Be the Present

Be the Present

There is a beautiful scene in the movie, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” that comes to mind this Holiday season with its deeply meaningful message. The scene is a profound reminder that in order to truly experience the beauty and richness of the moments of our life, we need to be fully present in them. And, in this presence, there is an even deeper beauty and joy to be found. We find the gifts of peace, truth and spirit—God—in these moments. In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” the lead character, Walter Mitty (played by Ben Stiller), works as a photo curator at Life Magazine and is the sole contact with the magazine’s famed photographer, Sean O’Connell (played by Sean Penn). (Spoiler Alert!) We learn early in the film that Sean O’Connell is “old school” and doesn’t carry a phone with him while he’s “on location” shooting photographs around the world. So, faced with a critical question about one of Sean’s photographs, Walter finds himself traveling the world to find Sean, which, ultimately, leads him to the Himalaya Mountains, where the two characters meet in person for the very first time. High up in the Himalayas, Walter finds Sean nestled on a rocky slope, with his camera gear all set up and prepared to capture a photo of the rare and mysterious Snow Leopard, aka “the Ghost Cat that doesn’t let itself be seen.” Walter settles in on a rock next to Sean, and, just then, the Snow Leopard appears! But, Sean isn’t taking a photograph. Walter asks Sean, “When are you going to take it?” We see...
Mindfulness

Mindfulness

“To the quiet mind all things are possible.” –Meister Eckart You Are Not Your Mind by Eckhart Tolle The word enlightenment conjures up the idea of some super-human accomplishment, and the ego likes to keep it that way, but it is simply your natural state of felt oneness with Being. It is a state of connectedness with something immeasurable and indestructible, something that, almost paradoxically, is essentially you and yet is much greater than you. It is finding your true nature beyond name and form. The inability to feel this connectedness gives rise to the illusion of separation, from yourself and from the world around you. You then perceive yourself, consciously or unconsciously, as an isolated fragment. Fear arises, and conflict within and without becomes the norm. I love the Buddha’s simple definition of enlightenment as “the end of suffering.” There is nothing superhuman in that, is there? Of course, as a definition, it is incomplete. It only tells you what enlightenment is not: no suffering. But what’s left when there is no more suffering? The Buddha is silent on that, and his silence implies that you’ll have to find out for yourself. He uses a negative definition so that the mind cannot make it into something to believe in or into a superhuman accomplishment, a goal that is impossible for you to attain. Despite this precaution, the majority of Buddhists still believe that enlightenment is for the Buddha, not for them, at least not in this lifetime. Read More Learning to Stay by Pema Chödrön As a species, we should never underestimate our low tolerance for discomfort. To...
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