Friday, March 7, 2014

Two Things

36"x36"  From This Shore
I am thinking about 2 things. Not at the same time because that would cause my pea brain to explode and pea green would be a hideous colour on the walls...  But I digress into my ideas about colour theory and home decor.

 I've been mulling over the idea of "familiarity" after hearing a comment by a favourite teacher of mine, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. He answered a question about why we find it so hard to keep up a meditation practice by saying: "We are more familiar with our pain, our blockages, our darkness than with our bliss and warmth. We are trying to become more familiar with these qualities by going inside to our inner refuge. But what are you more familiar with your breakfast or your morning practice?  If you don't have your breakfast you will miss it because you know the immediate effect of your breakfast but you're not sure of the immediate effect of your practice so you go where there is no doubt.  If you trust your practice as much as you trust your breakfast your life will begin to change for the better." 

How many people have you heard say, "I can't meditate".  Maybe you have even said it yourself?  It seems simple and obvious really, that we are drawn to the familiar.  And yet we don't see how it blocks us from doing or being the things that we aspire to, those things that we have "intention" toward but somehow don't get to.  When we talk about familiarity we are really addressing the pull of habit in a slightly different way.  But somehow it seems more doable if I think to myself that I am increasing my familiarity with something, rather than feel that I am pushing against or trying to break a habit.  Perhaps it is just about language, but then language is a powerful thing.

I've also been looking at the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) difference between "thinking" and paying "attention".  This seems central to meditation and any awareness practice.  I am often startled to see that when I think I have been "aware" of something, I am actually just thinking about it.   Jan Frazier describes the difference  so clearly in her book, "The Freedom of Being" : "One of the great discoveries in the life of spiritual inquiry is the difference between attention and thought.... Attention is encounter, without any charge to it. It simply looks. There is a feeling of stillness... Attending is simply being with, acknowledging the presence of something.. There's no resistance, no mental activity, no reactivity... Thinking involves processing, applying prior learning, projecting ahead. There's a tendency to label, analyze, imagine and rehash... Thinking about something is more likely to stir anxiety, excitement, obsessiveness, unlike attending which is more calm."


36"x36" Ode to Jimmy Wright

And don't get me wrong I am not tossing out thinking with the bath water, it serves a perfectly good function (the bath water), in it's place.  But the fact is we would suffer less and lead lives of much more sanity if much of the time we simply attended or were aware of things.  Ideas and solutions could bubble up out of this spacious place of awareness, instead of the dog's breakfast that comes from chewing the bone of our familiar thoughts, especially when something troubles us (says she to herself).

I am all about the words this week. A friend has me listening to some Stephen Batchelor talks that he wants to talk about and I liked Batchelor's translation of delusion, the last of the 3 poisons that Buddhism refers to (greed, hate and delusion). Instead of delusion, Batchelor talks about bewilderment.  I certainly observe my own bewilderment often enough. I can cosy up to bewilderment. I reserve delusion for others :)

So there it is. I have spent part of my week pondering words and part purging old photographs in an effort to clear away some of the things in my home that I never use or even look at. Last week it was clearing away the snowbanks on the old paper trail.  It feels like a little ritual of "as on the outside, so is the inside". It must be Spring.  And of course there is always time to paint.  Hibernation seems to be lifting. I am rising earlier.  I feel more energetic to actually "do" things, rather than simply nestle into the lair.

Wishing you some good words of your own to explore, some glimpses of Spring and perhaps the inclination to clean a drawer or two in either your inner or outer homes, or both.


18 comments:

  1. A lovely read Carole. In fact, I cleaned drawers today and working on some inner cleaning too. I always enjoy reading your blogs.

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    1. ha, it's true, Spring is here. We've moved into cleaning and decluttering mode.

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  2. carole, these paintings... they draw my attention and yet i cannot *think* about them. this is pleasing!

    are you using a handmade cold wax formula? or...?

    i love these paintings...

    xoxo

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    1. thanks, lynne! I am using store bought cold wax, while the one made with orange cleaner is more natural and had an interesting look, the smell (as you know) was pretty intense. love this medium, wish there was a more natural alternative.

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    2. thanks, carole! so the gamblin, then?

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    3. Dorlands is what I've been using but I have a tin of gamblin's for an upcoming workshop. looking forward to trying it.

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  3. Great post! I love what you said at the beginning, about being thrown to familiarity even when we have intentions to break new ground. For me it's about painting, a relatively new medium for me. I (say I) want to paint a lot more than I actually do, the familiarity of finding distractions that keep me from painting is so easy to fall into. I love the concept of increasing my familiarity with that which I want to do, and I plan to carry that idea with me as I move forward. What I've discovered just recently is that I feel really good when I'm engaged with painting, and I feel good about myself when I've finished painting for the time being. I plan to use those realizations to inspire myself to make painting a practice...so I become comfortable and familiar with it.

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  4. ah, the familiarity of finding distractions! I am well acquainted with this too. it's this stage of getting ourselves where we get hung up. such a good place where we can apply this idea of familiarity to help us move toward our desired outcome!

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  5. I enjoy that your posts usually make me ponder. I read somewhere that scientific studies are proving that mindfulness is key to happiness. I know that I am at peace when being still and mindful. Is that the same as attention? The problem for me is to be mindful when everyone is buzzing around me and I have to multitask to get things done. It's all about balance, isn't it?
    Your beautiful paintings invite mindfulness.

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  6. yes, I think mindfulness, attention and awareness, being present are all the same thing. I think it's true that especially if we are not highly practiced at mindfulness it is hard to maintain the state when things are flying around us. Probably familiarity comes into play here too. If we are really dedicated to this practice it grows. But it is also humbling to see how easily the mind flies off in a second. We have been training wandering mind since forever! Thanks Robyn!

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  7. Wow! Carole! These two paintings are wonderful. So strong with that whisper that is so uniquley you! Xo

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  8. Thanks, Jeane! Your input means a lot!

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  9. Carole, your posts always make me think. What's up with that- are you trying to make MY pea-brain explode? lol It's so true that our brains want to return to the familiar - even to the point that if you have chronic depression, the brain doesn't want to accept any attempt at re-paterning, either with medication or other means, because it is so addicted to it's own misery. Habit is a very hard thing to overcome. I like your take on "increasing familiarity with something" instead of breaking a habit. Words do have a lot of power, and self-talk is very important. thanks for the reminders!

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  10. happy to help other brains explode (in a positive way!) yes this idea of increasing familiarity feels kind and warm, like it's possible.

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  11. You always have so much to 'think' about in your blog posts.. but at a more mindful level... not so analytical but deeper and more meaningful... and your paintings are lovely.

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  12. thanks, Donna! that's it, isn't it, the thoughts that wake us up and take us deeper, for me that is the best use of my mind.

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