Mindfulness « Worthwhile Living

Countdown to dead

By Jonathan, on September 28th, 2007%

I came across Kevin Kelly’s post on his “countdown to dead” and found it intriguing to have a daily reminder of my impermanence. Contemplating one’s own death is part of the Buddhist tradition (among others), and seeks to heighten one’s awareness of the present moment and (one hopes) leads you to make the best use . . . → Read More: Countdown to dead

Walt Whitman

By Jonathan, on June 9th, 2007%

I came across this excerpt from a poem by Walt Whitman. This is the way to live.

From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master, total and absolute,
Listening to others, and considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of . . . → Read More: Walt Whitman

On Worry

By Jonathan, on May 30th, 2006%

One of my favorite quotes is from the movie “The Spanish Prisoner”: “Worry is interest paid on a debt that never comes due.”

A wonderful illustration of this happened to me over the weekend. I got an automated phone call that said “This is not a sales call. it is very important you call … . . . → Read More: On Worry

Being open to spirit

By Jonathan, on May 1st, 2006%

How open are you? How open are you to spirit? the universe? God? People? Yourself?

Most people are so full of “things” that there’s no room for being open.

Here’s another enlightening passage from a book I recently read, The Curse of Chalion (which I mentioned in a previous post)

“The gods love their great-souled men and women as . . . → Read More: Being open to spirit

World Tai Chi & Qigong day

By Jonathan, on April 28th, 2006%

Saturday, April 29th is World Tai Chi and Qigong day.

These are gentle martial arts designed to get the energy in your body flowing properly. And whether you believe in “chi” or not, mindfully doing these light stretches and exercises produces and undeniable feeling of well being. The daily workout I do is part Qigong.

I’ll . . . → Read More: World Tai Chi & Qigong day

Death

By Jonathan, on April 12th, 2006%

My wife died almost 2 weeks ago, which is why I haven’t written an entry in a while.

Dealing with her long term illness, and ultimately the death of my spouse has bestowed upon me distilled life experience. It has been quite an honor to go through this with her, as I learned so much about . . . → Read More: Death

Travel daydreaming

By Jonathan, on March 23rd, 2006%

This is a big planet we live on. I’ve only seen a little bit of it. These maps make that pretty obvious.

When I sat down and wrote down the big themes of my life, travel is one of them. I love seeing new places, meeting interesting people, eating unusual foods, etc.

Then why . . . → Read More: Travel daydreaming

Ten steps aid keeping your cool

By Jonathan, on March 18th, 2006%

I saw this in the local paper today and thought it was worth “clipping” to the blog.

For me, meditation has given me more space between thought and action. That is, it seems like I have time to watch my thoughts and then make a good decision about how to act, or (most often) just let . . . → Read More: Ten steps aid keeping your cool

This Body is Not Me

By Jonathan, on March 16th, 2006%

(As you might know, my wife is dying of cancer, that’s why you’ll see a bunch of death related posts on my blog for a bit.)

I first heard this poem sung as a song by Sister Chang Kong at a retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh. She talked about how she had sung it at the . . . → Read More: This Body is Not Me

So it goes

By Jonathan, on March 8th, 2006%

From “Slaughterhouse-Five” (Kurt Vonnegut):

“When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but that same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say . . . → Read More: So it goes