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| Joplin Missouri |
Maybe you didn't live in Joplin, and maybe you aren't right now in Kansas City wondering what to do as five tornadoes head toward you . . . maybe you weren't flooded out by the Mississippi or the earthquake/tsunami that hit Japan . . .
Wherever you are, look around you at your stuff. It could all be gone tomorrow morning. Or you could be gone, come to think of it. Tom and I are fond of a passage from
Rebel Buddha that consoled us when our beloved cat Sheba got sick and died within a few hours.
What will help you find your direction is to stop what you're doing and just look at your true condition in life. When you do that, you either freak out or get your bearings pretty quickly. And what is that true condition? There are many types of suffering, but there's one that's worth contemplating above all others: nothing lasts. Life is short, the clock never stops ticking, and the time of your death will be a surprise.
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| Sherlock the day before he died. |
Hello! Very recently have I began reading about mindfulness and meditation, and although without seeking professional opinion, I have already identified that should I enroll in a meditation course, I will be unable to focus. As I learn more from books and blogs (like this one) I tend to think that I have been living life mindlessly, doing things merely because it has been my routine for my whole life. I seriously am considering going into a meditation class, changing my perspective in life and being aware of myself and the life I am living. I have always had questioned whether I will be able to attain the state of “inner peace” by being mindful, but I guess I wouldn’t really know until I try. I do hope I will be able to be fully aware, “mindful” of myself. I just need to know the first step.
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