Mind III

In my previous post, I used this line:

Most of the time, we can’t force the mind to do our bidding. It seems to have a “mind of its own.”

In a recent practice with another group, it was suggested that bringing a benefactor or a caring moment to mind is an “interruption” of our habitual flow of thoughts and feelings. It is a way to “reset” the mind.

When we bring to mind a being or a moment that makes us happy to recall, it not only stops our current storyline in its tracks, but brings the mind back to the present moment with the caring qualities of that memory: loving kindness, compassion, acceptance, recognition of our shared being with others, etc. Then, when we return to our daily activity, even from a short ‘field of care break’, we come back to our relationships with the flavor of loving care and a bit more spaciousness to accept and include whatever arises.

Many of my teachers suggest that this should be our main practice off the cushion, in daily life. As often as we can, we can take a breath, recall our benefactors or the felt sense of the field of care, relax the mind and body, and rest in that space for just a few moments. Then we can return to our activity with a renewed sense of compassion, receptiveness, and responsiveness, repeating this break many times during the day as needed or as remembered.

It often helps, if you start an “off the cushion” practice like this, to use a trigger to remind you to engage with the field of care. It could be whenever you hear your phone ring or ding, pause and connect with that felt sense of loving kindness before picking it up. Perhaps it can be every time you step through a doorway, moving from one space to another, inside to outside. Or every time you are in your car waiting at one of those longer stop lights. Or, whenever you find yourself feeling restless or bored and needing to get up and do something different. Just take a field of care pause, release the sense of restlessness or boredom, relax the mind and body, and drop into the felt sense of the field of care, even for a few seconds, before you actually move.

Well, you get the idea. Perhaps you are doing this already in some ways in your life. If so, please continue to make it a regular part of each day.