The 3-day "mind fasting" process extended all the way through most of the day today, and I loved it.
Looking
back on the email below from 3 years ago, and comparing it to my
experience this time, I see similarities and differences... All in all,
it was a profound and purifying experience.
1.
Completely shutting down all your systems is much easier to do when you
are in an unfamiliar environment, which is largely why people go to
retreat centers or Zen centers for this type of soul cleansing. It
requires tremendous amount of discipline and strong will to do it at
home -- at a place you are very familiar with, and nothing
you can rely on to distract your attention. I did it from Thursday
night through this morning. During the entire time, my iPhone, laptop,
TV, music and car were completely off. We had a social event planned a
few weeks ago for last night, but still, no TV, no phone, no laptops!
We talked, laughed, sang and danced, as we would normally do long before
the digital age!
2.
Three years ago when I did this for the first time, it was from 5pm
Friday night to 8am Monday morning. I remember being so eager to turn
on my iPhone Monday morning, without any hesitation. This time, the
process lasted longer, from Thursday night through most of the day
Monday. Surprisingly, I was sooooo reluctant to get back to my phone or
turn on my laptop today. I had the urge to preserve the purity I
attained over the past few days.... It was almost like I had a level of
fear -- fearful of getting back to the chaotic world and not knowing how
to get out of it...
3.
Over the long weekend, I spent the quiet time reading a book titled
"Our Pristine Mind" by Orgyen Chowang (published in 2016). I must say
that I've read many good books over the years, but this one resonated
with me deeply. It analyzes the mental events we experience day in and
day out, and how these events affect our ability to know who we truly
are and what the world truly is. It systematically illustrates how
Pristine Mind meditations can help us develop inner serenity, clarity
and awareness as we live through our lives. If I am only allowed to
keep 3 books in my life, this would be one of them.
From: Pei Tang <tang_pei@yahoo.com>
To: Pei Tang <tang_pei@yahoo.com>
Sent: Monday, May 5, 2014 6:32 PM
Subject: Re: Going to my Zen sanctuary...
The Zen weekend came and went, and I feel insanely great!!
Friday
night, Rudi and I had a big dinner at home. Yeah, I cooked, and I told
him that for the rest of the weekend, I would only eat what I NEED, not
what I WANT!! During dinner, we had a philosophical discussion about
whether or not processing pictures would be considered as a "prohibited"
activity for the weekend... Conclusion? Yes! All I planned to do was
to turn off my iPhone, iPad, Laptops, TV and my car for this "mind
fasting" process.
As promised, the weekend started at 5PM on Friday and ended at 6AM this morning.
Saturday
morning was the most difficult. I got up at 6AM. Looking at my
laptops, iPhone and iPad, they were all laying there so quietly. My
white-silver iPhone-5s stared at me with its endless charm and innocent
beauty. I stared back at him
with deep affection, but didn't touch him. For about 30 minutes, I
felt very strange for not being able to watch the weather channel or to
check messages on my iPhone... I felt totally strange for being
disconnected, period! Nonetheless, I proceeded my morning with a strong
will.
Part
of my morning exercise routine was to take a long walk. On my way,
someone was having a garage sale. You would not believe how much space
she occupied for this "garage sale" -- in her garage, on her driveway
and spread out all the way over her lawn. I had a hard time to
comprehend why and how people can allow so much STUFF to clutter in
their lives!!!!
After
the morning walk, I immediately went to my basement and started my own
"clean-up." Those of you who have seen my basement, you know it
represents a clean, neat space with an overwhelming sense of
nothingness! I went into the storage section and looked very hard for
"stuff" to throw away... I went through each neatly packed box one more
time and finally concluded -- there is nothing for me to throw away!
But guess what I
found in the process?? I found a copy of the diary I wrote for my
little
Michelle -- every day for 9 months + 21 days! I found 3 big binders of
my little Michelle's drawings at age 4, 5 and 7 -- the pictures she
drew and the notes she wrote to Mommy -- reflected nothing but
uncontrollable true love! I also found several precious homework books I
made for Michelle before she entered pre-school. They all have her
crooked little handwriting in it...
Wow,
let me tell you, it's absolutely frightening when I have too much free
time. All of a suddenly, my basement became a treasure island! How on
earth could I not keep all these pieces of history in our fire-proof
safety box???
.....
Sunday
was much better and more peaceful. My mind got used to not being
cluttered by "messages". Stop the inflow of information can really
allow you to feel and reflect deeper on the present. I read the book
《佛泽》again -- it's an
amazing book. I read it a few weeks ago when
I was in China. It talks about a famous, award-winning Chinese
photographer spending 9+ years in well-known Chinese Buddha's temples to
photograph life and virtue inside the temple -- it brings tremendous
calmness, clarity and purity to my mind!
I
have been thinking about the best places for this type of Zen retreat.
Yeah, it might be much easier to do it in Death Valley or northern
California National Seashore or Wisconsin Ice Caves, etc. because when
you're surrounded by an unfamiliar environment, your attention would
naturally be absorbed by new things. However, when you are at home and
surrounded by everything you know, it's far more difficult to change
your daily routine. So, for me, being able to turn off everything and
tasted a simple life in the way people lived 40 years ago, that was a
rather interesting experience!
For those of you who can read Chinese, attached are 2 pages of my diary for Michelle.
Attachment 1 = Cover Page
Attachment 2 = The First Week
of May 1991 (what happened this week 23 years ago)
From: Pei Tang <tang_pei@yahoo.com>
To: Pei Tang <tang_pei@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 1, 2014 8:20 PM
Subject: Going to my Zen sanctuary...
Life
has been pretty horrendous over the past 2 months. As I look back at
my calendar, I have literally been traveling every week since 3/10/14 --
it's overwhelming and exhausting!! Thank goodness I am finally back
home
now and will be in Chicago next week.
To
help calm myself down and cleanse my mind, I have decided to go
"off-line" for the weekend. I need to create a peaceful Zen sanctuary
for my mind and body to "turn-off"
and rest. I can't afford the time to fly to some peaceful remote place
to do this because, sadly, I still need to work tomorrow and Monday.
But I desperately NEED a break from this world of chaos!
To that end, I have just delivered my weekly photos and I
am sending my reflections now. I hope to be able to totally "shutdown" as of 5 PM tomorrow (Friday) and will reconnect on
Monday.
Enjoy your weekend in whatever way that fits you the best. Life is short, and we really need to take care of ourselves -- physically and mentally!
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