Buddhist Belief Blog

“I define mindfulness as knowing what’s happening while it’s happening.”

–Rob Nairn, lecturer and author on Buddhist philosophy

One of the things so many people tend to focus on when studying Buddhist Belief, is that it’s too depressing. People often feel it’s all about suffering. I don’t agree — I think it’s all about happiness and peace and how to find it in our lives.

When problems arise in our lives, it is said that overcoming them is a case of mind over matter. In writing this blog, and as the title of the blog indicates, my job is to offer ways to allow the readers to get to the essence of Buddhism in their own way. This is what has worked for me over the past 40-some years — (Yes — that’s how long I’ve been studying this topic.) The goal is still the same as it was all those years ago — to find an inner peace and happiness in life. It’s an every day goal.

The study and the meditation practice have shown that the key to reaching that goal is meditation and mindfulness. But guess what! We live in a very fast-paced world and reaching the objective of mindfulness can often evade us.

Rob Nairn, whose quote I used at the beginning of this post says, “I define mindfulness as knowing what’s happening while it’s happening,” he says, adding that, “most people are never present in the moment, distracted as they are by thoughts, worries and stress.”

He continues, “I would say happiness begins with being able to accept oneself and one’s situation in the world, so that one is not constantly in a state of inner turmoil, striving, strife, conflict. Those are the main things which actually prevent us from being happy,” he says.

Suppose you were to decide that you could only be happy if you have a lot of money and a beautiful house in the right suburb and all that sort of thing. If you don’t have that you will be in a state of conflict. You’ll always feel like you’re failing and you’ve got to keep striving. You still haven’t reached your goal.

Suppose you get part way to your goal — you have a beautiful house in the right suburb, but you don’t have a lot of money yet. You’ve still got a mortgage and car payments — and you’re struggling to make ends meet. So, you’re still striving, there’s still conflict, you still feel like you’re failing, and your to-do list is never-ending. There’s no way you’re going to settle down, be happy, and enjoy what you have.

However, what if you were to turn it around and say, “Alright, whatever I have is wonderful – I have a house, I have food, I have a car, I have good friends, I have a lovely job, I live in a beautiful city, I have all I need”. The mind in that person can be happy.

Nairn says the mindfulness technique has been recognized within science, psychology and medicine as beneficial, while mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is used increasingly in the treatment of depression. But he believes we can all benefit by introducing some level of mindfulness into our lives. In this way people can train themselves to let go of many of the stresses which affect them.

Bringing mindfulness into our way of living in the world is not the old method of Buddhism which is to withdraw. This is a great way to give people methods of living peacefully and happily in the life that’s around them right now.

Instead of facing head-on those aspects of life that create restlessness and stress, many people in the modern world rely on distraction – through television, the internet, books, sex, alcohol, or other activities – to help quiet the mind. While this may be the easier route, mindfulness provides a more enduring solution. The better long-term option is to train your mind not to get attached to these other techniques, but instead to train your mind to come and rest in a different place, and then a certain inner confidence will begin to develop.

Meditating every day while focusing on breathing, counting, mantras or chanting, is the first step in achieving mindfulness — it’s how to learn to settle the mind.

The second step is to accept the fact that while you’re meditation, thoughts will continue to distract you from settling your mind. However, you don’t have to be drawn away by these thoughts. Just see them as mere thoughts — if they are thoughts of importance just tell them that you’ll be with them after you’re through meditating — and return your focus to your breath or whatever you’re using for a focus point. This will bring you back into the present moment.

Mindfulness is something almost anyone can learn. It’s not about religion. Rather, it’s about learning to allow your mind to rest in the present moment and to accept what is at that moment. “What is” at any moment is all there is. Peace and happiness will come when we learn to accept “what is”.

Most of the suffering talked about in Buddhism is brought on by the way we fight with ourselves all the time. We’re not good enough. We’re not perfect enough. What we’re doing isn’t worthwhile. We’re not tall enough. We’re not thin enough. We’re not young enough. Yada-Yada-yada.

The way to find inner peace and happiness is to bring all these negatives out into the open — come to terms with the futility of these inner turmoils — make peace with ourselves and see how a beautiful inner peace will begin to develop. There’s nothing wrong with accepting the things that come into our lives for us to use, but when those “things” have served their purpose, just let them go.

Meditate daily, and you too, could find inner peace and happiness.

Metta ….May all beings be well and happy. May all beings live in safety. May all beings be healthy and strong. May all beings live with ease.

Namaste — Be in Peace.

Ron Rink
========================================================

AN ADDED NOTE OF INTEREST:

Here’s another article to share with you. This is something I could have written myself during the many times I’ve been on retreat. It does tie in rather nicely to today’s post here in the blog.
====================================================

TALES OF THE CITY | JOSHUNDA SANDERS
Journey of silence helped me tune in to myself

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Birthdays have never been the special occasion for me that they are for most people. For one thing, my birthday falls after the holidays in the second week of January. Most of my relatives and friends (along with their wallets) are worn out from buying presents. So I’ve created my own birthday tradition.

The goal is to overcome potential disappointment by making a really huge deal out of myself for a full week. This usually elicits sighs from other people, as if it’s too pathetic or self-indulgent. And I’ll admit, those first birthday week excursions weren’t so hot. But with practice, that time has become a sweet way to care for myself.

This year, I decided to spend my birthday week at a seven-day silent meditation retreat at a Buddhist center in Marin County, Calif. At first, it seemed like a strange choice. Though I’m a spiritual person, I’m not a Buddhist and not really a joiner, either. Besides, a reporter’s life isn’t exactly conducive to silent meditation.

“What will you be doing all week?” a friend asked.

“Being silent?” I asked, like I couldn’t believe it myself.

“That would kill me,” she replied.

I wondered what it would do to me.

When I began meditating at 26, I practiced daily, right up until I started working full-time and attending night classes as a part-time graduate student. By the time I turned 31 this year, meditation had fallen by the wayside.

My life was too frantic. In one way or another, newspaper reporters are constantly plugged in to a busy world. I spend a lot of time meeting and interviewing people, talking on the phone, taking notes, asking questions, calling back with follow-up questions, digging for information, reading what my co-workers are writing, reading what the competition is writing. And I could not go 24 hours without text messaging at least a couple of friends and scanning Facebook updates.

The prospect of turning off my cell phone and not using a computer for days on end was like losing a piece of myself. Yet, soon enough, I found myself at Spirit Rock, a serene, 400-acre meditation retreat in the beautiful, wooded foothills north of San Francisco.

Upon arrival on our first day, I, and dozens of other practitioners were assigned to various rooms and “work meditations” — daily tasks meant to be performed mindfully. Then our true journey began.

The vow of silence we were all asked to take meant we could only communicate with others around us by bowing respectfully, or, in an emergency, posting a note. No talking, except during my work meditation as I washed vegetables. The thought of staying mute brought on an instant wave of dread.

But being disconnected from a world where I was expected to talk wasn’t so bad. Sitting with all of the feelings that emerged beneath the work and panic and technology that I had piled on over my emotions in recent years was way worse.

It felt, at first, like some kind of internal water torture. This, I had to keep reminding myself, was a gift. To myself.

Metta, the theme of the retreat, is the practice of loving-kindness that includes repeating traditional Pali phrases — the Indian language of Buddhist Theravada scripture — silently to oneself. The result is a state of mind referred to as one of the divine states of Buddhism. I did not imagine that I would get there without overcoming a number of obstacles.

The days began with a “sitting” in the dark meditation hall at 6 a.m. and ended with the last sitting of the day at 8:30 p.m. We were supposed to practice, partake in the delicious vegetarian meals, walk, do yoga and complete our work assignments. We were not supposed to read or write; the goal was simply to just be.

Unfortunately, that left me to my internal wrestling. Two of my dearest friends and I had been growing apart. The newspaper industry was having serious financial troubles. I have been single for more than a year, fluctuating between embracing my spinster self and wanting a partner.

I began sorting out some of my anxieties with these Pali phrases, translated into English:

May you be free from enmity and danger.

May you have physical happiness.

May you have mental happiness.

May you have ease of well-being.

Repeating this set of sentences seemed monotonous the first 12 hours. Sometimes, though, I felt a sweet, peaceful serenity. My most tangible response was to weep.

At least once a day, I cried. Tears fell at our 6:45 a.m. breakfast, into my oatmeal or into the dirt on the trail as I climbed a hill I had discovered south of the dining hall.

The presence of tears didn’t confuse me as much as the way it felt to be left alone while I cried and to be free of the responsibility of explaining it to someone.

Sitting meditation, which I had once struggled with, got easier after alternating several 45-minute sessions each day. I continued walking, exploring my emotions and, well, crying. It was good practice for learning how to disconnect from the world in smaller increments, and how to practice back here in Austin.

Now, every morning, on my cushion or when I’m sitting in my car, I repeat those phrases to myself.

May you be free from enmity and danger. May you have physical happiness. May you have mental happiness. …

The tears don’t come nearly as often, thankfully, as the relief.

=========================================================

Ron’s Recommended Reading List

I’ve added another book to the list. See below. Just click the links that are sort of Grey in color to take you to where you can learn more about each book and how you can purchase a copy for your own library.

Anam Thubten — No Self – No Problem

No Self – No Problem
shows how to realize the ultimate meaning of life in each moment by dissolving all notions of ego-identity. It asks that spiritual seekers wake up to their true nature, which is already enlightened. Based on Buddhist wisdom traditions, this easy-to-read book discusses in simple, but profound and inspiring language, how we can live a life full of love, satisfaction, and happiness. No Self – No Problem

Sharon Salzberg — The Kindness Handbook

“It takes boldness, even audacity, to step out of our habitual patterns and experiment with a quality like kindness–to work with it and see just how it might shift and open up our lives. This book is an invitation to do just that. — From The Kindness Handbook

Eckhart Tolle’s amazing best seller, A New Earth

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s wonderful book, My Stroke of Insight: Nirvana is just a breath away!

And this one by Sharon Salzberg and is entitled: A Heart as Wide as the World: Living with Mindfulness, Wisdom and Compassion“.

This is a new one for you by Pema Chodron entitled: When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

=====================================================

Always remember this wonderful quote from Buddha ….

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

~~~ Buddha

Shanti everyone, … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

~~~ Buddha

Have a peaceful day!! —

Ron Rink

http://www.theleaderinside.com
http://www.wecould2.com
http://www.buddhistbelief.com

Technorati Tags: attachment, Buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist, Buddhist Belief, detachment, inner peace, karma, loving kindness, Meditation, metta, mindfulness, Nirvana, Peace