Made it out of bed at 6.30am to exercise. It’s slowly getting easier. I still feel tired today. Wrote Francis a letter and made my way to the house in preparation for tonight’s men’s group. [Karaj: Good discipline.]
The group started with a meditation which lasted longer than I expected. I was in pain even before the halfway mark but was determined to remain still. This started to expose me to a new relationship with my pain. Long ago I had been told during a retreat that pain is the mind’s way of distracting us from what we are trying to do.
We talked about making a decision* and sticking to it. In some way this was relevant to all those present. [Karaj: This is important. In the same way the mind creates distraction when pain arises, this is how the mind will sidetrack you from your goal.]
It was also made clear that any of the other group members can ask me and challenge me about my progress. I am more than happy to have my work here in the house and my progress in general be as transparent as possible. [Karaj: This, together with hard physical work, is the way for the mind to be controlled.]