Author: Karl Duffy

This is a Mindfulness Practice Blog written in Laois, Ireland, containing reflections on meditation practice, psychological growth, spirituality and wellness which hopefully may encourage and benefit others as they reflect on their lives and seek to develop a more balanced, mindful and conscious approach to it.

Sitting still

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The first fruition of the practice is the attainment of froglessness.

When a frog is put on the center of a plate,

she will jump out of the plate after just a few seconds.

If you put the frog back again on the center of the plate,

she will again jump out.

You have so many plans. There is something you want to become.

Therefore you always want to make a leap, a leap forward.

It is difficult to keep the frog still on the center of the plate.

You and I both have Buddha Nature in us.

This is encouraging,

but you and I both have Frog Nature in us.

That is why the first attainment of the practice – 

froglessness is its name.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Underneath

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There is a Tibetan saying: ‘When things are difficult, then let yourself be happy.’ Otherwise, if happiness is relying on others or the environment or your surroundings, it’s not possible. Like an ocean, the waves always go like that but underneath, it always remains calm. So we have that ability as well. On an intellectual level, we may see things as desperate, difficult. But underneath, at the emotional level, you can keep calm.

The Dalai Lama

Our endless stories

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I wonder if we do not waste most of our energy
just by spending every waking minute saying hello to ourselves.
Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Facing our conflicts

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To experience conflicts knowingly, though it may be distressing, can be an invaluable asset. The more we face our own conflicts and seek out our own solutions, the more inner freedom and strength we will gain. Only when we are willing to bear the brunt can we approximate the ideal of being the captain of our ship. A spurious tranquillity rooted in inner dullness is anything but enviable. It is bound to make us weak and an easy prey to any kind of influence.

Karen Horney, Our Inner Conflicts: A Constructive Theory of Neurosis

Sunday Quote: Go Home

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Go back and take care of yourself. Your body needs you, your feelings need you, your perceptions need you. The wounded child in you needs you. Go home and be there for all these things. Practice mindful walking and mindful breathing. Do everything in mindfulness so you can really be there, so you can love.

Thich Nhat Hanh

In the stream

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In this world of onrushing events the act of meditation — even just a “one-breath” meditation — straightening the back, clearing the mind for a moment — is a refreshing island in the stream… Meditation is not just a rest or retreat from the turmoil of the stream or the impurity of the world. It is a way of being the stream, so that one can be at home in both the white water and the eddies. Meditation may take one out of the world, but it also puts one totally into it.

Gary Snyder, Just One Breath, The Practice of Poetry and Meditation

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