“A third form of laziness is not having the determination to do immediately what you know to be the most important thing and wasting your time instead on minor activities. To remedy this, establish priorities among your projects, and remember that, while your days are numbered, ordinary activities are like waves on the ocean – there is no end to them.”
We do this. It's more though. It's more like a determination to NOT do what I know is the most important thing. I'm reminded of the idea that I don't deserve to do what I want. That it is lazy. Why is it lazy? Because what is the most important for me, is usually not the most important for the system, or Troy, or even Nathan sometimes.
This week we have been trying to do what feels important, what feels right at the moment and letting the rest go. Sometimes reading IS more important than laundry. Sometimes just watching tv is better than cross-stitch.
Meditation pops into my head. Alex is good at mediation, the rest of us really find it hard. Really that feels like an excuse. I'm not sure we really put much effort into it. It's something we definitely need to be doing, but aren't.
Raine
I was thinking, the benefits of meditation are for the body mostly, right? I mean, it can affect the psyche but there is so much research (as you know) which is increasing (as you also know) that meditation has a physical effect, even rewiring the brain.
ReplyDeleteDoes it matter who meditates? If Alex finds it easy, perhaps the rest of you are reaping a benefit. Not to say that there isn't a certain grace and discipline in seeing what the others can learn within the experience but perhaps it isn't necessary. Or perhaps different forms of meditation would prove meritorious to the others. Walking meditation. Chanting (kirtan). Staring at an object (typically recommended in the west--a candle--but a Catholic icon would work just as wonderfully). Yoga is a form of meditation, especially when done in silence, and it is said that the breath is the highest seed mantra, even more elevated than OM. And journaling, research has shown, has many of the same benefits as sitting in silent meditation.
It may be that while Alex is meant to sit on a zafu, one of you is meant to explore other forms of meditation. Or none. Let Alex do the work and the body will reap the benefits which will bless you all.
It's past my bedtime. Shhhh . . . email me if my blabbering created more questions than offered answers.