Tag: Meditation

Put very simply

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I define mindfulness as the practice of being fully present and alive, body and mind united. Mindfulness is the energy that helps us to know what is going on in the present moment. I drink water and I know that I am drinking the water. Drinking the water is what is happening.
Mindfulness brings concentration. When we drink water mindfully, we concentrate on drinking. If we are concentrated, life is deep, and we have more joy and stability. We can drive mindfully, we can cut carrots mindfully, we can shower mindfully. When we do things this way, concentration grows. When concentration grows, we gain insight into our lives. The principle of the practice is simple: to bring our minds back to our bodies, to produce our true presence, and to become fully alive.

Thich Nhat Hahn, The Moment is Perfect

Underneath

Karl Duffy6 Comments

Meditation is based on the premise that the natural state of the mind is calm and clear. It provides a way to train our mind to settle into this state. Our first reason for meditating might be that we want some freedom from our agitated mind. We want to discover the basic goodness of our natural mind. To do this requires us first to slow down and experience our mind as it is. In the process, we get to know how our mind works. We see that wherever the mind is abiding—in anger, in desire, in jealousy, or in peace—that is where we also are abiding. We begin to see that we have a choice in the matter: we do not have to act at the whim of every thought. We can abide peacefully. Meditation is a way to slow down and see how our mind works.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Let things come in and go out

Karl Duffy2 Comments

When you are practicing … do not try to stop your thinking. Let it stop by itself. If something comes into your mind, let it come in, and let it go out. It will not stay long. When you try to stop your thinking, it means you are bothered by it. Do not be bothered by anything. It appears as if something comes from outside your mind, but actually it is only the waves of your mind, and if you are not bothered by the waves, gradually they will become calmer and calmer. […] Nothing outside yourself can cause any trouble. You yourself make the waves in your mind. If you leave your mind as it is, it will become calm.

Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

Finding a deeper dimension to life

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To begin with, one needs to cultivate a practical conviction of the primacy of being over doing.  Our society values what one can do and this becomes the gauge of who one is.  The contemplative dimension of life is an insight into the gift of being human and inspires a profound acceptance and gratitude for that gift. Our culture is at a critical point because so many structures that supported human and religious values have been trampled upon and are disappearing. To find a way to discover Mystery in the midst of secular occupations and situations is essential, because for most people today it is the only milieu that they know.  Humanity as a whole needs a breakthrough into the contemplative dimension of life.  The contemplative dimension of life is the heart of the world.  If one goes to one’s own heart, one will find oneself in the heart of everyone else, and everyone else, as well as oneself, in the heart of ultimate Mystery.

Fr. Thomas Keating

Being curious and interested

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Whatever the scenery the practice is the same. Our practice is to face everything life is, and everything life isn’t. Everything we think and feel and everything we don’t. Wall gazing is a very thorough practice in facing the fleetingness of things, and not getting trapped in momentary apparitions. All apparitions, as it turns out, are momenttary.When your eyes are open and you are intimately engaged with what appears in front  of  you, it’s hard to stay bored because nothing stays one way for long.

Karen Maezen Miller, Booooring….

Slowing down today

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Sitting is a natural slowing down of this rushing, self-centred, mind-body chattering that we often live. This is a practice of realization, which is what we are, and practice allows us to be who we are. As we practice we discover who and what we are….Being still is not a means to an end; it is not that we should be still and then create something else or change. Being still is being who we are.

Elihu Genmyo Smith, Everything is the Way