Category: Be fully present

….and see clearly…

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

When we condemn or justify we cannot see clearly, nor can we when our minds are endlessly chattering; then we do not observe what is; we look only at the projections we have made of ourselves. Each of us has an image of what we think we are or what we should be, and that image, that picture, entirely prevents us from seeing ourselves as we actually are.

It is one of the most difficult things in the world to look at anything simply. Because our minds are very complex we have lost the quality of simplicity.  I don’t mean simplicity in clothes or food……but the simplicity that can look directly at things without fear – that can look at ourselves as we actually are without any distortion – to say we lie when we lie, not cover it up or run away from it

Krisnamurti, Freedom from the Known.

Take time today to see….

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

 

Nobody sees a flower – really – it is so small it takes time

– we haven’t time – and to see takes time,

like to have a friend takes time.

Georgia O’Keeffe,  American Painter.

Staying present with the physical experience

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If you remember nothing else, always remember this: we don’t have to feel any particular way. We don’t have to have special experiences, nor do we have to be any particular way. With whatever arises, whether it’s pleasing or not, try to remember that all we can do is experience and work with whatever our life is right now. No matter what life is and no matter how we feel about it, all that matters in practice is whether we can honestly acknowledge what is going on, and then stay present with the physical experience of that moment.

Ezra Bayda.

The key is to relax

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

This fundamental richness is available in each moment. The key is to relax: relax to a cloud in the sky, relax to a tiny bird with grey wings, relax to the sound of a telephone ringing. We can see the simplicity in things as they are. We can smell things, taste things, feel emotions and have memories. When we are able to be there without saying “I certainly agree with that” or “I definitely don’t agree with that”  but just be here very directly, then we find fundamental richness everywhere. It is not our or theirs but is available to everyone. In raindrops, in blood drops, in heartache and delight, this wealth is in the nature of everything. It is like the sun that shines on everyone without discrimination.

Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart

What being silent means

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Being silent for me doesn’t require being in a quiet place, and it doesn’t mean not saying words. It means “receiving in a balanced, noncombative way what is happening”. With or without words, the hope of my heart is that I will be able to relax and acknowledge the truth of my situation with compassion.

Sylvia Boorstein, That’s funny, you don’t look Buddhist

In an age of hyper attention

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We are in the midst of one of the most profound cognitive shifts in our intellectual history, moving from a “deep attention” to a “hyper attention” society, to quote Duke University professor Katherine Hayles. She defines “deep attention” as the cognitive preference for input from only a single information stream, to be engaged for an extended period. “Hyper attention,” by contrast, is marked by a hunger for a high level of stimulation and a desire to shift rapidly among different information streams. Surfing the Internet while IM’ing and watching a YouTube video, all with music playing in the background: Yes. Reading 100 pages of a novel in one sitting or writing a term paper: No.  Evidence of this shift can be found just about everywhere in our culture…. And so one must ask: Where in our culture do we encourage sustained thinking and provide a quiet, reflective space to ponder, reflect and develop ideas? 

Vanessa Silberman, Mindfulness, Focusing the Mind’s Eye in the Digital Age, Dot Magazine.