Miracle of Mindfulness

[Eika]

Jundo wrote:
That being said, I have reservations about the Practice (gee, I am so critical of every darn thing today!!!) if it means that we associate Buddhist Practice with having to feel happy happy happy. In my mind, Buddhist Practice is much more powerful if about being as we are, which is not always happy.

Like Keith and Tracy, I don't find any happiness that comes with the hint of a smile, but the world seems to come ZOOM! back into clarity . . . it is a difficult thing to describe, subtle but also very meaningful. But to clarify, it is not an attempt to change my circumstance from sad to happy. Besides, maybe our original face is one with a bit of a smile, and dukkha changes it to something else. :wink:

Bill

PS-- I realize that there is still the dualistic trap of preferring moments of clarity over others. My take here is that TNH suggested it, I tried it, it fits, . . . otherwise we could also reject the lotus position, straight back, etc. because they all suggest that other ways are inferior.

[Jundo]

Well, my Dad used to say about a faucet with a small leak ... "if it works, don't fix it".

You have to decide for yourself what the Practice is and how it work for you. Apparently, you guys are taking it in a helpful way, different from "happy happy happy". So, if it works for you .... DON'T FIX IT!

Gassho, Jundo (HALF SMILE)

[Bansho]

Hi,

There is a true physiological reason why the "half-smile" works. Neuorological research shows that the brain (the mirror cells, I believe) assume that, since you are smiling, there must be grounds to be happy and it becomes a self-fulfilling process.

That's interesting. It reminded me of a suggestion of Sawaki Roshi's to just put your hands in gassho when you're having an argument with your wife and see what happens. :wink:

Gassho
Ken

[Jenny]

Miracle of Mindfulness

By some miracle this leaf has now blown in from Northern Ireland to become a member of Treeleaf! I belong to a small Zen group, and Treeleaf and Jundo have become very helpful for us as we don't have a resident teacher. I now feel among friends.
Regarding The Miracle of Mindfulness - it was one of my first books many years ago and I think a very useful one, especially for beginners.
I have been on retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh and on several with his nuns.
The retreats were not as structured as some and a lot of time given to group discussions, planting trees, long walks, and zazen twice a day.
He would have given one talk per day.
I still feel the influence though of his mindfulness training all these years on.
I notice someone mentioned his "Grace before meals" earlier and for anyone with kids this is his "A Child's Grace".
"The silver rain, the golden sun, The fields where scarlet poppies run,
And all the ripples of the wheat, are in the bread that I do eat.
So when I pause for every meal, and say this grace, I always feel,
That I am eating rain and sun, and fields where scarlet poppies run."

[Jundo]

Hi Jenny,

Welcome again. Thank you for that. Pressed Palm, Jundo

[John]

Hi Jenny,

Glad you finally made it!

Gassho,
John

[Dainin]

Hi Jenny,

Welcome to Treeleaf!

Gassho,
Keith

[Eika]

Welcome!



Bill

[Lloyd Kilmer]

Greetings Jenny

Welcome to A bit o" the Irish. Thanks for sharing about your experience with TNH. It must have been a rare event. My own recent day of mindfulness was a refreshing break from the normal routine - kind of like a snow day here in the midwest when all schedules suspend around nature's timeout.

[Jenny]

Miracle of Mindfulness

Hi Lloyd, thanks for your welcome. Good to know you are also with a small Zen group (we have around 8 in ours but very keen).
We have had one day of snow this winter and when it happens it is top of the new bulletins and everything is chaos. Next day it has gone!
Our group study a book and discuss it over a cup of tea each week.
It has been decided to read our Treeleaf one, Opening the Hand of Thought. Unfortunately copies at the moment are as rare as hen's teeth.
We have just finished "Susuki Roshi's "Not Always So" and we have had some heated debates!
Gassho Jenny

[lindabeekeeper]

I have also read TNH and have always taken his suggestions as ways to come back to mindfulness. I also like the half smile, but my favorite is to smile and breathe deeply before you answer the phone! It brings me back to the idea that the person on the other end was not calling just to annoy me.

[Stephanie]

I'm a big fan of the Hanh!

Sometimes his style is a bit too sugary-sweet for me, but overall his gentle words have inspired me a lot over the years.

Oddly enough, though, what may be my favorite book of his is actually an intense mind-blower of a philosophy book he wrote called Transformation At The Base that might surprise those familiar with only his "lighter" stuff. A very nice book to read in conjunction with Red Pine's treatment of the Heart Sutra. (And of course, TNH's treatment of the Heart Sutra is a classic as well.)

Jenny, thanks so much for sharing the "Child's Grace." What a beautiful poem, I think I might like it better than all the other Buddhist graces I've heard so far.

[Jenny]

Miracle of Mindfulness

Thanks Stephenie, glad you liked the poem. Sometimes I think the simple things are important too. There is in Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings a gentle side in what can at times seem like an austere tradition.
This morning I was reading in a book by Catherine Ingram a story about a boy of about 5 who had been found living with wild dogs in India. She was at a private gathering to see the boy and the Dalai Lama was also there.
The child was on all fours, eyes darting wildly and like a frightened animal. Therapists and officials were there who had been trying to train him
back to normality.
The Dalai Lama, while the story was being explained to him, just reached down and smiling, began to gently stroke the child's head while murmuring softly to him. The child eventually just curled up and lay at his feet.
I was thinking isn't this perhaps what each of us would really like? To be accepted unconditionally, gently stroked and murmured to and to feel that we are o.k. the way we are.
Just sharing a few thoughts.
Jenny

[Stephanie]

Lovely story Jenny, thank you for sharing it.

And I agree about the power of unconditional acceptance and love. I'm currently doing an internship where I work with residents at a community residence for the chronically mentally ill as part of my graduate social work curriculum. There is so much to learn about engaging, building trust, and facilitating change, and there's so much I still don't do that well, still so much I forget, but just the fact that I'm there listening, and care, seems like it may be the biggest part anyway.

It's such a deep pleasure to see the way people who are often shunned by others open up and smile when they realize that they are being accepted for who they are and "allowed" to speak their minds to someone who is not ignoring or recoiling at them. I'm always struck with deep sorrow and remorse when I slip into judgement or irritation. I'm human, and I don't beat myself up for it, but it is amazing how clear a guide one's conscience can be in these matters.

[Jenny]

Miracle of Mindfulness

Sounds like you are doing a great bit of work Stephanie, and difficult too.
Jenny