It seems I always learn
something from the experiences that my sons have and share with me. I try to listen closely to their tales. One son was going through Marine boot camp
and was on the training field for throwing grenades. Apparently there is a very specific protocol
to throwing grenades effectively. And
this is one of those specific times when “mindfulness” in training is
especially important. Just going through
the motions doesn't always work. More is
required. And this is what my son
suddenly realized as he was holding a live grenade. Without any further thought he heaved it out
and away with it culminating with an explosion in an area that was NOT
expected by the instructor who yelled, “Where the hell were you aiming?” To which he replied, “I wasn't aiming, sir. I just got rid of it.”
The mind is an amazing tool
in our lives. Unlike the body which
needs to be fed two or three times a day, the mind requires to be fed
constantly. We are continuously feeding
the mind information to analyze, evaluate, and judge. This leads some to believe that they can
“multi-task” efficiently. Recently I
heard of a driver who was driving with his knees and texting on two different
cell phones, simultaneously. What this
really reflects is a “racing mind”. Like
Star Trek, this is a mind going at warp speed and spinning out of control. Sometimes I refer to such thinking as NASCAR
thinking. Racing at 200 miles per hour
and going nowhere but in circles and processing the same tape loops over and
over. And we end up just lobbing
grenades everywhere with no known aim or direction.
There is a way out of the
box of the racing-mind. We can indeed
take noble control of our minds and slow it down. Vipassana meditation teaches how to do that
with breathe awareness. It helps us come
back to NOW and this moment in time and not to dwell in the future fears and
concerns. We can rehearse the future so
much that we lose this moment and change the human experience that we are so concerned
about being in control. In all our
mental contriving about what is going to happen next, we can stop the flow of
goodness already coming our way. Soon,
we are just lobbing grenades. Mark Twain
understood this toward the end of his life when he said;
“I have had many trying and
difficult problems in my life.
Most of which never
happened.”
Yesterday I had a doctor’s
appointment at 1 p.m. We arrived early
and left after 3 p.m. We started our
wait in the waiting room, then to one exam room and then shuttled to yet another
exam room. Along the way, we learned
that the lab work they wanted last week was not done. It seemed like someone was just lobbing
grenades since last Friday.
I find this is the best time to practice my breathe
awareness. It can be helpful. And when finally the visit
with the doctor came, our time proved worthwhile.
As my wife and I left the exam room, the doctor shook my hand and put
his hand on my shoulder and wished me goodness in his comments. That usually doesn't happen in my office
visits. I suspect practice of the now may well
have affected the visit verses having a racing mind after two hours of
waiting. Besides, who wants to be lobbing
grenades all day?
Whatever harm a foe may do
to foe,
or hater unto one he hates.
The ill-directed mind indeed
can do one greater harm.
Dhammapada 42
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