Why is it important to feel good when there are terrible things in the news? I guess my question is, does it not seem more realistic to cultivate a pessimistic view about life? During the group meditation tonight, a strange thing happened to me. While I was sitting and guiding the meditation practice, the thought came to mind right away to mention how precious it is that everyone chose to practice together that night. It was not the most inspired comment that one could ever make, but I noticed that it had the effect of bringing me to appreciate that very moment on the cushion in and by itself, without comparison to other moments. And what it convinced me is that it is actually very good to feel good because feeling good can bring a person to truly know what they have rather than focus on what is deficient or lacking in their lives.
Even if a person does not have a particularly pressure-filled life, it still seems important to cultivate a habit of feeling good even when things around a person don't seem good. Why? It's because what a person sees is often a reflection of the way their body and mind is in that moment, rather than an objective state of affairs. If the body and mind are agitated, then the world will start to look frantic and agitated. But if one has just returned from a dangerous situation or a risky one, the world will often seem still and peaceful, because one has come to appreciate the finer details that are not so violent or competitive.
I can't think of a better way to do this than to find a way to calm the mind in all situations, regardless of what is happening in life or at work. Even if a person feels lonely, can they not build calmness around that loneliness instead of a frantic sense of wanting to quickly get rid of it? There is always a way to look at things that gives them space to be rather than frantically dashing off to the next experience. So in the same way, I think it's important to use calmness to get the state of body and mind to feel good.
No comments:
Post a Comment