Getting to the next moment

“The crucial factor influencing how well we can respond in any given situation seems to be the level of mindfulness we can bring to bear upon the moment. If we don’t care to be present, unconscious decision-making systems will function to get us through to the next moment, albeit in the grips of (often flawed) learned behaviors and conditioned responses. If, on the other hand, we can increase the amount of conscious awareness present by manifesting mindfulness, we expand the range of our possible responses. Even if disposed to anger, we can choose to act with kindness. This is the essence of our freedom in an otherwise heavily conditioned system.”

Read more in Andrew Olendzki’s original article

The Kingdom of God Is at Hand

So many of our fundamental responses to life were formed when we where children and adolescents—long before most of us had much self-awareness.  Many adult patterns build up over time on top of these, making our responses to life pretty kludgy.

Mindfulness gives us a great window to see what all these responses are up to, which is a great gift.  Gradually, lots of misdirected and wasteful patterns can be noticed and in many ways re-formed.  We begin to see more clearly how the ‘kingdom of God’ is at hand—and, gradually, we’re better able to welcome it more wisely and enter it more freely.

The Bright Field

I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the pearl
of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying

on to a receeding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.

-R. S. Thomas

Brain Change

Can the mind change the brain? A growing consensus that it can is developing among neuroscientists.  Interestingly, it’s meditators who are providing some of the best evidence of this.  Long-time meditators’ brains light up brighter and in more places that in ‘normal’ brains.  Particularly in the places that are associated with compassion.  And (perhaps more counterintuitively) in places that show preparedness for action.

So…if you are contemplative, take heart.  When we meditate, we’re not only cultivating a more abiding sense of sacred space, but we may also be building the very brain networks that facilitate loving action.

If this is interesting to you, see Sharon Begley’s book, Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain.

What’s the end?

A friend was paraphrasing John Spong this morning: ‘Religion always thinks it’s the end.  But it’s not.’

I sense that the question this naturally follows, 'So, what is the end or purpose?', can be profoundly helpful.

I know religion gets in the way of spirituality for many.  I also know that spirituality is almost impossible without religion.  Religion ‘carries’ wisdom in story and exposition and in spirit from one generation to the next.

One of the great gifts of developing a habit of fruitful silence is that in contemplative practice we experience something of the end or purpose of religion wordlessly.  And we ‘know’ something that in a way is ‘beyond knowing’.

And we can agree with Spong and stay wholeheartedly involved in religion too.

Blue

Yesterday.  Saw a jet with its long vapor trail at dawn—made me yearn to be somewhere exotic.  Saw a bluebird in the afternoon sun with color out of Avatar.  Made me yearn to be right here.

The Imitation of Christ

If I ever write a book on meditation the title might be, Jesus is the Way but the Buddha has a Map. Jesus is such an incredible example of passion, wisdom, compassion, creative communication, courage. Love in action. How did he get so wise, so open, so effective? As Christians we have a strong tradition of The Imitation of Christ. And our style of spiritual formation sometimes feels more like imitation than incarnation. A lot of willpower and the very best intentions but not enough transformation. Could we use some help?

And REAL Buddhism? It seems more than a little impossible for average people. Reaching enlightenment is said to take years of monastic training and decades of rigorous practice. But mindfulness meditation is a rich gift from the Buddhists, something the rest of us can gratefully begin to practice, enjoy and and benefit from today. Something we can also (writing with both humility and hubris) mess with. Which is what this blog is about.