#680 Give & Take - More or Less?

     After a business transaction that didn't "go your way", or perhaps someone belittled you, you can actually feel diminished in some way - less than your normal sense of self. A surge of anger too often obliterates more subtle feelings. A swell of urgency to quickly repair perceived losses. We instinctively rush to top up life's vitality glass, which like our blood volume, definitely doesn't feel good enough at half-full.
     Conversely, you feel somehow bigger, expanded, "flush" when you unexpectedly or undeservedly come by some extra money, praise, or stuff. Doesn't it feel, if only momentarily, like you've transcended mere human limitations when you win something? Losing something has the opposite effect - makes you feel very vulnerable.

     So it seems that we have a rather solid, physical, materialistic, almost mechanical sense of ourselves, others & our world. Is an 8 foot tall person worth twice that of a 4 footer; a 350 lb person twice that of a 175 pounder? How about net worth, fame, attractiveness, earning potential, health, longevity, etc? Don't we rate everyone, including ourselves, based on a combination of such metrics?
     Isn't each of us far, far more than a handful of such useless measures? Doesn't it take a lifetime of meditation practice to catch ourselves judging - ourselves & others - much like an animal sizes up a potential mate or potential prey? Isn't this where our primitive judgmental attitudes originate? We're "little monkeys" aren't we? We really do need to slowly, patiently, evolve into our pre-frontal cortices, don't we?

Paint & Rust, Agricola Street, Halifax, NS

#508 Does Mindfulness Practice Lead to a Consistent "High"?

     NO! But some us, early in our practice, do feel "high" or "up" - for a while. We're in a blissful trance, brought about by false expectations of mindfulness practice.
     “... how easily we place a veneer of spiritual practice and spiritual correctness over deeply unresolved personal problems."        Preece R. “The Wisdom of Imperfection. The Challenge of Individuation in Buddhist Life.” Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca NY, 2006.  

     Once this placebo effect wears off, the "honeymoon period" ends, and our feet land firmly on the ground. Everything changes constantly, including our circumstances & moods. With mindfulness practice, the severity of our mood swings diminishes, because we take normal events less & less personally, and therefore suffering diminishes.
     Mindfulness practice is about waking up to reality, not escaping to "never-never land". Life in the real world is challenging: birth, constant change, sickness, aging, death - existential reality is not easy stuff, nobody escapes it. 
     The more fully we integrate mindfulness into our daily life, the less goal-oriented / self-centered / escapist we become, and the more profoundly our perception changes towards all experience. It's very useful to remember the fearful child / wise grandparent metaphor - see: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/search?q=grandparent

Steve McCurry   stevemccurry.com