Mindfulness

[PartTimeBrewer]

              I am starting a new thread here mainly for purposes of my own catharsis. It is my intention, at least at this point, to make regular contributions. Of course, if anyone else has anything to add, they are more than welcome. If you have any input, please contribute.

              Over a year ago I decided to deal head-on with my self-diagnosed adult attention disorder, (ADD). The inability to stay focused was becoming too stressful. I found myself sitting around watching the clock tick, yet I couldn’t keep “on task” with any project I started. Nothing was getting done and just starting something was becoming depressing.

              The smart thing to do was probably to get professional help, so instead I decided to try to heal myself, at least as a first try. Cognitive therapy and pharmaceuticals (UGH) might be the approved way to go but I decided to try meditation first.

              18 months and countless self-help books later, I still can’t bring myself to a regular, formal meditation program. But, along the way, I discovered informal mindfulness. Yes, I know it is the “Fad” right now. It is hard to navigate modern social trends without “tripping over” somebody extolling the benefits of mindfulness.

              Let me add my voice to the chorus.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"These versions of violence, sometimes subtle, sometimes clear. And the ones that go unnoticed, but still leave their mark once disappeared." ~ Versions of Violence by Alanis Morissette

[PartTimeBrewer]

Every once in a while, I have to stop and ask myself "Who'se in charge here?" So often, when I am feeling bad, it is at least in part, self-inflicted. I am the programmer of the biocomputer I call my mind. And so often it is all over excessive attachment to unrealistic expectations.

[PartTimeBrewer]

Gratitude is appropriate at any time. It is easy when I am feeling good about something and well worth the extra effort when I am not. Gratitude is the universal antidote for any negative emotion. Just remember, things really could be worse.

[PartTimeBrewer]

What happens when things are going well and people forget to be grateful? They take their prosperity for granted and start to feel entitled. Then they perceive themselves as victims at every little set back. If you can read this, you have access to the internet and a device that is capable of receiving it. Be grateful for that (not my blathering but all the rest of the World Wide Web). I'm guessing that you are beyond the mere struggle for minimum survival. Share all your silver linings with others.

[Westerly_2]

Thank you for the reminder. 

[PartTimeBrewer]

 TWhen people first start a meditation practice,  they are usually amazed at how undisciplined the mind is in its natural state. Two animal metaphors are often used (appropriately); that of a chattering monkey and that of a curious, untrained puppy. When meditating, you are taught to be kind to yourself, it's normal, and to keep bringing your attention back to some other focus, such as your breath or mantra.

But what if you are not in a meditation mode but instead in a normal living your life in the big world out there mode? If your mind keeps thinking to "It's a big BAD world out there.", no matter how many times you try to come back to some focus thought like "It's a big WONDERFUL world out there.", gratitude can be hard to muster. And then you find thoughts lead to words and words lead to actions; and too often actions lead to the need for damage control. Thoughts can become self-fulfilling.

Try this, what have you got to lose? Reverse the process. Instead of trying to wrestle directly with the mind for control of the thought processes (the mind is a world class wrestler), just hijack your actions. Perform a random act of kindness or something else beneficial, whether you feel it or not. See if you can't get words to follow actions and then just maybe, thoughts will come around (at least a little bit.)

[PartTimeBrewer]

It may be easier for me to maintain compassion for other people if I can remember that their life circumstances are different than mine and I may have no clue what their influences are. Maybe they are doing what is right for them in their situation, even if it seems wrong for me. Even if they are not acting appropriately, I don't know the pressure they are under.

[PartTimeBrewer]

One of the more thoughtful objections to the mindfulness movement is that it focuses on ways for the individual to passively adjust to a stressful situation rather than promoting a sense of responsibility to actively go out and change the world to eliminate the offending situation. It seems like settling, rather than activism.

It just might be that, if I am selfish and just take the peace I have found and keep it to myself, like Thoreau on Walden's Pond. But wait, Thoreau wrote a book, and a lot of people were inspired, and it would seem that the world was a better place for it even if he didn't organize a protest march or picket line. 

I doubt if I will ever publish a book, but I do try to be a calming influence on some of the more volatile people in my life. And just think, maybe some of society's tensions and stressors might be relaxed if more people stayed focused on gratitude and compassion.

If you find some Peace, share it. Just remember, people don't want preachy. Be the Peace.

[PartTimeBrewer]

I am, by nature, a conservative person. When things are just right in my personal life, I want them to stay that way. And of course, they don't. Even though I always adjust to the new circumstances, I have to guard against being overly nostalgic about the past and apprehensive of the future.

Mindfulness helps because it reminds us that we are living only in the present and ruminating about what is gone is counterproductive, (whether it be gone now or will be gone in the future.)

Mindfulness critics say this is hiding out in a safe place (the now), that we need to face the demons that haunt our psyche at 4:30 A.M. I agree, but maybe only after I've first done some healing in my safe place and then only at a better time of day.

But I digress, I started out today thinking of a different challenge to the "Don't cling to the illusion of permanence in an impermanent world." dictum promulgated by Mindfulness Gurus. What about values? Not superficial ones like my favorite sports team, but, for example, moral values; opinions on right or wrong. Should I be prepared to change my stance on issues such as abortion, LGBT, or illegal immigration? If I do, is it because I have new information (or new "weights" to old information), or because I have "switched sides" and no longer respect the same concepts of good and evil? Am I  promoting attitudes like compassion and gratitude to Permanent Values in an impermanent world?

[PartTimeBrewer]

My wife says I think too much.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The one and only rest of a valid religious idea, doctrinal statement, spiritual experience or devotional practice is that it must lead to practical compassion.  ~  Karen Armstrong

[PartTimeBrewer]

Karen Armstrong, a scholar of comparative world religions, has founded an organization, Charter for Compassion International, which has crafted a document which promotes compassion as the core value of all world systems of religion, spirituality and morality. Based on the Golden Rule, this document boldly defines any interpretation of scripture that "breeds violence, hatred or disdain" as illegitimate.

The organization has a web page where you can read and sign the document and Armstrong has a TED talk video on YouTube. If I ever get off my Kindle and onto my laptop, I will provide links, but they are easy to find.