"Love is the sauce
and
the Source."
and
the Source."
"There is only love.
All else, repeating stories exhausting themselves."
Rashani Rea
Showing posts with label stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stories. Show all posts
Friday, 10 July 2015
Saturday, 27 June 2015
Thursday, 18 June 2015
#696 Freedom
“We are free when we are not the slave of our impulses, but rather their master. Taking inward distance, we thus become the authors of our own dramas rather than characters in them.”
Huston Smith, Jeffery Paine. “Tales of Wonder. Adventures Chasing the Divine. An Autobiography.” HarperOne, NY, 2009.
Saturday, 3 May 2014
#529 Keep On Waking Up
During meditation we're trying to notice, as early as possible, each time we slip away into one of our basic story lines or daydreams.
Why do we compulsively keep escaping from the here & now? It's very important to carefully notice how we feel immediately before the urge to escape arises.
• How does it feel immediately before we run to the fridge (when not hungry)?
• How does it feel immediately before we check our smart phone (though there's nothing important going on)?
• How does it feel immediately before we jump up to go somewhere (though there's nowhere in particular we need to go)?
Does compulsive avoidance work - get us where we need to be? And if not, is it time to let it go?
Compulsivity is a tendency to repeat the same, often purposeless acts, which are sometimes associated with undesirable consequences. http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/impulse-control-disorders/understanding-differences-between-impulsivity-and-compulsivity
Why do we compulsively keep escaping from the here & now? It's very important to carefully notice how we feel immediately before the urge to escape arises.
• How does it feel immediately before we run to the fridge (when not hungry)?
• How does it feel immediately before we check our smart phone (though there's nothing important going on)?
• How does it feel immediately before we jump up to go somewhere (though there's nowhere in particular we need to go)?
Does compulsive avoidance work - get us where we need to be? And if not, is it time to let it go?
Compulsivity is a tendency to repeat the same, often purposeless acts, which are sometimes associated with undesirable consequences. http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/impulse-control-disorders/understanding-differences-between-impulsivity-and-compulsivity
Friday, 7 March 2014
#504 Curiosity & Processing
In Mindfulness training we're advised to be "curious" about phenomena that arise. Yet we're also advised to "let go of words" and "let go of stories"! So what does "curiosity" mean in this context?
This is a very basic and practically important question. We're used to having an almost continuous verbal commentary - "self-talk" - running 24/7, including of course when we begin practicing meditation! Typically, while observing something, we describe it to ourselves using words. So can we observe without words? And if so, how?
What happens spontaneously when we're alone in the house, and we hear a faint odd sound? We suddenly stop whatever we're doing, become completely still, perhaps even hold our breath, and listen intently. At these times, we're so attentive, that even self-talk seems to go silent. We see animals do what appears to be the same thing - an ancient instinctive behavior pattern for becoming deeply attentive.
How can we intentionally ease into this silent, still space of receptive, open listening? Remembering the classic Zen instruction to listen with our eyes & look with our ears helps us transcend linear discursive thinking (relatively slow, crude & detached) - and associated self-talk (disruptive) - and helps open all our senses, as we become profoundly still & silent.
Sound is physically sensed. Silence is potential sound. Musicians have high regard for the silent intervals between sounds. In Mindfulness, we learn to open up to & investigate BOTH sound & silence - therefore to be continuously aware. We're training to process experience (primarily) physically (eg sound & silence, feel of the breath, etc) rather than conceptually (eg words). CONTINUOUS PHYSICAL CONTACT with present-moment experience.
Consider sitting in the middle of a large open pasture with the intention of noticing deer. We would, like our ancestors for countless generations before, sit very still, silent, for hours, with relaxed sustained stable awareness. We have the inherent capacity to do precisely this, without concern for time. Mindfulness training cultivates an innate natural capacity.
This is a very basic and practically important question. We're used to having an almost continuous verbal commentary - "self-talk" - running 24/7, including of course when we begin practicing meditation! Typically, while observing something, we describe it to ourselves using words. So can we observe without words? And if so, how?
What happens spontaneously when we're alone in the house, and we hear a faint odd sound? We suddenly stop whatever we're doing, become completely still, perhaps even hold our breath, and listen intently. At these times, we're so attentive, that even self-talk seems to go silent. We see animals do what appears to be the same thing - an ancient instinctive behavior pattern for becoming deeply attentive.
How can we intentionally ease into this silent, still space of receptive, open listening? Remembering the classic Zen instruction to listen with our eyes & look with our ears helps us transcend linear discursive thinking (relatively slow, crude & detached) - and associated self-talk (disruptive) - and helps open all our senses, as we become profoundly still & silent.
Sound is physically sensed. Silence is potential sound. Musicians have high regard for the silent intervals between sounds. In Mindfulness, we learn to open up to & investigate BOTH sound & silence - therefore to be continuously aware. We're training to process experience (primarily) physically (eg sound & silence, feel of the breath, etc) rather than conceptually (eg words). CONTINUOUS PHYSICAL CONTACT with present-moment experience.
Consider sitting in the middle of a large open pasture with the intention of noticing deer. We would, like our ancestors for countless generations before, sit very still, silent, for hours, with relaxed sustained stable awareness. We have the inherent capacity to do precisely this, without concern for time. Mindfulness training cultivates an innate natural capacity.
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| Heiko Meyer http://photography.nationalgeographic.com |
Monday, 28 October 2013
#423 What is This?
There are at least 3 levels of reality: 1) the stories we tell ourselves about reality, from our default narrative focus of attention; 2) reality as we actually experience it directly, from our experiential focus of attention (mindfulness); and occasionally, 3) profound peace, silence, stillness that feels like home.
Much of mindfulness practice is about noticing, accepting, then letting go of a wide variety of noises (self-talk, mental proliferation etc - mainly #1) that's interposed - like friction - between our awareness and #2 & 3.
Much of mindfulness practice is identifying & letting go of noise / friction, a process of simplification, of getting down to basics, the core of what we are, then living this mystery as cleanly & simply as possible. What is this?
Much of mindfulness practice is about noticing, accepting, then letting go of a wide variety of noises (self-talk, mental proliferation etc - mainly #1) that's interposed - like friction - between our awareness and #2 & 3.
Much of mindfulness practice is identifying & letting go of noise / friction, a process of simplification, of getting down to basics, the core of what we are, then living this mystery as cleanly & simply as possible. What is this?
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| Charles Baxter www.dpreview.com |
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