#729 Skillful Attitudes towards Meditation Practice

     “The right attitudes (towards Insight Meditation) practice are: 
• to be open, receptive, allowing, acknowledging; 
• being willing to fully experience the moment with patience, without expectations or demands; 
• being responsive, caring, interested. 

     These skillful attitudes towards practice are all the qualities of loving-kindness. Remind yourself to recognize the present moment with these attitudes of mind.”

       Steve Armstrong, Lesson 5 Practice, Introduction to the Manual of Insight - online course, Kamala Masters & Steve Armstrong, Sept 24 – Nov 12, 2016 http://learn.wisdompubs.org/academy/

#663 Open Minds Open Doors

"The greatest discovery of my generation
is that human beings can alter their lives
by altering their attitudes of mind." 

William James

WisdomAtWork.com

Akos Stiller   www.stillerakos.com

#562 Suffering or Wisdom? We Get to Choose?

     Early this week our 5-year old water heater stopped working. The plumber from the company that sold it to us decided that some parts needed to be replaced, did so, charged $300., and left, but no hot water. The next day, he returned, replaced another part, left, but no hot water. Later that day, he returned, checked his work, left, but still no hot water. The next day, while waiting for him to return, I noticed that I was developing a low-grade tension headache (rare for me). Even thought the repair guy seemed like a pleasant, decent fellow, I was obviously resenting the slowness & inefficiency with which this (very minor) inconvenience was being handled. Waiting for a repairman, and waiting for hot water, was not the way my week was supposed to be! The headache helped me remember meditation teacher John Tarrant's saying:
               "Suffering is the thought 'This isn't it.'
                Wisdom is the thought 'What is this?'"

     What happens in each moment has little if anything to do with what we want or need. Instead, it's the result of innumerable causes & conditions coming together at a unique crossroads in history. It is complex beyond imagination, and impossible to predict or control. Our individual input is usually an incredibly tiny contribution, so why do we fool (inflate?) ourselves thinking we can control anything (other than perhaps our own attitude)?
     When the universe fails to unfold according to our individual desire, we can (like I did) get angry. "This sucks, I don't want this, this is upsetting all my plans ..." Nevertheless, the universe continues to unfold without consulting me, nor as far as I know, any other of earth's ~9 billion human beings. Therefore, remembering to remain curious and open to whatever unfolds moment-to-moment, seems much wiser than being constantly mad.
     Wisdom is generally understood to involve a progressive shift from egocentricity (self concerns) towards allocentricity & ecocentricity (being concerned about others & the environment).
     Yesterday, the plumber returned and succeeded in fixing the heater.

Justin Jung, National Geographic   http://photography.nationalgeographic.com

#558 NEITHER Avoiding, Stopping, NOR Pushing Away

     "The reality is that we are a river - a living energy system of sensations & sights & sounds, an energy system of changing feelings & thoughts. And the point of meditation and mindfulness isn't to stop the river - which you can't do.

                    "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf."

     That's really the point of mindfulness and meditation - to allow the experience you're having, which is always changing - and to find your composure in it."

       Jack Kornfield: The Case for Mindfulness and Wisdom in Law
       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLV4Cty06Q4

 

#444 Dancing in Constant Change

     “It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today.”           Isaac Asimov
 
     "The psychology of the mature human being is an unfolding, emergent, oscillating, spiraling process marked by progressive subordination of older, lower-order behavior systems to newer, higher-order systems as man's existential problems change."                                                       Clare W. Graves (1914-1986) 

      “Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”           William James

Steve McCurry   http://stevemccurry.com/

#442 Mindfulness Training & Hardiness

     "the personality trait hardiness (dispositional resilience) is characterized by perceived control over various aspects of life, commitment to one’s endeavors, and a tendency to view stressors as challenges.
     Conceptually, hardiness is broadly characterized as a stable disposition and/or a pattern of attitudes and skills providing the courage to turn stressful circumstances into growth opportunities. Over the years, a series of studies has yielded evidence for the construct validity of hardiness, including its interrelated elements of commitment, control and challenge.

     Commitment describes the tendency to stay involved with people and events rather than retreating into isolation under stress.

     Control refers to the belief that if one struggles and applies effort, s/he may be able to influence outcomes.

     Finally, challenge describes the tendency to view change as natural and as an opportunity for growth.

     Validation studies suggest that this construct is conceptually distinct from other well-known dispositions such as neuroticism, Type A behavioral pattern, negative affect, and optimism.

       Taylor MK et al. Relationships of hardiness to physical and mental health status in military men: a test of mediated effects. J Behav Med 2013; 36(1): 1-9.

     Those familiar with mindfulness will immediately recognize all components of hardiness - which are essential requirements for and natural byproducts of mindfulness training. Most importantly, hardiness can be & is intentionally, continuously cultivated, via patient, life-long mindfulness practices.
     See: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2013/11/436-readiness-for-change-is-pivotal.html

Amateur Sony Shooter   www.dpreview.com

#402 Objectification

     Much is said and written about men objectifying women - perceiving and thus treating women as if they were mere sexual objects.

     "Objectification means treating a person as a thing, without regard to their dignity. A person is objectified if treated:
          • as a tool for another's purposes (instrumentality);
          • as if lacking in agency or self-determination;
          • as if owned by another;
          • as if interchangeable;
          • as if permissible to damage or destroy;
          • as if there is no need for concern for their feelings and experiences." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectification

     Of course it's not only women - and men - who are objectified. Don't we all, at times, have similar reductionist attitudes, and thus inappropriate behaviors, towards animals, jobs, food, homes, cars, vacations, the ecosystem - everything - even ourselves? Objectification arises from deep, unexamined hunger. This hunger limits our attention to the one specific quality of the person, animal, product, activity, or natural resource that we desperately, unrealistically, hope will quench our desire. It all starts with the "life unexamined" - instead of looking at our life as a complex, nuanced whole, we reduce it to likes & dislikes, and end up compulsively chasing desires, and fleeing aversions.

     "The robber sees only the saint's wallet."

     To perceive each person, animal and thing as they are, in the appropriate context of this time and place, awareness must be open (instead of narrowly focused) and equanimous (as undistorted as possible by the observer's needs). Practicing mindfulness helps to shift consciousness from egocentric towards allocentric & ecocentric.

     See: #398-401

#397 Wise Behaviour Only Arises from Wisdom

     From birth we're conditioned to act in ways that please our parents, families, then friends, teachers, then bosses, co-workers, and the rest of society. Whether we did or did not accomplish an act is clear, easily judged. How well we did it is much more difficult to judge, and is somewhat subjective. Our attitude & intentions while accomplishing the act are very difficult for someone else to judge.
     So based on a lifetime of conditioning, many of us live our lives tightly governed by external approval of our actions. We become compulsive doers, "overachievers", "terribly busy", to the detriment of our attitudes, intentions, emotions - our inner life.
     Many of us literally fear peace, quiet, tranquility, stillness, self-reflection, meditation etc assuming that these might somehow competitively inhibit our ability to act (loss of external approval). We become anxious when we have even a bit of free, unstructured "down time".
     Indeed a part of us (brain stem) is conditioned to react with an approach-avoidance reflex to (societal & other) stimuli. However, the most highly evolved part of our brain (prefrontal cortex) is the seat of our executive function, mature judgment, meaning, values, attitude, intentions, quality (vs quantity), long-term goals ... our vitally critical inner life that should be directing our outer life.
     Civilized mature human beings should be intentionally cultivating their ability to operate with their FULL mental / human capacity. Meditation is an important means of achieving this for oneself. Universities must assume leadership to ensure their graduates are WISE, not simply reacting to societal pressures via primitive reflexes. 

#114 Qualities or Attitudes of Mindfulness

     Jon Kabat-Zinn highlighted 7 mindfulness qualities - how one attends to information during mindfulness. 
     Shauna Shapiro et al added 5 affective qualities, yielding a total of 12:

nonjudging, http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/04/115-nonjudging-quality-1.html

nonstriving, http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/04/116-nonstriving-quality-2.html

acceptance, http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/04/117-acceptance-quality-3.html

patience, http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/04/118-patience-quality-4.html

trust, http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/04/119-trust-quality-5.html

openness, http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/04/120-openness-quality-6.html

letting go, http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/04/121-letting-go-quality-7.html

gentleness, http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/05/122-gentleness-quality-8.html

generosity, http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/05/123-generosity-quality-9.html

empathy, http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/05/124-empathy-quality-10.html

gratitude, http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/05/125-gratitude-quality-11.html
and 

loving kindness. http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/05/126-loving-kindness-quality-12.html

       Cardaciotto L. Assessing Mindfulness: The Development of a Bi-Dimensional Measure of Awareness and Acceptance. PhD Thesis, Drexel University, 2005.

dspace.library.drexel.edu/retrieve/4264/Cardaciotto_LeeAnn.pdf

  

     These overlapping, interdependent, characteristic qualities or attitudes are cultivated by, & naturally arise from, mindfulness practice - much like physical strength, aerobic fitness, perseverance, etc arise for athletes from their training regimen.