Water in the Cracks

[Seph]

Through my continuing practice of meditation - really, it's more my practice of mindfulness - I've come to see that

 

- my mind wants to worry -

 

(I know there are a number of implications to this statement. It sounds as if my mind has a will of its own! I also wonder if this could be some sort of variation of the monkey mind?)

 

No sooner than I get over one worry or it resolves itself, I find another. There's no reprieve.

I've got to resolve this.

~ ~ ~

"The highest form of goodness is like water"

Tao Teh Ching, Verse 8

~ ~ ~

I think the answer is to Meet my worry mind like water

...but what is water like?

 

"Water is fluid, soft and yielding... Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness

- Lao Tzu

It can find itself into the smallest nooks and crannies; it deeply penetrates something; contracting and expanding; irreparably breaking it open.

"Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through

persistence

"

- Ovid

Water benefits, it doesn't compete.

It pools in the lowest places, and like hope, can always be found in the seemingly lowliest, darkest, and loneliest of times.

 

So... what does it mean to meet my worrying mind like water?

 

~ ~ ~

 

Meditation is like water.

It slowly penetrates and seeps into the road. It ever so slowly, persistently, freezes and thaws; contracts and expands, until the road is littered with potholes, exposed and broken. So too does meditation do this to the hidden and inner workings of the mind. It may not be a quick process, but it's an unstoppable one. Patience. Persistence.

 

I only hope my patience and persistence continues.

Edited November 23, 2013 by Seph

[cheya]

Hi Seph

 

Many years ago I had a long run in with Worry, where I would wake up in the middle of the night and start worrying. I'd worry on one topic after another, and it felt like a bull dog knawing on a pile of bones! Then in the morning I would be astonished that I was so worried about those things. I finally turned that bull dog into a funny little goblin monster, named him my "Worry Ogre" and started laughing at the whole process. That helped a lot. Not much later I had my first appt with a wonderful five phase acupuncturist, who showed me that I had a huge imbalance in the earth element, which predisposed me to worry. After just the first appt, the worry ogre went on vacation and has seldom showed up since. When he does, I know I need to check in on my elemental balance.

 

Once you understand the way the five elements work, you can adjust food choices, activity, and sleep to rebalance them. It's a wonderful thing to know to stay balanced.

 

Also, in five phase theory, the earth element controls the water element, so I think you're on the right track, but get some help and make it easier on yourself!

[Rara]

Through my continuing practice of meditation - really, it's more my practice of mindfulness - I've come to see that

 

 

- my mind wants to worry -

(I know there are a number of implications to this statement. It sounds as if my mind has a will of its own! I also wonder if this could be some sort of variation of the monkey mind?)

 

No sooner than I get over one worry or it resolves itself, I find another. There's no reprieve.

I've got to resolve this.

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

I think the answer is to Meet my worry mind like water

...but what is water like?

 

It can find itself into the smallest nooks and crannies; it deeply penetrates something; contracting and expanding; irreparably breaking it open.

Water benefits, it doesn't compete.

It pools in the lowest places, and like hope, can always be found in the seemingly lowliest, darkest, and loneliest of times.

 

So... what does it mean to meet my worrying mind like water?

 

~ ~ ~

 

Meditation is like water.

It slowly penetrates and seeps into the road. It ever so slowly, persistently, freezes and thaws; contracts and expands, until the road is littered with potholes, exposed and broken. So too does meditation do this to the hidden and inner workings of the mind. It may not be a quick process, but it's an unstoppable one. Patience. Persistence.

 

I only hope my patience and persistence continues.

I'm right here with you on this. I keep falling yet getting back up. I am getting a bit sick of it though!

[PLB]

I think of worry as a fire that is always burning. I cannot extinguish it. I can, however, choose not to throw certain things into it.

 

The enormous self sufficiency of the fire is helpful in one way. The compulsion doesn't need me to make it happen so I am not the compulsion. This little bit of unidentification has yielded many benefits. It gives me a little bit of time to act in a different better way.

 

When I think of the idea of tai chi coming from wuji, it seems to me that the "undifferentiated" includes everthing, including that self igninting fire. If I exclude it, then there is a difference before I start.