AOM Meditations: 022018

 by Paul Cezanne

Thanks to our Friend for sending us this beautiful art

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AOM Meditations: 121317

Daedalus and Icarus by Lord Frederick Leighton

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The Practice of One Thing at a Time

By Leo Babauta

from his website Zen Habits (Link)

There’s a Japanese term, “ichigyo-zammai,” that basically means full concentration on a single act.

Sunryu Suzuki described this practice in his book, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, and said this practice of being fully in the moment with the activity is enlightened activity.

“So instead of having some object of worship, we just concentrate on the activity which we do in each moment,” Suzuki Roshi wrote. “When you bow, you should just bow; when you sit, you should just sit; when you eat, you should just eat.”

He said when we just do that one activity, we express our true nature.

What a beautiful idea, that when we aren’t present, our true nature cannot fully express itself … but when we are truly just doing whatever we’re doing, we start to express our true selves.

But it’s easier said than done. How often are we not in the moment?

Think about times when we are:

Jumping between tasks in a browser

Checking our phones while doing other things throughout the day

In a rush to do the next thing while still doing the current thing

Thinking about other things when someone is talking to us

Irritated by someone when they interrupt whatever we’re doing

Taking whatever we’re doing for granted, because it’s dull or routine

It turns out, we are very rarely fully in the moment with any single activity. How can we try this enlightened activity of full concentration on one act?

How to Do One Thing at a Time

These are as much reminders to myself as they are reminders for you, but here’s what I’ve been practicing with:

When you start an activity, turn to it with your full attention and set an intention to be present with the act, to do nothing but this activity. You might think, “Just walk” or “Just read” or “Just drink tea.”

You might open up a wide-open, sky-like panoramic awareness as you do the activity, being fully engaged with the entire moment.

When you notice yourself thinking about something else, or getting your attention pulled elsewhere, or starting down a pattern of judgment, resentment, etc. … just notice. Then return to being fully present with the activity.

Empty your mind of preconceived ideas about the activity, and just be curious about what the activity is actually like, right now, as it unfolds. Allow yourself to be surprised.

Treat every object with reverence, as if it were your own eyesight.

See the brilliance of each moment, of each activity, that underlies everything around us.

Just write. Just shower. Just give someone your full attention.

As we give each activity our full loving attention, we start to appreciate each person, each object, everything around us as something worthy of respect, love, and gratitude.

We start to take life up on the opportunity to fully engage with it, with a smile and a bow.

AOM Meditations: MINDFULNESS (111717)

“Salvator Mundi” attributed to Leonardo da Vinci

There is a very interesting documentary now playing on Netflix about this newly discovered da Vinci painting. The program is entitled, "Da Vinci: The Lost Treasure". In it journalist Fiona Bruce receives an exclusive preview to an amazing artistic treasure. 

(Note: This painting recently sold at auction for 450 million dollars - that's great and all, but that money sure would feed a lot of people - just sayin'.)

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What are you doing right now?

What are you thinking.

What is going on around you?

What sounds do you hear?

How is your body feeling?

Today we are going to talk more about Mindfulness

I know I talk a lot about it

But for a very good reason

It has dramatically changed my life for the better

And I'd really like you to have this gift in your life

(Something you should know

Mindfulness is different from Meditation.

You don't have to Meditate to be Mindful

But you do have to be Mindful to Meditate.)

     

As I study and practice Mindfulness

My life is truly improving

I now catch myself thinking things

That normally would send me

Into a tailspin of depression 

or an explosion of rage

Now - I am learning to watch myself

Like stepping out of myself

To be the watcher of my thinking and doings

Being more aware of my thoughts and feelings

Has helped me avoid living a life of mindless reactions.

It used to be like

When others would push my buttons

Ooooooo I was instant reaction

Reacting without thinking

Like a rudderless boat recklessly tossed about 

by people and events around me.

Now, as I continue to grow in being Mindful,

It's like having a rudder to steady and steer my life

I can see obstacles that lay before me

I have time to decide how I will respond to life

I now see things about myself that I never saw before

I can now savor the moments of my life

On a deeper and richer level

And the really cool thing is...

It's really not difficult

I mean really

If I can gain from it - anyone can

It just requires you to make the effort to be aware

Of what's going on in each present moment

Whatever you are doing - pay attention to that

Be With That

Be Here, Now, in This Present Moment

Be aware of what you are doing

And it will benefit your life, too.

~AOM

Now here's some folks who do a good job explaining Mindfulness:

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While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes, one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes.  At first glance, that might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing?  But that’s precisely the point.  The fact that I am standing there and washing these bowls is a wondrous reality.  I’m being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions.  There’s no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves.

While washing dishes, you might be thinking about the tea you’re going to drink afterwards, and so try to get them out of the way as quickly as possible in order to sit and drink tea.  But that means that you are incapable of living during the time you are washing the dishes.  When you are washing the dishes, washing the dishes must be the most important thing in your life.  Just as when you’re drinking tea, drinking tea must be the most important thing in your life.

In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can't wash the dishes, the chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future -and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh

(The Miracle of Mindfulness)

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Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly alive, present and at one with those around you and with what you are doing. We bring our body and mind into harmony while we wash the dishes, drive the car or take our morning shower.

~unknown

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"Mindfulness simply means awareness. It's a direct, intuitive knowing of what you are doing while you are doing it. It's knowing what's going on inside your mind and body, and what's going on in the outside world as well.

Most of the time our attention is not where we intended it to be. Our attention is hijacked by our thoughts and emotions, by our concerns, by our worries for the future, and our regrets and memories of the past. Mindful awareness is about learning to pay attention, in the present moment, and without judgement. It's like training a muscle - training attention to be where you want it to be. This reduces our tendency to work on autopilot, allowing us to us choose how we respond and react." 

In this video, mindfulness expert Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn defines "What is mindfulness?" and discusses the hard work and rewards of practicing mindfulness. 

 Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn

"What is Mindfulness?"

YouTube Direct Link: https://youtu.be/HmEo6RI4Wvs

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My go to book on the subject of Mindfulness is

Mindfulness In Plain English

by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana 

I bought it years ago

Because it actually is in plain English

Just what I was looking for

So many books get so complicated

But this one is very clear

  

The book I have is an early copy

They have recently updated it but I have not seen it yet

You can read the early copy online for free HERE (link)

AOM Meditations - Awareness: 111317

Master Bedroom (1965 watercolor) by Andrew Wyeth

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“If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”

~Leo Tolstoy

(Essays, Letters and Miscellanies)

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“While performing the great majority of the actions in their life, people are totally unaware. We tend to go through our daily activities mechanically. We talk without real purpose. We do things without even knowing that we do them. We are not really present to what we are doing. Even if we practice being aware, entire portions of our days can elapse before we retrieve our thread of awareness. In short, we are not living our life, we are sleeping it.”

~Samuel Sagan

(Regression : Past Life Therapy for Here and Now Freedom)

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“Awareness is not the same as thought. It lies beyond thinking, although it makes use of thinking, honoring its value and its power. Awareness is more like a vessel which can hold and contain our thinking, helping us to see and know our thoughts as thoughts rather than getting caught up in them in reality.”

~Jon Kabat-Zinn

(Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life)

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Your brain is regularly inhibited by aversion, apprehension, greed, and fear. Mindfulness exercises can help change that. Medical professor and meditation teacher Jon Kabat-Zinn explains how one can combat their aversion and, hopefully, become a better, more reasonable person in the meantime.

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Mindfulness: How to Feel Comfortable in Your Own Skin

(run time around 7 minutes)

YouTube Direct Link: https://youtu.be/KEMsXYcSdPM