Wednesday will be the regular silent meditation day for Fall 2015. Our first Wednesday session will be September 2.
I will supply the first bells at 12:10, another bell at 12:20, and another at 12:30. Finally, a group of three bells at 12:40
You can supply your body, your thoughts, your energy, your distracted self.
Sit.
I have not gone on a meditation journey. 30 minutes of silent sitting (or walking) each day feels about right.
Some days, though, I do a bit more, and these days can make me wonder what a full day, or several days, of meditation might be like. I have never done anything like that, but I’ve talked with those who have and they insist that there’s something to be said for longer practice periods. Hallie Bateman, cartoonist, decided to take a 10-day plunge into silence and she recently wrote (and drew) some things about her experiences on BuzzFeed, “What Happens When You Try to Stay Silent for 10 Days.”
There is an ever-expanding scientific literature on the impact of meditation, especially mindfulness meditation, on health care professionals and their patients. This work is now spilling over into the academic arena. The August 2015 issue of the Mindfulness Research Monthly newsletter describes a recent study this way:
The high emotional demands of public school teaching can contribute to impaired teacher morale, professional burnout, and the fact that 40-50 of teachers quit teaching within their first five years on the job. …
I recently told how researchers have documented beneficial changes in brain chemistry and function that follow a quiet walk in nature (see Do Yourself a Favor, July 26). With the return of warm weather (and more likely to follow in August), you might have some cool walks planned for your mornings or evenings.
Do yourself a favor and you might just do a favor for everyone around you. How is that possible? Simple. Research shows that you can cultivate positive mental states by slowing down your activity and paying attention to your surroundings.
Am I the kind of person who … ?
How would you finish this sentence? The kind of person who … Runs marathons? Eats vegan? Listens to Beyonce? Drives a Prius? Meditates?
The activity that completes the sentence – run, eat, etc. – almost seems less important than the sense of membership that comes with it. Am I that kind of person?
Comics speak to me. I feel like Rat sits on one shoulder, Goat (or Uncle Duke or Dagwood or Lucy …) sits on the other. They go back and forth and I’m caught in the middle. One side tells me how the “spiritual journey” might improve my life by making me kinder, more patient and even-keeled, more helpful. The other tells me not to be such a pushover.
Thoughts, even Rat-type thoughts, are not really a problem. We are, by our very nature, thinkers. The “Problem of Thinking” is not that we think (We are thinkers! How can one not think?), but rather the fact that we can so easily get lost in our thoughts. When this happens, thought becomes a substitute for experience. You could even say thought becomes a substitute for life.
So enjoy your life. Enjoy your thoughts. An entire spiritual journey occurs each time you experience even one thought as “just a thought.” This task is not insurmountable.
With the temperature crawling towards 100 (it’s still June !!!), let’s enjoy a moment with fellow meditator Wally. Like others, he may discover unexpected benefits.
Suffering from PSSD? (post-semester stress disorder) Having trouble making the transition to summer? Check out this video. (Please don’t ask me how Elmo is able to fog the screen. It’s a Muppet Mystery.)
Inspired by a recent trip to Ashland, Oregon.
Unattended thoughts will be given an espresso and a puppy.
