In the Beginning ...

Notes on Week 1 of 5 - Mindfulness

There are all sort of ideas and misconceptions about Mindfulness and about meditation. There is a belief that meditation means emptying the mind or creating some kind of special state of mind. And often people misunderstand the practice of mindfulness to be all about being in the present moment. Meditation isn't about feeling calm or emptying your head. Meditation is observing ourself, because we are responsible for our mind & body.

And what is the Mindfulness part of it? We can do all sorts of things mindfully: drive mindfully, wash dishes mindfully, walk mindfully, talk mindfully. The practice of Mindfulness is focusing on the present moment without getting overly focused on the past or future. It is an easy concept to grasp quickly; but it a skill that takes time and practice to develop. But mindfulness is more than simply being aware of what we are doing. That part of mindfulness practice is inward focussed. A very important part of Mindfulness is a strong outward focussed element, i.e. generosity, compassion, kindness, gratitude. Otherwise, if we are only mindful of ourselves, our practice could potentially end up being an egocentric or narcissistic 'watching of self'.

There are many pillars, but a couple of the basic attitudes or pillars of mindfulness practice we will cover over the next couple of weeks are:

non-striving, acceptance (an accepting or open attitude) trust, letting go, the concept of 'not mine' / ego, gratitude, generosity & compassion (for self and others)

Today we kick off with "A beginner's mind", a phrase coined by Shunryu Suzuki, one of the first Zen masters to move to the USA in 1959, where he taught until he died in 1971. In his book, Beginners Mind, he says" “In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.” meaning we should always live our experiences without prejudice or 'already knowing'. Beginners mind is what we always practice in meditation. It is the basis or foundation of our practice.

If we practice sitting in meditation and strive to achieve a certain state of mind or sensation – then we do so from a point of view of 'already knowing' what our experience should be like. Or if we think we know what our breath will be or should be like, or the present moment in front of us will be like … that's not beginners mind. In meditation, we simply pay attention. See it with fresh eyes.

We don’t usually see things unfolding in front of us as they are, we see things as we are. We all have an Unconscious Bias; a learned assumption, belief, or attitude that exists in our subconscious. And we react accordingly.

With mindfulness meditation we learn to see what is really happening, we look through our bias. To do this we need “nonjudging present-focused awareness” and patience. Patience because it is the nature of the mind to wander, and we should learn not to become impatient with what is happening. Meditation is our practice to engage mindfully and be aware without reacting Drop our preconceived ideas and just look clearly at what's in front of us. When we learn to do this in sitting practice, we learn to transfer this into the way we see things in life.

But when we first learn to sit, we will quickly notice our mind has a tendency to flit backwards and forwards. And we notice it particularly when we sit quietly.

A tip for home practice this week, if you're up for it: set an intention to take 2 or 3 minutes out of your day, every day, just to sit and breathe. You don't have to be in a special place to do it. You can even do it in your car (when it is parked!) while you are waiting for someone. Or, if you want to set up a space at home, get up a little earlier and start with 3 or 5 mins max. Set a timer on your phone, put it behind you where you can't see it, and just focus on your breathing. Nothing else to get right or do wrong. Just watch yourself breathe. And if you lose track, don't worry about it. It's called a practice because we need to practice it to get it right. It takes a little bit of time and patience.

See you next week.

Metta

_/\_