Atammayatā: the four elements

The Mind Decolonized III

After completing the ‘Access Elements’ course, I felt like I’d shattered my body. A new practice was growing through a crumbling heart. Intimacy between the meditator and meditation collapsed into natural surrender. Without body and mind, I’m held by absorption.

Each morning begins with body contemplations. Knowing, feeling, or imagining hairs of the head, hairs of the body, skin, teeth, nails, flesh, and bones. Also tendons, bones marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, membranes, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, ovaries, bladder, uterus, and brain. The mind is further collected by elaborating on its capacity to know, feel, or see bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, oil, saliva, mucus, oil of the joints, and urine. Confidence is established, for the moment, when comprehending the Earth and Water elements in the body.

The Fire element represents the body’s natural processes that cause birth, aging, and decay. When collecting the mind to prepare for absorption, we have to be settled with impermanence. One approach to cultivating this attitude is to observe changes in physical sensations throughout meditation. If attention sticks onto discursive thinking or disturbing memories, observe changes and then a body scan, locate any tension in the body that reflects the content of the mind.

All meditators will experience difficulty placing attention on the breath. The Air element most obviously appears as breathing, but it’s typically not the first element that’s observed in the body. If the mind hasn’t been trained to observe the present moment, the breath will be a tricky object. Instead, start with an object that requires more mental activity to observe, such as Earth, Water, and Fire. This trains the mind to stay on topic while also clearly showing when it’s off topic.

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SCOBY Updates:

• I do not have MS! Testing is on hold unless anything major comes up. I have had to implement lifestyle changes to address focal aware seizures. This means that I’m in the caves less and less.

• Thank you for the continued support. I was able to get new shoes, food, medicine, and a sublet room in Tucson. Big shout out to friends and community aid.

• I am currently working as a therapy provider for people on the autism spectrum.

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Me & Gera, Cochise Stronghold

Mt. Graham

Henrik, Mt Graham

Ice Caves