Trail: Learn About Adaptation

Overview

Trail: Learn About Adaptation
Trail: Learn About Adaptation
Landmarks	Impermanence Basic Understanding Experimenting with Cravings Learn About Non-Aversion

What are Trails?

A Trail in the context of Everyday Enlightenment is a curated journey of self-discovery and personal growth. It is a structured way of traveling through concepts and practices and is designed to guide you towards mindfulness and deeper understanding. Using a Trail helps you systematically navigate and explore the vast landscape of meditative insights, providing you with achievable goals and practical techniques to integrate these insights into your everyday life.

What is Adaptation?

Adaptation Overview

Where will this Trail take you?

This trail is designed to take you to a place where you have a basic understanding of the Beacon of Adaptation, including the Lenses of Impermanence, Non-Attachment, Non-Seeking, Non-Aversion and Equanimity, as well as the Credo of Embrace the Change. Once you've completed this trail, it is recommended you read through the content on the Adaptation page.

Step 1 - Learn About Impermanence

During this step, you will get a chance to see the difference between seeing something as solid, steady, permanent as opposed to transient, ephemeral, impermanent. This is the first step in becoming a Learner in the Beacon of Adaptation.

Lookouts

• Notice Things Appear Solid: When you touch things, they appear solid, like they could last forever.
• Think About How Things Won't Last: We know nothing lasts forever, but try to really think about how true that is.

Skill: Use Sounds to be Present

The Impermanent Water

Checkpoints

• Notice Things Appear Solid: Were you able to notice how much we rely on the idea that things are solid and reliable?
• Think About How Things Won't Last: Did you feel a shift in perception as you thought about the water's impermanence, and even how the bottle itself is going to change and decay over time?

Step 2 - Learn About Non-Seeking

During this step, you'll experiment with cravings and how they affect your thoughts and emotions. Recognizing Craving is one aspect of preparing to understand Non-Seeking.

Lookouts

• Discovering Craving: Get ready to study your craving and understand what it's like and what it's made of.
• Being Pulled vs Thinking: Try to notice the difference between your craving (being pulled) and the mental thoughts that run through your head ("That chocolate looks so good").

Skill: Experimenting with Cravings

Landmark: Experimenting with Cravings
Beacons	Adaptation
Realms	Enrollment
Lenses	Non-Seeking
Guides	Eating
Trails	Learn About Adaptation

The Landmark of Experimenting with Cravings tests your experiences with cravings and how they affect your thoughts and emotions. This Landmark is within the Realm of Enrollment, and is part of the Beacon of Adaptation, more specifically the Lens of Non-Seeking.

Landmark Lookouts:

• Discovering Craving: Do you notice that there is a true craving to experience, that there's a strong feeling in your mind that you can "observe" in some way?
  
• Being Pulled vs Thinking: Can you distinguish between your craving (being pulled) and the mental thoughts that run through your head ("That chocolate looks so good")?
  

What better way to experiment with cravings than to take it literally, with some sort of sweet dessert...

• Select a snack or drink that you find particularly appealing. Make sure it's something you genuinely enjoy and look forward to having.
• Before you dive right in, take a moment to really look at your chosen treat. Notice its colors, its shape, its texture.
• Close your eyes and inhale. Can you smell the food or drink? What does it remind you of? Or maybe if it doesn't have a smell, test its weight or texture.
• Acknowledge the sense of anticipation building within you. You're eager to dig in, but don't just yet.
• Instead, explore that feeling of craving. It's like a tug in your gut, a mental image that won't go away, an expectation of pleasure.
• Take as much time as you need to really identify that there is a very real thought like "You should eat this now, go ahead and get started" and an emotion associated with that thought.
• Now, slowly start to eat or drink. Really focus on the experience - the texture, the taste, how it feels as you swallow.
• Take your time. With every bite or sip, observe how the intensity of your craving diminishes. What's replacing it? Satisfaction? A sense of calm?
• Reflect on this change. You went from craving to contentment, from anticipation to experience. And it all happened in a few moments.
• Carry this experience into your daily life. Whenever you find yourself desiring something, remember the snack. Recall how the craving came and went, and how the actual experience was just a series of moments, each passing away to make room for the next.

Checkpoints

• Discovering Craving: Did you get a chance to really notice that there is a true craving to experience?
• Being Pulled vs Thinking: Were you able to distinguish between the Pulling and the Thoughts?

Step 3 - Learn About Non-Aversion

In this step, you will practice both experiencing and being patient with aversive sensations.

Lookouts

• Feeling the Aversion: It's important to take time and really observe what Aversion feels like.
• Being Patient: It doesn't matter how long you're patient for, what's important is practicing, and noticing what it feels like to be patient.

Skill: Let It Itch

Let It Itch

Checkpoints

• Feeling the Aversion: Did you get a chance to observe what it's like to really want something to be over, and how your mental state changes the longer you sit with that?
• Being Patient: Were you able to feel the mental state of being patient, and resting with an aversive sensation?

Destination

Congratulations, if you've completed these three Skills, and reviewed the Checkpoints, you are one Trail further along in your practice. Now that you have a basic idea of the concept, it's recommended you read through the article about the Beacon of Adaptation, and see if it starts to click with you. Then, look for other Trails and Skills that are in the Learning Milestone that can assist you further.

Resources

To learn more about these concepts, see the following articles.

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