#2. "If there are, do you struggle whether to finish them or to let them go?"
Meeting the Great Bliss Queen, a book in my home library, garners a yes to both questions. Published in 1995, it sported a subtitle that excited me at the time: Buddhists, Feminists, and the Art of the Self. The Queen wanted me to pick her out when I was searching for a blog topic this afternoon.
There are my characteristic underlinings, bracketing of lines, and many single or double exclamation marks in the first 151 pages. After that, no sign of me. I obviously didn't finish it. I wonder what stopped me?
Here is a bracketed section I discovered on page 65:
"In ancient India, surgeons had to pass a simple test of manual dexterity. Presented with a leaf floating on water and a sharp cutting instrument, they were to sever the leaf without sinking it."
The author, Anne Carolyn Klein, offers the suggestion that the surgeon models the balance required in mindfulness.
"You have to moderate the tightness and looseness of your mind in order to meditate."
How is your meditation practice? If you don't meditate regularly, how is your mind behaving in your daily life? Is it anxious or bored? A calm mind will bring you many hours of happiness.
Let me know how you are managing the weather change.
Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall
Been thinking about your latest blog, my first thought was that you were having surgery after reading the title! Guess I don't meditate, but do have a calm mind and feel at peace with myself. My best friend who has his own company and is always busy, is always bored and can't understand why I'm not bored. Most days, well everyday really, I feel like I just don't have enough time to do everything. Exercising, enjoying the paper, talking with Mary, catching up on email, crosswords, napping, eating, watching some TV and chores around the house. And that's on days I don't have to go out for anything. Funny that I used to get bored when I was working and found ways to pass the time. I was anxious then and the time just crawled.
ReplyDeleteLaughing because when I first saw this in my inbox my mind jumped immediately to horror that YOU were having some kind of unexpected surgery!
ReplyDeleteClearly I am still a captive of my mind's preconceptions. But happily I can laugh at it when I see it.
—Annon
I must admit to some tomfoolery that the above two readers picked up with their careful reading.
ReplyDelete