Mindfulness Plain Simple by Author

Author:Author
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-10T16:00:00+00:00

The Dalai Lama is a great example of true acceptance, having gone through incredible hardship, yet being able to accept what has happened without anger or resentment. Does this mean that he doesn’t act to try and improve conditions for his people? Clearly it doesn’t. The Dalai Lama spends his life travelling to spread peace and to raise awareness of the plight of his people, but he does this in a peaceful way, winning many supporters along the way. If he were an angry crusader chanting about the evils of China, I think the Dalai Lama would be viewed very differently by the world. There are countless other examples of people who have been able to accept difficult circumstances, then work ceaselessly to change them, but the most important thing to consider is how to practise acceptance in our own lives. Luckily, it is simple and we don’t need a university degree to start practising – in fact, you can start right now! Start by breathing mindfully, that is, becoming aware of your breathing, really feeling it. Allow your breathing to be natural, accept it, long or short, deep or shallow. As you breathe mindfully, you may notice thoughts arising in your mind. Take notice of these thoughts, and notice the mind’s complaining, its resistance to life as it is. Becoming aware of resistance without engaging in it is acceptance in itself.

There are many things in life that our minds don’t like – housework, work, pain, sickness and talking to people we don’t like are just a few examples. When the mind doesn’t like something, it tells us a thousand stories in an effort to avoid experiencing that particular thing. When we believe these stories, we experience life through the prism of the mind, which colours and shapes our experiences. So it may be that we have never experienced just doing the housework, we have only experienced the housework accompanied by the mind’s stories about doing the housework, like being at a lively festival while listening to a cynical editorial about it.

Many people have never experienced doing housework without the mind’s running commentary, and therefore they believe it to be an onerous task. However, what is the difference between walking along with the vacuum and walking the dog? The difference is in the mind. If you can accept vacuuming instead of resisting it, you can enjoy it for what it is, without the story that ‘before I was sitting on the couch and now I am vacuuming (which sucks). I hope I can finish quickly so I can do something more enjoyable!’ Listening to the story is what creates the unpleasant feelings associated with vacuuming, which is enjoyable when experienced moment-to-moment, without trying to get through it, on to the next thing. The same goes for any so-called ‘chore’.

It is easy to confuse acceptance with thinking positively about things we usually don’t like, putting on a brave face if you will. For example, you might try to ‘accept’ a painful situation, like someone dying, by rationalising it, even finding the positives in it.

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