The other day, I had someone ask why paying attention to the breath is so important for a good mental state and an integral tool for strength. This was the general idea of my response. The breath is an amazing phenomena that we as human beings have been given, to not only provide our cells with the oxygen needed to nourish our bodies with energy and life, but, it is an excellent example of the essence of faith. The breath is a mechanism that illustrates both the feeling of control ( i.e. Taking a Deep breath), as well as the realization of trust (or faith). When we do not lay attention to controlling the breath, the brain/body takes over and handles the job without fail (well until the inevitability of impermanence rears its truth).
Similarly in life, we have this illusion of ultimate control, as we lay attention to the acute situations in our life and do our best to manipulate in a manner to gain our desired outcome. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not. Yet, in the long term, we ultimately experience the truth, which is this perceived control is truly an illusion. Eventually this reality becomes apparent, even if momentary, at some point in life (some sooner, some later) and as we relinquish this illusion of control, we realize the truth behind faith, for that which many call God.
Just as our respiration is regulated without need of our control or interference, faith allows that which was meant to be, come to be. Sometimes the outcome is congruent with the illustration one has in mind, sometimes not….but either way using control or using faith, the outcome ultimately is the same (long term). Yes, certainly as we attempt to control our outcomes, our destiny, there are small battles that are successful, usually at the expense of enormous amounts of energy and resources. Yet faith allows for a conservation of energy as well as the opportunity to realize that just as I sit here and write and my breath goes in and out without effort, so too will life with a true understanding of faith.
So are we the master of our own destiny? Well, I would suppose so, for we are the master of our reactive nature. Yet often our view of what we desire our destiny to be, and what it ultimately is, are very skewed. The only real truth we know of is, we are born, the current moment, and that we will eventually move on from this life. It is truly amazing once one begins living this truth, how everything you need manifests itself. (caveat…what you need isn’t always what you want….Que Mama Odie from Disney’s Princess and the Frog singing “Dig A Little Deeper”).
So, if you need a boost, some strength, not only trust in faith, experience faith. Close your eyes and just observe your natural respiration, just as it is. No control, no interference, just observe. It is this place that you experience the truth behind faith. The truth behind God. Here, you will find the strength you seek. For just as breathing without thought or effort is a miracle of faith…so is the river of life. For, no matter how much control we think we might have, the river will continue to flow whether we fight its current or have faith and meander down, accepting what it brings with love and a smile. May you all find peace and strength in your faith my friends and may you all experience the happiness and love we were all meant to live.
At that point it occurred to me that there is only one true battle that can be won, that can offer long-term peace. That is the internal battle for peace, peace of mind.
I thought to myself, why? Why do we not learn from our mistakes, why do we not recognize this habit, or better stated, why can we not seem to break the cycle? At that point, the experiences I’ve had with observing my own microcosm within, through self observation between my internal self and interaction with external catalyst, offered a clarity I had only experienced in the depths of meditation. I realized that the reason the cycle cannot be broken, is that we externalize our problems. We look for the external source of our issues, and find ways to battle those issues, in an effort to find some sort of peace (Whether it be peace amongst a people, the peace in the security one finds through power, the peace one finds through wealth and prosperity), regardless, it is not a lasting peace. No matter the outcome of those benefiting from “winning” the battle, “winning” the war, it will never offer long-term peace, and eventually the cycle will happen once again.
So, with the understanding that, there is really very little that I can do (externally) to keep the cycle from happening again, it was as if I let go of all the ambitions I had for making the world a better place. I let go of the “battle” I was having with the chaos in this world. I let go of all the expectations I had for our kind to do “better”! The external “small battles” I had “won” in the past that offered a glimmer of hope, a moment of achievement, a feeling of “peace”, they were all short-term victories that offered the illusion of accomplishment and the incentive to keep up the fight. Yet with this new understanding, I was able to let go of the fight! (Sounds so anti-climactic…but give me a minute).
The battle to find inner peace amongst the chaos, the battle to take personal responsibility for your agitation, the battle to recognize that you are a creature of habit, and only you can overcome the habits that cause the agitation within, the reaction to the external forces, for it is this habit of reaction that is the source of your agitation, not the external force. Let go of all those external expectations, those perceived external issues. This is the only true path to finding peace within and ultimately the only true path towards world peace.
May you find the wisdom within to let go of all your fears. May you find the light within and share it with all that cross your path. And…May you find the truth within to guide you towards true peace, true happiness and may you offer this gift to the world.
This is all that is consumed for a minimum of 10 days. You go through various stages of discomfort, and through my experiences of the past doing this, they can vary. *** I do not consider this a diet or do it for weight loss. I choose to do this fast, as a reset button for my body, offering my machine the opportunity to work its magic***
This all sounds like torture, I am sure, as folks in my circle that know what I am doing, have expressed. Yet, it is a good reminder, to me, how important it is to be wary of the mind and its power over our daily lives. For those that know me, I have practiced meditation for some time. I have come to understand that meditation is a tool, for the taming of the mind. If developed properly, it can be used to help tame one’s life. For the mind, is that which we define as “I”, that looks at this fast as a “torture”! During this time, I have been able to overcome, fairly peacefully, the challenges I have encountered. The training I have done over these many years, afforded me the ability to not give importance to these feelings, yet to control the trained desire to react. This has not been the case in the past. I came to observe that it really is as simple as how I choose to react to these feelings of discomfort. Our mind is trained to react in fear, to react in desperation, to react in a desire for sympathy, this is the nature of the mind at this point in time. Ultimately, through all of this drama, at the root of the mind is our true self, that has the ability to alter this habit of reaction. Throughout this entire time, I have been able to recognize that former pattern of reaction as it surfaces, let it go, and smile as I go through the varied discomforts.
It has been such a liberating experience. The statement, mind over matter is a valid statement, but maybe not always in the manner it is understood. It is the mind that defines the matter, yet it is our history of the mind reacting that is in the current state of control, or lack thereof for that matter. Ultimately, it is at the root of the mind that one is able to redefine how to meander through life. Meditation is a tool that allows you to get back to this root.
Ok, picture yourself, during meditation, as a thought comes up, you follow it (give it importance) and immediately this balloon is pulling you. At first, you may not even recognize you have followed that thought. Several minutes, heck, hours might pass and the awareness of following that thought may not be realized. Yet, at that moment you do recognize your mind has gone elsewhere, anywhere but focused on your breath, and the moment of clarity arises and you observe that thought, smile and then let it go. Let go of that balloon! Let go of that tension! Let go of that stress. Just let it go, off into the air, off into the universe. No longer attached, no longer holding onto it, just letting it go. Then as it floats away, you focus your attention back on the breath. The return of what is now, what is present, what is the moment. How liberating!
Mind Of Matter 