Consider being considerate

For many years I used the word 'mindful' in a special way, for the most part. Once in a while I used the word in a sentence that wasn't meant to evoke some meditative or spiritual meaning or feeling tone. The dictionary defines mindful this way: conscious or aware of something.

Today I used the word 'considerate' in a way that made me look it up. The definition I read was: careful not to cause inconvenience or hurt to others. It's Latin root is considerare, to examine, which fits nicely with meditation practice as well.

The way I used the word brought to mind a shift in my thinking, living and relation to others.

As part of my meditation practice I have evolved a ritual without a lot of conscious thought, an invocation really. At the end of my meditation I lift my hands and offer up any merit gained in my practice for the betterment of all; as I lower my hands to namaste I ask that I be given the strength to do good works; and lowering my hands to my thighs, I wish that my actions, good & bad, increase the awareness of myself and others to do good works.

I'm seeing this orientation to others more in keeping with being considerate rather than being mindful. Examining our actions so as not to cause inconvenience or harm to others is a simple, portable way of living with ease with one another. Mindfulness has the air of non-involvement, also a noble practice of seeing attraction and avoidance, but one that doesn't fit right now with the orientation I'm talking about.

In Yoga much is made of Ahimsa, non-violence. It seems that our ango-saxon word, considerate, carries much of the same intention.

Be considerate. Be well. Be at ease.

The Circle Around the Zero

I was invited to lunch yesterday at a local meditation center to talk about the recent 10 day silent retreat two of my regular yoga students had. What a delight! The food is always great there and the setting is one of the most conducive to inward looking in the Berkshires.

Of course, there is always the problem of talking about silence, but soon we were immersed in exploring together various aspects of the retreat. One person referred to "coming to zero" as a way of indicating a different way of being she experienced. I mentioned the following poem and sent it off to her when I returned home.

The Circle Around the Zero

A lover doesn't figure the odds.

He figures he came clean from God

as a gift without a reason,

so he gives without cause

or calculation or limit.

A conventionally religious person

behaves a certain way

to achieve salvation.

A lover gambles everything, the self,

the circle around the zero! He or she

cuts and throws it all away.

This is beyond

any religion.

Lovers do not require from God any proof,

or any text, nor do they knock on a door

to make sure this is the right street.

They run,

and they run.

~ Rumi

For me it captures the unrestrained quality of being that draws me back over and over. Also, it has a 'gonzo' all or nothing texture that I find necessary to see clearly. When we hold onto our set ideas, no matter how noble or valid or venerable, the timelessness of Truth is obscured.