Of course there has been an avalanche of articles written about the pandemic, coping with the medical risks and the sheer difficulty of navigating our lives when suddenly nothing is normal. Oh, sure, we talk about the 'new normal' which is that NOTHING is normal now. There is some very valuable solace that derives from knowing we're all in this together....even if some people refuse to believe it.
But, on top of the medical catastrophe that is unfolding all around us, and across the entire planet, there is the damage that is happening to peoples' mental health....and, that may, in the end, prove to be as daunting as the physical pain and horror of the virus attacking our bodies. It is also attacking our minds.
Every morning, before my head is even off the pillow I am aware--all over again--that people are suffering and thousands are dying. As of this date, July 3rd, 2020, we are still not out of the woods, but rather still headed deeper in. This doesn't even touch on all the other stresses people are dealing with. There's the rapidly accelerating Climate Crisis, deteriorating geo-political relations that have the Doomsday Clock at mere seconds to midnight....and on and on. In the face of all of this it's understandable if we begin to feel a bit like Humpty-Dumpty sitting on that wall.
All of this is way beyond merely upsetting. It is stressful to the point of being toxic, and easily capable of causing damage to a person's mental health and stability. This is 'crazy making' stuff and it's going to have an impact for many years to come. So, let's just say that it's amazing that any of us are still sane after the last three months of this chaotic misery. And, that's the issue I want to discuss here, today. How does one manage it all and come out the other side feeling relatively okay? And, the answer is an open secret, one that has been getting a great deal of attention in the last few years: MINDFULNESS. Granted this has been picked-up by people and used in a wide variety of ways...some of them effective and appropriate....some of them verging on quackery and actually being counter-productive.
Mindfulness is not a 'new kid' on the block. It is, in fact, ancient. Mystics of all the world's many traditions have identified it and practiced it in a variety of ways. But, even with this culturally imposed diversity, it's underlying principles remain very much the same. Rather than go any further into the historical aspects of mindfulness, my intent here is to simply point to how accessible it is and how any person can avail themselves of its benefits.
So, let's start with defining mindfulness. It's not complicated. Mindfulness means 'being present'. Yes, that simple. But, of course, it's not all that simple to do or to master. I can sit at a beautiful piano and look at it in awe....but, that won't get me any closer to making harmonious sounds come out of it.
Our biggest impediment that prevents us from realizing the benefits of mindfulness.....is US. We have this great big brain and it loves to show off it's considerable powers by generating 'thoughts'. These thoughts run from inane blather, to inspired and even wise and helpful. We pretty much just watch all of this going on all the time.
A wise spiritual teacher, i.e. Samuel Lewis, aka Sufi Ahmed Murad Chishti, has referred to this ongoing inner conversation as the 'mind mesh' and he taught people various 'practices' in order to get the mind-mesh into a harmless and useful place. Unworkable is when it is running the whole show. When you don't even recognize that this constant stream of chatter is happening, there is no chance that you will be able to control it and steer it in a fruitful direction. It is running you, not the other way around.
The problem with this is that an undisciplined mind has a compulsion to judge...everything. This is often carried to extremes and we then become it's victims. Everything is good or bad, beautiful or ugly, okay or not, desirable or objectionable. Nothing escapes this stream of ongoing judgement.....and, unfortunately, the judgments are generated from a 'small' perspective, rather than a more wise and understanding one. Somewhere along the path to the 'here and now', this aspect of the human mind acquired the label, "the Crazy Monkey", and that goes a long ways toward capturing the essence of a mind that is just jammin' along, dispensing inane thoughts and judgments on damn-near everything.
A quick working definition of 'ego' is that concept of self which is defined by limitation. There is an expansive and more perceptive viewpoint....and there is the very narrow and limited viewpoint of a mind that measures everything according to how it is perceived. Everything is seen in relation to how it will affect oneself. The 'small self' is all about ME and absolutely everything is understood as having some impact on ME....one way or the other.
But, if there is a 'small self' we can surmise that there must be a greater self. It has gone by a wide variety of names, but, The Self', capital 'S', is useful for our purpose here. And, this Self is the antithesis of the small self. It is defined by it's lack of limitations; it's all encompassing and infinite in nature. So, a person who has spent a lifetime getting hammered by the small (often petty) self, might naturally want to consider how to escape that prison with walls built of (self-imposed) limitations.
I am going to simplify this as much as I can. The real risk lies in making it more complex than it needs to be. The crazy monkey is delighted to spew a gusher of judgments around something like this, so the primary need is to calm it down and get it to lower the volume and frequency of this blather. There are innumerable ways of doing this, but, let's keep it simple for now.
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| Being Present is a Gentle Art |
In every mystical tradition there has been some kind of awareness of how important the breath is. That's right, the BREATH. We tend to think of breathing as merely the exchange of gases that keeps us oxygenated and removes excess CO2. And, while this tidal exchange of air to and from our lungs is, of course, critical to maintaining our bodily metabolic processes, that is just one of its functions.
Breathing is also an energy exchange. Hopefully, at this point in your life, you accept that there is such a thing as the life force, i.e. prana, ishq, chi, ki, orgone, (there are dozens and dozens of names, at least one in every language and spiritual path). And, if so, then you are already ahead of the game. Many people never manage to perceive the body as an energetic entity. But, that's exactly what it is. Prove it? Just look at a typical life-form, let's say an insect. When it is alive and crawling on your tomato plant, it is utterly different than when it has died and starts to decompose into its component parts. One second it's alive, exhibiting all the traits of that bug....the next second it's on it's way to becoming compost. What changed?
It was alive, and now it's dead. The difference in these two states is the presence of the Life Force, and then it's absence. Swedish scientists, a few years ago, put terminal medical patients' beds on high-tech scales that could measure the slightest change in weight. At the moment these patients passed out of this life.....they lost an average of 22 grams of mass. Einstein hypothesized that energy has mass, and of course, vice versa. So, when the life left these dying people, a measurable quantity of energy departed at that moment.
It has been known for millennia that the absence or presence of this 'force' is the difference between an organism thriving, growing, reproducing, even healing itself, and one that goes still and starts to disintegrate into the fundamental elements that comprised it.
The reason I want you to know about breath and its energetic aspect is because that is your key to practicing a kind of mindfulness that will reap you great benefits. For starters, a person who sits and just pays attention to their breath, will at some point become aware that they are part of an energetic continuum. We live our lives under the illusion that we are separate from all that is around us. But, the mystics have learned and have taught that we are connected to it all. Of course, I can tell you this, but it's like I'm trying to tell you how to ride a bicycle; it's a fool's mission. However, give me a couple of hours in a quiet parking lot, during which time you get to actually sit on and then pedal a bike, with some helpful guidance, and you will very likely have a 'light' go on and gain a feeling for it.
I have been a Sufi Sheikh for some thirty-three years. This is not a huge deal, but it was a way for my teacher to let me know that I am allowed and encouraged to simply be myself, to go out in the world and follow the Guidance of my Heart and to connect with people in that way. I have felt permission to experiment with ways of helping people to listen to their own Guidance and live accordingly. In this vein, I have taught mindfulness via skiing, shooting, canoeing, making art, walking, sitting, washing dishes...and too many other means to mention here. My goal has always been to support sincere seekers of the Ultimate Understanding, i.e. the conviction that God is alive and functioning.......as nearby as their jugular vein.
This feels like a good place to 'pause' for today. I will continue along this path within the next few days. In the meantime, you can start working on building your own sense of mindfulness by taking a few minutes here and there to pay attention to your breathing....merely observing the in-flow and out-flow for starters. Every time the crazy monkey starts to get cranked-up, just ask it to calm down and take a breather (okay, yes, a cheap pun). Be present to your breath, let the thoughts just be thoughts, without a sense that they have any importance or even relevance....kind of like watching a freight-train pass by and seeing the graffiti on the cars. Just be easy on yourself. It would be really weird if you could do this right out of the gate with no practice. Just so you know.
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