This Being Human is a Guesthouse...
Mindfulness is a uniquely human experience. The fact that we can know what's happening in our head at any given moment, without getting carried away with it.
Still, often one of the biggest practical problems of sitting in Mindfulness meditation is knowing just what to do with a busy mind. What do we do with all those thoughts that keep coming up?
For many people the idea of meditation includes hours of sitting in a particular way, a lot of chanting 'om', striving to achieve a Zen-like state of trance, an empty mind, a mind that has no thoughts. Some years ago I met someone who I think may have had that kind of idea about meditation and at some point she turned to me and asked me why I meditate. 'What's it for? Why do you bother to do it?'. If only I had had a good answer back then, but sometimes these things come to you afterwards.
Many years later, thinking about it, I probably would have said something along the lines of meditation 'being about watching our thoughts, learning to know what they are.' Which is something easy to overlook but really quite important, because when you think about it, you may recognise that it is our thoughts about a situation, the thoughts which underpin a situation we're in, which shapes our experience of it. So to me that's a good enough reason for learning to meditate. Still, what to do with all those many thoughts? On some days there seem to be so many of them!
The Bhagavad Gita talks about something called "Prasaad Buddhi".
(The Gita is a 700-verse Sanskrit poem that is part of the Hindu scriptures. A dialogue between Prince Arjuna and his guide Krishna, the book is believed to be the oldest written religious text in the world. More about the Gita here, if you're interested.)
'Prasaad' originates from the verb 'to sit' or 'to dwell before' and 'prasada' literally means a gracious gift. (Typically prasaad is a food offering.) and 'Buddhi' means wisdom. So to me this phrase means more or less 'sitting in the gift of wisdom'.
In the context of the Gita, it is advice for the broken-hearted, and the teaching is about accepting every and all experiences with the same grace, whether painful or joyous, because each and every experience teaches us truths about ourselves and about life.
Easier said than done. But take heart, because if you sit with intense feelings for long enough, you will notice that, underneath all those teeming thoughts, underneath all those uncomfortable feelings is a well of love, serenity, spaciousness, contentment and tranquility. It's amazing and, even better, we all have it, even if you think you can't meditate. It's right there, inside us. Zen goes as far as to say that this is believed to be our essential character: Love, serenity and tranquility. All we need to do is get back to it.
This poem below, by Rumi, a 13th Century Persian Sufi poet, scholar and philosopher, serves as a beautiful reminder not to resist the thoughts and emotions passing through our mind.
The Guesthouse
This being Human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness.
Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture.
Still treat each guest honourably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent to us as a guide.
--- Rumi
Shunryu Suzuki, a Zen monk, talks about something similar when he says: "Leave your front door open and your back door open. Allow your thoughts to come and go. Just don's serve them tea."
Both refer to learning not to look away from the ugliness in our life, but to meet everything with the same courage, warmth and respect. Learning to embrace whatever comes up, regardless of whether it is painful or joyous, and explore what learning there is in it for us.
Below are some more images with words by Rumi ... Enjoy, and have a wonderful week.
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