We must be content to live,
without watching ourselves live.
Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island
Tag: Awareness
Not getting sucked in
Our Mindfulness practice, whether it is on the cushion paying attention to the emotions and thoughts that weave between the breath and bodily sensations, or whether it is in the world paying attention to our actions and behaviors which emerge from our emotions and thoughts, is always a reminder that in order to change any unhealthy or harmful patterns – in order to transform any suffering – we have to first become aware of the patterns themselves. We cannot change anything that we are not aware of…. On a personal level this may show up within the experience of intense emotions. Often we are driven by unconscious motivations of our emotional landscape. How often do we feel lost in the rage or the upset that sometimes arises? The impact that Mindfulness brings is that the experience of being aware of the rage is not the rage itself. Being mindful of all the sensations of rage or anger is not being lost in or consumed by the fire. How often do we actually feed the experience of anger without examining what is really happening? …Our practice simply invites us to do the best we can – to be as mindful, aware and kind to whatever arises, even our intense emotional landscapes.
Larry Yang, Now More than ever We need Mindfulness, Huffington Post
Bare awareness
If everything is noted, all your emotional difficulties will disappear.
When you feel happy, don’t get involved with your happiness.
And when you feel sad, don’t get involved with it.
Whatever comes, don’t worry. Just be aware of it.
Dipa Ma, Knee Deep in Grace
Meeting without resisting
Meeting each moment without resistance, we discover unsuspected beauty in our hearts, minds, and bodies and in the world around us. We perceive the movement of nature within us. We feel sad without needing to justify or eliminate the emotion. We feel happy without needing to believe that we will never again know sadness. This is the way of meditation.
Gavin Harrison, In the Lap of the Buddha
Taking it gently this week
The painful thing is that when we buy into disapproval, we are practicing disapproval. When we buy into harshness, we are practicing harshness. The more we do it, the stronger these qualities become. How sad it is that we become so expert at causing harm to ourselves and others. The trick then is to practice gentleness and letting go. We can learn to meet whatever arises with curiosity and not make it such a big deal.
Pema Chodron
Holding inward and outward together
The awareness of the so-called outward and the inward movement of life is meditation. The simultaneous awareness of the total movement is meditation. If I am aware of the nature of my reactions, and movement of my reactions, naturally that awareness will result in freedom from the reaction. I cannot stop the reaction, because the reactions have been rooted in the subconscious, in the unconscious. I cannot prevent, I cannot renounce, I cannot check them. But if I am aware, simultaneously of the objective challenge, the subjective reactions and the causes of these reactions, then it results in freedom. Then the momentum of reaction will not carry me over with it, but I will be ahead of the reactions. I will not be a victim of my reactions, but I will see them as I see the objective challenge. That for me is meditation. All inclusive attention while moving in life.
Vimala Thakar, Mutation of Mind
Mindfulbalance 