I Practice, Always.

I remember 2/7/2004
It’s a clear blue morning on the Straits. Dozens of sailboats are headed out toward the Golden Gate.

I have been up since 5 practicing.

Practice from prassein, Latin ‘to do.’
Practicing Doing what?
Sitting in silence, for a while, a very little while.

It became so hard to do I got my beads and OM-ed. My voice deep and resonate through the Chakras. My imagination adding a spiral Chi feeling, an ascending motion.
I am practicing.

WHEN’S THE GAME?

I wonder, is this real?
I’m a western westerner, can’t get much further west without getting real wet. I am a Smith, a kid named Gary.

Practicing to experience the silence of the Shining Black Void, the Onyx of existence, which disappears (where can nothing go?) each moment I grasp for it.

As soon as I reach for it, believe I see, feel or have it, POOF, its gone.
What is it? Which way did it go?

But I practice. I have always practiced.

I tossed the tennis ball against the basement wall practicing ground balls.

Shot free throws, and practiced right and left-handed drives against invisible Boston Celtics.

Practiced throwing three strikes in the tenth frame to win the U.S. Open.

I practice my poems, the words to the song, and the lines to the play.

I can practice every chance I get.
It’s Saturday, such a good day to practice.
My bowling psychologist gives tips to practice. He asks:,
“What is your level of awareness?
“Virtually every bowling situation is either heaven or hell depending on your point of view you choose!

I practice, always practice.

“The eye of the storm-which ‘area of drama’ is your mind residing?

Those are practice for some practical results.

To be a poet, singer, bowler, a player, but personal practice, practicing nothing?

Doing that which leads to enlightenment.

Setting time aside, when no one else is watching, and doing something incredibly kind for ourselves.
It is from this well of patience and understanding, we develop from practice, which allows us to draw upon compassion, even when our mind is screaming in righteous rage of rightness to be right, right now. Right?

Practice to create compassion on the spot, anytime anywhere.

There is always a game for compassion.
The important thing is a time each day in which we practice waking up, beyond the sleep of the night, waking up to the amazing fact that we are alive.

Practice to be capable of developing skills of attention and will that leads to understanding and appreciation of our minds, unstuck, without boundaries and view the world and our self in motion.
A time of practice where we can go deeper into our

being and experience what the Tibetans call Namshak, equipoise. The balance and grace of the moment when we are able to respond to the present and not habitually react.

I practice to handle my racing, rushing and obsession with results.

I practice because there is something more here, more than my mind to comprehend.

I practice to find appreciation in a new way.

I practice to find gratitude in an old place.

I practice for teamwork and cooperation.

I practice to feel thanks always.

I practice because I have learned to love.

I practice Namaste
Gary

3. e·qui·poise (ê¹kwe-poiz´, èk¹we-) noun
3. Equality in distribution, as of weight, relationship, or emotional forces; equilibrium.
3. A counterpoise; a counterbalance.