How to Train a Wild Elephant_ And Other Adventures in Mindfulness - Jan Chozen Bays [68]
DEEPER LESSONS
There are endless ways we can work to make things better in the world. Although this exercise begins with improving our immediate physical environment, it has larger implications. Most of us are not going to invent something that will improve the lives of millions. (And, as we all now know, such inventions, from antibiotics to democracy to zoos, always have their dark side.) However, if every person worked with the goal of leaving their own small sphere of influence better as a result of their presence, the entire world would benefit tremendously.
In Zen practice we focus on improving the condition of the heart and mind. Many people noticed that when they found a mess that other people had made, they felt resentment about doing this exercise. They realized that their first task was to let go of resentment, and then they could dive into the task of cleaning, free of extra emotional suffering. As one person said, “I extended this task to include noticing and then cleaning up the clutter in my mind. I know that if I can let go of the judgment, criticism, and other unnecessary and unhelpful thoughts in my mind, I’m sure everyone I interact with, in fact, the whole world, will be better off.”
Most people have a sincere desire to leave the world better off as a result of their passage through it. They use pollution-free cleaning products, take reusable bags to the grocery store, and are mindful of not wasting resources such as power, food, or water. These are ecological practices, ways of working to make the material world a cleaner, healthier place for ourselves and for generations to come. Spiritual practices are ways of working with our heart and mind, to transform difficult mental and emotional states such as anger, jealousy, and greed into beneficial states such as determination, joy in others’ happiness, and generosity. The effects of these changes should not be underestimated. They radiate out to affect everyone we meet as well as everyone they meet, and they keep on spreading out from there, becoming another wonderful legacy we can leave for generations to come.
Final Words: It is not so hard to leave the world better as you pass through it. Just practice kindness.
Beginning a Sitting Meditation Practice
Someone once asked me, “Do we need to learn to meditate? Isn’t mindfulness enough?” It depends. Enough for what? Is mindfulness enough to make you happier? Yes. It is enough to dispel the common ennui, pervasive anxiety, subtle depression, and restlessness that often beset us. Medical studies show that mindfulness practice can relieve pain and many ailments of body and mind, from asthma to psoriasis, from eating disorders to depression. That simply being present, inhabiting our lives more fully, can make us happier and healthier is a truly wonderful discovery.
Mindfulness practices are a kind of meditation-in-action, or prayer-in-action. There is another aspect of mindfulness that involves sitting still. We often call it sitting practice. When the body is still, the mind can also become quieter. When the mind settles, we are able to get some space around the tangle of our thoughts. We have a chance to look deeply into the important questions of our life.
When the individual mind, with all its memories and worries, is still, we have access to a deep stream of wisdom that can emerge as insights, powerful enough to change the course of our life. That emergence is called by various names: openings, awakening to Truth, the voice of the divine.
No matter what it is called, when we are able to experience it within ourselves, our life is transformed. We are no longer afraid to live in this unpredictable, complex world. We know that we,