<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="0.92">
<channel>
	<title>Just So&#187; enlightenment</title>
	<link>http://www.mikaelaldridge.com</link>
	<description>Meditations on Enlightenment</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:00:58 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<docs>http://backend.userland.com/rss092</docs>
	<language>en</language>
	<!-- generator="WordPress/3.2.1" -->

	<item>
		<title>Compassion and Enlightenment</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Shravakas and solitary realizers Spring from the kings of Munis. Buddhas spring from Bodhisattvas. The compassionate mind, non-dual awareness, And the altruistic mind of Enlightenment Give rise to jinaputras, children of Conquerors. Mercy alone is perceived as the seed Of a Conqueror&#8217;s abundant harvest, As water for growth, and as Fruition in long enjoyment. Thus [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikaelaldridge.com/zen/compassion-and-enlightenment/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Faith</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I was thinking about my practice this morning and where I&#8217;m at with it.  Three words seemed to do it:- concentration, observation and faith. The first two words are kind of obvious.  Faith isn&#8217;t a normal word for me. I&#8217;ve got to a real stage of not knowing in my practice, which is leaving no [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikaelaldridge.com/zen/faith/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Stumbling along the path</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Just because we&#8217;ve had an awakening of sorts doesn&#8217;t mean that we&#8217;ve been transfigured. It&#8217;s a long journey. In astrological symbolism we reverse the wheel in Libra, transform the emotional nature in Scorpio, silence our thoughts in Sagittarius and become transfigured in Capricorn. I think people misunderstand the concept of sudden enlightenment. Satori itself is [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikaelaldridge.com/zen/stumbling-along-the-path/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Meditation time</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It struck me as interesting the other day that the Dalai Lama spends four hours a day meditating. And in one of the experiments that has popped up in the news an experienced meditator is considered to have done 10,000 hours. If you meditate for 2 hours a day, it&#8217;s going to take you almost [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikaelaldridge.com/zen/meditation-time/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Enlightenment Statistics</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s always interesting looking up Google statistics on who&#8217;s searching what. I thought I&#8217;d look up enlightenment, to see just how much people were interested. But it seemed the results might be clouded. The news headlines seemed to have nothing to do with the meaning of enlightenment as I intended. OK, I thought to myself. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikaelaldridge.com/zen/enlightenment-statistics/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Taming the bull</title>
		<description><![CDATA[So, this taming, seems to be about getting some distance on the mind; the kind of distance where thoughts are seen to be external, which is I guess glimpsing the bull. Perhaps distance should be called spaciousness. Thoughts arise within a much wider space than the thoughts themselves. And because of that distance there is a measure of control, which seems to be no control at all, because when there is control it is really thoughts controlling
thoughts. Call this wider space presence.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikaelaldridge.com/zen/taming-the-bull/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Practice and enlightenment</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Dogen Zenji who lived betweeen 1200 and 1253,  founded the Soto school of Zen.  His basic tenet as far as I could tell was the unity of practise and enlightenment.  Suzuki Ryoshi who wrote the well known Zen Mind, Beginner&#8217;s Mind was a soto practitioner. I like just sitting.  I wrote post on Silent Illumination [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikaelaldridge.com/zen/practice-and-enlightenment/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Going about our lives.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Vimalakirti achieved enlightenment (now there's an oxymoron) while going about his everyday life.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikaelaldridge.com/zen/going-about-our-lives/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Not so interesting</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This is really notes to myself this time. I just don't want to lose these thoughts over the next while, even though I know this is being read. And even though thoughts are themselves impermanent and arise within emptiness. So, I apologise if this is a bit boring. After all it's in my blog and it should be interesting. What is this addiction to interesting anyway?]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikaelaldridge.com/zen/not-so-interesting/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Alaya</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It was dark with a diffused light, shining within the darkness, like the fog on the manukau in the morning. ]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikaelaldridge.com/zen/alaya/</link>
			</item>
</channel>
</rss>

