#425 Arising Urges to Be a Squirrel

     I'm quietly working on something, then suddenly an urge arises to do something else. One moment I'm peacefully engaged in an activity, the next moment I'm slightly anxious - an emotion, then the urge to act by going off mentally and or physically. The actual nature of the "something else" could be anything at all & doesn't really matter - it could be planning a vacation, work on another project, what's for dinner?, need to urinate, what time is it?, desire for coffee ... 
     This is precisely what keeps happening - and we see it so much more clearly - during sitting meditation! We're sitting still, engaged in the act of observing the breath, then suddenly the focus of our attention slips off target, onto another topic. Why does this happen? The longer we remain on the new topic(s), the more momentum (energy) the stories we tell ourselves gather. This weaving of stories is mental activity, which in turn may prompt physical activity eg getting up & doing something, or it may remain in an intermediate stage of planning to do something. In sitting meditation, we train to let go of this "anxious quiver of being", and gently return to being peacefully engaged with what we've decided was appropriate activity for this set period of time ie properly engage with the process of meditation for the predetermined time period.
     Why are we anxious being peacefully engaged in appropriate activity? Why do we trust primitive squirrel-like random thinking/doing activity (analogous to randomly trying different number sequences to open a found combination lock) more than deliberate peaceful action arising from the much more evolved aspects of ourselves? Could it simply be that we're so used to using the old primitive part of the brain that we don't yet fully trust this newfangled prefrontal cortex?

     See "Trust": http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/04/119-trust-quality-5.html

Samer AIR   www.dpreview.com

#424 Strive for the "Sure Thing" - OR - Trust Open-Hearted Engagement?

     It makes sense to put more care, time & effort into a project, so it will turn out closer to what we hope for. Of course it's easy to go overboard, only to (re)discover that no matter how hard we try, we can't perfectly control things. "The hurrier I goes, the behinder I gets!"
     Interestingly, mindfulness advises focusing on the process itself, rather than the goal. In fact, (excessively) focusing on the goal is considered a major impediment to reaching it. Excessive goal-orientation is "driven" by greed, fear, anxiety or some combination of these unhealthy emotions, which virtually block one's ability to pay attention to the journey - the actual path to the goal.
     We optimally attend to what we're doing when we're fully engaged - our mind-heart-body is open to the actual process eg taking care of a little child or pet. Our focus of attention is almost exclusively experiential, with minimal narrative focus. There seems to be a direct connection of some sort between the silent depths of ourselves and that of the person, animal or activity. There's a sense of love, kindness or perhaps a primal recognition. It feels very still, peaceful, timeless and right - radically different from greed, fear or anxiety. 
     One may even say that open-hearted engagement is the antidote for greed, fear & anxiety. We know both ends of this spectrum, but perhaps have more experience with the latter. Can we trust the former to guide our lives? Our moment-by-moment way of being holds the answer. Can we observe what guides (or drives) our behavior & the quality of life that naturally arises?

Bob Kaune   www.dpreview.com

#415 Can You Predict the Future?

     The logical answer of course is no. And yet, don't we all act as though we could?
     We briefly catch sight of someone, and immediately categorize them in all sorts of ways (education, socio-economic status, morals, IQ, etc etc) - is that not predicting the future based on minimal data? Prejudice, stereotyping, racial profiling ...
     Someone starts saying something, and we immediately know the rest of the story. Our listening shuts down, and our own self-talk takes over, as if we had a more concisely packaged version of what's being said (but are now failing to hear). Is this not also predicting the future based on minimal data? Premature closure, narrative (vs experiential) focus of attention, jumping to conclusions ...
     But perhaps the most limiting, most damagingly handicapping of all our pseudo-clairvoyant misadventures is our total and utter ineptitude at predicting our own potential as human beings.
     Three concepts should be considered: levels of consciousness, iterative learning, and experiential learning.  
     Einstein said “No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.” Looking at it another way, your 6-year old self joyfully beating your mother's cooking pot with a wooden spoon could not possibly understand, and thus could not possibly predict, the sublime pleasure you now (perhaps) derive from listening to classical music.
     There were many steps between your 2-year-old and current musical sensibilities. At each step, you changed as a person (levels of consciousness & changing brain anatomy & physiology), and with these changes, your perceptions kept changing stepwise - iterative learning. 
     Experiential learning is another way of looking at levels of consciousness and iterative learning. One can read forever about a lived (mind-body) experience eg climbing Everest, yet remain quite naive about it. A classic example is the qualitative difference between reading about meditation versus practicing it - there's really no comparison. See: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2013/06/intellectual-glass-ceiling-it-most.html
     Practicing mindfulness meditation, one learns that one's consciousness continuously evolves, and as it does, one is constantly surprised by how one's life improves. One cannot predict how it will improve, nor even adequately describe the improvements, particularly to non-meditators, for the reasons above.
     But it's important to understand that we all can evolve our own consciousness via meditation practice, cannot predict what it's going to be like, and others cannot give us a detailed description of what we'll experience. It's best to keep letting go of old ideas - they distort the absolutely unique present moment. Why not experience each moment's fresh surprises?

Exchanging Atoms Timelessly

#200 Narrative vs Experiential Attention

     We normally observe things by means of "narrative attention". We see something briefly, or hear the first few words of a sentence or maybe the first sentence, or read the first line or two of a paragraph, and then we're off into an elaborate story triggered by the tiny bit of real information. Reality mostly passes us by, because we're addicted to our own spin on things. "Please don't confuse me with facts!" Even physicians commonly stop patients well before they can recount their complete history, jump to conclusions based on inadequate data ("premature closure"), resulting in diagnostic errors. We're so used to being in this perpetual trance, that we're not consciously aware of an alternative to profound mindlessness.
     Mindfulness training helps us to gradually shift over to "experiential attention". When we're sitting in a tub full of nice warm water, and our attention is continuously with the physical reality of the warm water; when we hold a beloved little baby, toddler or puppy; when we do vigorous / dangerous activities like karate or rock climbing, THEN we tend to be completely present mind-heart-body, fully engaged with our immediate environment, no story being spun, time seems to stop, - we're real, fully here. It's a clear, needed break from narrative trance. 
      Clearly our ancestors could only have survived if they had the capacity for long periods of continuous experiential attention. How else could they sit motionless for hours, then pounce on an unsuspecting bird or animal? How else could they have avoided being themselves ambushed? Reality changes moment-by-moment - we can't freeze it with a story. Our stories keep hijacking us out of reality and freezing us in innumerable coma-like trances.
     So we all have a natural capacity for mindfulness, which though currently atrophied, we can cultivate to remarkable levels with mindfulness practices. 

     "Mindfulness lets experience be the teacher."           Jack Kornfield

Photo: Phiguy   www.dpreview.com