Finding Sacred in the Ordinary
- Dilya Mavlanova
- June 25, 2021
- 12:27 pm
- No Comments
In our busy modern world, we can sometimes find that we run about our daily lives, scared to miss on something important or interesting. Looking for ways to get more excitement and extraordinary in our lives, we rush through the days, and sometimes months. This is indeed part of human nature, to seek ways of being, which are further away from pain and suffering. This may manifest as continually looking forward or backward, rather than living in the present moment; for example longing for the weekends, or by reminiscing about the last holiday break. There is nothing wrong in wanting to be happy; however, when we leave the present moment to be in the future or past we may miss out on our life.
The work week tends to be longer than weekends, holidays do not last long, moments with loved ones are quick-passing, entertainment is momentous. In the end, we find ourselves back into our daily mundane routines, going about life, trying to make sense of it.
“You might be tempted to avoid the messiness of daily living for the tranquillity of stillness and peacefulness. This of course would be an attachment to stillness, and like any strong attachment, it leads to delusion. It arrests development and short-circuits the cultivation of wisdom.”
― Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
If we can begin to experiment and make an effort to shift our attitude, from longing and reminiscing, to noticing what is special about each day, about each moment; we may find that each one of those carries something magical and special – the stillness of early mornings, the smell of freshly cut grass, the shine of sparkling clean dishes, the comfort of warm water in the shower, or the complexity of spices of your dinner meal. Once we teach our mind to notice those little things, we may find that our life becomes consistently joyous. We may find more safety and sacredness in the ordinary. Indeed, when it comes to those special days of holidays, or entertainment, our mind will already be fully wired to savour the moments as they are, and we may even enjoy those special occasions that little bit more.
“When it comes right down to it, wherever you go, there you are. Whatever you wind up doing, that’s what you’ve wound up doing. Whatever you are thinking about right now, that’s what’s on your mind.”
“Like it or not, this moment is all we really have to work with.”
– Quotes by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Follow these steps to learn how to find sacred and magical in every moment of your life…
(1) Find an activity that you do on a daily basis and commit to be fully present with this activity for at least 2 weeks. It could be washing dishes, walking the dogs, having a shower, etc.
(2) Explore all the senses that are available to you in the period of doing this activity. For example, washing the dishes, notice the temperature of the water, the scent of the washing up liquid, the sound of washing, the movements of your hands and body.
(3) Observe your breath during that activity. Do you constrict it from time to time? Do you allow for a natural flow of breath?
(4) Each time you do it, find one thing that feels pleasant, beautiful, and worth to be grateful for.
In following these small steps every day, you can consciously change the neuro-pathways in your brain that have labelled those activities as boring or unpleasant, or not worth noticing, and instead create new pathways that identify these experiences as pleasurable. By becoming mindful we are allowing ourselves to be fully in tune with the moment. Our life is full of those moments, and if in all of those we find something special, we can create the life of equanimity and joy.
———————————————
You Reading This, Be Ready – by William Stafford
Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?
Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?
When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life–
What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?
–
