mindfulness

Is it this that we are longing for? In The Karamazov Brothers , the novel by Dostoevsky, the author lets one of the brothers tell the story of The Grand inquisitor;  It's long ago in Spain. the old man tells about when Jesus suddenly appears in Seville. The inquisitor sets Jesus in prison and says to him that people don't want the freedom that Jesus provides, they just want wonders, mysteries and authorizes to obey... The youngest brother, Alyosha, listens to this, as the very intellectual and skeptic Ivan tells the story. Ivan can't accept the earth as it is, with all this murders, even of children. When he walks away Alyosha sees that one of Ivan's shoulders hangs down a little... It is as Dostoevsky wants to tell that intellectual understanding is not enough. In the book Alyosha learns that it's necessary to love the earth as it is - even if it isn't logical acceptably But freedom in the heart is also necessary - Dostoevsky never learnt to like

If you live in a green and friendly place you can open the door to the balcony to be mindful. You can just sit, listen to the wind, looking at the leaves dancing and the birds flying. When the thoughts start to wander you just say "hello" to them and then "goodbye". The music is made by Brian Eno.

A chat with an oak... just near my home... you won't start to talk with trees if you become mindful. But you will be more aware of the nature around you. You will appreciate it more and try to be more in nature, alone or with other people - but try to be silent..  You will never feel alone if you are near a big tree, even if you don't speak to it.... her/he?

It is easy to forget - but you have to do your mindfulness regularly, otherwise it won't do no good. Try to find some space when you are in the here and now. You don't have to sit on a cushion, you can do it when you walk from the parking lot or from the bus. You can do it when you stand in a queue. Just relax and feel your breath. To be tense will not shorten the queue. Every evening I take a stroll on a path in a little forest near my house. I walk very slowly, I am aware of my steps and my breath, I am aware of the surroundings, the trees and the birds, sometimes a deer. I'm also aware of my thoughts, If they come I just listen to them and let the pass. Sometimes I invite my inner child, ask him how it is. He use to be very pleased in the forest. I sometimes stop, I look, smell and listen. If I have a camera I can take a photo or make a little film. That will sharpen my senses and strengthen the the presence. If I do that on a windy day, the leaves on the tre

Lost in memories and worries a shadow wandered through the forest the birds singing, the leaves dancing in the breeze but just above; a cloud so dark slowly moving like an umbrella I found a bench and laid down one leg over the other like a sheet the sun-rays laid down too until the cloud took them away a butterfly, the Queen! in the north so rare dancing just beside the cloud suddenly it sat om my knee the antennas bent towards my head I looked at her and she looked at me what did she see ? a shadow or a man or something in between? perhaps she thought I was a tree, her feet sensing; could she lay her caterpillars her? she moved away but suddenly I felt her on my forehead the tiny feats moving to keep the balance the wingtips trembling towards my thoughts suddenly the thoughts passed away I just sensed her dancing feet the wings spread towards the sun she took me back to the summer to the sound of the flies, the warm breeze to the the wo

It's true, we can just be satisfied for a short while. That's life and I suppose we have to accept it. Mick Jagger's wife recently died, quite young. It seems that she was one of us who tries to escape suffering. We all are, in some way or another trying to do it; with alcohol, sex, shopping, TV, food, -a lot of things can be used to avoid bad feelings. In a Buddhist retreat, some weeks ago, we where to asked to take part in a guided meditation that goes; I'm in the nature to get sick - I can't escape it. I'm in the nature to die - I can't escape it. The only things that will survive is my actions. Hard stuff. We usually tries to avoid thinking of these things. At least on a conscious level. But on a deeper level, we all now that it is true. So what will happen if we more often will be aware of these facts? I'm sure we will slow down a bit. Perhaps we will take a new decision about about our career. Is it really necessary to work so mu

I´m walking in the little forest nearby my home. It's a rainy day in May. But for a while the sun shines through the clouds and and I sit down on a bench. I'm leaning my face towards the light. When I open my eyes I see someone else who also is enjoying the warmth. In the grass just beside me is a blackbird, his chest towards the sun rays. When the clouds comes back, he starts to clean the feathers - but as soon the sun shines again he stops. It is as if he says to me-" hey listen, you and me are just the same,  both of us are longing for summer and warm weather." And as we have the same desires we sometime have to compete for the best place in the sun. At least if we are many creatures in the same area. The birds are not  so many, most of them leave the snowy winters for warmer places. And many of  them will not come back. But we are many, and we need a lot of space. We have been everywhere on the Earth. We have made religions to make us stronger a