Available for Life
Meditation reminds us of the important distinction between being and doing, and a line often used in meditation chats is “We are human beings not human doings”, or even more precisely, “We are humans being.”
This reminder is an invitation to stop the list-checking, the chasing after, the “achievement”… to hop off of the hamster wheel, and to stop being en route to some moment other than this one.
But sometimes that invitation to “be” leaves us in a bit of limbo. It’s an unfamiliar place, and there can be a sense of “now what?”, or, ironically, “How do I do being?”
Phillip Moffitt, a vipassana meditation teacher, tweaks the language a bit. The invitation, as he phrases it, becomes “Can you be available?”
Just asking yourself that question and seeing what pops up for you can be an interesting experiment. Can you be available?…….
The logical next question becomes, “Available for what?”, and so the invitation is to ask oneself, “What could meditation help me be available for?”
You are best able to answer that for yourself as you move through your day, and as you take time for your practice, carrying the question around like a key and seeing what doors it might open.
Some options might include, being fully available for the smell of your morning coffee and the feel of the warm mug in your hands. Or available for the way the heart opens when you see or think of a friend or loved one. Or available for the insight that comes from being aware of the content of the thoughts that the mind generates (wow we can be hard on ourselves in our thinking!) Or available for the signals from the body that we need to get up and stretch and relax our jaw and do some shoulder rolls. Or available for the sense of needs-being-met when we slip into a warm fleece on a chilly fall morning. Or available for the fear that lies behind someone’s political view, or our own political view….
Available for the sense that we are all connected more than we are divided, that life is a state of flux and that we can flex and move with it; for the notion that this moment is enough if we pay attention and make ourselves available for it.
Inviting you to practice and explore being available this week. We'll be available for you nine times this week via conference call or Zoom, and our guided meditations are always available at www.CommunityMindfulnessProject.org and on Insight Timer.
May all beings everywhere, without exception, feel a deepening sense of being available for life,
Your CMP family
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