Sitting, Day 13

"Some people find incense and pictures of the Buddha to be a threat to their rational spirit. But we most certainly cannot depend solely upon our rationality."~Setting Up Your Home Altar

It is amazing to recognize that I have been working "in" Tricycle magazine’s 90-day Zen Meditation Challenge, Big Sit, for nearly thirteen days now. Though it seems a very small feat, this means that since February 23, I have been waking up a little earlier (4:40 a.m. to be exact) in order to sit for 15 minutes each day.

On the surface, there has been no "struck by lightening moment," but simply cosmetic changes in a developing practice. As I peruse the online community of members working through this exercise, the result people hope for ranges from instantaneous enlightenment to a single moment of peace. Any progress towards the prior ("okay--I sort of 'get it.'"is much greater than the latter("BOOM--here you are!") ... and that's really all I have sought by not seeking.

My slowly developing "altar" has evolved from consisting of an old replica American colonial period shelf and mildly scented candle to the same shelf with a ceramic incense holder, a few pictures and a small red laughing Buddha figurine. Most of these things were purchased at a local shop and the actual presence of these various things in my home, in public, and my having purchased them represents the biggest change. A normally awkward and self-conscious individual about these matters, I have become more comfortable in becoming a consumer and "user" of this paraphernalia to (hopefully) mold a stronger (any!) sitting practice. In doing so, I have attempted to draw meaning from the inclusion of each.

Who knows if this is something I will continue to build into my life after 90 days, but this is a start toward something, right? ... and perhaps that is the larger purpose of this "challenge."

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!!