A shorter, one-step way to practice the Radical Acceptance that Tara Brach writes about is to respond to life's ups and downs with a simple "Welcome".
I find that when I welcome my experience, no matter how difficult, a tenderness is stirred inside toward myself, and toward life itself. I've expanded the "Welcome" by adding a gentle reminder to myself, "This too, is life." Life is precious, and all that I experience is affirmation that I am alive. When I welcome my experience, I welcome life.
The certainty of eventual death is something that I have always struggled with. By welcoming my experience as Life, I am present to my Existence. Perhaps a lifetime of being Present to Life will enable me someday to face Death with acceptance, too.
Showing posts with label mystery and paradox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mystery and paradox. Show all posts
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
coming together of opposites
I recently read in Ivan Richmond's book Silence and Noise: Growing Up Zen in America that the Zen Buddhist motion of bringing the palms of the hands together across the chest (as in prayer, or the yogic tradition of "namaste") is meant to symbolize two opposites becoming one. I like this, because even while I was a practicing evangelical Christian, I had a reverence for paradox and mystery as profound and beautiful--not puzzles that need to be solved or questions that are useful only once answered.
I am learning that within the thought life of Zen Buddhism is an ease with opposites. It seems to me that all great spiritual leaders who have stood the test of time also embraced paradox. If I can accept paradox, I begin to be able to see what is real.
My body is a good current example. I weigh more than I ever have, but I am also the most psychologically healthy with regard to my body, and I am implementing more physically and emotionally healthful habits than I ever have before. I am eating better, exercising well, and choosing to pursue health rather than a particular figure. I look one way; I feel another. I seem one way on the surface, but inside I am another.
Once I was able to name this seeming contradiction, I began to feel a greater peace about it. Richmond notes that the hand motion that symbolizes the coming together of opposites is called the "jewel-holding mudra". He writes, "We imagine that between our hands is a jewel. The jewel is enlightenment, because true enlightenment comes from seeing beyond the opposites."
I am learning that within the thought life of Zen Buddhism is an ease with opposites. It seems to me that all great spiritual leaders who have stood the test of time also embraced paradox. If I can accept paradox, I begin to be able to see what is real.
My body is a good current example. I weigh more than I ever have, but I am also the most psychologically healthy with regard to my body, and I am implementing more physically and emotionally healthful habits than I ever have before. I am eating better, exercising well, and choosing to pursue health rather than a particular figure. I look one way; I feel another. I seem one way on the surface, but inside I am another.
Once I was able to name this seeming contradiction, I began to feel a greater peace about it. Richmond notes that the hand motion that symbolizes the coming together of opposites is called the "jewel-holding mudra". He writes, "We imagine that between our hands is a jewel. The jewel is enlightenment, because true enlightenment comes from seeing beyond the opposites."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
