Mindfulness in Sickness
A few years back I had a severe flu-like symptoms that lasted about a week. I thought as my body was fighting the viruses, I didn’t have to fight with my body and be stressful. Instead of resisting and struggling, I decided to relax and allow things. Mindfulness is not just about being mindful, but with total relaxation.Calming the body and mindis the first and foremost training of mindfulness practice. Without a relaxed state, the mind is incapable of seeing things clearly. Further, mindfulness is not just about paying attention, but alsolearning to let go. It is important that we pay attention to our problems and pains and apply skillful solutions. But then we have to let go, instead of constantly bruising our wounds by dwelling on them. Though the mind has a tendency to focus on the pains and aches, I decided to practice bringing my attention back to mindfulness of breathing again and again towards relaxation. I felt rested well and oddly enjoyed my experience!
This is not about achieving super-human capacity. We all have our limitations. But we can expand it and hold it in a bigger container, with a bigger perspective. Afterall, sickness, aging and death are an inherent part of life!
Struggles of Life
Life is a struggle for a continual survival
If we decode life systematically...
It is a complex set of chemical processes - and
The struggle is the environmental pressure:
Whichever is suitable to the environment survives
Bacteria may not feel this struggle - but
Animals with evolved brain would feel it
This struggle is programmed in their brain...
As their survival algorithms and logic...
As instincts, drives, emotions and thinking
As pain, pleasure, depression and joy
Instead of,
Whichever suitable to the environment survives,
With highly evolved thinking brain - Humans
Actively try to be suitable to the environment - and
Actively try to modify the environment to suit them
This active participation creates its own struggle
They struggle to accept the realities of life...
With high level of suffering and low level of tolerance...
They are drawn to short term reliefs and feel good beliefs
They struggle with the struggle adding further struggle
CK (26 August 2010)