Beauty and grace are performed
whether or not we will or sense them.
The least we can do is try to be there.
Annie Dillard
Tag: Mindfulness
Happiness does not mean there are no problems
We often think that happiness means that there are no problems going on in our lives. However this is never going to happen for as long as we are on this earth. There are ups and downs every day and we soon see that even the best moments will never last forever. We can only do our best and come to see that some things, and how others act, are beyond our control. So happiness comes from viewing our problems in a new light. The key to wisdom practice is to stay in the present moment, regardless of whether that moment is pleasant or unpleasant. Happiness is not the absence of difficulties, but comes about in the reality of the losses and change which are part of this world.
Another way, which is our practice here, is slowly to open ourselves to the wonder of what life is, by meticulous attention to the anatomy of the present moment. Slowly, slowly we become more sophisticated and knowledgeable…in this approach everything in our life becomes grist for the mill… as this anatomy becomes clear, freedom increases.
Charlotte Joko Beck
Reduce your stress today: Flow with what is
This is a nice practice to work with, taken from Pavel Somov’s book, Present Perfect: A mindfulness approach to letting go of Perfectionism and the Need for Control. Why not try it today?
By insisting on reality being a certain way, we get stuck. To get unstuck, downgrade your expectations to preferences. Whereas an expectation is an unwarranted entitlement, a demand that reality comply with your vision of how it should be, a preference is just a wish. Instead of expecting traffic to be light, allow a passing wish for traffic to be light and then go with the flow of what is. Instead of wishing for that perfect warm weather to go out for a walk, acknowledge your wish for the preferred weather, then layer up and go out anyway. Instead of waiting for the perfect wind, pull up the anchor of your expectations and sail the wind that exists. Practice expecting nothing and flowing with what is.
Daring to trust in life
The biggest risk is to trust
that these conditions
are all that we need
to be ourselves
Han Hung
Are we the sum of our thoughts?
We usually take ourselves to be the sum of these thoughts, ideas, emotions and body sensations, but there is nothing solid to them. How can we claim to be our thoughts or opinions or emotions or body when they never stay the same?
Jack Kornfield
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.
Susan Piver
Why do we let things get so complicated?
I was looking at some old family photographs last week. These black-and-white images from when I was a child on holidays capture little moments, frozen for all time. In them I can see myself when I was young and carefree, smiling easily, not observing myself, not wondering how I am doing. Looking at them I easily get back in touch with a time when love was given without complications, a love that was genuine and asked for little in return. Times were simple, and we were simple too. We embraced life – and each other – freely.
Life has changed everyone in this photograph, as it does all people. The naturalness of childhood, with its trust and more open spirit, makes way for the passing of time, for older, supposedly wiser years, for the onset of worries, and for a focus on ourselves and doubts about what once seemed so sure. We grow up, and as we do we become less open, more complicated. We begin to guard and armour the heart, hardening in our attitude towards others and toward life. The sad thing is, we convince ourselves that this is right.
I am sure that everyone reading this has memories like the ones I have when I look at a picture such as this. We all wonder where did all that optimism and openness go? What happened to the love that we gave to others over the years, that we invested with the best of our intentions? All those dreams, that looking forward to something good, to something that would endure for ever, and would be there in good times and bad?
It seems to me that all of us are doing our best in a life story where we are never really sure of the conclusion. A story where we try to live good lives, and be fair to others, and yet still learn that there is a lot of things that are outside our control and where we have to learn through pain and sorrow. And in some cases, the simple openness does not work; we realize that we have to let go and trust in a process that we cannot understand. Why do some things not work out, some good people get ill and die, friends move away and no longer stay in touch? And yet, even if we have been visited by sadness or have been hurt, we keep touching back into that young heart, which believes in the goodness of life and in the power of love and of friendship. We have to move on, holding on to our hopes despite the unresolved aspects of our life and our story. We are asked just to try, and try again, and then again some more. The greatest tragedy would be to let the experiences of life convince us that the optimism and smiles we had as children were completely misplaced.
