Sunday musings
As is often my habit, this morning I listened to the NPR program On Being with host Krista Tippett. The podcast was the July 16, 2015 interview with Mairabai Bush entitled “Search Inside Yourself: Contemplation in Life and Work” Mirabai Bush co-founded the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. She is also the author, with Ram Dass, of Compassion in Action; Setting Out on the Path of Service.
Oxforddictionary. Com defines contemplate as:
1.1 Think about
1.2 Think profoundly and at length; meditate
1.3 Have in mind as a probable though not certain intention
Mrs. Bush talked in the interview about The Tree of Contemplative Practices the Center she co-founded created. If one googles this one learns: “The Tree illustrates some of the contemplative practices currently in use in secular organizational and academic settings. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list. Below the Tree you will find links to descriptions of many of these practices as well as a more in-depth description of the Tree and image files for downloading.”
I was reminded that contemplation is an approach to showing up or being present no matter what the situation or setting. Most of us are not able to spend hours or even many minutes being quiet and contemplating our spiritual goals – who we want to be today in the various spaces in which we find ourselves. We are busy living our lives: taking care of our families, working to earn a paycheck, doing maintenance chores of paying bills, keeping the car serviced, attempting to be a good neighbor and citizen, and dealing with loss or other disappointments. There is seemingly a never ending list of tasks which can easily leave us exhausted and feeling lost. Mrs. Bush is acutely aware that if we are going to practice contemplation it has to happen in the so-called secular world of our everyday existence. Whether it is with those men and women fighting the wars which certain of our peers decide is necessary, with those working in creative worlds such as Google, parenting that adult child who is addicted which is a different task that caring for a healthy one-year-old, working on an assembly line, working as a judge, or working as a mental health counselor, the practice of contemplation has to be practical in the midst of life. Ms. Tippett, the host of On Being sometimes can only manage to devote six minutes of contemplative time while her tea is steeping in the morning. Even that may be interrupted.
My experience is that even when I am doing my best to be intentional about showing up in a way which is consistent with my primary spiritual goal to love unconditionally, I am busy attempting to figure what it means to love unconditionally. Perhaps I am talking to the parents of a 26 or 27-year old alcoholic who just want to “catch a break” in the seemingly never ending cycle of helping their son while he simultaneously finds a new way to sabotage his life and their efforts. To say to them, “Don’t take this personally and do not react with anger.” does not help them decide if they should help more or less or what it means to honor his journey when his addicted mind is not working. I cannot know what it is like to watch this young man who just the other day was that beautiful baby they brought home from the hospital. At age 27, he step-by-step is being destroyed by this terrible disease. Perhaps I am attempting to respond to another young man who is heart-broken and frightened of being alone since his girlfriend of three years ended the relationship. Perhaps I am talking to a single parent who attempts to be a responsible, creative and loving parent in addition to working the night shift. This leaves her exhausted She is also possibly living with fibromyalgia. Perhaps I am attempting to make a responsible decision about making a new home and home office while being acutely aware of the extent to which I have become attached to central air, a dishwasher and other conveniences which now feel like necessities. A part of me at the very same time is aware of the people left homeless because of war, poverty, natural events such as floods, hurricanes, and fires. My attachment to these things and the money it takes to procure them instead of contributing more to others who are barely surviving contradicts my professed desire to be more spiritual. I would, of course, advise others “to just notice this fact without judging.”
I might now again notice that the most I can manage is to be aware of taking a breath and smiling. In a minute I am again reminded by some voice which surely does not come from me, a voice that reminds me I don’t need answers or purity or even the “right” questions. I don’t need to find the perfect spiritual advice for those parents, that single mother, the new widow with young children, or the soldier. As Ms. Bush and many others remind us is that perhaps overused and seemingly trite L word - love – is enough. Of course one could now contemplate the “deep’ meaning of the L word! Oh my! I smile.
Written September 4, 2016
As is often my habit, this morning I listened to the NPR program On Being with host Krista Tippett. The podcast was the July 16, 2015 interview with Mairabai Bush entitled “Search Inside Yourself: Contemplation in Life and Work” Mirabai Bush co-founded the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. She is also the author, with Ram Dass, of Compassion in Action; Setting Out on the Path of Service.
Oxforddictionary. Com defines contemplate as:
1.1 Think about
1.2 Think profoundly and at length; meditate
1.3 Have in mind as a probable though not certain intention
Mrs. Bush talked in the interview about The Tree of Contemplative Practices the Center she co-founded created. If one googles this one learns: “The Tree illustrates some of the contemplative practices currently in use in secular organizational and academic settings. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list. Below the Tree you will find links to descriptions of many of these practices as well as a more in-depth description of the Tree and image files for downloading.”
I was reminded that contemplation is an approach to showing up or being present no matter what the situation or setting. Most of us are not able to spend hours or even many minutes being quiet and contemplating our spiritual goals – who we want to be today in the various spaces in which we find ourselves. We are busy living our lives: taking care of our families, working to earn a paycheck, doing maintenance chores of paying bills, keeping the car serviced, attempting to be a good neighbor and citizen, and dealing with loss or other disappointments. There is seemingly a never ending list of tasks which can easily leave us exhausted and feeling lost. Mrs. Bush is acutely aware that if we are going to practice contemplation it has to happen in the so-called secular world of our everyday existence. Whether it is with those men and women fighting the wars which certain of our peers decide is necessary, with those working in creative worlds such as Google, parenting that adult child who is addicted which is a different task that caring for a healthy one-year-old, working on an assembly line, working as a judge, or working as a mental health counselor, the practice of contemplation has to be practical in the midst of life. Ms. Tippett, the host of On Being sometimes can only manage to devote six minutes of contemplative time while her tea is steeping in the morning. Even that may be interrupted.
My experience is that even when I am doing my best to be intentional about showing up in a way which is consistent with my primary spiritual goal to love unconditionally, I am busy attempting to figure what it means to love unconditionally. Perhaps I am talking to the parents of a 26 or 27-year old alcoholic who just want to “catch a break” in the seemingly never ending cycle of helping their son while he simultaneously finds a new way to sabotage his life and their efforts. To say to them, “Don’t take this personally and do not react with anger.” does not help them decide if they should help more or less or what it means to honor his journey when his addicted mind is not working. I cannot know what it is like to watch this young man who just the other day was that beautiful baby they brought home from the hospital. At age 27, he step-by-step is being destroyed by this terrible disease. Perhaps I am attempting to respond to another young man who is heart-broken and frightened of being alone since his girlfriend of three years ended the relationship. Perhaps I am talking to a single parent who attempts to be a responsible, creative and loving parent in addition to working the night shift. This leaves her exhausted She is also possibly living with fibromyalgia. Perhaps I am attempting to make a responsible decision about making a new home and home office while being acutely aware of the extent to which I have become attached to central air, a dishwasher and other conveniences which now feel like necessities. A part of me at the very same time is aware of the people left homeless because of war, poverty, natural events such as floods, hurricanes, and fires. My attachment to these things and the money it takes to procure them instead of contributing more to others who are barely surviving contradicts my professed desire to be more spiritual. I would, of course, advise others “to just notice this fact without judging.”
I might now again notice that the most I can manage is to be aware of taking a breath and smiling. In a minute I am again reminded by some voice which surely does not come from me, a voice that reminds me I don’t need answers or purity or even the “right” questions. I don’t need to find the perfect spiritual advice for those parents, that single mother, the new widow with young children, or the soldier. As Ms. Bush and many others remind us is that perhaps overused and seemingly trite L word - love – is enough. Of course one could now contemplate the “deep’ meaning of the L word! Oh my! I smile.
Written September 4, 2016
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