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On our journey in life, the most profound thing that we can offer others--partners, children, parents, friends, co-workers, bosses, neighbors--is our own healing and growth towards being a more loving person.
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 A famous Zen master is visited by a student seeking instructions in the way of Zen Buddhism. The master begins to discuss several topics of Buddhism like emptiness, mindfulness, and meditation. But the student interrupts the master, saying, “Oh, I already know that.” The master then invites the student to have some tea. When the tea is ready, the master pours the tea into a teacup, filling it to the brim, spilling tea over the sides of the cup and onto the table. The student exclaims, “Stop! You can’t pour tea into a full cup.” The master replies, “How true. Please return to me when your cup is empty.”
We need to have room in our teacups in order to discover, learn, and grow to experience beyond what we have already in our lives. Presence, awe and wonder can challenge or expand our thinking—allowing us to see beyond what we see on the surface or what our daily habit has become. Mindfulness is creating awareness and space in our lives to be present to our surroundings, the people that we interact with and our own emotions and feelings. Making space to be mindful allows us to pay attention to how God and goodness is present in our lives instead of feeling overwhelmed with events of the past, being self-critical or judgmental towards ourselves or others, or stressing about the future. As part of a training, I participated in a 40 day Mindfulness Daily practice. I was amazed at how committing to spend 15 minutes in a guided daily practice could help me to find greater inner peace and recognize the emotions and feelings that I didn't notice during my busy day. During that short time, I could connect with an amazing river of emotions and feelings and with the words in Psalms 139, "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. ” I encourage you to check out this free resource with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach and give mindfulness a place in your daily life. jackkornfield.com/product/mindfulness-daily/ Comments are closed.
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