Tag: Be fully present

Walking by

Karl Duffy1 Comment

I think it pisses God off
if you walk by the color purple in a field
and don’t notice it.

Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Sometimes we can get caught up in the rush of every day or the familiarity of our routines. We can fail to notice the beauty in ordinary experience. When we travel or are starting something new, we are struck by the experiences, noticing, for example,  the energy and the qualities of  people or the way they do things differently. Everything registers in a heightened way. In these moments things seems more real, more alive. The brain cannot always function like that,  so it creates schemas to allow it quickly locate everyday experiences into familiar categories – cars, buses, flowers,  trees and so on. So in order to really see we have to go against an established habit. We have to slow down in order to really notice; focus in order to really attend.  Today let us try to  look at one or two  things we encounter as if for the first time: Open our eyes, pause, wonder, notice the details, celebrate life.

Noticing what we see

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Another English writer to help us, maybe not as literary as Wordsworth, but just as insightful.

“Holmes you see everything!”  Watson exclaimed.

“I see no more than you,

but I have trained myself to notice what I see“, said Holmes.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier

Being genuine

Karl Duffy2 Comments

The ancients used to say that God was “simple”, in the sense of wholeness, without parts, just simply being. We strive for that, trying to be coherent and consistent in our words and deeds, and not divided, but fully present in our attention to others.  Here is a nice story from the Zen tradition which shows what it would be like to be genuine in our words and relationships.

When Zen master Bankei died, the old blind man who used to sit outside the temple said how sad he was. ‘You see, since I am blind I cannot watch people’s faces, so I judge their character by the sound of their voices. And it is this way. When most people are given the news of another person’s good fortune or success they, of course, congratulate the fortunate person, but virtually always beneath the words of gladness, I hear another note, a secret note of envy, envy that it is not they themselves who have been so fortunate. Again, when most people are given the news of some calamity that has befallen another person they, of course, express their sorrow towards the afflicted person, but virtually always, beneath the words of sorrow, I hear another note, a secret note of pleasure and satisfaction that it is not they themselves upon whom the calamity has fallen. With Bankei, however, it was not so. When he expressed gladness at another’s good fortune all you heard was gladness. When he expressed his sorrow, all you heard was ­sorrow.’

The difficulty of just being

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It is hard to be fully present to another person, focusing completely on them and their needs, withour our own concerns, desires and needs getting in the way. We practice so that we can be really present, fully aware of the other, losing ourselves in a certain sense, so that the other can feel completely understood and appreciated.

No matter how quiet we are, the muskrats stay hidden.

Maybe they sense the tense hum of consciousness, the buzz from two human beings who in silence cannot help but be aware of each other, and so of themselves.

Annie Dilliard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Developing awareness is the key

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The busy mind is who you think you are. It is easier to see, like the face of the person standing right in front of you. For example, the thought you’re thinking right now is more obvious to you than your awareness of that thought. When you get angry, you pay more attention to what you’re angry about than to the actual source of your anger, where your anger is coming from. In other words, you notice what your mind is doing, but you don’t see the mind itself. You identify yourself with the contents of this busy mind –  your thoughts, emotions, ideas – and end up thinking that all of this stuff is “me” and “how I am.” When you do that, it’s like being asleep and dreaming and believing that your dream images are true.

Dzogchen Ponlop, Rebel Buddha

New to Mindfulness Practice 14: Do not hook into your thoughts

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Teachers often suggest considering your thoughts to be like clouds in the sky. Some are dark and stormy, some are beautiful and fat, while others are wispy and ethereal. Sometimes there are no clouds at all. No matter. Just like clouds in the sky, thoughts pass through your mind. And just like the sky, your mind can contain it all.

We are accustomed to identifying with every large or small thought that comes along. But you can train in identifying as the sky instead. When you do, tremendous confidence arises. You see beyond doubt that you can accommodate it all — sunshine, storms, mist, fog, hail — and never give up.

Susan Piver