With our cell phones and PDA’s we are now able to be in touch with anyone and everyone at any time.
In the process, we run the risk of never being in touch with ourselves.
Jon Kabat Zinn
Photo theeerin
Tag: balance
Simplifying our activities
Mindfulness meditation helps us work against the fragmentation which is a by-product of the modern world, with its speed, constant demands, and abundance of stimuli. We practice in slowing down and simplifying life in order to be able to savour it more deeply. We drop into a natural goodness by letting go of the chatter of the mind and judgmental thoughts.
Sitting [in meditation] is essentially simplifying space. Our daily lives are in constant movement: lots of things going on, lots of people talking, lots of events taking place. In the middle of that, it’s very difficult to sense what we are in our life. When we simplify the situation, when we take away the externals and remove ourselves from the ringing phone, the television, the people who visit us, the dog who needs a walk, we get a chance to face ourselves.
Charlotte Joko Beck
photo Doolin, Co Clare, Nicola Mondinelli
Taking the leap
As I sit at my computer in the South of Kildare this morning and look out my window, I see low clouds, a grey landscape, somewhat wet and windy. By constrast, yesterday was a lovely sunny day, which I find normally prompts me to see things in an open, uncomplicated way. The immediate reactive effects of the low clouds are less positive. It is interesting to notice the effects of these different changing conditions on our mood and our motivation. one opening us up, the other closing things down. When we are not completely open or when we are under pressure we can have negative or doubting chatter in the background of our minds, sometimes without noticing. One of the effects of mindfulness training is to allow us spot our habitual reactions and see them for what they are, types of mental energy that pass through, which we can hook into or not.
Whatever you’re meant to do, do it now.
The conditions are always impossible.
Doris Lessing
The ‘knowing’ mind.
In our practice we develop that quality of mind which knows – the ‘knowing’ mind. Not ‘reacting’ mind, but ‘knowing ‘ mind. It’s very different. Within the quality of knowing you can see everything. You can see the reactions. You can see the pain. You can see the joy. You can see the peace. You witness everything.
Ajahn Sundara
Letting the mind settle
Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone
Alan Watts
Everyday hassles
The subtle suffering in our lives may seem unimportant. But if we attend to the small ways that we suffer, we create a context of greater ease, peace, and responsibility, which can make it easier to deal with the bigger difficulties when they arise.
Gil Fronsdal, Living Two Traditions
