American Buddhist Net

Beautiful article! What are we looking for when we rush through our lifes trying not to miss out on anything? Are we not missing everything? Less is often so much more... Sonja

Janelle Combelic

I have a friend who is a wonderful mother. I’ve watched her as she ambles down the sidewalk with her 3-year-old daughter, tiny hand in hers, attentive to her child.

I enjoy being with elderly friends and relatives, walking at a slow pace. Sometimes they get impatient with their slowness, or fear that I might become impatient with them. But I enjoy this mindful walking.

So often we rush from one thing to another, not attending to the present moment. With young children and the very old, one has no choice but to slow down. This is probably one reason that these two groups of people are so neglected in our culture; we push them aside as we race ahead. To what?

LINK TO ORIGINAL

A few years ago, I started practicing mindfulness meditation. Gradually, my life has been radically transformed. Today, I am a much happier person. I have more friends, and my family enjoys my presence more than before.

For many years, I worked in the fast-paced computer industry. It was good work and good pay. But like many people, I longed for something more satisfying. Today I am living that deeper life, doing work I love. Granted, I still have a lot to figure out — like what to do with my stuff in storage and how to get by on a pittance — but I love my life.

My own path has been to study with Vietnamese Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh. This doesn’t mean that I have converted to Buddhism — I’m still a devout Christian — but I practice mindfulness meditation. Recently, I spent a year at Thich Nhat Hanh’s monastery in southern France, Plum Village.

Now back home in Colorado, I am more convinced than ever that all of us can benefit from a mindfulness practice — whatever form or tradition works for each person. Spending a few moments in silence each day, simply being attentive to what is happening in the present moment, can have profound benefits.

“The function of meditation practice is to heal and transform,” writes Thich Nhat Hanh in one of his many books, “The Blooming of a Lotus.” “... In the meditation process, fetters are undone, internal blocks of suffering such as fear, anger, despair, and hatred are transformed, relationships with humans and nature become easier, freedom and joy penetrate.”

Freer, happier individuals make freer, happier families, neighborhoods, workplaces. Eventually, the whole world is transformed. It starts with each person — stopping, looking inside, doing the difficult work of healing old wounds, stepping into the world peacefully, with trust and beauty.

Two mindfulness teachers in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, Peggy Rowe and Larry Ward, will be in Fort Collins to share their wisdom, joy and deep insight. They will speak at 7 p.m. Oct. 13 at Colorado State University’s Lory Student Center room 228 on “Healing the Soul of the World: The Power of Mindfulness in Daily Life.” At 10 a.m., Oct. 14, they will lead a Day of Mindfulness Medita-tion Practices.

These events are hosted by the CSU Zen Club, Peaceful Heart Sangha and the Colorado Commu-nity of Mindful Living. They are open to the public; donations will be accepted. For information see lamar.colostate.edu/~zenclub/ or www.ccml.info.

A wise person recently said that the most radical act we can perform is to be less busy. We can learn to slow down, to attend to the present moment. This will make the small children and old people in our lives very happy. And everyone else, too, perhaps all the way to Beirut and Baghdad.

Janelle Combelic is a resident of Fort Collins. She welcomes comments at jec@riverrock.org.