not spooky or ethereal or particularly special.
It is merely letting your mind rest and observing the rising sign.
How it happens, how you describe it, that is your mode. It needs merely to get to a point where you can in a short statement to your self say what you are considering.
Dealing with an irritation.
Considering feelings a joy.
Worrying about something.
Whatever it is will utterly determine the next phase.
If you have practiced STOPPING enough to feel comfortable with it you have gotten through REALITY.
Reality is the big kahuna. It is everything there is so when you are consciously connected you are moving along in the cosmos — consciously!
You have completed the first step in Triadic Meditation proper.
Next comes ETHICS
