#491 Holding Things Lightly in Awareness - Observing Change

     Meditation is often said to be "simple but not easy." When we first start to meditate, we're advised to sit still, yet we notice that we often suddenly move to scratch ourselves or make our legs more comfortable. Initially we tend to (mildly) rebel against this instruction & rationalize our not following it by arguing that one simply has to move, because ... Then quickly we may suddenly conclude "I'm no good at meditating."
     So even this tiny, initial fragment of sitting meditation practice provides a fascinating mirror by which to observe ourselves. Yet this mini-challenge, along with everything else, will change.
     The trick is not to struggle against it (against yourself), but hold it all lightly, in awareness.

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

#435 Right Effort does not Take, but Generates Energy

     Intelligent effort in mindfulness practice is not at all like trying to lift a very heavy object. It is effortless & instant - as when we redirect attention from this to how my right foot feels right now. How much effort & time was involved?
     By gently, intelligently, persistently stabilizing our natural capacity to fill awareness with real-time sensory information, we practice displacing & hence progressively reduce the noise of self-talk and reduce the internal friction of clinging to ghosts of the past & future. This liberates a great deal of energy which becomes available to creatively embrace all that the present holds now.
     So 'right effort' does indeed instantly liberate energy, that is otherwise squandered on creating noise & friction = suffering. Paradoxically, we practice right effort by 1) repeatedly becoming aware of going off track into unskillful thoughts, words / speech / self-talk, & action - ie catching ourselves not being mindful, 2) accepting innumerable 'errors of judgment', and 3) gently, seamlessly, persistently coming back to embrace the present, we inevitably, unstoppably, progressively stabilize our natural inherent capacity to be mindful, with all it's benefits.

Luca C   www.dpreview.com

#168 Effort in Moderation - Right Effort

     "Following your breath is not effortful. When you find yourself making an effort, you are adding to something that is already complete. Try giving your focused, alert awareness 50 percent less effort. The effort is brought simply to the intention and action of becoming still, so that the silt may begin naturally to settle in the stillness of the mind, like water becoming clear. Coming home is letting go, allowing resistance to drop away as it softens in the mind of breathing. Is it effortful to let go? Letting go is already dropping effort." 

        Murphy S. Upside-down zen. Finding the marvelous in the ordinary. Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2006.    - a truly wonderful book - highly recommended


     “Remember, this is not a mental struggle – it is not about thinking differently; rather it comes from getting out of our heads and into our bodies – that is, into the physical experience of the present moment.”                  Ezra Bayda

Photo: Alessandra Meniconzi    www.smithsonianmag.com

#46 Non-doing

     “Do not confuse motion and progress. 
     A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress.”                   Alfred A. Montapert
 
     “Effortless activity happens at moments in dance and in sports at the highest levels of performance; when it does, it takes everyone’s breath away. But it also happens in every area of human activity, from painting to car repair to parenting. Years of practice and experience combine on some occasions, giving rise to a new capacity to let execution unfold beyond technique, beyond exertion, beyond thinking. Action then becomes a pure expression of art, of being, of letting go of all doing – a merging of mind and body in motion. … magic of true mastery … moments of grace and harmony.
 
     Thoreau said, ‘To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.’”
 
       Kabat-Zinn J. “Wherever you go, there you are. Mindfulness meditation in everyday life.” Hyperion, NY, 1994.

photodottom   www.dpreview.com