During the last conference call Jack asked that we take a few moments and try focusing not on substance, but on the transition of the arising, not the specific arising itself.
At that time I sat looking out the window at the landscape. I didn’t have a flow of thoughts then, so I just noticed how often the transition from one moment to the next seemed to hinge, or perhaps coincide with a shift in my eye movement, a change in view seemed to change a moment. Jack suggested I further explore these transitions in experience, because the eyes are constantly moving, perhaps even within the same moment, so I’ve been doing that.
While shifting visual focus seemed to change perspective on a specific range of the landscape available from my chair, from an even wider perspective, it was my intent to situate myself in the chair in order to participate in the phone call, and to also explore any exercises that Jack might suggest we engage with. By taking that wider perspective I can see, as the readings suggest, “names, labels, and our own concerns serve as the glue that holds together moments of experienceâ€.
Why am I looking at random views of my visible landscape? A more encompassing perspective might suggest, because of my intent to acquiesce to the rules and conventions of Jack’s class, and because of my interest in pursuing an investigation in order to know what the transition are in my experience – an allowing of some sort, and a self-concern.
David
