Tag: Mindfulness

Searching outside ourselves

Karl Duffy4 Comments

Because we don’t always understand what it means to be in relationship to the present moment, we search. […] What are we searching for? Depending on our particular life, our background and conditioning, what we search for may seem different from one person to another; but really we’re all looking for an ideal life.  Something seems to be missing right here, so I’m interested in searching for the missing part. What if we cease this looking, searching? What are we left with? We’re left with what’s been right there at the center all the time. Underneath all that searching there is distress. There is unease. The minute that we realize that, we see that the point isn’t the search, but rather the distress and unease which motivate the search. That’s the magic moment – when we realize that searching outside of ourselves is not the way.

We begin to see that it isn’t the searching that’s at fault, but something about where we look. And we return more and more to the disappointment, which is always at the center. We’re in pain and we use the search to alleviate that pain. We begin to see that the pain comes because we are pinching ourselves. The very peace we’ve been searching for so hard lies in recognizing this fact: I’m pinching myself. No one’s doing it to me.

Charlotte Joko Beck

The moment that is now

Karl Duffy3 Comments

Drop into the moment that is now.

No need to judge, no need to have an agenda as to what will be, no need to say, “I am meditating”.

Just be here, drink in all that this moment has to offer as if it is the only one that you have – because it truly is

Jon Kabat Zinn

What happens when the train stops

Karl DuffyLeave a comment
Maybe it’s like this for many people. A day rattles by full of this and that, like an old freight train. And at the end of it, it parks itself at no final destination still carrying the cargo. Sleep is an untidy mish-mash of dreams. To wake in the middle of the night, even with someone sleeping beside you, is to sense loss and uncertainty.  It may seem that that’s the way life has to go; that we have to be busy. However, it’s also the case that we choose to be. In order to jump over the gap that yawns open when the activity or the engagement stops, most people have an array of hobbies, gadgets or books. Even more tellingly, if these fillers aren’t available the mind fills with discordant thoughts and dissonant emotions. One of the worst ordinary things that happen for someone is to be left waiting somewhere without a friend, say at an airport, with nothing to do and no-one to talk to. Restlessness grabs hold; or loneliness, worries, and unresolved emotions. 
 
So thank goodness for meditation, which offers a way to steady and clear the mind. Meditation also gets us to recognize a fundamental property of consciousness: that although that mind-stream may carry all kinds of creatures and a lot of rubbish, its ‘water’ is clear. To be more prosaic – we can watch, or witness the movements and content of the mind. There is an awareness of the flow of mental content, from the sublime to the ridiculous, heavens and hells; and also a detachment from being that flow. In meditation, when you recognize this normal property – awareness – it feels like an important realization. Sometimes it’s seen as the only valid and necessary realization. We can be ‘that which knows.’
Ajahn Sucitto

Being fully where we are

Karl Duffy1 Comment

Ego could be defined as whatever covers up basic goodness. From an experiential point of view, what is ego covering up? It’s covering up our experience of just being here, just fully being where we are, so that we can relate with the immediacy of our experience. Egolessness is a state of mind that has complete confidence in the sacredness of the world. It is unconditional well-being, unconditional joy that includes all the different qualities of our experience.

Pema Chodron.

Céad Míle Fáilte – A hundred thousand welcomes

Karl Duffy7 Comments

On one of the days last week the blog welcomed its 100,000 visitor. It is not a huge number in terms of the big blogs out there and greater numbers say nothing about mindful living in this modern age  as we are continually challenged to switch off and allow space for reflection and non-action in the face of more and more technology usage.  However, my intention is quite simple: To be a small support on any one day to any reader who is trying to move towards more mindful living, or to even one visitor who may be struggling with life’s challenges. So,  I am happy if some of the posts may be of help to some of you who stop by from time to time and those whose visit regularly.  I would like to take the opportunity to use the traditional Irish greeting –  Céad míle fáilte,  A hundred thousand welcomes –  to all who visit  and to thank everyone for their readership and comments, support, practice and presence.

What we think we need for happiness

Karl Duffy4 Comments

On one of the few sunny days recently, I was walking  along the lanes near our house and took this photograph of the cows happily eating in the farm next door. It reminded me of the old Buddhist tale which I have posted about before, but because it follows some of the themes of the last few days I will return to it again here. Mindfulness practice helps us see that our sense of wellbeing can be increased if we stop trying to hold onto our idea of what life should be like, and instead move towards what life actually is like. So this leads to another meaning in the words “let go” – letting go what we think we need for happiness and the conditions we feel must be fulfilled in order for happiness to come.

The story is here told by Thich Nhat Hahn, and like all parables can speak to us in different ways at different moments in our lives. Hopefully it may speak to you in some way today:

One day the Buddha was sitting in the forest with some monks when a farmer approached them. The farmer said, “Venerable monks, did you see my cows come by? I have a dozen cows and they all ran away. On top of that I have five acres of sesame plants and this year the insects ate them all up. I think I am going to kill myself. It isn’t possible to live like this”

The Buddha felt a lot of compassion toward the farmer. He said “My friend, I am sorry, we did not see your cows come this way”. When the farmer had gone, the Buddha turned to his monks and said “My friends, Do you know why you are happy? Because you have no cows to lose”

I would like to say the same to you. If you have some cows you have to identify them. You think they are essential to your happiness, but if you practice deep looking, you will see that it is not these cows that have brought about your happiness. The secret of happiness is being able to let go of your cows.