Shopping in Yoga Class ~ Before Zen I think about food, After Zen I think about Food.

Before I started meditation practice I would think about all sorts of things I had to do. My mind would wander about what to do next, what groceries to get, who to see, what party to go to etc.

Then I was introduced to meditation and yoga. I was given a practice for letting go of thoughts and focusing my mind on the present. When sitting in meditation or doing a yoga pose one brings one's attention to the present. It is quite a blissful experience to fully arrive in the present you know. I often tell yoga students to leave their shopping lists at the door in their coat pockets. The "to do" lists and expectations can be put on hold until after practice. This is generally a good practice for any contemplative art. There is however, a serious potential pitfall. 

The pitfall has to do with perfectionism and taking sides against thoughts. While we direct our attention to the present, it does not have to mean that suddenly we are against thoughts. The grocery list may still come up in your mind while practicing. A mistake people make is to then judge themselves as "bad meditators" or "bad yogis" just because they shopping list arises in their minds. The practice is not to shut off and shut down the mind. The practice is to allow the space for the thought to arise, to see it and also let it go. If that is allowed to happen then there is no judgment necessary. It takes relaxation.

I know this because I have been through it myself. When I started meditation I thought about groceries. Then I tried to suppress the thoughts of groceries in search of a better experience. There had to be some better experience more spiritual than thinking about groceries right? That became stressful. So now I let the thought come up, and let it go. It's not about not having the thought, but letting it arise and letting it go. It seems that it can be included.

So what has changed since I started this practice 20 years ago? I still think about what I have to do, what to get at the store. Maybe its just that I am content either way. I found myself thinking about what groceries to get at the store yesterday in class and giggled. With relaxation comes a sense of humor. If you are trying to make it "perfect" chances are you will find yourself way too upset about something that is just an ordinary thing.

Looking at Mind

In order to get to know oneself better on the path of mindfulness it is helpful to look at what you will need along the way. To get familiar with mindfulness and the genuine nature of mind actually takes a lot of determination and perseverance. Ironically, one should not be too forceful or use too much effort. We need to be patient with ourselves and realize we need not ever give up. Even when we get results that we want and feel happy about results, there is no need to give up mindfulness. When we get results we don't like then again, there is no need to give up our attentiveness. We can rely on it all the time.

In terms of searching within one's daily life and within one's experience for the genuine nature of mind, there are a few helpful mental attitudes you want to take along with you for the journey. Please remember this is the journey to where you already are and to who you already are. That is the paradoxical part of the path of mindfulness and meditation. We are taking a journey and we need provisions, yet its important to remember that the co-ordinates for what we are looking for are here and now.

There are three things I can think of that are essential to bring along.
1. Truth: a genuine interest in knowing the truth.
2. Cause and effect: a willingness to acknowledge cause and effect.
3. Mind: certainty in the benefits of working with mind.

Truth

It is important to open up to the idea that we would like to know the truth. We usually cannot start out knowing the truth because we are in need of a path to that. If we already knew the truth then we would not need a path. One of the problems is that on some level we have given up the desire to actually know what is true. We either don't believe it is possible or have given up such interest in truth in favor of a series of comfortable or entertaining lies. The comfort that comes from not knowing the truth is not really that comfortable, however, because ignoring our basic state is what causes all of the inevitable suffering that inspires us to look for a solution. So it's important to want to know what is true and what is real. Even it it means abandoning some erroneous belief, pattern or idea that we have held dear to us for so long.

Cause and Effect

It is quite possible to get some nice "spiritual" experiences while meditating or shutting ourselves off from our day to day hassles and struggles. The only problem is that if we are not joining the meditation practice with action, then we are just getting attached to meditation experiences which may distract us from paying attention to the normal daily life experiences which need to be viewed equally as "spiritual". By paying attention to the cause and effect patterns and needs of daily life we make sure we are not getting into an escapist approach to meditation.

Confidence in Mind

To take up the practice of meditation and mindfulness it will save a lot of time, indecisiveness and hesitation, if we can be certain of one thing: mind determines our experience. Mind is what produces happiness, mind is what produces suffering. If we are certain of that then we can have confidence in the practices of training and taming the mind. Otherwise, it may not be possible to maintain the practice over time because of a lack of confidence in power of the mind. Furthermore, we also may have to test a hypothesis. The masters of the past have said that the true nature of mind is naturally peaceful, intelligent, industrious and kind, something beyond what we can normally grasp. If do not have a direct experience of that, then it is important to really inquire from one's own side and experience to see if that is true or not. If it is true, then the path becomes about getting more and more familiar with this genuine nature we have uncovered.

So with these three provisions one is then ready to begin, to begin to take a closer look.

Transforming Stress ~ Guest Article by Lennart Krogoll

As we travel through our day, figuratively or literally, we all encounter occasional experiences of anxiety or stress – sometimes light and subtle, at other times more obvious and tangible, or even traumatic. This is of course a natural part of our lives. It may be that the traffic does not run as smoothly as we would like or someone cut us off; or maybe we anticipate a difficult conversation and we keep test-running it through our head while busy with other things; or we might remember and re-live an unpleasant interchange or an old emotional wound gets triggered; or we don’t quite feel on top of our world and are inundated with demands we would rather not relate to.

All this is quite common and natural. Rather than rejecting them as obstacles, we can look into how these things can be turned into opportunities for us to grow and be more awake, effective, confident and resilient. However, often we do not notice how these stresses and stressors keep building up and settle into our system, creating tension or blockages. Even very minor amounts of stress and anxiety have an effect on our physical energy, our health and stamina. They also affect our cognitive faculties – how attentive, intentional and effective we interact and re-act. They reduce our emotional intelligence, relaxation and presence, how open and heartfelt we can be for others and in the moment.

If we were ignoring these messages, or pushing them aside with medication and distraction, it would be like removing the light bulb from the little warning lamp in our car, which informs us that it is time to replenish the oil.

Various ancient methods cultivate and direct our inherent capacity for mindfulness and awareness of mind, body and heart. Modern science has recently discovered that these techniques afford us to notice, accept and relieve physical, mental and emotional stress, disturbance and even trauma.

Not only can we relieve current and old stress, re-opening and energizing our channels, but these simple techniques also help us to mange stress ‘as it happens’, on the spot, and give us tools to prepare for situations of stress and develop greater relaxation and resilience.

We can actually enjoy applying simple, elemental wake up ‘tools’, while walking down the street, sitting at the computer or having a conversation – making any moment more delightful and meaningful.   

Lennart will be teaching about stress, mindfulness and using the wake up "tools" mentioned above at our yoga studio in November:

http://yogastudio.ns.ca/workshops.htm#lennart
 

Waking Up in Daily Life: Disclaimer.

Traditional texts on realizing the true nature generally start with a homage of some sort. This thread begins with a homage if the form of a disclaimer. It is quite possible to realize that the actual nature of your mind is free from pain and full of joy, without the extremes of excitement or dullness. This however is only possible when you relate directly with your life. Daily life and mindfulness need to be joined together. You could say that is the real meaning of yoga. Often times people approach yoga and meditation as an alternative to daily life, like some kind of escape. This is natural because dissatisfaction with the ups and downs of life will often lead to a desire to be free. The key here is that with mindfulness meditation and practice, daily life becomes the path and all of life's experiences are opportunities to be present.

So the disclaimer is like this: you will not find mindfulness in the future or in the past, and you will not find it any place other than where you are now. Your current life situation is what you have to work with and the true nature of mind is also found within your current experience.

Earth Day Reflection and Aspiration

The day before Earth Day I found myself in a grocery store checkout line having my groceries being loaded into plastic bags.  I realized as I was well into getting things checked through, that I had left my reusable grocery bags in the car.  I felt somewhat disappointed in myself for doing this.  I have also found myself lately getting cups of coffee after having forgotten my travel mug at home or at work.  In my efforts to be prepared to make small choices that favor taking care of the environment, I have taken some steps to participate a lifestyle that supports sustainability.  Yet, I am forgetting to use the basic materials I have in place to live that way.

As I reflect on Earth Day today, I have to admit that to whatever degree I have tried to prepare, I have also failed at being mindful.  Mindfulness is often defined as remembering; remembering to come back to the breath, remembering to come back to the present moment, or remembering to follow through on choices that align with ones desires to be of service to the environment.

Today I make the following aspiration in honor of Earth Day, in honor of the planet, in honor of the community and in honor to this human body.


For the sake of all beings
I aspire to remember
the earth and my community
in the choices that I make
each and every day.

May the choices that I
make in a small way
help create harmonious connections
that aid in the environmental health
of the larger community and the planet as a whole.

Dear Earth, may I remember you
so that I do not forget you
as I use the resources we have
taken from you.

May we all continue to live
here and make you our home
for may years and generations to come.


Sincerely,

Mike Munro

Willow Is Not Real

Willow is a dog. When I first met Willow she was introduced to me as a house pet that needed to be penned in during a meeting because she was so excitable. Her keeper gave the visitors two options: 1. have her in the bedroom where she would bark and bark and bark. 2. Let her come in where she would jump up on us and run around in circles. Willow is an Australian Shepperd and can only relax after herding you like a sheep. We chose the bark-free option since we were about to have a meeting and needed to hear each other. And besides, we all needed to sit in the same room together so we were easy to herd. My experience of her was that she was an uncontrollable, scraggly looking, utterly annoying ... dog.

I have never considered myself a dog person. I was a cat person. I was annoyed at the dog before I even got to experience its excitable nature mostly because I identified myself as a cat person ... and definitely NOT a dog person.

As it turned out my relationship with Willow started to change. To make a long story short I ended up volunteering to help take care of Willow on a part time basis as Willow's owner was in need of some support. After spending several days a week with Willow something eerie started to happen. I was beginning to act like a dog person. I was picking up poop, talking to the dog like a person, looking up dog training resources and last but not least .... I was starting to feel some real affection towards her. Now when I go a few days without seeing Willow I start to miss her. I have become a dog person. I am not sure what happened to me. I was cat person you know!

So what does any of this have to do with mindfulness? Well if you watch how you identify yourself as something ... a friend, lover, single person, whatever, you will also notice something else. Things change. The identities we label ourselves and others with are not fixed. When we fix a label on ourselves we often try to maintain it as real and permanent. Upon closer examination things are freer than that and if you watch ... you might just notice yourself becoming something you never thought you could be ... and thank goodness for that freedom.

Victorious Practice

To practice mindfulness you start by bringing your attention to one thing. By sitting and bringing your attention to the breath fully for a moment you are practicing awareness. When you extend that awareness to the next breath, that is further awareness which we call ... mindfulness. Practicing with the breath is an important practice because it is bringing us into focus with the primary sensation of life-giving breath.

Once we can appreciate and relax with this basic sensation of breath then we can extend our awareness to the environment. Mindfulness is not sensory withdrawal. You may need to practice in a quite place at first, yet once you connect with your meditation object or the object of mindfulness then you can afford to relax and let more of the environment into your field of awareness. If you become distracted by thoughts that seem to stem from the sense objects or from past and future concerns, include that in awareness as well. See the thoughts and once you have included then in your awareness, then return to the primary sensation of breath or your meditation object.
 
In order to practice you need to include your experience of the world of the senses and of thoughts while also training your mind to come back to your chosen meditation object. That is what is called practice. After your formal practice session you can work with any experience of the present moment. Feel free to reflect on future goals or past experiences as well, yet from the point of view of greater mindfulness and awareness. There are no experiences or thoughts that need to be excluded from your awareness. Seal everything that comes up with awareness, and come back to your chosen object of meditation. If you can practice mindfulness this way then it is impossible to "fail". With the right view on practice, it is always victorious.

Mindful Hypothesis - A Guided Contemplation: Part 1 of 2

 ~part 2 of this post:http://amindfulnessblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/joy-pain-and-joy.html

The Mindfulness Hypothesis: The causes of happiness and suffering come from within your own mind, and understanding them allows you to determine the result yourself.

My teacher often describes the path of meditation and wisdom he is presenting as a science of mind. In science we often start with a hypothesis about nature which we wish to test. If we observe a cloud in the sky and infer from observation that the sun's heat has something to do with the formation of the cloud, then we devise an experiment to see if this is so. Taking a scientific approach means that we don't just accept things as they appear or as we infer them, rather we form an hypothesis and then test it first. If our hypothesis stands up to reason and experimentation, then we can take it be true. This can be repeated over time as other insights come to light and our hypothesis can be challenged again. New information can shed further light on old knowledge, which is often expanded upon or sometimes deemed no longer true. Physical science, however, is generally focused on the external world and the rigors of modern science often require large samples of data under the right conditions to verify these physical truths.

From: http://chemistry.about.com/od/imagesclipartstructures/ig/Science-Pictures/Titration.htm

We can look at mindfulness with a similar approach, yet also understand that the approach of physical science need not apply in its entirety to our approach of working with and understanding our mind. There are plenty of studies which will tell you that meditation is good for you and that mindfulness is an important part of modern approaches to health and healing, yet what we need as individuals is more specific to ourselves and our own mind and life. We may find that a study with a sample size of 1000 other people we have never met will not help us understand our own life and mind directly. In order to do that we need to be the scientist and the subject in a study with a sample size of one. Others may help us confirm the results, but working with our own mind is a practical form of inner science specific to ourselves.

This leads us to a mindfulness hypothesis. If we were to take the perspective that our own experience of mind and life is of primary importance in determining happiness or suffering, then how would we go about seeing this mind and directing it to get the results we want? First of all we need to be willing to test the hypothesis that happiness comes from within, and the same with suffering. You could observe your experiences through time, today and throughout life to see if this is true. How many things, relationships and events happen outside of ourselves that lead to a lasting experience of happiness? How many things, relationships and events that happen outside ourselves are there that lead to a lasting experience of suffering? Once you have looked into this you could test another hypothesis. What if our experiences of happiness and suffering actually originated within? How often have our own mental attitudes, events or emotions been responsible for joy in our lives or for periods of happiness? What kinds of internal qualities and experiences of mind have lead to positive outcomes? How often have our own mental attitudes, events or emotions been responsible for unhappiness our lives or for periods of suffering? What kinds of internal qualities and experiences of mind have lead to negative outcomes?

If you go through this process it is quite possible that you might come to a certain conclusion that points to the power of your own mind to create your experience of the world. Yet, don't take my word for it. Please test it for yourself. And if you do come to that conclusion then maybe we could think of the implications or come up with another hypothesis. If it does stem from mind, then how do I take care of it, and how do I direct it?

Follow up post to this article:
http://amindfulnessblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/joy-pain-and-joy.html

Own Your Mind - A Contemplation

I was just reading from my teachers book "Rebel Buddha" and one line in particular really hit home. He says that sometimes we are too polite with our suffering or our confusion. Sometimes we need to question its authority over us and stage a rebellion. In order to stage that rebellion against suffering and confusion within our own mind we need mindfulness. Mindfulness is the key to reclaiming our mind and heart. We are often getting guests coming to visit in the house of our mind. Mr. Anger comes in without even knocking the door and the he stays around and wears out his welcome. Why do difficult emotions get away with that? Based on what I'm reading it seems like they get away with it because we let them. You may know from the Buddhist teachings or other wisdom teachings that in order to have a healthy relationship with your mind, it is important not to suppress emotions and I would have to say yes I do think that is true. However, we also need to stop entertaining them as if they were special guests as well.

My teacher uses the analogy of mindfulness as being a person in a house who can lock all the doors. When Mr. Anger arrives to pay a visit we can see him coming. Then we can unlock the door and invite him in, hear what he has to say. That seems fine enough. Then its time for the guest to leave. Because we have seen him coming and mindfully let him in, we can also mindfully say goodbye and let him out. We may not want Mr. Anger in at all, yet if mindfulness is our householder then it seems that we can. We can see it clearly, listen and let go. We don't need to be too polite and offer him drinks and snacks and let him bully us into keeping him as an overnight guest! That would be way too polite.

Mindfulness for Goofballs

I was talking to my co-worker this morning about this blog as I was handing her the keys to the cabinet and, with my hand gesturing, managed to throw the keys on the floor at her feet.

I had a flash of feeling somewhat hypocrital given the topic of discussion. Yet when I reflect on it, feeling hypocritical about that kind of experience is also something worth looking at. Often we have the idea that when we practice something we should get better at it right? Sometimes we expect others who practice yoga or meditation to be peaceful, elegant and kind all the time. This must be based on some kind of fantasy or mental projection which is good to notice as well. Do you ever find yourself judging someone for not living up to your expectations? It happens so quickly that we don't often notice it right away. I noticed it this morning in relation to myself yet we can do it quite quickly towards anyone or anything. The interesting thing is that we often believe our judgements without looking at them closely. So today my question is "Is it really true that because I practice and teach mindfulness that I should never drop a set of keys?". Well it's a good thing that assumption doesn't hold up to analysis because if it did, I would have given up on myself a long time ago.

Peanut Butter, Rainbow, Wine, Triangle Pose, Blah Blah Blah and Rock and Roll

So if practice is important when it comes to appreciating life or living with its challenges, then how exactly do we practice? In sitting meditation we relate with the sensation of the breath and work skillfully with thoughts, so that is one way to develop or nurture our capacity for mindfulness. Yet we have six sense gates, if not more depending on how you count them, that we can use. In meditation it is often the feeling of the breath at the tip of the nose, depending on the technique, that helps us find a sensation that is grounded in the present. That sensation is a sensation like many others. In yoga, sensation shows up in my trikonasana pose as feet on the floor, muscles stretching, breath and so many other things. Some of the sensations feel pleasurable, some are not, yet they are all now if I can just breath them in and feel them with out too many labels or judgements. So there are a lot of things available to us through the sense gates. We can listen to music such as the Tragically Hip, or Mozart if you like. The sound is experienced in its freshness when we really enjoy music. When we taste food we can also slow down and really taste it. Peanut butter is really inexpressible if you sink into the experience. The aroma of wine or any other scent is a direct experience before we think of it with descriptions and try to impress others with our analysis. When we see a rainbow we can just see it. Any form that appears to our eyes can be appreciated nakedly and directly. And then there is thought. We can also look directly at the thinking mind, see the thought that is happening right now and by seeing it as thought we are freed from the illusion that our thoughts represent a solid reality. Our mind may be going "blah blah blah" yet just look at the present thought, that "blah" and see it. This way there in nothing within our experience that need escape mindfulness.

Glass House in an Intersection

One of my teachers, Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen, once described the attitude we take to mindfulness with the analogy of a glass house. He said sometimes it is as if we think of mindfulness like a glass house in the intersection of a busy street. Can you imagine if your house were made of glass and it were in a busy intersection? Well we wouldn't feel safe in our abode and certainly with everything coming at us, our glass house would be destroyed. So I find that an interesting analogy. I do think that when we first try to practice being aware and mindful in ordinary daily life experience we feel so easily distracted the it seems impossible to maintain our mindfulness. We could be mindful of driving the car one moment, taking in the environment, and in the next moment our cell phone buzzes and our mind jumps to what could be happening next. Our mindfulness is lost and we are no longer in the present. Luckily, however, the present moment is not that fragile. We can easily get lost in frantic thought in what seems like the fraction of a second, yet what we could remember is that the present moment is never lost. Even when we get distracted, our mindfulness is not destroyed. In reality the present moment is more like a diamond. It is harder than diamond. So we could take more of an attitude of confidence towards mindfulness and the present moment. Appreciate and enjoy whatever arises moment by moment and if you get distracted, or thrown into a state of anxiety by a call you might be getting on the phone, then don't worry. These experiences do not need to harm our mindfulness. There present moment is still there waiting for you and awareness is also always available. We could remind ourselves that mindfulness is actually resilient and something innate to use as human beings. It takes some effort to come back to now, yes, but it is not like a glass house that is so easily damaged. No-one and no-thing can destroy the present moment!

Welcome to Wake Up Now! - A Mindfulness Blog

Hi,

Welcome to Wake Up Now! I would like to start this blog with a couple of pithy definitions of mindfulness so that we have some idea of what the general subject is.

Mindfulness has been defined a number of ways. The most direct way to start practicing mindfulness is through sitting meditation, where you become more aware and of or familiar with your experience of the breath or any other sensory object. Once you are familiar with the simple and direct experience of one thing, like the breath, then you can nurture that awareness and familiarity with other daily life experiences. My teacher, The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, defines mindfulness as "the continuity of awareness". First we have glimpses of awareness of something, and then that can become more continuous, which is called mindfulness.

Mindfulness is also referred to as not forgetting in that we “do not forget what we have heard and contemplated.”* So there is a bit of effort involved sometimes. The opposite of experiencing things directly is to be somewhere else in our minds, such as dwelling in thoughts of the past and future. So mindfulness can also be thought of as the "remembering" to be present. Once we remember we can relax and continue in that state of awareness, which would be further mindfulness.

So I think that is enough theory. I hope not to get bogged down by too many definitions and so on, so the next few posts will be more experiential. For example, this morning I was mindful of how crabby I was. I was driving the kids to school and I was just crabby. I practiced mindfulness by just being aware and letting myself be crabby. I tried not to be too hard on myself by trying to change it or label it and by relaxing into it, I was OK. It was Monday morning after all.

Mike

*Thrangu, Khenchen. Essentials of Mahamudra: Looking Directly at the Mind. Wisdom Publications: Boston, 2004.