Cheri used a vivid image in a recent radio show. What I took from it: If we do not have a very well developed practice of focusing attention when we go through difficult times, then we are like fish in a barrel being shot—there is nowhere to go, no way to get away from the assault of the voices. The violence of the image, the visceral truth in it, awakened a new level of commitment for me.
The Year of Deepening Practice has facilitated a far stronger relationship with a mentoring presence; the conversation (for lack of a better term) is more and more with the mentor (for me a synonym for Life) instead of the voices. This creates such a deep sense of care and endearment for this being that the idea of her being trapped in that barrel is intolerable. I am unwilling for it.
And so, I have made focusing attention my top priority. Any moment I am waiting or transitioning between things or not needing to be mentally engaged with a task, I am choosing a focus. I count the breath or feel my feet on the ground or repeat a word or phrase (love, generosity…). Conditioning screams, “This is inane! This will make no difference!”
My life is transformed.
Gasshō,
Jen