Longstanding meditation practice is nicely described by the late Zen teacher, Shunryu Suzuki as: "one embarrassment after another!" We learn to let go of our inflated (armored) egos, we learn to open our mind-hearts towards others who are "perfectly human" like us, and thus we do actually become a bit wiser.
“When I find myself full of fear or desire, I remember that I am
dealing with a brain and nervous system that has been hard-wired for
millions of years for these emotions. Then I apply one of my favorite
mantras, ‘I’m perfectly human.’ When I sit in meditation as a human
being rather than as an individual, I feel I am part of a collective
effort on the part of our species to right itself, to find a new sanity.
As Robert Thurman says of meditation, ‘It’s evolutionary sport.’ In the
light of that big perspective, I thank you for being on my team.”
Wes Nisker
See: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2014/02/492-mindfulness-practice-real-world.html
See: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2014/02/492-mindfulness-practice-real-world.html
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| Maryanne Gobble, National Geographic http://photography.nationalgeographic.com |
Something about the line, "When I sit in meditation as a human being rather than as an individual, I feel I am part of a collective effort on the part of our species to right itself, to find a new sanity.", makes me want to meditate and helps to take the pressure off of how I, as an individual, should be evolving. There's that word again: should. I am working on being aware of when I want to say that word :) I am glad to be on the team! That photo by Maryanne Gobble is beautiful. I really like trees. I am using them to help me with a grounding exercise, especially after an intense day at work.
ReplyDeleteI hear you Jay, we do tend to "should all over ourselves". A gentle intention is more humane as well as more effective. Like Nisker (a very wise AND funny human being) I too understand that we're all in this together - in a "collective effort." There is a profoundly earthy, organic quality to Maryanne's photo - glad you like it too.
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