Quiet periods in life
Jeroen
Luminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlands Veteran
On another site I was reading a members post saying that she had spent five years as a Buddhist nun in a hermitage after a wake-up call with disease, and this set me to thinking about the ups and downs in people’s lives, and how for some of us the downs are followed by periods of quiet and isolation and recovery. Buddhism seems very well suited to this.
I had my own period of stillness studying Buddhism along Holland’s North Sea coast, where I had a little apartment on the fourth floor overlooking the beach. I spent years there in relative solitude, quietly reading Dhamma talks and meditating. I found it rejuvenating, it brought me back to myself after a long period of work-focussed life in England which was starting to strain my physical and mental health, and had taken my mind away from the spiritual.
A lot of the lessons in retrospect were about being more aware, of stressors when working hard and of opportunities for recovery when in a quiet period. Often when we are younger — and getting older! — we don’t know the limits of body and mind. A key thing for me was looking after my sleep as a number one priority. Long periods of sleeplessness were a danger sign I shouldn’t have ignored at the time, and getting good-quality sleep was key during recovery.
I do still daily express my gratitude, not least for the foresight to build up enough savings to sustain me through a difficult period. But also for the chance to reconnect with my spiritual roots, through Osho, Buddhism and much reading of the world’s spiritual classics, many of which are freely available on the internet.
Gasho my friends
Comments
My work is somewhat seasonal. It dwindles enough many winters that I have a month or more without any work. I plan for this, so I'm not worried about money. Having time like this does help me ground and recenter myself. I find it takes about a week to really get out of the working mindset and settle into a different pace. Once I get into it I usually meditate more each day, do an hour of yoga in the morning and take a nice long walk in the afternoon. I also find that many of the activities I do to unwind during the rest of the year less satisfying and more stressful in a way.
Today I had a day off. Watched a violent movie. Had two small glasses of port. Joined a new forum. Installed different headphones on my laptop. Watched mainstream propaganda/news. That sort of thing.
Now I am ready for … who knows?
I am about to have/make enhanced humbug gruel for breakfast …
Might have some silence before neighbours start building works. One side has stopped, now the other side are drilling, hammering and scaring the wildlife … (including me)
Humbug enhanced gruel
Water in pan set to high
Stir throughout.
Add oats (I prefer Organic jumbo oats - not always available)
Add fresh apples, bananas, pears chopped
Add ground cinnamon,
Add fat (organic coconut fat, butter, margarine etc)
As it is Christmas you may have dried fruit, seeds, ground nuts to add …
When near to boil, turn of heat and let simmer into … delicious …
My dad used to work as a teacher, and he would often work fewer hours, so he had many and long holidays, especially during the summers. He took an approach different to mine — whereas I worked my ass off for quite a few years to end up with a pile of money — but he ended up in a similar position of being time-rich and being able to meditate.
Of course now he is 75 and for him ‘meditating’ more often than not means an extended snooze on the couch. I’ve taken to phoning him up in an attempt to get him to wake up, which is a fun subject to tease him with.
After having worked with a team of people, I've discovered how well I can operate in quiet and solititude and then, engaging with other views or contrasts, such as my perception of injustice or poor practice, makes my habit/reaction begin.
I am now working on my own practice, on my own, and I want to spend sometime meditating and clean some of the fetters.
Showing gratitude and expressing forgiveness (in my case for unwholesome or unskillful speech) is a great way. I also think well-being ceremonies can be a very intimate and powerful practice.
@Jeroen "I’ve taken to phoning him up in an attempt to get him to wake up, which is a fun subject to tease him with."
I do the same to my wife but she tries to bite me if I try. Wild hedgehog!
We all need quiet times, be they for contemplation, meditation (religious or secular), or to just "reload and recover". Some people need a monastic setting to block out the worlds distractions. Others need only a space to "center". Still others, though fewer in number, create their own space , even midst seeming chaos.
The goal is to filter out the diversions and ditreous to find our center, the pure threads we need to move or push our minds, our lives to a calmer, clearer, higher state of concience and awareness arising greater control, awareness and peace within our lives.
it does not matter what we label that awareness.
in Buddhism, we call the ultimate awareness such things as Nirvana, Enightenment or Buddha.
of course, even a Buddha needs his or her times of meditation, in whatever form so choosen. A Buddha is, after all, an ordinary human being who has awakened to the stae og Buddha.
Peace to all
Everyday I take time out to check in...
Thank you @Jeroen, your OP had a meditative quality that yesterday inspired some of the best and longest meditation I did in ages.
It’s my pleasure @marcitko at the time I was reading a lot of Thich Nhat Hanh, and watching some videos of his retreats, and he was great on stillness, walking meditation and peace. Reflecting back on that time has been fruitful for me as well.
Apparently in India for example there is much respect for people who spend their time in silence and solitude. Not at all like today’s busy society which values productivity.