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| Picture "Monk" kindly provided by h.koppdelaney |
Hear the speech here (please adjust the volume when the speech starts):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16196980/SoundNote/01E6BF86-9488-4E0B-88BC-EE152E7AAAED.soundnote/01E6BF86-9488-4E0B-88BC-EE152E7AAAED_0.m4a
Please also read my reflections on the speech here.
My original written speech follows which I used for preparation:
Introduction
A student asked his Zen Master:
"Master, how do you put enlightenment into action? How do you practice it in everyday life?"
"By eating and sleeping," replied the master.
"But Master, everybody sleeps and everybody eats."
"But not everybody eats when they eat, and not everybody sleeps when they sleep."
Today we are going to explore what the Zen master meant, with that I would like you to eat the first raisin.
What the Zen master was referring to was mindfulness, and we are going to practice it today.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a state of awareness, that one embraces the current moment, and nothing else.
It is a state of being where one observes what is happening around themselves good or bad without judgment, just observing the facts as they are without trying to change anything.
Underneath all this is humility, kindness and compassion for yourself.
Without humility, kindness and compassion mindfulness is not possible.
Did you know how your number one critic is? David Rock CEO of Results Coaching indicated people judge themselves critically and negatively from anywhere between 500 to 2000 hours a day.
The first raisin you ate was done mindlessly. We are now going to eat the second raisin mindfully with our attention fully engaged, without any judgment.
The second raisin
1. Pick up the second raisin, look at it as if you never seen a raisin, don’t judge the raisin, don’t judge the raisin, don’t judge me!
2. Bring the raisin to your ear, rub it, what do you hear
3. Bring the raisin to your nose, what do you smell
4. Bring the raisin to your mouth, don't eat it yet, notice what is happening to your mouth, is saliva forming
5. Put it in your mouth but don't chew it, feel it in your mouth
6. Take the first bite, observe what is happening
7. Start to chew slowly your attention being only on the raisin
8. Once you are done, relax, and let go
Take a step back and reflect how different the two experiences where, which one did you enjoy better, how you feel after the second raisin. Chances are you feel a lot more at ease, a lot more relaxed, a lot more at peace.
This is because you have switched of the negative filters on your mind, by bringing in focus on the present, without trying to engage thinking; you have engaged your consciousness.
Thinking is not consciousness, it stems from it, like a wave rising from the ocean, you have used the ocean. Why be a wave when you can be the ocean.
Closing - The third raisin
Can we now understand what the Zen master meant when he said “Eat when you eat, sleep when you sleep”
The last raisin, I would like to take away and reflect on it.
The raisin is a symbol of any moment that happens in your life, it can be good, it can be bad. Try to practice the exercise with every moment that you have.
With that I would like to finish with a poem I wrote a while ago:
Just for today, practice being in the present moment
Just for today, accept it for what it is without trying to change it
Just for today, see it with the eye of your soul
Just for today, accept it whatever comes your way, good or bad
Just for today, give it you fullest attention without judgment
Just for today, embrace it with gratitude, and be kind to yourself, for you never know when it will be your last moment
Peace
Kirpal
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