I
often wish that mindfulness would just get installed in my brain. I understood
the basic premise years ago. I've had a bunch of 'enlightening' experiences
where I saw things with startling clarity.
But
we don't seem to get mindfulness 'once and for all.' It only seems to come 'now
and on purpose.'
I've
quoted my young friend Jason before. I love what he said. We'd been on a long
hike and when we got back his mother asked him if he'd had a good time. He
said, "Hiking's okay. Except you have to walk."
Mindfulness
is okay too--except we have to pay attention.
Despite my kvetching, it's worth the effort, this ever so slowly turning lead into gold.
Here's
a very helpful mindful 'to do' list from Eckhart Tolle. I've made a couple of
small changes and formatted his one paragraph into a poem so that it scans more
slowly--inviting our brains to take it in point by point, step by step, breath by breath.
---
The
Silent Watcher
Be
present as the watcher.
Be
at least as interested
in
your reactions
as
in the situation
or
person
that
causes you
to
react.
Notice
how often
your
attention
is
in the past
or
future.
Don’t
judge
or
analyze
what
you observe.
Watch
the thought,
feel
the emotion,
observe
the reaction.
Don’t
make a personal problem
out
of any of them.
You
will then
feel
something
more
powerful
than
any of those things
you
observe:
the still,
observing
presence itself
behind the content…
the
Silent Watcher.
