“Mindfulness gives you time.
Time gives you choices.
Choices, skillfully made, lead to freedom.
You don’t have to be swept away by your feeling. You can respond with wisdom and kindness rather than habit and reactivity.”
Bhante Gunaratana
Ahhh such wise words. I certainly believe that we all have choices and even when it seems like everything has been taken away from us; we still have the choice to determine how we will respond or react to something.
I can't recall who taught me that (I read it somewhere a long time ago) - but they had been a prisoner of war and in a concentration camp and whilst all of their humanity was being removed bit by bit, and they had no control over virtually every aspect of their daily lives and their future; what remained to them was their ability to choose how they would respond.
I figured if you can still find a choice in those desperate circumstances, then I can probably find choices in my generally good world too.
I also like the notion that if you can give yourself time to respond, you will often respond better; or perhaps the better you will respond.
I know I can react from instinct, from fear or from hurt and I must say, not much good often comes from that! Better when I pause and let those immediate reactions pass and then work my way through to the better responses - the wisdom and kindness ones.
Meditating on raindrops on the fly screen...
Time gives you choices.
Choices, skillfully made, lead to freedom.
You don’t have to be swept away by your feeling. You can respond with wisdom and kindness rather than habit and reactivity.”
Bhante Gunaratana
Ahhh such wise words. I certainly believe that we all have choices and even when it seems like everything has been taken away from us; we still have the choice to determine how we will respond or react to something.
I can't recall who taught me that (I read it somewhere a long time ago) - but they had been a prisoner of war and in a concentration camp and whilst all of their humanity was being removed bit by bit, and they had no control over virtually every aspect of their daily lives and their future; what remained to them was their ability to choose how they would respond.
I figured if you can still find a choice in those desperate circumstances, then I can probably find choices in my generally good world too.
I also like the notion that if you can give yourself time to respond, you will often respond better; or perhaps the better you will respond.
I know I can react from instinct, from fear or from hurt and I must say, not much good often comes from that! Better when I pause and let those immediate reactions pass and then work my way through to the better responses - the wisdom and kindness ones.
Meditating on raindrops on the fly screen...
Thanks for sharing these wise words, at a time when I needed to hear them.
ReplyDeleteThat's so nice to hear Sharmon - it is so good when the right thoughts or words appear at the right time for us isn't it? Sometimes a little thought just helps us through a moment of confusion or struggle - go well.
Deletewhat a beautiful photo of raindrop meditation
ReplyDeleteSo funny Mo the things you grab the camera for isn't it? But these drops seem so perfect to me - and I do love a grid! Go well.
DeleteHow the drops are both random in placement, but amazingly similar in size and shape. How that is well worth pondering.
ReplyDeleteThey are a beautiful layout aren't they Liz? Sometimes we come across things in nature and the world that appear to have been so thoughtfully arranged, and yet are just random happenstance or nature doing what it does so well. I like looking upon them...
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