Lotus

 

Lotus is an often-used image in the Buddha's teachings. Part of the devotional ritual includes offering a lotus, 3 sticks of incense, and a candle to a statue of the Buddha.

I don't find lotus in the North Country where i live, so i was happy to see it in hot and sunny Florida.

The magic of lotus leaves is that they self-clean; they don't collect water.

Wouldn't i love to have a self-cleaning mind?

Mindfulness is the quickest self-cleaner. Mindfulness of this moment doesn't allow gunk from those past moments to accumulate. Past gunk is washed away by the present moment.

No future fog either, because the present is all there is.

Just look at that lotus with its roots in the mud, standing beautifully in the water of Life.

Winter Sunrise

The earth turned last Saturday, and now we are gaining daylight at the beginning of the day as well as at the end. Already we've gained 24 minutes of daylight in the evening. Thank goodness. So far we've gained 2 minutes in the morning. Now those minutes start to add up--11 minutes a week of additional daylight.

Meditation can be like that. The more you practice, the easier it becomes. Though sometimes it feels more difficult too.

Just keep adding another minute here and there. Another minute of mindfulness is always good.

Winter Harvest

 

My friend Paula harvested greens from her winter garden--collards and kale.

It's a good thing we have autumn harvest stored away for the winter. It's time to eat from the freezer and the root cellar.

What do we harvest from our lives for our own coming winter?

Now is the time to practice kindness and mindfulness. Now is the time to live your one wild and precious life. Your life. No one else's. Your unique life.

The big chill is coming.

Beauty

 

Three flickers sat in the winterberry shrub eating berries. So exciting to see a local bird eating local berries in my back yard.

The flickers are beautiful all by themselves. The red winter berries stand out against the tan and gray November landscape. Beauty all around me.

I love the Beauty Way prayer of the Navajo. Here's an excerpt.

I walk with beauty before me. 

I walk with beauty behind me.

I walk with beauty below me. 

I walk with beauty above me.
I walk with beauty around me. 

My words will be beautiful.
In beauty all day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons, may I walk.

 Substitute the word "mindfulness" for the word "beauty," and feel the prayer in the body. Then return to the word "beauty."

May we all walk in beauty.

The flickers fly in beauty.

Lettuce Wagon

My meditation friend Paula grew her lettuce in containers this summer and had lettuce all summer long. Here's how she did it: She put her pots of lettuce in a wagon. In the morning, she let it welcome the sunny day; in the afternoon, she wheeled the wagon into the shade. On 90 degree days, she parked her lettuce wagon in her cool basement.

What's the best climate for growing our mindfulness?

I sit outdoors on the deck at 6 a.m. The coolness keeps me alert. Even just a little warmth can make me wilt.

And what good is wilted lettuce?

Apples Tempting Deer

 

The old apple tree in my lawn is dropping apples, so i hurry out there and pick them up before the deer discover them. Sometimes, a squirrel scurries away, so i throw his partially-eaten apple into the woods. I really do not want the deer browsing in my flowerbeds. What they don't know (i.e., that apples grow here) won't hurt them.

Sometimes, what we don't know does eventually hurt us.Ignorance is not always bliss. Ignorance is what keeps the wheel of samsara turning. Through meditation and mindfulness, we begin to see things as they really are.

Really, i should say that what the deer don't know won't hurt me, my feelings, or my garden.

Kiwis are Ripe

 

Kiwis are ripening here in the North Country and are for sale at our local farmstand. To distinguish them from their southern hemisphere cousins, they are sometimes called "kiwi berries." They are about twice the size of grapes, and they taste, well, just like a kiwi.

Kiwi season is short--mid- to late-September--so don't dally. Look for and buy kiwis soon. Now.

No dallying around that spiritual practice either. Meditate. Pray. Practice mindfulness. Practice compassion--which we need a ton of right now.

Kiwis are sweet. Let's sweeten our mind while we may.

No Potatoes

After 10 days away, we returned from vacation and stopped at the food co-op to stock up on supplies. No potatoes. No onions either.

This is where my personal "victory" garden comes in handy.  I have six meals of last summer's potatoes stored in my basement. Right outside the back door, the Egyptian onions are sprouting green. I can eat out of my garden, right now.

Mindfulness is never far away. Mindfulness brings us right into the present moment where peace lives. Yes, peace in this present moment. Right now.

Feel this moment. Don't fry your mind by lolly-gagging in the future. Come right back here to this present  moment. My moment is fine. How about yours?

Bear-Proof Compost Bin

My neighbor, Ahren, showed me his bear-proof compost bin. Made out of 2x6's and "nailed" into the ground with rebar rods, this compost bin is heavy-duty. The bears won't be getting into this bin nor tearing it apart nor rolling it away.

What kind of protection do we use when a bear-of-a-problem is lurking in our minds?

Our number one defense is mindfulness. Our number two defense is not putting ourselves in problematic situations. As soon as we notice worry, for instance, we remember that worry is not a healthy habit, and we redirect our minds toward an antidote. Mindfulness, for instance. Or gratitude.

Let that problem compost itself.

Red Malabar Spinach

In July, i bought Red Malabar Spinach to spruce up the flowerpots on my front step. Even though the name sounds like a vegetable, the plant looks very decorative--shiny green leaves on a red-stemmed vine with small white-pink flowers. Best of all, the spinach continues to grow happily during the hot days of summer since it comes from Malabar in the southwest coast of India.

My green, leafy vegetable is waiting for me every time i walk in the front door. Mindfulness is waiting for me every time i walk from the garage to the front step.

Dogwood Flowers

The wolf eye dogwood is blooming. I like the variegated green-and-white leaves of this dogwood, which makes it an interesting background tree in spring-summer-fall. But the lovely dogwood flowers are lost on the variegated foliage. From ten feet away, i don't even notice that there are flowers. I have to stand close to the tree to admire the flowers.

Mindfulness invites us to notice the details of our daily experience more closely. When we are mindless, our experience becomes like background wallpaper--barely noticed. With mindfulness, we stand close to our life and notice Hey! I am alive!

Hey! The dogwood is blooming!

Birding for Iguanas

We thought we were going birding at dawn, but what we actually saw were iguanas. A lot of them. Two of the birders had excellent binoculars. They kept zooming in on iguanas perched on the limbs of dead trees, enjoying the early morning sun. One of the birders got the knack of sighting them and could see more than a dozen iguanas with her bare eyes. Later, we read that there are 110 iguanas per acre here in Puerto Rico.

This seeing of what we were oblivious to is something that happens in meditation. It's called mindfulness as we become aware of the details of our experience. Seeing and really seeing. Hearing and really hearing. Touching and really touching. Feeling and really feeling. Mindful of the hills and valleys of the mind.

Those iguanas have been there all the time, and i never even noticed.

High View

I was on retreat last weekend, visiting the Bhavana Society in High View, West Virginia. I love the name of the town--High View.

It reminds me to take the high road, the path with the high view.

Wise View is the first step on the 8-fold Path. Wise View is the view that leads to non-suffering. Any view, opinion, or judgment that causes stress is not Wise View.

Having a "high view" also alludes to seeing the big picture. Little details fade as you see the overall scheme of things. A big-picture view leads to equanimity.

On this post-election day, as i feel bits of sadness and fear, i search around for the stressful view, the unwise, unskillful view that gives rise to those unpleasant emotions. If i find it, i apply the acupressure of mindfulness to that very spot.

If i don't find it, i apply the temporary relief of an antidote: loving-kindness and self-compassion.

May i be free from fear.

May i be free from anxiety.

May i have ease of well-being.

One-Legged Dove

A one-legged dove has been visiting our bird feeder all winter long. It hops along the deck railing where we scatter sunflower seeds each morning. Every time it loses its balance (often), it flutters its wings and resettles itself.

Our equanimity can be like this--subject to the worldly winds of pleasure and pain, gain and loss, praise and blame, fame and disrepute. Just when we are about to lose our balance in one direction or another, mindfulness comes to our aid and settles us into this present moment. This very moment.

Ahhh. I feel steadiness again.

Homeopathic Remedy

After trying every anti-itch salve in the house for my poison ivy, my acupuncturist told me about the homeopathic remedy Rhus Tox. Rhus is sumac and toxicodendron is poison ivy, so i'm not sure exactly what is actually in Rhus Toxicodendron, but i can tell you this: It works. Itches went from front-row fiery to distant pings. How tiny sugar pills can do that remains a mystery to me.

Mindfulness can have that effect. We sit down with worry, anxiety, or sadness. We begin to watch our breath or sensations in the body. If we can keep our attention circling around or near our meditation object, those dark thoughts become like scattered clouds in the sky with periods of sunshine. We recall some sweetness in our lives--gratitude, love, or kindness--and taste that tiny taste.

Smile.

Fiery Sky

The sky is on fire this morning, perhaps warning of us of.... What? Weather, yes, but something else?

The Buddha encouraged us to meditate as if our hair is on fire. Life is short. Too short.Meditate right now, right where you are sitting. Take a 3-breath trip into mindfulness.

The Air is Beautiful

The air is beautiful every day this last week of September. 85 degrees every day; 65 degrees at night. The weather is perfect. And the air.... The air--i can't describe it. I drive on the interstate with windows rolled down, just to feel the soft air buffeting my arms. I'm not paying attention to the highway noise. The sensation of air all around me is so delightful.

Mindfulness is the interplay between what we are focusing on--air, for instance--and our peripheral awareness of everything else--the traffic, the noise, the trees, the median, the bridges.

The hawks are migrating south, as the season of beautiful air will soon come to an end.

Groundhog is the Grass

We looked out the kitchen window to see a cute roly-poly groundhog grazing on the grass just 10 feet away from the house. Eventually, we walked out on the deck, and the groundhog ran right into my flowerbed. Ahem.

Today, Bill and i went exploring in the flowerbed and found a big groundhog hole right in the middle. Fortunately, i had some used kitty litter, which i immediately dumped into the hole. Would you go home if used kitty litter was scattered all over your front step?

What do we do when varmints take up residence in our minds?

First of all, watch it with mindfulness, interest, and curiosity. Where does this "varmint" live?
Eventually, you can apply the antidote of kindness. This might be called "killing it with kindness." That's really the only way to invite it to live somewhere else.

Compost in Flower Pots

I'm just now getting around to filling up the flower pots on the front step. My innovation this year is to fill the flower pot 3/4 full with sifted compost, then add 3-4" of potting soil. That way, i'm not spending a lot of money on potting soil.

I sift my compost through a flat with smallish holes. The result looks beautiful and feels so smooth. I'm hoping the compost will provide nourishment for the petunias and other plants i put in the pots, while the potting soil will hold the moisture.

If we could fill ourselves up with even 3/4 of mindfulness, just think how much smoother our lives would run. For instance, fewer forgotten things--because we were paying attention.

Let's grow mindfulness in our everyday lives.

The Blame Game

My morning meditation group is reading a book on forgiveness. Yesterday we read a chapter on The Blame Game, which i think i would like to memorize. Then yesterday afternoon, as i was teaching meditation at the county jail, one of my students talked about her relationship with another woman inmate, and how they were just playing a hurtful blame game with each other.

The blame game starts with you-statements. This is a way of throwing a hot potato at someone. Usually, the other person will throw it right back at you with another you-statement, and then the two of you are off to the races.

It takes extreme mindfulness to hold on to the hot potato and notice that it is hot and burning and that you feel angry or frustrated and that you want to say whatever is on the tip of your tongue. Stop. Stop and notice all those pains. Count to 10. Give yourself a moment to cool down. Try to drop the hot potato. Keep trying to let go of that hot-hot-hot potato.

Of course your feelings hurt. That is your pain. Notice that "they" did not cause your pain. You are causing your own pain by holding on to a painful idea. They condemned you. So what?

It's time for you to make a change. A change of habit. Probably a change in relationship. The pain will cease. But only when you stop resisting it.

The Blame Game is a game you are sure to lose. So stop playing it.