“Where do you search for fresh insight? Do you turn to classes, books, teachers, or nature? Meditation invites us to look carefully into our own material and mental experience.”—from Shaila Catherine. Wisdom Wide and Deep, page 389
Instead of looking outside of yourself for understanding and insight, sit quietly and look into your own experience of mind and body. What is really happening right now? Meditation can be as simple as seeing your own experience of sitting and breathing with clarity. Settle the mind by observing the in-breath and out-breath. You don’t need to wait until you sit in a formal meditation posture—feel your own breath right now as you are facing this screen. Observe the dynamic changes that occur in sensory contacts such as touching, smelling, and hearing. Are you feeling any touch sensations such as the pressure of the body against the floor, chair, or clothes? Do you hear any sounds or smell any odors?
Fresh insight comes when we are attentive to experience—not lost in concepts about what experiences might mean, but actually present to what is real. I ask myself periodically : What is really happening now? This inquiry pulls me out of any habitual thoughts, and draws my attention to the simple experiences of body and mind. Many times a day we can bring curiosity to our experience by asking ourselves: what is really happening now?
I wanted to thank for you sharing the awesome practice and insight you have gained.
My understanding of emotions, starting with pleasant/unpleasant and the impermance of all thoughtdeepened my owb healing and practice. My blog tries to give support to those suffering from Complex PTSD.
Thoughts are demons for those with PTSD. Our fight or flight mechanism is disordered and thoughts trigger the dumping of cortisol and adrenaline to power the thought.
It takes time to realize that the thought and the drugs are not linked. The thought is powerless without our attention.
Your insight and wisdom are simple and precise like nature. We heal best with a relaxed mind at ease and in this moment.
I use many passages of your two books and another by Rick Hanson called Buddhas Brain. Thank you again for all that you do.
Marty