This weeks’ topic for reflection is mental clarity and peace. With zazen we cultivate mental clarity and peace comes with it. Sitting upright, still, present and open, the mind calms and becomes clear and the body becomes peaceful. This is not a special mental and physical state but the natural order of mind.
Even though mental clarity and peace are natural they can be easily obscured. I heard a story on NPR this morning told by a man who experienced a traumatic event when he was a child. As a result he became very disturbed. His grandfather bought him a fishing pole and took him fishing once a week to help him find a new way of seeing his situation. After many months of fishing with his grandfather he was able to find a place of mental clarity and peace. He said now wherever he goes he brings along a fishing pole. There are many ways to practice and develop this way of being in the world.
When I was a plumber I would sometimes be under a house in a tight crawl space, become claustrophobic and begin to panic. Whenever this happened I would pause, close my eyes and simply breath in and out to return to being alright. I could then focus on the plumbing I was working on and not on the tight scary crawlspace a million miles from safety. I could return to mental clarity and peace.
When life gets crazy and we have difficulty coping it’s so helpful to access mental clarity and peace. The first step is noticing we’re having difficulty coping. There might be a feeling things are out of control in a bad way. If this is a temporary event and feeling we could simply pause, take a few breaths and relax a bit. With patience the feeling and thoughts will pass. If it seems to not be temporary it’s helpful to remember we are not alone. Being human everyone experiences this in one way or another, from time time. Reach out to good friends and mentors. Be kind to yourself.
It’s important to feel what you feel. Let it be. Try to experience it with kindness. The problem is not the feeling itself but the idea that there is not enough room for it. If you can, as much as you can see the experience or feeling as it is. Usually there is a tightness somewhere in the body, a tightness in thinking. Is there anger or fear. If so, how are you experiencing it. Be curious.
Mental clarity ultimately involves letting go into not knowing. Opening up to what is unfiltered, without point of view. Not knowing is a wide open affirmation of life. The opposite of escape. As the Jan Arden lyric teaches us, “Facing forward, heart in hand, just be yourself. Just be yourself. Just be yourself.”
I enjoy being in the forest around our house. The forest is kind of a mess, like I am. The forest is always changing and different yet familiar. It’s comfortable in the process of life and death which gives me comfort. We breathe each others oxygen and carbon dioxide. The forest preaches the Dharma and I’m grateful to my friend. Where do you find clarity and peace? Where do you find refuge?
Please join us for morning Zoom zazen from 7:00 to 7:30 Tuesday and Thursday, in person zazen at the McNail Riley House in Eugene Saturday morning from 9:00 to 11:00 and Sunday morning Zoom zazen and discussion of the topic for reflection blog from 8:00 to 9:00 Pacific Time. Here’s the Zoom link:
Meeting ID: 811 6100 3357
Passcode: 278259
Gassho,
Futai
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