Today i am cheating

I am going to cheat by posting this link to an article in the bbc news about meditation;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7319043.stm

Why hiking is less fun when you can't get lost and die

Going hiking in Hong Kong is a very pleasant experience. This weekend, for example, we caught the MTR just 30 minutes away, then caught a bus to the beginning of the well marked trail. Along the way of the 4 hour trail there are benches and rubbish bins, emergency telephones, and in the middle of this particular hike, a shop where you can stop for noodles and sweet tofu. At the end of the hike there is even a drink machine to get water.


This is different from hiking in Australia. I contrast my nice hike this weekend with a day hike in S.E. Queensland where we firstly woke up at 4 am and drove 2 and a half hours to get to Mt Barney, then started the hike, got lost and spent the night in the cold. It was a far less pleasant experience.
Like a lot of other things in Hong Kong, the natural environment, specifically the country parks, also seem convenient, orderly, and subject to human control.

Speaking in wanky philosophical terms, I think the approach to hiking in Hong Kong is an example of an instrumental view of nature. Put simply, the mountains in the new territories are good for weekend walks, therefore they have value to us. When put in the context of recreation, this idea can become closely linked with consumerism, or even the commodification of nature. In Hong Kong’s country parks you can consume a nature experience as easily as consuming iced tea and fish balls from the seven eleven.

The opposite view is to see nature as having intrinsic value: whether we can get something out of the mountains or not, they should be respected and protected. According to environmental philosophers such as Arne Naess, this approach not only works out better for the natural environment, but it is a fundamental part of human spirituality. This approach aims to challenge the traditional (mainly western) dichotomy of man and nature as being two separate things.

The main difference is who is in control. When you start a day hike in many national parks (I’m thinking Mt Warning, or Mt Barney because you always hear stories of accidents in these places) the hiker is in a position where they have to submit to the surrounding environment. In Hong Kong, while of course accidents still happen, it is clear that people have gone to great lengths to control the experience.

If most people’s interaction with nature through hiking is an extension of a consumer lifestyle it doesn’t necessarily lead to a reevaluation of a person’s place in the wider environment, or instill a greater respect for nature.

I wonder how much this affects people’s environmental ethics in their daily lives.

Drying Meditation

Today i said meditative chants in my head while doing my laundry.

It's actually really fun and relaxing. I think it's why buddhist monks do alot of cleaning to help them zen hout.

Incidentally, my load didn't dry properly, so had to put it back in for a hotter drying session, as i tried no heat so that my clothes don't shrink, as they constantly do, or am i just getting huge from the gym?

Rant

While in the gym the other day (i can't stop referring to being in the gym, because i hate the gym, but it's so good!) i was listening to a podcast about Paul Bailey, an Australian writer who just published a book 'Think of an Elephant.'

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/spirit.xml

I havn't read the book, but i don't think i want to because it sounds a bit crap. I would probably consider reading it if he didn't promise to give you 'a new way of seeing and being in the world.'

This is what his website says;

Humanity is on the threshold of a breakthrough in perception as profound as the shift we made 500 years ago, from a flat earth view of reality to Galileo's orbital universe.We are awakening to a greater energy and power active within perception itself, realizing that perception does more than give us pictures of the world 'out there'. Cutting-edge science is showing that this greater aspect of our attention is the same influential energy that bonds everything to everything else as one seamless whole.Once these energetic links are found and activated in our lives, we are liberated and empowered in ways we dared not dream possible.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't this an old idea? And didn't people think it would happen in the 70's, and it didn't (or maybe we should give it more than 30 years for the profound shift, i don't know.) And isn't there a recent trend for books and films (eg 'what the bleep do we know' 2005)
which could all be summarised as 'how quantum physics can transform your life...into something....not exactly what....but it will be awesome.....and you'll be a better lover....and you'll reach a different state of conciousness....and yay! i'll be awesome! Just read this book!'

I don't really have a point to this post, except to rant like an old man about people who try to fob off old ideas as new ideas and make lots of money out of it. Also Paul Bailey has a really annoying voice because apparently he used to be a business leadership development/motivational speaker person.

So in conclusion grr grrr grrrrrr to expensive new age wank. And now i'm going to go alter my state of conciousness by going to sleep.

Fidgeting

I fidget too much. I was reminded of this after kyja got a webcam, and we started skyping seeing each other, and she got frustrated because i move too much. I don't know why this is. Apparently i also constantly wriggle in my sleep. Maybe i am just the eternal grade one child who can't sit still.

And this has implications for meditation.

Tonight Jessica is out, so i read a psalm and meditated for about 10 minutes, which is not a long time, but i think meditation is like running, and you have to train, and work your way up and can't do too much too soon or else you'll pull your spiritual muscle (as opposed to my gym muscles, which are increasingly huge) or rip a tendon in your god place or something. But i also think this is an excuse i just made up.

Anyway, it is really difficult when you can't stop moving. I have thought about taping my hands to my legs while meditating, but this seems extreme. I could maybe take some valium, but i don't know where to get some, and all the students i know who've gotten chinese medicine for things like bronchitis have gotten pills that give you hand tremors, so i don't think that would help.

So tonight i am seeking advice on how to sit still, without physical restraints or drugs. Any suggestions?

Dau Fu!

Today after waking up i talked to Kyja for about three hours on skype.

Then i went to eat at the awesome Vegetarian cafe (with tofu made to look like meat) where i go almost once a day, and i have a deal with the happy cafe lady to only speak to me in Cantonese. But it doesn't really work because i just say 'Hello, how are you?' and then she laughs, and then she says some stuff in Cantonese which i don't understand, and i say 'Yes,' and sometimes 'Tofu' and then i say i want my food to eat here, and she laughs again, and then i go and eat my food.

Actually they are the closest good vegetarian place, as in proper vegetarian rather than noodles without any meat. It is so hard to be vegetarian in Hong Kong!!! Actually, that cafe reminds me a bit of 'The Vegetarian Eatery' in St.Lucia. The staff have a similar euphoric eyes glazed over kind of appearance, and a permanent smile. I'm not sure what religious influence they are, maybe buddhist, new age or some combination of both. There is alot of literature at their shop, including one booklet in english that proclaims 'The Key to Immediate Enlightenment.' But when i opened it it is a bit long and convoluted, and didn't provide the promised enlightenment. I was a bit dissapointed, but i had good tofu to compensate for my spiritual deficiencies.

And this whole boring story is to divert you from the fact that i didn't get time to meditate today, but still had contact with some lovely spiritual tofu making folk. I think that counts for something.

Muscle development

Today i did not meditate. Instead i went to the gym in order to become huge.

You want massageeee?

You want massagee? Special price for you!!!! (...is what everyone says in Shenzen, just over the border in China.)

Why is this relevent to spiritual development? Because i'm trying to make this blog interesting. Also because i just went to meditate in the relaxation room, but then some people came in to use the massage chairs.

But i did listen to two songs by Sufyan Stevens before they came in, which i think counts for something.

Where is the space in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong has 10790 sq km.

Kowloon, where I live, as do most people in Hong Kong, has 45.5 sq km.

There are 7 million people living in Hong Kong.

So there isn't much space.

I live in a building with 3000 other people. I share a room with one other person and a bathroom with 5 other people, and a hallway and common area and kitchen with 200 other people.

So there isn't much space.

I'll now take you on a photo tour of places that are sometimes quiet and free;



The lounge area. However, notice the drink machines, that hum constantly.

This is my hallway.

Welcome to the relaxation room - a place where I sometimes meditate...

Except if people are on the massage chairs...

Or people are playing playstation...

Karoke room. Hmmm....

So this is just a quick overview of how it can be a challenge to find a solitary place in my building.

Tomorow i'll start documenting how my meditation is, if i find a place. This is sounding like a really really boring blog now, i'll try to put in some drama, kung fu, bird flu etc in later posts, just to keep you reading.... stay tuned.

Introduction

I've decided to start this blog because I have two questions;

1. Is it possible to find a solitary place to meditate/pray in the building I live in?

2. How does this affect my personal spirituality?

By starting a blog, my hope is that I will become more disciplined in meditation, by recording my attempts.

Another reason is that I don't have a particular Christian community here in Hong Kong, so I'm attempting to open up discussion/support/fellowship with my friends in Australia and elsewhere.

If you read my blog, please feel welcome to comment, share experiences, give suggestions etc.