Quiet and Still.
- clearstreamzendo
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Quiet stillness is this week’s topic for reflection. If there is a goal, this would be the goal of zazen meditation. Allow the mind to become quiet and the body to become still. Sitting upright in a balanced posture, being aware of or relaxing into natural breathing is a good way of becoming still. One way to quiet the mind is to patiently observe the breath, in and out. With practice the fascination with thinking calms and recedes, allowing a return to quiet openness. This sitting is clear, awake, spacious and curious.
This quiet stillness might be unreachable if you’re upset and bothered. Perhaps the best you can do in the moment is to pause and not act out the anger or upset. Just feel the upset in your body and thoughts. Later on when things calm down return and reflect on why you were triggered in this way. The answer is somewhere inside of you, waiting to be uncovered and discovered.
Notice where you’re holding any tightness in your body. Perhaps your breath is shallow and restricted. Your face, eyes, mouth or throat might be tight. See if you are able to relax them and be more at ease. Return to being present and let go of the stream of thought that is distracting you. Relax and be more open to your actual experience.
Quiet stillness is what is found when we return to our core. It is open and alive, honest to the way things actually are. Hidden feelings are revealed along with memories pushed deep into the memory of the body. Sitting in quiet stillness is awake and curious. Forgotten memories come back like dreams, rich and vivid. Fear of these memories is what gives them power and control over us. Open curiosity brings them out into the open where they can be seen and befriended. Made friends with and owned, they loose their power over us.
Practice being quiet and still in the midst of activity. Try this while eating a simple meal at home. Take your time and eat each bite mindfully. Taste it and feel it as completely as you can. Do this without judgment as if you’re doing it for the first time. Doing the active meditation of simple eating along with sitting meditation will increase your capacity to be quiet mentally and still or patient physically. You will also become more spacious, alert and curious. Reactivity will become less strong and the ability be to patient in difficult situations will increase. This is a practice of being more fully alive and human.
Please join us for morning Zoom zazen from 7:00 to 7:30 Tuesday and Thursday, 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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