Be fully present – Page 601

Standing here

January 19, 2015January 17, 2015 Karl Duffy2 Comments

One of our human absurdities is the fact that we’re constantly thinking about either the future or the past. Those who are young think of the future because they’ve got more of it. Those who are older think more about the past because, for them, there is more of it. But in order to experience life, we have to live each moment. Life has not been happening in the past. That’s memory. Life is not going to happen in the future. That’s planning. The only time we can live is now, this moment, and as absurd as it may seem, we’ve got to learn that. As human beings with life spans of sixty, seventy, or eighty years, we have to learn to actually experience living in the present. When we have learned that, we will have eliminated a great many of our problems.

Ayya Khema, Being Nobody, Going Nowhere

photo ali

The way things are

January 17, 2015January 15, 2015 Karl Duffy1 Comment

Blessed are the man and the woman
    who have grown beyond their greed
    and have put an end to their hatred
    and no longer nourish illusions.
But they delight in the way things are
    and keep their hearts open, day and night.
They are like trees planted near flowing rivers,
    which bear fruit when they are ready.
Their leaves will not fall or wither.
    Everything they do will succeed.

Psalm 1,

Translated and adapted by Stephen Mitchell, A Book of Psalms: Selected and Adapted from the Hebrew.

photo gordon hatton

Blown by the wind

January 15, 2015January 15, 2015 Karl Duffy1 Comment

A big storm with gale force winds hit Ireland overnight, causing high waves and uprooting trees, disrupting schedules and causing difficulties for normal activities. Although unusual, such an event is a useful metaphor for how our minds are at times, as we are subject to moods or get caught up in – and blown along by – the swirling events of a day. Life can create a succession of different storms, events and emotions that can unseat or destabilize us. What we are trying to do in meditation is to sit and tame this mind, cultivating a still center which does not get hooked by the winds of mood and of events:

The stillpoint, the centeredness – that’s awareness. When I cannot notice it and go out into the turning world, I become a person and get caught in my habits, my loves and hates, my likes and dislikes. But if I am centered at this point, it’s like the island you cannot go beyond, or the stillpoint of the turning world, the eye of the storm. And then the world revolves around it. The mood you are in is not the stillness. The mood comes and goes. It changes, revolves; it’s happy, sad, elated, depressed, inspired, bored, loving, hateful, and on and on like this….It’s so easy to say “I’m in a bad mood” or “I’m in a good mood” Our langauge is like that, so we become the mood – “I feel happy today, everything’s fine” or “Today is one of my bad days”. That’s why I encourage this investigation of thought, so that you are not creating yourself, endlessly reinforcing the sense of self through your proliferating thoughts.

Ajahn Sumedho, The Sound of Silence

photo mcmimages1965

In the details

January 15, 2015January 13, 2015 Karl Duffy1 Comment

The secret of happiness

lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life,

and in elevating them to art.

William Morris, English Designer, 1834 – 1896

Once we notice…

January 14, 2015January 13, 2015 Karl DuffyLeave a comment

The aspects of things that are most important for us

are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity.

And this means: we fail to be struck by what, once seen,

is most striking and most powerful.

Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations

photo dave parker

At its own pace

January 12, 2015January 6, 2015 Karl Duffy4 Comments

The meaning of life is just to be alive.

It is so plain and so obvious and so simple.

And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves

Alan Watts, The Culture of Counter-Culture

photo brandon wiggins

About this Blog

Mindfulbalance supports the slow, patient practice of mindfulness meditation, as a way to find balance and meaning in life, reduce stress and develop health and wellbeing. It contains reflections to encourage the practice of meditation as well as occasional posts from psychology, spirituality and the wisdom traditions. The daily posts are prompted by Rilke's advice: "Write about what your everyday life offers you, your sorrows and desires, the thoughts that pass through your mind, and your belief in some kind of beauty". Written in County Laois, Ireland