Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way
— on purpose, in the present moment,
and without judgment.
Jon Kabat Zinn
Tag: Be fully present
Moments when we see
Sometimes, admittedly, the world can still of a sudden assume a resonance beyond
the one-dimensional, as the sun sometimes breaks through the Irish summer’s ample blanket of cloud cover.
And sometimes even in the rain there comes a moment when
the bird on the neighbouring roof is an ancient symbol or a hieroglyph
in the book of the riddle’s meaning.
And this is poetry, when the bird preaches to you, and you respond
By preaching strictly for the birds.
Ciaran O’Donnell, A Former Franciscan visits Assisi
New to Mindfulness Practice 7: Drop the commentary
When we practice meditation, we express confidence in the simple yet powerful gesture of opening to whatever arises during our meditation session. We discover that the practice requires that we sit still on the cushion, letting go of our internal dialogue, opening to our world — very simply, very directly.
When we examine this experience of opening, we find that we are expressing a part of ourselves that we may tend to overlook: we are expressing our ability to trust ourselves completely. In order to open — in meditation and in life in general — we must let go of our familiar thoughts and emotions, we must step out from behind the safe curtain of our inner rehearsals and onto the stage of reality, even if it’s for just a brief moment. When we open on the cushion, we renounce our attachment to our emotional security blanket, over and over again. We drop our pretense and our story lines and stand naked in the midst of uncertainty — the very essence of confidence itself.
Michael Carroll, Bringing Spiritual Confidence to the Workplace
New to Mindfulness Practice 6: Notice the breath
As you start the practice, you have a sense of your body and a sense of where you are, and then you begin to notice the breathing. The whole feeling of the breath is very important. The breath should not be forced, obviously; you are breathing naturally. The breath is going in and out, in and out. With each breath you become relaxed.
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
Just the seen
You should train yourself like this:
Whenever you see a form, simply see; whenever you hear a sound, simply hear;
Whenever you smell an aroma, simply smell; whenever you taste a flavour, simply taste;
Whenever you feel a sensation, simply feel; whenever a thought arises, let it just be a thought.
The Buddha, Sutta on Bahiya
….. staying with what is here
When we encounter things during the day, they can frequently spark off a rush of thoughts and emotions. Or sometimes even deeper reflections upon the direction we are going or how we have gotten to this point. Occasionally these are useful but at other times they can easily lead into self-judgment and doubt. Most of our daily practice is just staying with the awareness of how things are now, in this moment, and not the thoughts about this moment. And it is still the same practice if strong emotions have been triggered automatically – often before we can even notice – by some of the things we meet. So, instead of going too far into the thoughts provoked, we try to stay with the sensations in the body, holding a space around them. Staying with what is here, not thinking ourselves into what is not here.
Who was the first man to see the moon on the river bank? In what year did the moon first shine on man?
Human lives ceaselessly come and go, generation after generation, but the moon and the river stay constant year after year.
I don’t know who the moon and the river are waiting for, I only see the waters of the Yangtze flowing away.
Zhnag Ruoxu, Tang Dynasty poet.
