Oct 25, 2014

The beginning of the fourth week of mindfulness.  Thoughts from last nights session on sitting meditation:

• Remember the practice with the raisin--now taste the breath
• Ride the breath as if you are in a dingy-up and down on the waves
• Be in each moment of the sitting meditation.  It is not -can I do 30 min.--it is this moment
  

I think that we are actually mindful in many ways in our lives already.  Recognize that and feel free to build on them. When I experience those moments I feel a moving sense of gratitude. The story of the boy who spent his afternoon watching a flower bud open over the course of an afternoon..  It was an afternoon well spent.  I want to watch a flower open and a leaf fall.
Buddha's double arrow.  First arrow-an unpleasant event.  Second arrow- our interpretation (thoughts) and reactions (feelings). We can recognize our second arrow and perhaps in recognizing it prevent it from compounding the unpleasantness.  We then are free to be with the first arrow, grounded by our breathing practice.  I can go a step further and speak to God on it. My breathing leads me to a place where I can 'be' before God with it.