One of the key lessons of Buddhist philosophy is that experiencing a deep abiding inner peace is always within our grasp, irrespective of our external circumstances.
But how can this be? How, when face-to-face with loss, illness, conflict, pain, failure, disgrace, or any of life’s many vicissitudes, is inner peace even remotely attainable?
How? By abandoning all resistance to what IS.
To resist what already is, to resist reality, is insanity. Why so? Because not only does it contribute nothing toward a solution, it just makes matters worse by manifesting psychological suffering, for you and those unfortunate enough to be within fallout range of your futile, soul-sapping resistance to life.
The alternative? Accept, then respond (or do nothing, as wisdom dictates).
To be mindful is to accept, with equanimity, whatever life presents, all of it, the good and the bad. Indeed, the mere labeling of a situation as bad is, in itself, to be in a state of non-acceptance.
Through mindfulness practice we nurture the wisdom, courage, and fortitude to sit in the middle of life’s messiness and be okay with it all.
We don’t have to like it, but we accept it for what it is – just life.
Peace is This Moment Without Judgment
“Do you think peace requires an end to war? Or tigers eating only vegetables?
Does peace require an absence from your boss, your spouse, yourself?
Do you think peace will come from some other place than here? Some other time than Now? In some other heart than yours?
Peace is this moment without judgment. That is all. This moment in the Heart-space where everything is welcome.
Peace is this moment without thinking that it should be some other way, that you should feel some other thing, that your life should unfold according to your plans.
Peace is this moment without judgment, this moment in the Heart-space where everything that is, is welcome.”
Dorothy Hunt, founder of the San Francisco Centre for Meditation and Psychotherapy
The Peace of Wild Things
“When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound, in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of the wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting for their light.
For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”
Wendell Berry, “The Peace of Wild Things and Other Poems“
Only Now!
“What happens when we live open to this very moment, this very breath, this very experience, whether it is something the mind considers pleasant or unpleasant?
What happens when we let all things be what they are Now? The mind cannot possibly understand how there could be peace if the moment is not peaceful, but the peace we truly are is Only This! Only Now!
The great liberation that comes from living Now costs something. It costs us our desire to live “then” or “when”.
At some point, there is a choice made – to live the truth of this moment rather than try to move away or move beyond; a choice to let this moment be what it is rather than refusing it.”
Dorothy Hunt, excerpted from “Only This! – Poems and Reflections“
Warmest wishes,
Rob @ Living a Mindful Life
Reading this leaves me with a serene sense of calmness. As I sit in my warm room, neither hungry nor worried I can’t help but ask myself, if tomorrow I were diagnosed with a life threating disease could I find peace by practicing mindfulness? A book, No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler survives a fourth-stage terminal cancer not by doing nothing but by fighting back. Her desire to live out-powered her fear, gave her the energy to resist conventional evidence by the experts in the medical field. It is an interesting concept and I wish I knew the answer.
Thank you for your thoughts on this important matter Marjorie. My own take is that a dedicated (read ‘daily’!) mindfulness practice would indeed provide us with the requisite mind-training ahead of time to be able to accept with equanimity such a tragic situation. So prepared, we are then in a position to respond in a reasoned, considered manner rather than with a mind scattered, frightened, and anxious, an unhelpful combination that impedes our ability to make sound decisions. I find it interesting that the ancient Stoics suggested we regularly contemplate such tragedies in order to mentally prepare ourselves ahead of time should the worst actually occur. This strikes me as a prudent, albeit somewhat depressing, practice!
Always so wise…thank you Rob
Thank you for those kind words Bruce.
Rob, so true. If there is one thing this pandemic is teaching us, it’s how to accept changes, disappointments and disruptions to our plans, accept whatever is and live in the moment.
I was in TO visiting my sister last week. She was preparing to host her daughter and grandchildren arriving from Seattle for 10 days. I was there when she received the news they were not coming due to Covid. Her grief spilled out in 10 minutes of crying and then she said. “I must accept this and find other sources of joy” Soooo hard😥
Thank you for that touching story Jennifer. Yes, that would have been heartbreaking indeed as your sister surely would have been looking forward to their arrival for weeks if not months ahead of time. And to make matters worse, a near-term rescheduling is likely not in the cards. However, her mindful response is most heartening to hear!