Yet I still find benefit in the practice, as imperfect as my practice is. (I cringe at even calling it practice, but there we are.)
And I find so much to like about this quotation:
“If we have ambitions—even if our aim is enlightenment—then there is no meditation, because we are thinking about it, craving it, fantasizing, imagining things. That is not meditation. This is why an important characteristic of shamatha meditation is to let go of any goal and simply sit for the sake of sitting. We breathe in and out, and we just watch that. Nothing else.” ~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, "Do Nothing"We live in such a goal-oriented world, it almost doesn't make sense to talk about the benefit of doing anything without a goal. And yet, when I hear the suggestion to sit with no goal at all, I sense a wonderful freedom.
It reminds me of how parenting sometimes feels-- I let everything else go and tell myself that there is nothing more important than listening to this small person in front of me. I first learned that feeling when I nursed my babies. I distinctly remember that perfectly delicious "zoned in" feeling-- I could tune out the world, tune in my baby and feel absolutely satisfied in that moment. Oxytocin is powerful; it was teaching me that feeding the baby was all I had to do while I was doing it.
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| Nursing baby at 3 weeks doing an unprompted peace sign. |
But this is a freedom of the mind which, I have to remind myself, doesn't necessarily have to lead to a great insight that propels my career or family or fitness goals forward. Sitting simply for the sake of sitting is a powerful discipline and something I deeply enjoy. Before heading back to work to complete something in my goal-oriented world.
Sorry I only check sporadically so I just saw this *blush*. But at my last residency, one of my classmates spoke to this very idea, except in the framework of writing. Like why is it that we get our best ideas in the shower? Because good creative writing tends to (or has to) come from this dream-like flow where you're not judging yourself, not censoring, just letting things come. And it's pretty common advice to writers to "get out of the way" of your writing. It's so interesting to me how these ideas of consciousness and mindfulness and intention overlap everywhere.
ReplyDeleteDon't apologize! I've only been updating sporadically! But I've been writing posts in my head daily. If only that were enough...
ReplyDeleteI love how you write that "ideas of consciousness and mindfulness and intention overlap everywhere." Intention-- and then for me, remembering to be gentle about that intention-- can be so powerful. The idea of a light touch, a gentleness, just noticing, instead of trying to hand-wring every post into being-- this is such a turning point for me. A daily turning point!