If we want liberation, we must rewrite the Sleeping Beauty myth.
No one is coming and no one else is to blame.
Elizabeth Lesser
Tag: Mindfulness
Noticing the strategies
The basic practice, that underlies all practice, as Pema Chodron reminds us, is learning to stay. It flies against our normal instinct which is to rush towards whatever gives us a sense of security, a sense of ground. I had a lovely talk yesterday with a friend who observed that these days even much of the spiritual path is presented like products to be consumed, something which we feel compelled to get in order to deal with the deep unease within us. We can notice this because they tend to pull us outside ourselves and end up actually increasing our sense of dissatisfaction with how we actually are.
We all follow some strategy for getting away from this deep dissatisfaction within us. Sometimes this strategy can seem quite spiritual, but it is still a seeking for some sense of ground, of stability. This shows that we have a strong fear of not being in control, and do not like not knowing what the future is. However this desire for security is deluded, because the deep truth is that we are never in control. We can never be on hundred percent sure of any thing. That’s how things are and this brings up a lot of panic and fear.
Our practice is to try and relax with this and accept that groundlessness is actually the human condition. This means that we move to accept the fear and panic that comes with it. rather than running away from it.
Do you know which strategies you use to guarantee some sense of safety and familiarity, to avoid facing the fears—of rejection, loss, unworthiness or failure—that lie beneath the surface of your thoughts and actions? For example, do you try to maintain a sense of order and control, to avoid feeling the fear of chaos, of things falling apart? Do you try to gain acceptance and approval, to avoid the fear of rejection, of not fitting in? Do you try to excel and attain success, to avoid the fear of feeling unworthy? Or do you seek busyness, to avoid the deep holes of longing and loneliness? All of these strategies have one thing in common: they keep us encased in our artificial or substitute life.
Ezra Bayda
Where is God?
God changes appearances every second.
Blessed is the man who can recognize him in all his disguises. One moment he is a glass of fresh water; the next, your son bouncing on your knees, or an enchanting woman, or perhaps merely a morning walk.
Nikos Kazantzakis
Happiness is here, now
What this means is that we can find our own happiness and peace of mind, just as we are in this very moment, because it is within us.
We don’t have to change our thoughts or change ourselves into someone else.
We don’t need to think that who we are, this “me,” is not good enough, smart enough, or lucky enough to be happy.
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
Nothing spectacular….just learning to be here.
……Just being totally engaged in the moment – that’s arduous enough! I’ve known a number of students over the years who feel like they have to do something spectacular, something more difficult than that. It is plenty difficult, just to continuously bring yourself back to this moment.
Even while driving a car we can space out and drive for miles on the freeway and still make all the right turns. It’s amazing how tuned out we can be, and yet still seem to be functioning — not functioning full well but nevertheless we’re getting by. But we’re spinning in our own thoughts, we’re not really here. So it’s arduous enough to just bring ourselves back to this moment. That’s practice enough for anyone.
And we shouldn’t think there are some special moments for it, such as the times that we spend on a meditation cushion. Of course there are those moments, but if we split up our life that way – “Here’s my special moment when I go off to sit in meditation” — well does that make any sense? The rest of your life now, what are you doing, just not paying attention? There doesn’t need to be that kind of a break. And gradually with some maturity of practice some people start to catch on to that and just learn to be here.
Steve Hagan
Deepening your Practice 3: Be aware of the mind’s reactions
Mindfulness is not necessarily concentrating on an object. Being aware of confusion is also being mindful. If we have all kinds of things coming at our senses -noises, people demanding this and that- we cannot concentrate on any one of them for very long. But we can be aware of the confusion, or the excitement, or the impingement; we can be aware of the reactions in our own minds. That is what we call being mindful. We can be mindful of confusion and chaos. And we can be mindful of peace and tranquillity.
The path of mindfulness is the path of no preferences.
Ajahn Sumedho
