just be it It’s about the work involved in establishing a dedicated practice to feelings of a bigger belonging through practices aimed at increasing feelings of compassion, gratitude and forgiveness

The Work is to Minimize the Grasping Mind from the Feeling of ‘Missing’

Published on 11/11/14
by randy

 

 

 

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Throughout the day, how often to I feel ‘full’.  Brother David Steindl Rast speaks of ‘great fullness’.  There’s a place where we make space to be grateful for what is.  The human condition is filled with restlessness.  No sooner do we get what we grasped for and we’re grasping for something else.  Our work is to ‘want to be here’, but the restless mind is grasping for anything but here.  That’s where the benefits of a meditation practice come in.  If we can reduce attachment of thought to what was or to thoughts of what is yet to come we can settle into the peace of just being here, in this moment.  Here in this moment, grateful for the opportunity to participate, we touch a deeper peace.

How many times have we thought, “I’ll be happy when …..”, or “I’ll be happy if ……”.  Why not just be happy?  This is possible when we still our thoughts, appreciating the gift of the next arising breath, just wanting to be here.  It’s also a great way to approach our life with a deeper sense of stewardship.  When I have great fullness there’s a sense of responsibility that comes in the form of ‘taking care’.  In awareness to this we can see what actions feed this fullness and which ones deplete it.  Do the foods I ingest feed a healthy sense of fullness or am I left with greater craving?  Does the music I listen to or the movies/TV I watch leave me with a greater sense of peace or with more restlessness?  In my relations with others, can I come and go in peace, or am I continually grasping for more or less?  Often our restlessness comes from wanting others to validate our belief or ‘rightness’.  If we can allow them their reality construct, holding stability/balance in our spiritual practice, we can more easily hold awareness to the present moment, more carefully monitoring our speech and actions to health rather than harm and separation.

So this mantra of, “I want to be here, now.  Nothing is missing.  I have a great sense of fullness.” works well for me.  It settles down the grasping mind so often filled with thoughts of deficiency.  It fills me with respect and awe for that which is bigger than me, bowing in gratitude for the opportunity to just be.

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