An approach to mindfulnessI once had what I thought was an irreparable broken gate —the earth had settled, it seemed, while the gate was in a sort of “hyper-open” position. I looked at the metal bolts, fixed to a concrete wall, and imagined having to tear the whole thing down to get it to open properly again. A few days had passed and one day I just stopped and looked again, at the gate itself. I could see that it wasn’t bolted to the wall — only the hinges were. The gate itself was held in place by pins and the whole thing could be lifted, moved, and set back down —exactly where it needed to be. So that’s what I did. Repair completed. I’ve had many experiences such as this, where the solution to a problem was right before my eyes, but I had missed it, being obsessed with one or another aspect of the problem or misapplying one or another method towards its solution. Invariably, it isn’t until I take an entirely different look that the solution will jump right out at me, being there all along in the fabric of the thing itself. Our brains have a wonderful ability: to be able to alternately attend to things and other units of experience and then to be able to reflect upon them, to sort and categorize them, and to determine their usefulness and practical value to our lives. This “higher brain” ability, to abstract and reason, can be an extraordinary asset, but it has its downside as well. We can be easily led by our rules of reasoning and sorting, unaware that our biases can be keeping us from looking twice at something of potential value. For example, most of us put our coins in our pockets; but the coin collector examines nearly every coin and, as a result, is more likely to find the ones that are of greater value. I’d like to share an exercise that someone once taught me. Sit in an upright, relaxed position. You can close your eyes, to reduce distraction, or keep your eyes open, to stay more alert. Initially, pay attention to your breathing – let the breathing help to settle your body and mind for the rest of the exercise. Then, begin to simply notice the contents of your mind. Whatever comes into (or out of) your mind, the thoughts, feelings, sensations or any other content — just let yourself notice that it arises and passes through your mind. Do nothing more — just notice and experience each moment, consciously. If you find yourself judging, then silently make note of “judging.” Even if you become distracted, you respond by noting, “distracted.” Just don’t add anything else to what is actually going on in your mind. When I was first exposed to this method, called “just sitting” it was quite a wake-up call for me to realize that my mind was, and is, so full of judgments, commentaries, and other distractions, and so much out of touch with the basic elements of my own experience. Our minds are inhabited by rich constituencies of experiences. With practice, learning to attend to the basics of our experience, we can achieve a kind of “awareness of the flow,” gaining an inner sense of stillness and calm, leading to a readiness to understand how our own experiences combine in our interactions and relationships with others. |
