#698 Father's Day Wish

     On this Father's Day, I fervently hope - for the sake of our beloved children and grandchildren - that each and every one of us commits to living more intelligently, wisely, lovingly every day of our short lives.

     “Each of the enduring religions contains universal principles that transcend time and culture. It’s not easy to extract those values from religions that are not our own, but it can be done Huston Smith says, if we see their followers as men and women who face problems much like our own, and if we rid our minds of prejudice that dulls our sensitivity to fresh insights.”

      Bill Moyers: “The Wisdom of Faith, with Huston Smith” DVD, 2011. 

#681 Enlightened Self-Interest?

     We waste an inordinate amount of our time, energy, and far more than our share of the world's resources, in a desperate, futile attempt to make ourselves happy. Being self-centered at the expense of others & the environment is primitive, simple-minded self-interest. It's very easy to see how foolish this is within a small family, but it takes some wisdom to see its global impact - hence our present-day global meltdown.
     As we progress in our mindfulness practice we gradually become wiser. It becomes progressively more clear that self-concern is not only addictive, but like all other addictions, fails miserably to bring about our happiness. On the contrary, selfishness brings us, and all those around us, suffering. 
     Self-centeredness is a miserable burden, yet, like any addiction, difficult to let go of when it becomes our identity. And self-centeredness is our human default, brain-stem-based, way of dealing with life! Mercifully, a part of our makeup also holds unimaginable potential. One can think of enlightenment as our life journey or path from being a spoiled-rotten kid to a wise loving grandparent.
     The path is rocky, with ups, downs, detours, but with patient, intelligent, persistent mindfulness practice, we absolutely will prevail. And as we pay more & more attention to doing what's right & best for the common good, we realize that we ourselves naturally become more deeply happy, peaceful & content in the process. This is sometimes referred to as "enlightened self-interest" - dropping self-centeredness is, paradoxically, key to one's own happiness.

Montseratt Cemetery, Paris

     

#608 Fearing the Shallows & Depths

     This morning, in a local jewellery store, I saw a collection of clay wall hangings, each with a woman's face on top, and a slogan, meant to be funny, below. On one of these was written:
          "Deep down, I'm really shallow!"

     This is dark humor - trying to deal with something that's actually terrifying. I think a large proportion of us, women and probably more so men, go to great lengths to remain constantly distracted so as to avoid seeing clearly who / what they are deep down. They fear that their own character / psyche / soul is at best shallow, at worst wicked. This is a hangover from the dark ages of clerics terrifying people with burning in hell forever unless they pay clerics to pray for them. How could, or indeed why would we live meaningful, dignified lives if we believe that we're "rotten to the core"?
     All the world's wisdom traditions have intelligent, educated, well-meaning, civilized representatives. Also, all have shrill representatives who've miraculously evaded a thousand years of human evolution, and misery loves company.
     Meditation practices are avoided at all costs by those who fear getting to know themselves (as well as those who gain by propagating this fear). In meditation we do directly experience the "shadow" aspect of ourselves - the less flattering aspects of our personality that everyone else clearly sees, but which otherwise remains hidden from us. But seeing & understanding our shadow has nothing to do with encountering "the devil". Becoming aware of this part of our subconscious helps us mature and behave as responsible, civilized adults.
     Fortunately, meditation also lets each of us directly experience the very best of human nature. Each of us, fundamentally, is kind, spacious awareness. This wise, mature, civilized aspect is amply able to hold the relatively small, transient shadow aspect.
     Mindfulness practices, which are all forms of meditation, are ancient, time-proven practices, specifically designed to foster human evolution of consciousness. In other words, we CAN intentionally promote our own psychosocialspiritual maturation - but ONLY IF we can overcome fear-based avoidance.

Bess learning from Gretel

#553 Forgiveness & Emotional Intelligence

     “Forgiveness is giving up all hope of having had a better past.”

     “Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.”

     “You can either practice being right or practice being kind.”


       Anne Lamott     http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/7113.Anne_Lamott 

#489 Attending to Just This, Right Here, Right Now

     We currently live in an age of distraction, yet we come from a long line of humans who successfully survived by being acutely attuned to environmental cues of danger, as well as opportunity to flourish.
     Many of us realize that today, there's just too much information coming at us 24/7 from all directions, so we need to improve our currently diminished abilities to prioritize, focus attention & stabilize awareness. Mindfulness meditation is a healthy, intelligent way of achieving this.
     We simply sit still, attend directly to the physical feel of the breath in our belly, letting go of words eg stories, plans, worries, etc. This is how we start sitting practice, whether a novice or if we've been practicing for many years.

     See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/01/6-awareness.html
     and: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/10/200-narrative-vs-experiential-attention.html

Elena Shumilova  http://www.flickr.com/photos/75571860@N06/11874722676/

#441 Emotions, Momentum & Mindfulness

     Emotions may or may not initiate, but they do energize & perpetuate activity - motion with momentum - propelling a course of action, a predetermined direction toward a goal.
     Even for noble initiatives, shouldn't we still proceed with full conscious awareness of the process & ever-changing conditions, ready & able to enact any modifications & corrections that invariably become necessary along the way? Isn't hot-headed impatience usually detrimental?
     And if, as is often the case, our initiative turns out to be less than brilliant to start with - shouldn't we have the humility to markedly change or scrap a bad action plan?
     Like ethanol & stress, strong emotions trample good judgment. Persevering consciously, intelligently, with great care, to complete a worthy goal comes from a much deeper, more still, more silent place than the chaotic abode of powerful emotions. Chaotic energy can be effectively tamed, transformed & harnessed in the service of wise mindful behavior.

#364 Being your own Trainer, Sports Psychologist & Life Coach

     The will to repeatedly put a little bit more quality, a little bit more intelligence - the "right effort" into each activity - to behave mindfully - comes from deep within us. This will is referred to as "heart", "spirit", "character", "intestinal fortitude" or "show us 'what you're made of'". If we learn to consistently dig down deep to manifest that "little extra", we are training ourselves to become progressively stronger, more competent, and more resilient. We transform ourselves into an elite individual, a champion in our chosen field of interest. In other words we intentionally remodel "what we're made of" - our mind, body & emotions - physically & functionally, for the better. Also, we become a fine personal trainer, sports psychologist & life coach to ourselves.

     "Water boils at 100°C, not at 99°C. That 1° of intensity makes all the difference. Workouts are similar ... If you aren't getting results, up the intensity!"               encouragement handwritten on Dalplex exercise room board

     “I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don’t do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results. That’s why I approach practices the same way I approached games. You can’t turn it on and off like a faucet. I couldn’t dog it during practice and then, when I need that extra push late in the game, expect it to be there.”         Michael Jordan, NBA MVP 1988, 1991, 1993, 1996, & 1998.
     See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2013/06/348-heart-of-mindfulness-practice.html
     and: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2013/06/basic-essential-life-skills-need-to-be.html

alan-tunnicliffe   www.dpreview.com