One of the interesting things about nature is how it reminds a person that they needn't rush through life. When you see snails come out after a rainfall, for instance, you are reminded that the natural world has its very own rhythm which cannot be replaced. There is a natural wisdom that seems to arise when a person slows down, which is quite in contrast with the usual pace of life, where a person is simply running from one thing to the next. I sometimes wonder if perhaps this is the way to look at the mind, always going back again and again to a still point.
It's quite a different story at work, because in those moments, one often feels a pressure to finish things quickly or even to try to outdo one's own pace. But I think that there are certainly ways to incorporate these two paces together. Sometimes in our group meditation practice, we talk about the mind being still even though the body is moving. This is one apt analogy in the sense that it shows that no matter how strong the ripples or waves of the mind happen to be, it's all just forms of stillness.
A lot of this requires a certain inner discipline. I feel that for myself, there is always a part of me which wants to be perfect and therefore becomes self-critical. It's easy to succumb to the mind literally having an argument with itself, but if one has the wisdom, one realizes that this kind of self-criticism needs to be tempered with a more compassionate approach. But even if a person has no time for formal meditation practice, I believe that walking in nature can have a similar effect of reminding a person that they are much more than how they think and see themselves.
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