Your own mindful practice
Dear Friends, Each of us walks our own path. At the end of the day, we are satisfied with some actions and less satisfied with others. In daily life we practice with mindfulness and compassion to act consciously and to be able to recognize and if necessary, bend our habit energies. We started looking at our habits. Discovering a habit pattern is an important first step. For example, you often notice after dinner: I have eaten more than I intended. You walk away from a conversation and realize that you have talked a lot about yourself, not paying so much attention to the other. Practicing awareness is first of all: look at it with an open heart. With compassion. Notice the judgement, the regret, the thought: ‘that's just how I am’ as clouds and let them float away. In this way, you can have a clear insight into the suffering that the habit now causes. Then you can practice the next step. You can connect with the intention you have to transform this habit. You can use the insights of your mindfulness practices. As in the Five Mindful Practices. Another approach: Fourteen Mindful Practices. Tools that identify the connection of the suffering caused by the habit, the insight that there may be, your concrete intention and the contribution to the change in the world. If you're interested, click on the link. You can start very close to yourself. Make your own mindful practice. Not reverence for life in general, but your life, this moment. You can connect with your own insight. Your own inquiry. You are no longer happy with the habit. What is the root of your longing to change? I sometimes notice that I am talking too much. I have noticed the habit, I have a first insight and understanding where that habit comes from. Can I let the habit go and make space for something new that fits better with my intentions?h What do I want to change in my thinking, my words, my actions, which together change the habit? And why? This week I read a motto of Gandhi: ‘Be the change you want to see in this world.’ When I look at the world around me, I want a lot of things to change. Of course, I want to contribute to a change. Just like the five Mindfulness Practices. But where to begin? I realize now and then that there is a tree under the full canopy of my habits. My core. My Buddha nature. And with a wind of gentle, loving awareness I can blow the leaves off in autumn, when they are no longer needed, so that the core remains. Step by step. Leaf by leaf. Gandhi was an ordinary person. Like you and me. He also had habits. He looked at it compassionately, saw the desire underneath and took a step. I would like to invite you to look at your habit with an open heart, to feel within yourself what you would like differently and what your first step may be at our Sangha evening this Monday. Returning to your breath, to this moment, seeking to connect with your sincere purpose and feeding yourself with the insight of the step you want to take. You become aware of a new possibility of thinking, speaking, acting. With trial and error. I wish you a peaceful Sunday, Joost Vriens
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