A friend and teacher say this one day in class years ago. I quickly wrote it down because it sounded so beautiful that I wanted to remember it. Later, I wrote it down and stuck it to my fridge as a reminder. Back then, it meant that when I paid attention, even on the bad days, life was good.
Now, I apply it more to the quality that arises in meditation or mindfulness practice. Both of those practices require becoming still enough to really listen, and when we become that still and silent, something wonderful happens. Life's sweetness can be heard in the whisper of my own heart. The song of the birds in a still and early morning. In the glint of sun flowing golden through translucent leaves. I feel it in the warmth of the sand that cradles my body, and the cool breezes that gently sweep through me reminding me I'm alive.
Life is so sweet, and when I pay attention, even on the bad days, life is still good.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Is This All There Is?
"We all know we are meant for more." This is a fundamental truth, and we all know it. Inside each of us is this nagging feeling that there is more out there for us. Life is waiting to burst around the corner. We aren't living to our potential. There has got to be something more to life than this!
I mean, really, there has to be more than the daily maintenance of our bodies, going to work, picking up after yourself, spouse, kids, dogs. More than rush hour traffic, making morning coffee, cleaning toilets, mowing the lawn, and the mundane daily routine of our lives, right? Is this all there really is?
Yes. The nagging feeling about knowing we are meant for more isn't about becoming famous, or rich, or figuring it all out. It's the language of our own hearts asking to be heard, and we're not paying attention. Our heads tell us to plan, to think ahead, to worry, stress, and ruminate about our pasts. But our hearts know no sense of time, and live in the present moment asking for us to wake up, to pay attention, see the beauty before our eyes and participate in the dance of living.
We are very habitual creatures, that are fearful of change, and love thinking. We put thinking above all else, and we create more and more routines, and habits so we can have even more time for thinking! Thinking in itself isn't a problem, but we seem to be spending so much time in our heads that we aren't actually present to the life that is happening around us. Our awareness deadens as we get caught in the stories weaved through our minds. When we spend a lot of time thinking we are missing the scent of our loved ones, the caress of the wind on our skin, the warmth of the sun, and the feeling of being alive.
So I started thinking why we know we are meant for more, and why we feel this lack of purpose and meaning in our lives. The Buddha speaks of us living in a trance, and it's true. The routines we create, the habits we maintain, the thinking we get caught up in, keep us from fully participating in our lives. Yes, we maintain our bodies, we work, we clean toilets. But that doesn't make a life meaningless. By adopting the attitude of paying attention to what and 'why' you are doing anything, and doing them with intention and love makes you a more active participant in your daily life. This dissolves bitterness, and cultivates more joy in doing everyday tasks. We don't have to pick up after those we love out of irritation or obligation. By choosing to pay attention, these tasks can actually be an expression of love to do them. We often get so caught up in the 'doing' and checking off our lists, that our actions become habitual, obligatory, and invisible. When our lives become habitual, we start to 'do' our lives instead of living them. Sadly, one day our lives will be over and we won't even remember it because we weren't really even there we were just thinking about it.
The moments we remember most in our lives aren't necessarily the most dramatic, or poignant, but we remember them because we were fully present to them. This presence and awareness is what makes anything sacred. By bringing presence to our lives, in everything we do, we are thus making our lives sacred. What greater meaning could there be?
You are meant for more than the life you are living. You are meant to be alive!
I mean, really, there has to be more than the daily maintenance of our bodies, going to work, picking up after yourself, spouse, kids, dogs. More than rush hour traffic, making morning coffee, cleaning toilets, mowing the lawn, and the mundane daily routine of our lives, right? Is this all there really is?
Yes. The nagging feeling about knowing we are meant for more isn't about becoming famous, or rich, or figuring it all out. It's the language of our own hearts asking to be heard, and we're not paying attention. Our heads tell us to plan, to think ahead, to worry, stress, and ruminate about our pasts. But our hearts know no sense of time, and live in the present moment asking for us to wake up, to pay attention, see the beauty before our eyes and participate in the dance of living.
We are very habitual creatures, that are fearful of change, and love thinking. We put thinking above all else, and we create more and more routines, and habits so we can have even more time for thinking! Thinking in itself isn't a problem, but we seem to be spending so much time in our heads that we aren't actually present to the life that is happening around us. Our awareness deadens as we get caught in the stories weaved through our minds. When we spend a lot of time thinking we are missing the scent of our loved ones, the caress of the wind on our skin, the warmth of the sun, and the feeling of being alive.
So I started thinking why we know we are meant for more, and why we feel this lack of purpose and meaning in our lives. The Buddha speaks of us living in a trance, and it's true. The routines we create, the habits we maintain, the thinking we get caught up in, keep us from fully participating in our lives. Yes, we maintain our bodies, we work, we clean toilets. But that doesn't make a life meaningless. By adopting the attitude of paying attention to what and 'why' you are doing anything, and doing them with intention and love makes you a more active participant in your daily life. This dissolves bitterness, and cultivates more joy in doing everyday tasks. We don't have to pick up after those we love out of irritation or obligation. By choosing to pay attention, these tasks can actually be an expression of love to do them. We often get so caught up in the 'doing' and checking off our lists, that our actions become habitual, obligatory, and invisible. When our lives become habitual, we start to 'do' our lives instead of living them. Sadly, one day our lives will be over and we won't even remember it because we weren't really even there we were just thinking about it.
The moments we remember most in our lives aren't necessarily the most dramatic, or poignant, but we remember them because we were fully present to them. This presence and awareness is what makes anything sacred. By bringing presence to our lives, in everything we do, we are thus making our lives sacred. What greater meaning could there be?
You are meant for more than the life you are living. You are meant to be alive!
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