Don't Punish, Acknowledge and Move Forward

+WonderfulWorld

Life and the modern world is very busy, complicated, and at times highly confusing, disorienting and distracting. All this work we've been achieving, every effort we've taken, and every moment we've created has not been lost, no matter how many days, weeks, months or even years have seemed to have been squandered by our lack of focus, attention and intention.

We must be certain to not punish ourselves when we do become aware again. We then acknowledge what has happened then explore how and why this happened. If we take a judgmental approach to ourselves, we're apt to lose our objectivity. We may either ignore some crucial aspect of our behavior and circumstances in order to avoid accountability or we may apply extreme measures in response that are counterproductive to learning and moving forward.

Meditation is something we do every day. We all do it if we're aware of it or not. Meditation becomes focused and intentional when we guide it with our intentions. As we learn new methods and new aspects of our mind through different methods and aspects of meditation, we can become renewed and refreshed anywhere and anytime. Remembering to do these intentional practices in the throes of anger, frustration, stress, physical pain, and emotional turmoil is very difficult.

Never punish yourself for forgetting to meditate.

Slowing ourselves down, both mind and body, can help make our lives more manageable, even though that often feels counterintuitive when faced with mounting concerns, unresolved issues and relentless stimuli. We have to train our minds, and really even in our bodies, to do what we want and what we need them to do. This alters the dynamic in our daily lives.

What we don't need is to be exhausted or distracted. What we don't need is to be tense or reactive. What we don't need is to continue to be active without thinking when we could do something different entirely.

That's the entire path and vector that meditation takes us toward. We begin to see ourselves more clearly. Then, we begin to more clearly see our surroundings and others.

Has what we have been doing been producing a more happy, fulfilling life for ourselves and others? Are we even able to be honest with our own observations about ourselves?

Meditation isn't necessarily about making us feel better. It's about allowing us to be more aware so we can do something about how we feel and how we are.

The Omnipresent Seat of the Full Awareness of Breathing

+WonderfulWorld

In a few moments, any of us can reacquire our awareness in the present. However, connecting knowledge with both action and actualization of practice in the heat and throes of pain, suffering, turmoil and conflict is terribly difficult if not seemingly impossible for most. This is why exercising our awareness of breathing can be so potent in aiding us in our daily lives. Simply put, we continue to breathe during all of our daily experiences, even the most difficult and most terrible.

Sometimes, the mind attempts to remind us of this when we're under extreme stress. We become short of breath, panic attacks begin that feel as if we cannot breathe, or we become all huffy and heavy with our breathing; our mind is communicating to us to pay attention to it. Instead, we often continue to ignore it. In this way more systemic, chronic conditions begin to develop. Our capacity to breakthrough these conditions can become limited or obscured as a result of our general inattention and daily lack of awareness. We can retrain our mind if we consistently apply effort to do so. One such vehicle for retraining is through a renewed awareness of our breathing.

Breathing is what connects all of our moments, from birth to death. We should pay attention to it. In fact, we should take every available opportunity to become fully aware of our breathing. Further than that, we have to create those opportunities consciously and consistently for ourselves in an ever more distracting world. Then, when we encounter those inevitable high stress situations, we will have our daily relationship with the full awareness of our breathing to draw upon.

How do we build this relationship with the full awareness of breathing?

We seek guidance from others.

There are those who have contemplated and researched the potency of the awareness of breathing thoroughly, but we should not simply take the words and experiences of anyone as truth; we have to experience these ourselves. However, we can use what others have already accomplished as a starting point of our own exploration.

There is one Buddhist sutra, or scripture, that may assist in exploring a full awareness of breathing. The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing is a powerfully, direct step-by-step guide to begin this process of exploration. Commentaries accompany Buddhist sutra. Modern commentaries can be quite useful, Thich Nhat Hanh, for instance, has a very accessible perspective on this topic.

It may seem crazy to spend hours reading about how to become fully aware of your breathing. However, many others have written books on the topic. An aspect of our lives that is omnipresent: it transcends barriers of language, skill level, capacity, gender, age, and race. We all breathe or we're not alive.

Explore different voices and perspectives on the awareness of breathing. Find one that resonates with your daily life. The goal here is not to be abusive or harsh to ourselves but to make what natural work toward our wellbeing, not against it.

We must explore our awareness of breathing on our own.

Breathing happens naturally without any conscious effort on our part. When we explore that breathing, we're really exploring our mind's awareness using our breathing as a focal point. Is our mind able to focus at all? Is it stressed or relaxed? What else is rolling through our mind besides being aware of our breathing?

Self-exploration is not only recommended, it is imperative. We cannot take anyone's experiences or guidance as factual. It is critical to apply what we think, what we read and what we've been told so as to gain our own experiential information to ascertain a direct understanding. Otherwise, we will never rely upon it during difficulty.

When we become aware that our mind has wandered off again, don't judge or punish the mind. Simply acknowledge this as thinking or feeling and refocus awareness once again. If the mind continues to gallop off repeatedly, try paying complete attention to it. Let it go without trying to restrain it. Why is it doing this? Maybe, there is a very significant reason for this distraction. Explore it thoroughly. Be curious. Don't judge the mind, explore it instead.

We can develop our own working, adaptive understanding through exploration and contemplation.

If we don't create multiple opportunities to explore just our own personal, individual relationship with breathing and its interaction between our body and our mind, we've missed taking that omnipresent seat in our lives. From that seat we can be, see, feel, touch, taste, think, expand, and understand any and every aspect of our lives.

We begin by not working at or worrying about this process. This is not about forcing our mind to do something unnatural. In fact, the objective is to reclaim the natural state of our mind-body connection. Then, we can reforge our connection to our daily lives and to the people within those daily lives.

Breathing, I am aware I am breathing. 
Breathing in, I am aware I am breathing in.
Breathing out, I am aware I am breathing out.
Breathing in, I am aware of how I am breathing in.
Breathing out, I am aware of how I am breathing out.
Breathing in, I am aware of my body.
Breathing out, I am aware of my body.
Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body.
Breathing out, I am aware of my whole body.
Breathing in, I calm my body.
Breathing out, I calm my body.

Try the above exercise. Do you feel better? Does your body feel physical relief? How about your mind?

This is the expansive power of returning to the omnipresent seat of the awareness of our breathing. We begin to clear our minds of the cumbersome thought processes that aren't beneficial or productive; we relate directly with our bodies; we connect better with others, helping us to navigate a more complex and distracting world.

We begin ridding ourselves of ineffective and ineffectual mental habits, instead, forming new mental habits that have real, tangible physical, emotional and mental benefits. This is only the beginning steps in this exploration of the full awareness of breathing. We need only crack open the door on the potency of our awareness in order to take our seat and reap the rewards.  This doesn't mean we won't experience pain and suffering, but it will give us a better opportunity to understand and appreciate it.

Source: Awakening of the Heart: Essential Buddhist Sutras and Commentaries, Thich Nhat Hanh

The Awake Space of the Presence of Awareness

+WonderfulWorld

 

Our choices, past present and future, are all within us in this very moment. The future and the past are no more important than the present, but it is the present where we can make an active choice to be fully aware and completely awake.

When we make choices from the awake space of the presence of awareness, we can see more clearly where we've been and where we're going because we know where we are right here and right now.

When we begin seeking to benefit all others we encounter, the vibrant nature and extra-ordinary texture of every moment, every encounter, ever step, every breath and every beat begins to resonate throughout all aspects of our actions.

Our intentional living is beginning to spread. The reverberations echo into the distance wherever we go, and have been all along, that is karma. That is why the negative and destructive waves from before will ultimately be felt by us again . . . and thankfully so . . . so we can absorb what we could not before.

We no longer have to transmit our pain and suffering, our ignorance; onto others as we, our parents, families, our communities, our countries and our species have always done.

We can do something different.

By continuously opening ourselves to all people, especially those that actively attempt to harm us, at least emotionally and mentally, we show that we will not be dissuaded by petty antics of intimidation.

We can be something different.

By returning to that awake space, even after difficulty and adversity of experience, we can realize that we have always been this way.

We are something different. 

Tackling the Big Problem; To The Farmer's Market

+WonderfulWorld, 16 November 2014

We encounter problems every day. Mostly, these problems are simple choices. However, some problems are more complex or are broader and impact more than just today or just our own life. In these situations, some of us can easily become overwhelmed by the size and scope of what is at stake. In my experience it is the idea of the 'big problem' which must be let go first. The obstacle is our idea of the size of the problem, making it feel insurmountable and impossible to solve.

If it truly is a broad-based issue, the solution must have steps that allow for flexibility and a multifaceted approach, taking the macro-problem and initially breaking it into micro-units that are easier to consider. This can make the first steps less daunting, and once there is some progress or movement on the issue, a broader re-examination can take place. The key is to begin making headway, learning to adapt on-the-spot. Instead of attempting to solve the entire ‘big problem’ all at once, which may only be possible with objectivity, experience and intuitive insight, we’re allowing ourselves to be human.

Whenever we stop reacting to problems and situations, we allow ourselves the opportunity to let our natural presence and awareness to apply itself to the situation. All of our experiences, our intuition and our observations can be critically important in dealing with the ‘big problems’ we encounter. These are all vital when encountering each small choice and daily dilemma as well. Instead of reactivity, we are present and aware enough to begin to learn to know what our intentions are and what actions should be linked to those intentions.

Imagine if we applied ourselves to every step we take, to every human encounter we have, wherever we go and throughout our entire day. Immediately, the entirety of the day becomes a vibrant, workable field that we are actively engaged in with attention and care. We apply physical resources, mental resources, emotional resources and spiritual resources to achieve outcomes we determine are achievable and worthwhile. Imagine that! That is our day. It’s our field, the outcomes of which are the fruits, the vegetables, the crops that we feed ourselves, our families and our communities with each and every day.

Our lives are our farmer’s market. Our ‘big problems’ are our biggest asset. Our choices are what make all the difference. We determine a great deal in our lives and in the lives of others. What is it that we’re really after? Do we wish to help ourselves and others, or to blame ourselves and others?

Let’s start to do something with our day to bring to the human community farmer’s market. It will sustain us, it will sustain others, and it helps to perpetuate what we all want . . . happiness and joy, togetherness and progress.

The Age of Death by a Thousand Cuts

Once a person is in the cross-hairs, anything and everything they do can be shredded and parsed. Maintaining objectivity becomes terribly difficult.

I remember in 2004 when George W Bush won re-election. I was freaking out about the future of the nation. I watched every communication out of his Administration and shredded it, pounced on it, outraged upon it. Early into 2005, I realized I had to stop . . . for not only my own well-being, but for the well-being of the country.

I made George W Bush my Patient Zero for generating understanding, patience, and compassion. I stopped doing Death by a Thousand Cuts, as that only served my ego and not for the progress for America. This is the Age of Death by a Thousand Cuts. It’s a painful one. It’s why I was so outraged in 2004, and why nearly everyone is so outraged today.

Instead of us talking and discussing about how to resolve our common problems or how to make progress as a country, a society and a culture, we’re relegated to this blame/scream fest. If you’re in the middle, as I am, it can be disheartening. Many just stay on the sidelines instead of engaging because the fever on both sides is so high and the pitch is so intense.

I maintain my objectivity, mostly, and remain non-reactive, emotionally. This is through years of mental and emotional training. I am out to learn.

I’ve been mistaken my entire life, even up to this very moment. I do wish my words to be as correct as they can be to make my intentions clear.

This is an engaging and energizing process because I’m learning. I appreciate each and every word you all write. Thank you!