I will follow Mick's thread offered last week. We focused on how we engage our mindfulness practice in the present moment. During this time of uncertainty, many of us are frustrated with the rigors of confinement and social distancing and also fearful of the unknown future. The calligraphy above hangs on my bedroom wall as a daily reminder that I can be free anywhere ‘if’ I can fully embody the practice of mindfulness. That can seem a pretty big ‘if’ at all times. It appears an even greater one during the challenge of the current pandemic and a national awakening to social injustices. Be free where you are is the transcript of Thich Nhat Hahn’s talk in 1999 to 120 inmates at the Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown, Maryland. On Monday night, we will call on excerpts of these teachings. Thay skillfully engaged with the tall order to teach people who are locked up in prison about ‘being free where they are’ when many were so full of anger, despair, regret and hopelessness.
Please consider these questions for our sharing time together:
How do you bring your mindfulness practice into your everyday life-- how do you ‘embody’ your practice?
How does your practice of mindfulness bring you freedom?
Which mindfulness practices support you to transform your seeds of anger, despair, regret, and hopelessness?
I look forward to being with you on Monday evening!
Blessings to all,
Mary
Excerpts from Be free where you are (Parallax Press 2002):
“For me, there is no happiness without freedom, and freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. I will share with you how we get greater freedom for ourselves. During the time that we sit, walk, eat, or work outside, we cultivate our freedom. Freedom is what we practice every day.
No matter how or where you find yourself, if you have freedom, you are happy. I have many friends who spent time in forced labor camps and because they knew how to practice, they did not suffer as greatly. In fact, they grew in their spiritual lives, for which I am very proud of them.
By freedom I mean freedom from afflictions, from anger, and from despair. If you have anger in you, you have to transform anger in order to get your freedom back. If there is despair in you, you need to recognize that energy and not allow it to overwhelm you. You have to practice in such a way that you transform the energy of despair and attain the freedom you deserve —the freedom from despair.
You can practice freedom every moment of your daily life. Every step you take can help you reclaim your freedom. Every breath you take can help you develop and cultivate your freedom. When you eat, eat as a free person. When you walk, walk as a free person. When you breathe, breathe as a free person. This is possible anywhere.
Everyone walks on the Earth, but there are those who walk like slaves, with no freedom at all. They are sucked in by the future or by the past, and they are not capable of dwelling in the here and now, where life is available. If we get caught up in our worries, our despair, our regrets about the past, and our fears of the future in our everyday lives, we are not free people. We are not capable of establishing ourselves in the here and now.
Our breath is like a bridge connecting our bodies and our minds. In our daily lives, our bodies may be in one place and our minds somewhere else—in the past or in the future. This is called a state of distraction. The breath is a connection between the body and the mind. When you begin to breathe in and out mindfully, your body will come back to your mind and your mind will go back to your body. You will be able to realize the oneness of body and mind and become fully present and fully alive in the here and now. You will be in a position to touch life deeply in the moment. This is not difficult. Everyone can do it.
The Art of Handling a Storm
When a storm comes, it stays for some time, and then it goes. An emotion is like that too—it comes and stays for a while, and then it goes. An emotion is only an emotion. We are much, much more than an emotion. We don’t die because of one emotion. So when you notice that an emotion is beginning to come up, it is very important that you put yourself in a stable sitting position, or you lie down, which is also a very stable position. Then focus your attention on your belly. Your head is like the top of a tree in a storm. I would not stay there. Bring your attention down to the trunk of the tree, where there is stability.
When you have focused on your belly, bring your attention down to the level just below the navel and begin to practice mindful breathing. Breathing in and breathing out deeply, be aware of the rise and fall of the abdomen. After practicing like this for ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes, you will see that you are strong—strong enough to withstand the storm.In this sitting or lying position, just stick to your breathing the way that someone on the ocean would stick to a life vest. After some time the emotion will pass.
This is a very effective practice, but please remember one thing: Don’t wait until you have a strong emotion to practice. If you do, you will not remember how to practice. You have to practice now, today, while you are feeling fine, when you are not dealing with any strong emotions. This is the time to begin learning the practice. You can practice for ten minutes every day. Sit and practice breathing in and out, focusing your attention on your belly. If you do this for three weeks—twenty-one days—it will become a habit. Then when anger rises up or you are overwhelmed by despair, you will naturally remember the practice. Once you succeed, you will have faith in the practice and you will be able to tell your emotion, “Well, if you come again, I will do exactly the same thing.” You will not be afraid because you know what to do.
Practice regularly. Once your practice becomes a habit, you will feel as though you are missing something when you don’t do it. It will bring you well-being and stability. It will have a good effect on your health as well. This is the best kind of protection you can offer yourself. I always think that the energy of mindfulness is the energy of the Buddha, the energy of God, the Holy Spirit, that is inside of us protecting us all the time. Every time you touch the seed of mindfulness and practice mindful breathing, the energy of God, the energy of the Buddha, is there to protect you.
When you learn the practice, you may like to tell a friend, a relative, or your children, if you have any, how to practice. I know mothers who practice with their children. They hold their child’s hand and say, “Darling, breathe with me. Breathing in, I am aware that my abdomen is rising. Breathing out, I am aware that my abdomen is falling.” They guide their child to breathe with them until he or she gets through the emotion.
If you know the practice, you will be able to generate the energy of stability, and you will be able to hold another person’s hand and transmit to him or her the energy of your stability. You can help that person cross out of the eye of the storm; it may help save someone’s life. So many young people these days don’t know how to handle their emotions. The number of people who commit suicide is enormous. This is a simple exercise, but very important.”
Excerpts from the Foreword to Be Free Where You Are by Sister Chan Khong:
“Later that day, an inmate who had spent thirty years in jail asked me what he could do to bring joy and peace into the world. Looking into his eyes, I could see that he was very sincere.
I turned to him and smiled. “One of the best things that you could offer to the people around you,” I said, “is your way of being. You do not need to have money in your pocket or wait until you are out of jail to do something for the world. If you can practice dwelling peacefully in the present moment during the day, being mindful of whatever it is that you are doing, peace will radiate from you, and this will inspire the people around you.
“Perhaps there is an inmate or a guard who acts aggressively towards you. If you can look with compassion at him—with kindness and love—and offer him a gentle smile, he will be receiving something very precious from you. When you understand the pain of those who cause you suffering and choose to let it go, forgiveness will come naturally, because compassion will be present. When it is necessary, you can be firm and strong, but never lose your kindness or your beauty.”
I knew that doing this would not be easy for him without a Sangha, so I suggested:
“Why don’t you form a small Sangha here? You can start by gathering two or three friends to discuss the practice that Thây has taught you today. Is it possible to do that during the religious service time?”
My friend’s eyes grew brighter as he listened. “It will not be as easy as it sounds,” he replied, “but I think it can be done.” Throughout the day the inmates showed a lot of interest in Thây’s talk and asked many questions. I am quite sure the teachings and answers given to prisoners can be applied to any one of us—inside or outside the prison walls.