Oakville Zen Meditation
The perfect CRYSTAL BALL
The human mind is the greatest crystal ball. It has no match.
Besides mandatory planning such as our social and professional activities, our mind is in dreaming states most of the time, wandering mostly in the fictional future, sometimes in the fictional past, and very seldom in the existing present moment, the one in which we are alive.
Being in the future and in the past is the default thinking mode of our mind because our mind loves to dream. Zen calls us “Day sleepwalkers”.
Our mind is continuously creating virtual movies in which we play different roles in different scenarios and outcomes created by our expectations but also our worries.
What Zen is advising?
The ultimate goal in Zen Buddhism philosophy and way of life is to achieve equanimity, serenity, and eventually Awakening, besides being free from attachments, is to experience life as it is in its present moment, the only one in which we are alive. Spiritual Awakening is word-for-word the opposite of Daydreaming.
Therefore:
Withdraw from your daydreaming states as often as possible, and pay more attention to the present moment regardless of its content. In other words, bring your mind to where your body is and what it is doing even if this moment is not as appealing as our mind-made virtual one.
In Zen, we say: “ When you drink a cup of tea, just drink a cup of tea”, that is paying attention to what you are doing in the current moment and not having the mind elsewhere doing something else.
Don’t get me wrong:
Planning, dreaming, expecting, and worrying are perfectly okay as long as we are mindful of the fact that:
The fictional future is, by definition, unpredictable.
Therefore:
Minimize your emotional attachments to the future outcomes that you are creating based on your expectations, and worries. They may or may not come because:
Nothing is under our control, absolutely nothing. Everything is transient that is what exists now such as people, events, and situations, that may not exist the next day, week such as
When you are applying this approach you will discover a greater sense of peace if not serenity.
Thanks.
