how to be aware in an unaware world

Tag: meditation

Faith
Faith is like a tree. It stands tall and weathers the storm because it is firmly grounded. Its roots reach deep and wide, its base thick and solid. It grows stronger as time passes and it reaches up, receiving warmth with open arms.
This was a little bit I came up with a while ago when living in Nashville. It was a beautiful afternoon and I was in a particularly reflective mood.
As I walked around the small apartment complex where I lived, I noticed a tree I so often overlooked, standing, beaming in the sunlight just outside the apartment and I went to sit there beneath it, witnessing this analogy to faith.
Reflection
A few years back, I did a purge of almost all my posts, pictures, and videos on Facebook so that I could start fresh with the intention of sharing only the content I valued.
In the process, I found reflections of my early faith in Christianity, for I grew up in a Christian household and was influenced greatly by the religion.
When I was younger, I had a naive sense of faith. Like a child, I was more willing to believe in something I didn’t fully understand. But somewhere in the naiveté, a feeling emerged. A feeling that surpasses all comprehension.
In essence, that is what faith is—an incomprehensible feeling.
Even now, I grasp that feeling from time to time, like a tree, feeling forces outside my understanding and comprehension supporting me.
I learned to question my faith and even the faith of my parents and those around me.
I found through that questioning that what I feel is what truly matters, and mindfulness gives me the awareness to recognize what I feel more and more.
I found that I aligned most with the core beliefs and philosophy of Buddhism, but also held on to the values instilled in a Christian household.
Mindfulness meditation and journaling instilled in me a compass that guides me when I am confused or unsteady and community-based fellowship and prayer instilled in me the faith needed to face any challenge this world throws at me.
I had to discover for myself that I do feel a sense of peace and contentment in believing I was created, that I was beautifully and wonderfully made.
Creator, Higher-Power, Yahweh, Father, whatever incredibly simple term we use to describe such a feeling as God, faith is the pillar to reaching it.
Faith requires a complete and utter surrender of self. It is letting go of logic and reason like meditation is letting go of thought and sensation.
Faith exists in the present too, I cannot be faithful towards a higher power or even another person in the past or the future, only here and now.
Encouragement
I encourage us to really question our beliefs, our perspective of faith, and what it means to us.
Ask yourself specifically what you believe or even if you believe in anything. It’s completely okay if you don’t know, this is simply a healthy thought experiment.
Write down those beliefs you hold firmly, those you would like to change, and those you would not support at all.
Thanks
Thank you deeply for your attention in reading this post, it is a rare gift these days.
As always, feel free to leave a comment or share this post, let me know if you enjoy the posts. You can also Buy Me a Coffee if you are inclined to do so. Thank you in advance!
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November 4, 2023
Inaction
“Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. So we must stretch ourselves to the very limits of human possibility. Anything less is a sin against both God and man.”
– Leonardo da Vinci
This is one of my favorite quotes of all time as I especially like to recite it when sometimes I’m told meditation is a lazy practice.
I also just realized I already wrote an entire blog post about it just a couple of weeks ago (Mindfulness & Action). But the message is a powerful one, and my thoughts are different.
Meditation is not about sitting and doing nothing, watching the world go by. It is about stepping back and observing the world before jumping in recklessly.
I like to best compare it to being both the player and the coach at a soccer or fútbol match.
Whereby we stand and sit on the sidelines watching and observing most of the game and jump in only when we feel most inclined to as well as stepping off to rest when needed.
I like to think of Messi, who as a forward or striker loves to walk around the midline or near the defenders, positioning himself strategically, while also sprinting as hard as he can to get the ball and score when presented with the opportunity.
There are so many opportunities out there to give it our all: Work, school, relationships, passions, creativity pursuits, etc. Meditation simply equips us with the clarity and composition needed to give it our all.
Reflection
Leonardo is elegantly comparing stagnant water to a lazy mind, even calling it a sin against God.
Sloth, is one of the seven deadly sins elaborated by St. Thomas Aquinas when he writes in his first epistles that “to flee vice is the beginning of virtue and to have got rid of folly is the beginning of wisdom.”
Leonardo was best known as a Renaissance Man or a man who wore many hats: a polymath, inventor, painter, sculptor, politician, writer, poet, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect.
Although there is little account that Leonardo Da Vinci meditated or promoted meditation, it is safe to say he was mindful about all that he did and said, careful to articulate himself in an esteemed manner.
Times are much different today than in the late 16th century, but the danger of laziness and inaction is much the same.
We must step out of our discomfort and sloth-like attitude to achieve purpose and vigor. It’s quite logical, that the more we do what we love, the more we get out of life, quite literally.
But sometimes we have to do shit we don’t like to. Sometimes we have to get our hands dirty when we prefer them clean so that we can turn to what we enjoy most with a renewed, vigorous mind.
Encouragement
I encourage us today to do just one thing you find uncomfortable, whether it be a workout or a difficult conversation, and do it with the knowledge that it is stimulating the mind in wondrous ways.
Workout? I remember once, while living in Nashville, deciding quite randomly one day to bike to school each weekday, which was a 6-mile one-way ride, in late fall.
Maybe not the smartest timing, but hell I had just found this quote and was determined to take action, and I did. I rode 13 miles daily for about 3 months straight and felt incredible through it all.
Difficult Conversation? I remember needing to tell my best friend, co-workers, boss, friends, and family that I was selling 99% of my possessions and moving to Europe for a while.
Even though it was more of a sad message than a difficult one, those conversations were the catalyst for a much-needed shift in my life. They required nothing short of mindful action.
We are capable of so, so much, and sometimes all it takes is the right push from the right person or message to get us moving.
Thanks
Thank you deeply for all the kind feedback and encouragement ya’ll have given me these past few months as I’ve bombarded your inboxes.
As always, feel free to leave a comment or share this post. You can also Buy Me a Coffee if you are inclined to do so. Thank you in advance!
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October 28, 2023
Beginnings
Mindfulness is simply about stepping back to see the world with a little more clarity and appreciation.
When I began my mindfulness journey and meditation practice about 8 years ago, I had no idea the impact it would have on me.
All I knew at the time was that if I showed up, every morning possible, to sit with all my feelings, sensations, and thoughts, I could learn to master them.
And although I’m nowhere near that lofty goal (nor may ever be) I can say with profound certainty that I am an entirely different person than I was at 21.
Through sitting day after day in guided meditation, I learned something so powerful, something that meditation inevitably teaches at one point or another: Gratitude.
Reflection
I am blessed to live in a world where this is possible for me for even the tiniest amount of gratitude offers the largest amount of joy.
As some of you who know me know I have a really hard time making up my mind.
I officially created this blog sometime in 2018, then deleted it, then brought it back, then did nothing with it, and then this year decided to re-write the original posts written mostly while backpacking Europe in 2021.
This is my very first blog post (for the third time).
As I sit back and reflect on the reason for re-writing this post and the effect I hope to achieve, I remember the first time I practiced meditation and the beginning of my blogging journey too.
As I wrote about in Mindfulness & Meditation, I was spending the summer of 2016 in gorgeous Colorado, working and traveling in and out of a family friend’s basement, as carefree as any 20-year-old could be.
My space during that time of transformation consisted of boxes and boxes of random trinkets, a huge flatscreen TV, a maroon leather couch, two lounge chairs, a broken treadmill, a bookcase filled with children’s books, and an old basketball arcade game in the corner.
In that stuffed basement, I realized that the clutter really bothered me. I was born a natural minimalist, able to get rid of almost anything at any point with ease (sometimes with too much ease).
Surrounded by all this stuff, I also found myself drawn to the stillness of the present moment, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the cluttered room using a simple meditation app to guide me into a ten-minute meditation.
The app was called Headspace, and at the time it was just a catalog of ten or so guided meditation packs recorded on a decent microphone by the British co-founder and former monk, Andy Puddicombe.
As I sat in that cramped basement throughout that summer listening to Andy’s calm, clear voice, I began to notice a greater sense of calamity and clarity within myself.
I noticed things I never did before, like the hum of the A.C. running in the background, the itch behind my left ear, the faint smell of mold, and the delicate weight of gravity.
I started paying more attention in conversations too, feeling my emotions and reactions play out inside me. Meditation began to change my relationship with my thoughts.
I was practicing, as one would learning an instrument or riding a bike, how to be aware in an unaware world.
As I began to awaken, I noticed the world still asleep, unconsciously riding the motions and getting caught in terrible situations, having no idea how they got there.
It’s mind-boggling to me to watch people run back into toxic relationships, ruminate about how they look, consume entertainment to satisfy an illogical hunger, and beat themselves up over the smallest things.
In that moment of stillness, I realized what a simple yet profound activity meditation was, the art of awareness.
Then slowly, over many mediations, I also learned how to take my practice beyond the nice, quiet setting and into everyday life with all its hecticness, busyness, and complications.
I observed my relationships, my work, my passions, my habits, and my desires. Everything I did became more mindful and more deliberate.
The coolest thing of all is I still practice meditation through Headspace today. It has become my lighthouse, my beacon if you will, to return to when life gets in the way of living.
Meditation, as if God had planned it, was the only thing I had ever turned into a solid routine in my whole life.
It just somehow made sense to meditate. And even though it came naturally to me, anyone, anywhere, at any time can learn to meditate.
All it takes is a little willingness to sit, be present, and observe the mind.
Encouragement
Once, while anchored in a powerful meditation, I heard Andy describe meditation by way of five affirmations.
These affirmations were not necessarily put in order, but they made the most sense when the first step was achieved before the rest.
I encourage us to speak these affirmations each day (even if they aren’t your cup of tea, trust me, they work)!
First, you are capable, knowing you can truly do anything you put your mind towards.
Second, you are calm, using your breath as your anchor.
Third, you are clear, knowing where you’re going and what you’re doing next.
Fourth, you are content, understanding that you already have everything you need.
Five, you are compassionate, speaking your love languages loud and clear.
Underlining all these steps is the awareness of our thoughts, sensations, emotions, and surroundings. Without awareness, we cannot reify change.
Also, lastly, compassion is the entire motive of meditation. Without it, our practice will have little meaning or depth, and will most likely fade away with time.
Thanks
Thank you deeply for your time and attention in reading this post or newsletter, it is a rare gift these days. Feel free to leave a comment or share this post. You can also Buy Me a Coffee if you feel inclined to do so. Thank you in advance!
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October 24, 2023