Mindfulness Matters

People love to hate New Jersey. In Vermont, we have bumper stickers that say “Don’t Jersey Vermont.” I did most of my growing up in the Garden State and recently spent some time there. It is a place of contradictions to be certain.

Where I was, there is high population density and a culture oriented around consumption. I had the opportunity to go to Costco. Now to be fair, you can find Costco anywhere, even here in Vermont. But this Costco, was enormous, much bigger than the one we have here in Vermont. It was a vast expanse of opportunity to have things, including free samples of food as you walk through the store.

I have not been a member of Costco for two reasons. The first is that for most things, you can only buy them in large quantity and second selection is severely curtailed. You can get what they display. If you are lucky, you like the particular variation they are offering. For some things like nuts, there is no name brand at play–just large quanitieis. Brian Wansink’s reserach has demonstrated that larger containers of food lead to bigger portions and calories intake. But the lure of the bargain seems to be what motivates people in Costco. It’s not hard to see why there is an obesity epidemic growing in this country.

As I roamed bewildered by the sheer amount of stuff, I practiced noticing the arising of desire and the cessation of that same desire. I walked the entire store without buying anything. How unAmerican of me!

Greed and desire; having and not having. Why do we want so much stuff?

I also had the opportunity to go to an gigantic Wegmans supermarket–the biggest selection of food I’ve ever seen in a super market. It blew my mind. It was crowded on a Monday afternoon–the leisure class getting their grocers (the parking was full of Benz’s) and not a smile to be had in the vast expanse of calories. Miles of prepared foods, produce, cheeses, groceries. It was overwhelming. I wanted to pitch a tent there so I could start eating–everything! I am safe from Wegman’s. There is nothing appoaching that monolith here in cozy Vermont.

Ironically, as soon as I started writing this entry, someone offered me a Costco membership. Should I take it? It’s free? I accepted the offer and I will have to be mindful as I roam the spacious isles to be vigilant with desire and to only buy what makes sense to buy. When I come home with the huge packages, it would behoove me to separate it into smaller quantities because I will eat less that way.

What is more unfathomable than the incredible quantities (and high quality) of available food was the apparent taken-for-grantedness of it all. I saw no sense of wonder, no one genuflecting at the abundance. This is a shame. We are so fortunate to have so much. There was enough food in that Costco and Wegmens to feed a small nation.

The next time you gather food at a supermarket, see if you can bring a sense of gratitude, wonder, and awe to the bounty that is available to you. Eat what you acquire with mindfulness. Enjoy.

One of my students shared a story. A friend of hers was on a whitewater rafting trip in Colorado. During the trip, one of the people in the raft fell out into the river. He floundered around passively while the guide attempted to steer the raft towards him. The guide offered assistance but the man remained passive. Finally, the frustrated guide shouted, “Participate in your own rescue!”

There is a key dharma lesson in this story. The Buddha noted that all of humanity is in need of rescuing. Life is suffused with senseless, self-inflicted, stress, misery, dissatisfaction, and suffering.

Salvation does not come from without. Gods and karma don’t seal our fate, but our intentions and actions. He taught a system of self-reliant psychology. Buddhist scholar, Professor Richard Gombrich noted how unique the Buddha’s emphasis on self-reliance was.

“A great deal of modern education and psychotherapy consists of making people aware  that they are responsible for themselves. In fact, we consider that it constitutes a large part of what we mean by becoming a mature person. It is amazing that someone should have promulgated this idea in the fifth century BC, and hardly less remarkable that he found followers.”

How do we participate in our own rescue? First, we must recognize that we have fallen out of the boat and require rescue. Next, we must do what we can not to make the situation worse. We need to pay keen attention to what the moment requires and act on that information. We need to be proactive and move towards the resources that are available.

We can meditate and see how our minds contribute to our sense of disquiet in each moment. We can seek peace in the midst of any situation, even the ones that are not going as we would like. We can choose to swim towards the raft even when the currents are strong and pushing us back. We can have faith that our efforts will prevail.

We will fall out of the boat. There is no way to avoid that. When we do, we can start swimming right away–moving ourselves back towards the moment. Salvation is immanent and available in any moment–in every moment.

I had the great pleasure of reviewing the new film by Danish filmmaker, Phie Ambo: Free the Mind. It’s a beautiful and compelling film about how mindfulness can help us to overcome fear and heal from trauma. It features of the work of pioneering neuroscientist, Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I interviewed Dr. Davidson an Phie Ambo for the piece I wrote for the Buddhism section of Beliefnet. YOU CAN READ MY COMPLETE REVIEW HERE.

Here is the tour schedule. Check it out if it comes to a theater near you.

FREE THE MIND is going ON TOUR!  Dear Friends,Free the Mind is finally on its way to meet the North American People! What a wonderful adventure to be able to bring the film to a whole new audience and to share it with them! We feel so lucky and amazed at all the support we’ve received! Once more we thank you for all the help you’ve given us. Team Free The Mind Upcoming EVENTS & SCREENINGS! CANADA TORONTO - NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE HOT DOCS INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL, Screening + Q&A Thursday, May 2nd, 6.30pm – Bloor Cinema, with Prof. Richard Davidson & director Phie Ambo. Friday, May 3rd, 6pm – ROM Theater Saturday, May 4th, 11am – Bader Theater VANCOUVER - DOXA DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL, Screening Saturday, May 4th, – VIFF’s Vancity Theatre UNITED STATES NEW YORK CITY - NY RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART, Screenings + Q&A Friday, May 3rd, 9.30pm (Sold out) – Q&A with Prof. R.Davidson. Saturday, May 4th, 1.30pm & 4pm – Q&A with Prof. Davidson & director Phie Ambo. Monday, May 6, 3pm Wednesday, May 8, 7pm Thursday, May 9, 3 pm Friday, May 10, 9:30 pmMADISON – WI Sundance Cinemas, Screening + Q&A Wednesday, May 15th, with Prof. Davidson & director Phie Ambo.DALLAS - TX USA Film Festival From Wednesday, April 24th to Sunday, April 28th.SANTA FE - NM The Screen, Screenings From Friday, May 10th.WILLIAMSBURG - VA Kimball Theater, Screenings From Friday May 31st to Wednesday June 5th. SEATTLE - WA Northwest Film Forum, Screening Friday, July 26th. CLAREMONT - CA Laemmle Claremont, Screenings Saturday, May 18th. Sunday, May 19th. PALO ALTO – CA Stanford University, Screening Thursday, May 17th. LOS ANGELES – CA Laemmle Music Hall, Screening Friday, May 17th. SANTA MONICA – CA Laemmle Monica, Screenings Saturday, May 18th. Sunday, 19th. PASADENA – CA Laemmle Playhouse 7, Screenings Saturday, May 18th. Sunday, May 19th. HARTFORD - CT Real Art Ways, Screening To be announced for July 2013. We hope to meet you soon in the theaters! In the meantime, you can find out more about FREE THE MIND by clicking on the links below. Free The Mind 177 followers 246 tweets following 314 people follow

My dharma friend and sister, Polly Young-Eisendrath presented at the TEDx Conference at Middlebury College. The theme of the conference was “The Road not Taken.”

Polly is a world renown author, Jungian analyst, and integrator of Western psychology and Buddhist practice. You can learn more about Polly on her website, young-eisendrath.com.

Polly spoke on Getting Free of Self-Importance Is the Key to Happiness. She points out that we are very hard on ourselves and dissatisfied with ourselves.

She defines happiness as the place where we don’t want things to be other than they are in the moment. It’s a place of presentness, acceptance, and selflessness. It seems that the key is the loss of selfing. When we let go of the preoccupation of “what does this mean for me” or “I don’t have what I want in this moment” happiness tends to emerge.

Watch Polly’s talk to find out how to get free from the limiting effects of self-preoccupation.