heart – Page 142 – Mindfulbalance

What is not essential

March 9, 2014March 9, 2014 Karl Duffy1 Comment

Each person is born with an unencumbered spot, free of expectation and regret, free of ambition and embarrassment, free of fear and worry. To know this spot of inwardness is to know who we are, not by surface markers of identity, not by where we work or what we wear or how we like to be addressed, but by feeling our place in relation to the Infinite and by inhabiting it. This is a hard lifelong task, for the nature of becoming is a constant filming over of where we begin, while the nature of being is a constant erosion of what is not essential. Each of us lives in the midst of this ongoing tension, growing tarnished or covered over, only to be worn back to that incorruptible spot of grace at our core.

Mark Nepo, Unlearning Back to God

Letting life’s lessons sink in

March 8, 2014March 6, 2014 Karl Duffy1 Comment

Another post inspired by the season of Lent, but a reminder for all of the value in slowing down, making space, “meandering” in life, rather than always focusing on driven, purpose-filled activities.

More than giving up or self-denial, Lent, when practiced intentionally, can allow time for self-examination, reflection, and preparation. It’s a time of slowing down, intentionally, so that life is given a chance to sink in, not just run off in so many directions. Induced meandering, if you will. The slowing that is an inherent part of Lent is not just for the sake of slowing down, but so that life can sink in. In so doing, this season of irrigation provides health and vitality long after its rains have passed. Lent offers us an opportunity to slow down, to meander rather than to rush, to allow life to sink in a bit, to find ways to go deeper and not always stay on the surface. A time to observe, to pay attention, and then to act — and in so doing provide the space to move from rush to replenish. When we take this practice seriously, we plant its blessings so that they benefit not only us in our lives for this season, but also extend to the world around us.

Erin Dunigan, The Induced Meandering of the Lenten Season

The seeds within

February 19, 2014February 19, 2014 Karl Duffy4 Comments

Mindfulness involves paying attention to and nurturing what is helpful, as well as evaluating, and not allowing a footing to, those seeds which will cause confusion and distress:

If we take good care of everything in us, without discrimination, we prevent our negative energies from dominating. We reduce the strength of our negative seeds so that they won’t overwhelm us. Mindfulness means to be present, to be aware of what is going on. This energy is very crucial for the practice. The energy of mindfulness is like a big brother or big sister, holding a young one in her arms, taking good care of the suffering child, which is our anger, despair, or jealousy. So mindfulness recognizes, embraces, and revives. Mindfulness helps us look deeply in order to gain insight. Insight is the liberating factor. It is what frees us and allows transformation to happen.

Thich Nhat Hahn, Taming the Tiger Within

photo Ude

Taking responsibility

February 18, 2014February 18, 2014 Karl Duffy1 Comment

The capacity for growth depends on one’s ability to internalize and to take personal responsibility.

If we forever see our life as a problem caused by others,

a problem to be ‘solved,’

then no change will occur.

James Hollis, The Middle Passage

The basic contact

February 6, 2014February 2, 2014 Karl Duffy1 Comment

The moment at which a feeling of pleasure or pain begins to turn into a disturbing emotion is the point at which meditative awareness can be most effective. Before we describe or explain feelings to ourselves, how do they feel? What do we actually experience before we name them and are caught by them? Meditative awareness helps us to know and come into contact with that basic aspect of our experience of feeling.

Martine Bachelor

From a distance

February 4, 2014February 2, 2014 Karl DuffyLeave a comment

Love means to look at yourself the way one looks at distant things

For you are only one thing among many.

And whoever sees that way heals his heart, without knowing it, from various ills –

A bird and a tree say to him: Friend

Czesław Miłosz, Polish poet

About this Blog

Mindfulbalance supports the slow, patient practice of mindfulness meditation, as a way to find balance and meaning in life, reduce stress and develop health and wellbeing. It contains reflections to encourage the practice of meditation as well as occasional posts from psychology, spirituality and the wisdom traditions. The daily posts are prompted by Rilke's advice: "Write about what your everyday life offers you, your sorrows and desires, the thoughts that pass through your mind, and your belief in some kind of beauty". Written in County Laois, Ireland