Have you taken time to consider your existence? Could it be that you aren't aware of your own life?
Have you considered how you continue to exist? Could it be that what you ingest keeps you alive? Have you considered how you obtain what you ingest? Could it be that movement is how you obtain what you ingest? Have you deeply considered how these elements: awareness, ingestion, movement contribute to your existence? Don't listen to me or anyone else regarding your existence. Deeply consider your experience, here and now. There is no other truth.
0 Comments
“Mindfulness” is the Buddha’s word for meditation. By mindfulness he means you should always remain alert, watchful. You should always remain present. Not a single thing should be done in a sort of sleepy state of mind. You should not move like a somnambulist; you should move with a sharp consciousness.
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana The Buddha propounded a set of teachings known as the Eightfold Path for the cultivation of complete Awareness. Notice how they all involve being present and paying attention. 1. Right view – Seeing reality as it is: fluid, flexible and constantly in motion. This involves looking at reality directly, without prejudice, belief, concepts or opinions (abstractions). 2. Right intention - Coming back to reality: to be present in this moment. This involves letting go of intentions and desires (attachments) and moving from moment to moment, wherever it leads. 3. Right speech - Speaking and listening out of the whole. This involves saying what is true and real, honest and authentic and includes only that which you have experienced for yourself. 4. Right action - Acting on seeing the whole. This involves action based on complete awareness (the complete and balanced functioning of mind). 5. Right livelihood - Earning a living that is conducive to enlightenment. This involves earning a living based on needs, not desires and includes work based on creativity, not destruction. 6. Right effort - Becoming the moment naturally and effortlessly. This involves action that is effortless and based on its own intrinsic value. 7. Right mindfulness - To return to actual experience. This involves remaining alert, watchful and present at all times. 8. Right meditation - Staying with immediate experience, moment by moment. This involves being totally absorbed with reality. Please visit to understand – www.humanbydesign.info/awareness Imagine navigating your day feeling vibrant, calm, and confident - your senses alive and your body completely responsive. You feel as if you are capable of accomplishing anything. This is optimal health and wellbeing, it can be yours, and Human by Design is the way.
There is only one way to completely realize truth: enter it through action. Implementing the Human by Design system involves action, and this is something that must be done individually. We must move beyond understanding and act. Action is reality. Our modern environment makes it difficult to take appropriate action. We have access to unlimited amounts of knowledge. Unfortunately, this makes implementation more confusing than it has to be. Which one of the myriad sources of knowledge is true? What should we base our actions on? Experience is the key. Truth comes down to personal experience. Having access to an appropriate knowledge base is a good way to start. This is the function of the Human by Design system. However, no one else’s answers are going to help in the end. This includes everything that you have read and seen up to this point. Do not take this point lightly. Each of us must find our own answers, and we must depend on our own experience. In order to experience optimal health and wellbeing you must test any and all knowledge out for yourself, and trust your own experience. You must experience and realize for yourself what is true and real - you are the final authority. This applies to every principle, practice and method associated with the Human by Design system. Don’t believe anything I say, but don’t ignore it either. Try it out and decide for yourself. With that said, Human by Design recognizes that you may not know where to begin. Based on this line of thinking, Human by Design has developed the three implementation plans, which are explained below - The Simple Path, The Basic Path, and the Complete Path. What does this Zen Mondo (a dialogue between student and Zen teacher) mean to you?
“We have to eat and dress every day,” said the monk to Mu-chou. “How can we escape from all that?” Mu-chou said: “We dress, we eat.” “I do not understand.” said the monk. “If you don’t understand, get dressed and eat your breakfast.” Be COMPLETELY present. If you aren’t, meditation will help. Human awareness is complete and balanced functioning of the primary (instinct)/secondary (reasoning) representation systems. Zazen, the path to wisdom (intuition), is the modern, paleolithic approximation of ancestral awareness.
Human dietary strategy is based on vegetable matter in the primary position and animal matter in an essential, secondary position. Paleolithic nutrition is the modern, paleolithic approximation of our ancestral dietary strategy. Human movement capabilities are based on terrestrial, bipedal movement and arboreal-based movement such as walking, running, jumping, climbing, carrying, tool making and throwing. Movement qualities include power = fast execution/moderate intensity, strength = slow execution/high intensity, endurance = moderate execution/low intensity. A functional movement practice is the modern, paleolithic approximation of ancestral movement. Appropriate View - See reality as it truly is.
Appropriate Intention - Be kind. Appropriate Speaking - Say what is true and useful. Appropriate Action - Do no harm. Appropriate Working - Find your vocation. Appropriate Effort - Do not give up the way. Appropriate Awareness - Be completely present. Appropriate Concentration - Pay attention. Intro to Zazen - Four second breathing.
Inhale deeply for a count of four seconds, making sure that your abdomen/belly pushes out or up; depending on your position (upright or supine). Hold the breath for a four second count. Exhale for a four second count. Your abdomen/belly should descend or recede, depending on your position (upright or supine). Hold the breath for a four second count. That's one series. Repeat the series four times in a row. Repeat the series at least three times a day - ideally morning, noon and night. However, this practice can be done anytime. Pay close attention to your abdomen/belly as you inhale, hold and exhale through the entire series. Be completely present - Pay close attention to what is going on around you. Keep at it.
Restore mobility, the ability to move freely and easily - Emphasize ground contact, agility, rotation, jumping, climbing and throwing motions. Give your body what it needs - Remove low quality, anti-nutrient dense ingestibles such as cereals (gluten-like complex), certain tubers (solanum/nightshade), legumes and milk and dairy. Replace with high-quality, nutrient dense ingestibles such as fruit, leaves, roots, tubers, nuts and animal flesh and organs. Become what you are - practice zazen
Move appropriately and often - practice functional movement Give your body what it needs - practice paleolithic nutrition This is Truth. You cannot ingest anything you want and experience optimal health and well-being. Humans are designed to ingest quality food and drink. You are designed to primarily ingest plant matter, with animal matter at an essential, secondary position. How do you ingest?
This is Truth. You cannot sit all day and experience optimal health and well-being. Humans are designed to engage in quality movement. You are designed for terrestrial-based movement such as walking, jogging and running, as well as arboreal-based movement such as climbing, tool-making and throwing. How do you move? This is Truth. You cannot exist in a virtual world and experience optimal health and well-being. Humans are designed to be completely present. You are designed for a direct experience of reality, here and now, via the complete and balanced functioning of mind. Are you aware? Do you know the truth? |
AuthorSeth Clayton is the creator of the Human by Design System. He is a human from Charlotte, NC who is interested in helping you achieve optimal health and wellbeing through the avenues of Zen Buddhism, Functional Movement and Paleolithic Nutrition. Archives
October 2023
Categories
All
|