Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

 

09.11.2020 SLOW DOWN, YOU MOVE TOO FAST  A few times people who didn’t know me well have said things like, “So you’re Buddhist, huh? Does that mean you do everything really slowly?” Those who actually do know me well know better. My primary fuel is caffeine, and anyway, who said that you can only be mindful at a snail’s pace? ...Still, I have to admit: when I’ve let go of my ideas about myself — and my cuppa tea — and given myself over to doing something more slowly, the power has been undeniable. Suddenly, I had time to notice what was happening, what was not, and whether I was noticing it to begin with. So that’s what this Weekend Reader is all about. May the teachings here help you, and me, hurry up with slowing down. —Rod Meade Sperry, editorial director, LionsRoar.com

Full-Stop Mind The late Burmese teacher Mahasi Sayadaw helped to revitalize the Vipassana tradition with his precise teachings on meditation. His student Bhante Bodhidhamma presents Mahasi’s simple and direct method for slowing down and ultimately halting conceptual thinking. In the Discourse on How to Establish Mindfulness, the Buddha discusses mindfully doing such things as looking, dressing, grooming, eating, and so on. Performing these actions slowly and deliberately sharpens our attentiveness and makes “the way things are” easier to perceive, much like slowing down a film. As we slow down a film, we see things we don’t usually see, like the flick of a frog’s tongue as it catches a fly. In the same way, the more we slow down movement, the more easily we perceive how the body, heart, and mind interact.

I Thought I Knew How to Fix the World We cling to our own worldviews, says Dorotea Mendoza. Imagine if we listened to each other instead. For many people, it’s mostly been, or has always been, uncertain times. I think of the children in Syria, and the Rohingya, and a dear friend who’s been homeless, fighting for years to get out of the system. She says it feels like a whole lot of thrashing about with no real way to get out. It’s like she’s stuck in quicksand. How does one get out of a quicksand? Slow, deliberate movements, arms out, reaching lightly to someone or something for support. I am reminded: slowness, discernment, solidarity. I would’ve missed this timely, essential reminder if I hadn’t let the pause breathe, if I hadn’t listened, if I’d continued fretfully looking for the most profound Zen teaching.

How to Practice Mindful Eating Jan Chozen Bays teaches us how to make every meal a celebration of gratitude, enjoyment, and true nourishment. Eating can be a dharma gate, because when we are truly present with anything we open the gate to Great Presence, which is an inexhaustible source of true nourishment. Here are five steps you can take to practice mindful eating during every meal.

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