Whenever I ask people : How are you? Often the reply is “I am busy” or “I am crazy busy”. Very rarely do I hear “I am fine”, “I do a lot of things that I enjoy”. Neither do I see people trying to figure out why they are so busy and saying “I am …
It is hard to come by a person who has not experienced moments when they are swallowed up by a vacuum within themselves and in their lives. For many, these moments are fleeting. But some of us have a sense of meaninglessness deeply entrenched in our lives. The questions What am I doing here?, What is …
WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I FIND LIFE TO BE MEANINGLESS? Read More »
Think about the guy who checks his facebook, twitter and instagram accounts countless times in a day, to remain “updated”; or the girl who attends 3 parties on a Saturday night so that she doesn’t miss out on the awesome time that everyone else will have.
Today, a lot of people find themselves flitting from one event to the other, picking one novel opportunity after the other, not wanting to miss out on anything.
At times that’s all you need to do.
Pause is a way of nature, it’s part of the natural flow of life. After every breath you take in and let out – you pause, after every word you say you pause. In fact everything that seems like a seamless continuation is actually filled with numerous small pauses, coming together harmoniously to make us feel that everything is in continuity. The reel of a film has individual shots, each shot separate from the other. Our very cells have spaces – pauses – between them. Have u ever felt the need for this pause, this space?
Your alarm goes “trrrrrrrrrring” in the morning and your eyes are almost sealed shut.
Snooze.
Yet again “trrrrrrring”
Squirms, sighs, irritation.
You wake up to yet another day. Or yet another time-table? Let me narrate some more. Every hour of your day is like a timed, one-minute game. It’s all about speed, efficiency and energy and you are constantly feeling overworked.
I’ve been running behind time for some time now. There’s always a lot to do and just not enough time to do all of it. What does one do then? We compromise. Do the “important” things first, and let the things that can wait, wait. More often than not, the things we keep postponing include the movie with family, the coffee with friends, the yoga class the doctor has recommended a 100 times or your favorite guitar, which now longs for your touch.
Our lives today are full of noise – auditory, visual, tactile, cognitive etc. From honking cars, to bright neon billboards, uncomfortably tight clothing to endless worries, there is an overload of stimulus input from all these modalities. This understandably overworks and gradually exhausts our sense organs, our mind, our body and our very nerves.
We specialize in combining psychotherapy with deep wellness practices like mindfulness and meditation and creating a customized mental health plan for individuals and organisations.
We specialize in combining psychotherapy with deep wellness practices like mindfulness and meditation and creating a customized mental health plan for individuals and organisations.
A young woman from another country moved with her family to live for one year in a town near the monastery. When, in the course of the year she discovered the monastery, she would periodically visit to have discussions with the Abbess. The Abbess introduced her to meditation, which became very meaningful for the young woman.
When the family’s year-long stay was drawing to an end, the young woman asked the Abbess, “In my country there is no Buddhism and no one has even heard about meditation. How can I continue to learn and deepen the practice you have started me on?”
The Abbess said, “When you return home ask far and wide for who, among the wise people, is recognized as having the greatest ability to listen. Ask that person to instruct you in the art of listening. What you learn about listening from such a person will teach you how to further your meditation practice.
― Gil Fronsdal, A Monastery Within: Tales from the Buddhist Path
