Hello Everyone,
Thinking of all of you, as we are faced with another challenge, the devastating situation of the invasion of Ukraine. You may, like me, have felt overwhelmed by shock, grief and a sense of helplessness. In a broader sense, we are looking at what the Buddhists call Samsara - the impermanence, continual change, the ups and downs of life. How Winston Churchill defined History, "one damned thing after another!"
This is where Mindfulness earns its keep. Does it have anything to offer when the rubber really and truly meets the road?
This week we have witnessed the suffering brought about by greed, ego-inflation, absence of conscience, heartless aggression and the interface between power and mental illness.
We have seen the actions of a single individual, abusing the power of the armed forces entrusted to him by the Russian people, to pursue a personal agenda of seizing and ravaging the home of his neighbours. Just because he can. Just because he wants to. The giant land mass of Russia isn't enough for him. Of course it's despicable, shameless and cruel.
Each of us will have our own experience of this situation - shock and outrage, sadness, disappointment and fear, with a chilling sense of deja vu, and for many of us, it's sheer heartbreak.
What can we do? How can we handle this, and for that matter, what can we do whenever we are faced with a painful dilemma in our external environment, one that may be despicable, shameless and even cruel?
What do we do with the aching wish to change the situation, to help the Ukrainian, and for that matter, the Russian people as well?
Does Mindfulness offer us anything we can use? Yes, it does.
First of all, we turn to our inner landscape. This is where we actually. experience our thoughts and feelings regarding a situation. Outer events continually occur, but where we live them is in our own personal mind and heart.
This is Job One - to take care of our personal mind and heart.
It is to re-instate Peace, Strength, Openness and Freedom in our mind, our heart and our soul. No one else has control over our inner space but ourselves.
This is where we can a tap the healing mechanisms of our body and mind as well.
The first thing to do in any challenging situation, is to Pause. To Let Go. To see the space that exists between the situation and ourselves. To see the gap that exists between stimulus and response.
To Pause..... to see that there is space.
Space where we are free to make a choice.
There is a space where we can choose how we want to handle a situation, to consider what the most effective action might be and to access Wisdom. To allow our innate intelligence to arise and to know what the situation, as well as our own mind and body need and to provide it.
A remarkable insight is that we don't have to experience strong emotions and racing thoughts to know that we care, or that something really matters. We often interpret the extent of our own, or others' genuine caring by how upset and overwhelmed we become. In fact, we can clearly know how much we care and how much we want to help from our heart and soul, without the additional weakening of our mind and body through emotional and mental distress. This may be a very different perspective for you on painful emotions and racing thoughts.
To Pause..... to see the space between the external situation and our cognitive and emotional response, And we're always interested in widening that gap - broadening that space in which we are free. Continually expanding to the point where that space of true openness and freedom has more and more place in how we experience and choose to live our lives.
That's what Mindfulness - or any meditation or contemplative practice is. It's taking a break, taking that pause, and enjoying the beautiful peace that arises in that stillness. Taking some time each day, even 5 or 10 minutes, to focus on that space, allow it to open, to the point that it transforms the ease with which we live all of our life. It manifests as greater peace, clarity, resilience, warmth, energy and creativity.
Having done that, now we are ready to look at the situation. Whether it's a personal issue or in this case, a question of what can I do to help the people in Ukraine. We cannot, as I am sure many Polish families are at this moment, offer a place to sleep, to shower and have a warm meal. We can't close the gates to the country and tell aggressive predators to get out and go home. None of us had the power to enter Ukraine into the NATO Alliance, which would have protected it and secured the region. We are very limited on a physical level - but we have no limits on a spiritual level. We can hold an entire country and 44 million people in our hearts. There, we can have a great impact. Never underestimate spiritual power, which we can get better and better at using!
Here is a Mindful practice you can begin with:
With your peace, strength, optimism and love, sit quietly and visualize the country and the people, of all ages, and very gently from your heart, extend the following wishes:
May you be Peaceful
May you be Safe
May you experience Happiness
and the causes of Happiness
And don't forget yourself! To ensure your own Peace and Well-being, gently extend toward yourself:
May I be Happy
May I be Peaceful
May i be Free From Suffering
and the causes of Suffering
Repeat these as many times as you wish. Extend the wishes toward yourself until you feel the shift.
You can set aside some time each day for your practice for Ukraine and for others you may also wish to include. Even during the day when it comes to mind, you can extend your Blessings!
You could practice for a day, a week etc. then see what changes you notice in yourself. Know that these effects are also experienced by everyone in your sphere of love and care.
We all know the story of David and Goliath from the Bible. And we know how that turned out! The last chapter has not been written, particularly with the character, courage and determination of the Ukrainian people.
Wishing you much Peace, Love and Happiness on this Wonderful Journey for us all.
Warmest Wishes,
💙💛 🇺🇦 💛💙
Lynda
Thinking of all of you, as we are faced with another challenge, the devastating situation of the invasion of Ukraine. You may, like me, have felt overwhelmed by shock, grief and a sense of helplessness. In a broader sense, we are looking at what the Buddhists call Samsara - the impermanence, continual change, the ups and downs of life. How Winston Churchill defined History, "one damned thing after another!"
This is where Mindfulness earns its keep. Does it have anything to offer when the rubber really and truly meets the road?
This week we have witnessed the suffering brought about by greed, ego-inflation, absence of conscience, heartless aggression and the interface between power and mental illness.
We have seen the actions of a single individual, abusing the power of the armed forces entrusted to him by the Russian people, to pursue a personal agenda of seizing and ravaging the home of his neighbours. Just because he can. Just because he wants to. The giant land mass of Russia isn't enough for him. Of course it's despicable, shameless and cruel.
Each of us will have our own experience of this situation - shock and outrage, sadness, disappointment and fear, with a chilling sense of deja vu, and for many of us, it's sheer heartbreak.
What can we do? How can we handle this, and for that matter, what can we do whenever we are faced with a painful dilemma in our external environment, one that may be despicable, shameless and even cruel?
What do we do with the aching wish to change the situation, to help the Ukrainian, and for that matter, the Russian people as well?
Does Mindfulness offer us anything we can use? Yes, it does.
First of all, we turn to our inner landscape. This is where we actually. experience our thoughts and feelings regarding a situation. Outer events continually occur, but where we live them is in our own personal mind and heart.
This is Job One - to take care of our personal mind and heart.
It is to re-instate Peace, Strength, Openness and Freedom in our mind, our heart and our soul. No one else has control over our inner space but ourselves.
This is where we can a tap the healing mechanisms of our body and mind as well.
The first thing to do in any challenging situation, is to Pause. To Let Go. To see the space that exists between the situation and ourselves. To see the gap that exists between stimulus and response.
To Pause..... to see that there is space.
Space where we are free to make a choice.
There is a space where we can choose how we want to handle a situation, to consider what the most effective action might be and to access Wisdom. To allow our innate intelligence to arise and to know what the situation, as well as our own mind and body need and to provide it.
A remarkable insight is that we don't have to experience strong emotions and racing thoughts to know that we care, or that something really matters. We often interpret the extent of our own, or others' genuine caring by how upset and overwhelmed we become. In fact, we can clearly know how much we care and how much we want to help from our heart and soul, without the additional weakening of our mind and body through emotional and mental distress. This may be a very different perspective for you on painful emotions and racing thoughts.
To Pause..... to see the space between the external situation and our cognitive and emotional response, And we're always interested in widening that gap - broadening that space in which we are free. Continually expanding to the point where that space of true openness and freedom has more and more place in how we experience and choose to live our lives.
That's what Mindfulness - or any meditation or contemplative practice is. It's taking a break, taking that pause, and enjoying the beautiful peace that arises in that stillness. Taking some time each day, even 5 or 10 minutes, to focus on that space, allow it to open, to the point that it transforms the ease with which we live all of our life. It manifests as greater peace, clarity, resilience, warmth, energy and creativity.
Having done that, now we are ready to look at the situation. Whether it's a personal issue or in this case, a question of what can I do to help the people in Ukraine. We cannot, as I am sure many Polish families are at this moment, offer a place to sleep, to shower and have a warm meal. We can't close the gates to the country and tell aggressive predators to get out and go home. None of us had the power to enter Ukraine into the NATO Alliance, which would have protected it and secured the region. We are very limited on a physical level - but we have no limits on a spiritual level. We can hold an entire country and 44 million people in our hearts. There, we can have a great impact. Never underestimate spiritual power, which we can get better and better at using!
Here is a Mindful practice you can begin with:
With your peace, strength, optimism and love, sit quietly and visualize the country and the people, of all ages, and very gently from your heart, extend the following wishes:
May you be Peaceful
May you be Safe
May you experience Happiness
and the causes of Happiness
And don't forget yourself! To ensure your own Peace and Well-being, gently extend toward yourself:
May I be Happy
May I be Peaceful
May i be Free From Suffering
and the causes of Suffering
Repeat these as many times as you wish. Extend the wishes toward yourself until you feel the shift.
You can set aside some time each day for your practice for Ukraine and for others you may also wish to include. Even during the day when it comes to mind, you can extend your Blessings!
You could practice for a day, a week etc. then see what changes you notice in yourself. Know that these effects are also experienced by everyone in your sphere of love and care.
We all know the story of David and Goliath from the Bible. And we know how that turned out! The last chapter has not been written, particularly with the character, courage and determination of the Ukrainian people.
Wishing you much Peace, Love and Happiness on this Wonderful Journey for us all.
Warmest Wishes,
💙💛 🇺🇦 💛💙
Lynda
