Awake in the wee hours of the morning, having just made another journey across nine time zones, I watched the thoughts float across my mind screen. You know how thoughts float when you can’t sleep and aren’t really worried about it? I remembered Christine Kane‘s latest eZine article about beginning anything. Basically, her advice comes down to “just show up.”
Christine writes:
“So, this is how to fearlessly begin anything:
You start your business, your fitness routine, your book, your project, by building a relationship with it. You schedule time for it every single day. You honor that time as if it were with an important supervisor or coach.
Then, set a timer, and you show up. Even if you only have one hour and even if you only sit there staring at a blank piece of paper. Your attention is so powerful that eventually, the perfect action steps, the perfect ideas, the perfect relationship will start to flow. But it has to start with creating the connection by focusing your attention. All the business advice in the world will do nothing if you aren’t regularly present with your attention and intention.”
– excerpt from Live Creative eZine *, September 8, 2009
In my wee-hour floatiness, I was struck by the similarity of these instructions with those of many of my favorite meditation teachers. “Just show up.” Every day, whether it’s for ten minutes, half an hour, or an hour. Just show up and build a relationship with presence.
Ken McLeod writes:
“The time of day you practice is not as important as consistency. Practice meditation every day…
On the practical level, you will make better progress if you eliminate all choice or decision making in connection with meditation practice. Practice at a set time for a set period of time. Use a timer. Before clocks came to Tibet, people timed their meditation by putting a lighted stick of incense between their toes. When the incense burned down, the peiod was over. A timer eliminates burned toes. It also eliminates both the need to check the time and the temptation to cut the session short. If the session is difficult, sit until the timer goes off and learn to sit through difficulty. If the session is pleasurable, stop at the designated time and learn not to cling to special states or experiences…”
– excerpt from Wake Up to Your Life: Discovering the Buddhist Path of Attention, HarperCollins 2001
While Christine promises (rightly) that showing up regularly to your project will eventually produce a flow of great ideas and action steps, meditation doesn’t really promise that anything will eventually happen. That’s the rub. Sure, there’s enlightenment, but what’s that other than being fully present with what is? And meditation, good or bad, is just that.
Meditators can also get wound up with to-do lists and instructions and goals for their practice. That’s a wonderfully rich way to avoid actually being present. “The essence of meditation is returning to what is already there and resting. Return to the natural straightness of the body and rest. Return to the natural rhythm of the breath and rest. Return to the natural awareness of the breath and rest…” (Ken McLeod in Wake Up to Your Life)
Ken McLeod began his studies in 1970 with the Tibetan meditation master, the Ven. Kalu Rinpoche. After receiving training in the Kagyu, Shangpa, and Nyingma traditions of Buddhism in Tibet, he was authorized by Kalu Rinpoche to teach and guide others in their practice. A translator and author, Ken established Unfettered Mind in 1990 and is the executive director of Unfettered Mind, a Buddhist service organization that provides instruction, training programs, and guidance in Buddhist methods for being awake and present in your life. Podcasts of Ken McLeod’s teachings are available on iTunes and on the Unfettered Mind website.
* Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her ‘LiveCreative’ weekly ezine with more than 4,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative at www.christinekane.com.
Excellent advice.