#460 Waking Up - OR - Suffering

     “We become disabled, unable to function in areas of our lives that evoke feelings we’ve never learned to tolerate. Turning away from this primary pain creates a second, ongoing level of suffering: living in a state of contraction and constricted awareness.”                          John Welwood

        Glickman M. “Beyond the breath. Extraordinary mindfulness through whole-body Vipassana meditation.” Journey Editions, Boston, 2002.

      “The most powerful agent of growth and transformation is something much more basic than any technique: a change of heart.”                                                       John Welwood

      “We have little choice about anything, moving around as we do in a sleepy, anxious cloud of habit and conditioned response. … The only choice we have anyway is to wake up.”                                                               Stephen Butterfield

       Welwood J. ed. “Ordinary magic. Everyday life as spiritual path.” Shambhala, Boston, 1992.

#22 Avoidance

     How much of my doing is driven by trying to avoid activities, people, things etc that I presume to be incompatible with happiness?

     Avoidance can present in the form of denial, suppression, sleepiness, boredom, restlessness, compulsive behavior, a sense of being hunted - always having to run away etc.
      “... experiential avoidance does not appear to work well in the long run. Research has shown that ... a heightened level of experiential avoidance is correlated with increased anxiety, depression, substance abuse, worry, long-term disability, high-risk sexual behavior, inability to learn, poorer work performance, lower quality of life, and higher degrees of overall psychopathology.”
        Ciarrochi J, Mayer JD. "Applying emotional intelligence: A practitioner's guide." Psychology Press, NY, 2007.

     Mindfulness is about fully experiencing reality - ie the opposite of avoidance. Why? Because engaging directly with our life works. But don't take anybody's word for it - you need to experience this for yourself.

Artist: R C Gorman   http://rcgormangallery.com/