Living in Mindful Space

We are what we Feel and Perceive

If we are Angry, we are the Anger

If we are in Love, we are the Love

If we look at a Snowy Mountain Peak,

we are the Snowy Mountain Peak

While Dreaming, we are the Dream

                                 -Thich Nhat Hanh

In Silence there is Clarity......It is Silence that enables the possibility of Clarity

Clarity brings with it responsibility, full responsibility for oneself. And he says most people are afraid to go there.

He speaks of a Smorgasbord of Stimuli.  Having plenty of stimuli makes it easy for us to distract ourselves from what we're feeling. But when there is silence, all these things present themselves clearly.

He talks of four kinds of stimuli: edible food; sense impressions; volition; and consciousness, individual and collective.

Edible food is the food we eat each day. 

Sense impressions are all the impressions we receive through our eyes, ears, tongue, body and mind.
Volition is your will, your concern, your desire. This is food because it 'feeds' your decisions, your actions and your movements. 

Consciousness is the way your mind feeds your thoughts and actions. It also includes collective consciousness and how it affects you.

All of these can be nourishing .....or toxic and that's where it's a choice, and choice comes out of clarity. Awareness is the key to our protection. We can be anything we want even without a magic wand.

With that little poem of four lines, he brings out so beautifully how all the sensory things we allow, are us. When we are enjoying a good book, it is us. When we watch a bad tv program, it is also us. 

The more things you do consciously, and the more you surround yourself with things, actions, people who are a positive influence on you, the more positive your space.

It's like eating sattvic food as against eating junk food. We know which is good for us and which not. Which can give us temporary highs, and which more damaging. We surely leave out the toxic foods.....so why not all the toxins in life. 

An example he gives: Conversation is also sensory food.... if you talk to a person who is full of need, envy or bitterness, it drains you of that much energy, because you absorb that persons energy of despair.

There are miracles in the world outside. Open your windows to those miracles, and while seeking them out, continue to be aware of yourself and your breathing. We rarely pay attention to our own desire. We act, but we don't have the space or quiet to act with intention. Without purpose, we are just drifting. 

We rarely offer ourselves the time and space to consider. Am I doing what I most want to be doing with my life? Do I even know what that is? The noise in our heads and all around us drowns out the 'still small voice' inside. We are too busy doing something, that we rarely take a moment to look deeply and check in with our deepest desires.

Volition is a tremendous source of energy.

Consciously choosing what and who you surround yourself with is among the keys to finding more space and joy.