Plunge Your Whole Life into What You Are Doing
“Just as when you sit in meditation you just sit, when you sleep, be aware of the totality of your whole being going to sleep. When walking, you just walk. When you eat, you are right there just eating. Plunge your whole life into what you are doing at that very moment and live that way. So, we train ourselves to engage our whole being in what we are doing. Whether sitting or eating, you are not engaged in discursive, wandering, or deluded thoughts. All of you—environment, body, and mind—is right there. Whatever you do, whatever the task at hand, your whole life is there at that moment.
Some people may interpret plunging your whole being into the practice or into the task at hand as a very tense approach. This is incorrect. By putting your whole being into whatever you are doing, you are also being relieved from doing anything else at that moment. Therefore, when you are doing that one thing, that is all you have to care about, and you can do it in a very relaxed manner and attitude. In this light, you will better understand the meaning of engaging your whole being in the present task. This is the relaxed and reposed attitude to practice.”
Excerpted from: The Method of No-Method: The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination by Chan Master Sheng Yen
Life has been good this week and I cannot complain too much… Worked Monday and Tuesday at the day job (night shift) and now I am off for a little bit and that is a good thing. Taking a little vacation with Janet. We both decided to do a road trip and use the new car. Should be fun. I will post pictures in the next Blog post to let you know how it is going or not… LOL
Well…. started to do a little bit of walking and running this past week. And it felt great to get out. I was happy that the injured hip did not seem to give me too much pain and I will continue to build back up slowly over the next couple of weeks. Thinking about this, I am wondering if I just pushed it too much with the Yoga while doing hip openers? I think that might be the original cause. Get a small muscle tear or micro tear that you really don’t feel much but then put some running on it… and voila’ you have a full tear? Funny it all comes down to moderation. Too much of this or that and not enough of something else and damn?! Your injured!
Soooooo, going forward I plan on this, one or two days, of a 9-day training cycle, do some Mountain Biking. Yoga only on 2 days during the training cycle and not every other day (like I was doing). And to gently ease back into harder running on trails. Sounds simple…. Right? Right? Ah… the best laid plans of mice and men!! LOL
Still bummed about missing the Dirty Thirty Ultra. But better early in the season than late. I really want to see if I can accomplish two distances this summer, first one is the 100k (July – Never Summer 100k) and the second is the 100 miler (September – Run Rabbit Run 100).
Love the quote that started today’s blog. It struck a cord with me these past few weeks. So hard to keep the mind focused. We have many, many distractions in this day and age. Especially living in a first world country. To be so fortunate, it presents incredible opportunities and if not managed correctly it can be a curse. One way to help with this is the practice of Mindfulness and Meditation. For about 5 years now I have been practicing both. And that is what it is – a practice. There is no endpoint. You don’t have to be Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, etc.…. To practice. Mindfulness meditation works with all religions and it works with no religion. It will over time improve the quality of your life. It has mine. So, I would feel remiss if I did not share this with you. If you are a little bit interested or even just a little curious one of the best books out there to get started is called “Mindfulness in Plain English” by Bhante Gunaratana. I have read it a couple of times now and that is saying a lot from me. Funny, here is a tradition that goes back 1000s of years and it is more relevant today than ever before. The link to Amazon is https://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-English-Bhante-Henepola-Gunaratana/dp/0861719069/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528561458&sr=8-1&keywords=mindfulness+in+plain+english&dpID=516m8PpEPYL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch
This book can help start you on a path that will or could, if you let it, change your life. No matter what walk of life you are from. No matter what your background might be. It only requires a small amount of time each day and a willingness to be patient. It is not a get-rich-quick scheme for life. But a slow, steady progression that with time is immensely rewarding. Have you ever wondered why there is a waiting list to get into a Buddhist Monastery or Nunnery? They give up all worldly possessions. They have nothing. Even your next meal is not guaranteed. And yet, there is a waiting list to get in! Now contrast that with a prison, three meals per day, TV, Radio, Reading material, Education, Health Care, Conjugal visits in some cases, etc.…. but no waiting list to get in?? LOL
From the book: “Meditation is called the Great Teacher. It is the cleansing crucible fire that works slowly but surely, through understanding. The greater your understanding, the more flexible and tolerant, the more compassionate you can be. You become like a perfect parent or an ideal teacher. You are ready to forgive and forget. You feel love toward others because you understand them, and you understand others because you have understood yourself. You have looked deeply inside and seen self-illusion and your own human failings, seen your own humanity and learned to forgive and to love. When you have learned compassion for yourself, compassion for others is automatic. An accomplished meditator has achieved a profound understanding of life, and he or she inevitably relates to the world with a deep and uncritical love.”
Well, with that thought, I think that is it for me this week. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Adios amigos!!