This session leaves me with no answers. I felt present, my movement started left to right then moved to forward and back. It felt like rocking a baby. My brain moved slightly back and forth inside my skull with the rocking. I thought maybe the rocking was to put my brain to sleep so that my spiritual self might take the controls. Later I felt a black spot growing then disappearing in my field of vision. I tried to identify it. It remained a black blob. Yesterday I succeeded in remaining mostly present throughout the day. Even during an emotional breakdown from my 4 year old. We ended up laughing and handling her problem successfully. That is a victory I hope to repeat. Today I will continue to carry that alert presence with me.
Tags: presence
July 21, 2008 at 7:48 pm |
Hello. I, too, have read “A New Earth,” which has energized my practice of becoming more present in each moment. When it comes to meditation, the form that works can be an individual thing. Sitting meditation can be a wonderful way to get in touch with what is going on in our mind, but I think Eckhart Tolle is reminding us to inhabit our bodies (feel your inner body) as we do what we do. Such as, when you are pouring a glass of milk for your daughter, feel your body do it, feel what the glass feels like in your hand as you move it out of the cupboard and sit it on the countertop or the table, and as you pour the milk into the glass. Feel the energy, the aliveness in your body. This quiets the mind and brings a calm and deepening awareness to what we do, one moment, one situation, at a time. Hope this is helpful. –Robin
July 28, 2008 at 3:25 pm |
Thank you for your thoughts. I appreciate you reading and responding. I have been practicing more and more with being present in every moment. It is starting to become more easy. I think that practicing mindfulness in this way gives rise to something even deeper. Jon Kabat-Zinn says, “Meditation is synonymous with the practice of non-doing. We aren’t practicing to make things perfect or to do things perfectly. Rather, we practice to grasp and realize (make real for ourselves) the fact that things already are perfect, perfectly what they are. This has everything to do with holding the present moment in its fullness without imposing anything extra on it, perceiving its purity and the freshness of its potential to give rise to the next moment. Then, knowing what is what, seeing as clearly as possible, and conscious of not knowing more than we actually do, we act, make a move, take a stand, take a chance. Some peole speak of this as flow, one moment flowing seamlessly, effortlessly into the next, cradled in the streambed of mindfulness.” from “Wherever You Go There You Are”
I think of Eckhart Tolle saying “these are signposts, they point out the direction”