#235 Discomfort - A Wonderful Opportunity !!!

     What happens when I'm trying to enjoy a book in my favorite coffee shop and the couple right beside me is having a continuous, moderately loud conversation? Well, I used to become irritated, judgmental, condescending, frustrated etc.

     “How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.”
                  Neils Bohr, physicist, Nobel laureate

     These days, I realize that their conversation (or any other behavior that doesn't cause suffering to them or others) is not my business. BUT, a big part of my practice is selecting the most appropriate attitude. Here, I can be porous, like a stone house without windows, doors, or roof. The sounds can pass through unobstructed, yet the stone walls remain solidly grounded, undisturbed.
     I've accepted the physical sensations of initial reflexive discomfort caused by my attitude (not their behavior). This in turn reminds me to select a more appropriate attitude - acceptance of the stimuli as impersonal sounds and an opportunity to practice mindfulness - to have curiosity about the situation. I then become more porously - physiologically - related to reality as it is. This is healthy. I'm at home, in my home, with others who are also at home - deep satisfaction. On leaving the coffee shop, there's NO hangover (no unpleasant residual effects), even though the couple's conversation persists. I'm learning to be at home in our world.
     Each one of us is a rock with rough edges, several carried in a monk's pocket, as he walks endlessly. At the end of his long journey, as we keep rubbing against each other, all of us become perfectly smooth - no more friction. This is the fruit of our practice.
     See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/02/37-embracing-challenges.html

Trident Booksellers & Cafe, Halifax NS