In the seen only the seen.

We seem to spend so much of our days surrounded by visual imagery, that it can seem hard to really see the world around us at all. We are used to having the world conceived, mediated and filtered for us by friends and family the media and corporate world. In Buddhism there is this phrase "in the seen only the seen" which is a great teaching about looking at the world. Just looking without adding to what we see.

What would it mean to be able to see clearly for ourselves, to just look?.This is a question or series of questions that I have been contemplating and working with for many years. In my art work, especially photography, it has meant trying to become attuned to the environment around me before I take an image. Waiting for a response from the world around, waiting to be in dialogue before I proceed.

If we can come back to ourselves, through mindful means and then re look at the world around us, we will see a richer and more detailed world and our experience will be much more satisfying.
If you are practising a 3 minute breathing space during the day, just try to notice the quality of your gaze immediately afterwards. Taking a few moments to be present with our awareness can change our ability to see the world.

Finding Inspiration for meditation

One of the important things in keeping a meditation practice alive is to find inspiration in our lives in general. In fact one of the simple but profound truths that we learn in meditation is that whatever and however we are in our life in general will that be there with us in meditation.

In order then for our meditation sessions, however long or short they are to be alive and vital for us, it is really helpful for us to seek out and encourage inspiration in our lives.

We may find that simply being in nature, our gardens, parks or allotments gives us this sense of wonder, joy and creativity that is characteristic of being in an inspired state of mind. We may be inspired by art, spending time reading or looking at art in it's many forms. Examples of people's lives may provide us with inspiration, as may many spiritual teachings.

If I start a meditation with something that has inspired me, I find that I am mentally more alert and more interested in my meditation. I have a real sense of uplift that carries me past unhelpful states of mind more easily and leads me into a deeper sense of practice.

Qualities of mindfulness

One of the areas I often reflect on is one of the nature or quality of mindfulness that we are trying to cultivate. How does mindfulness feel when we practise it in everyday life?

The quality of mindfulness needed is not just about efficiency, getting jobs done like washing up as quickly as possible or with as little effort as possible. It is not a mechanical type way of activity, far from it. When I think about tasks I've done hurridly and with little thought, filing, cleaning or shopping sometimes, I am aware that I am not enjoying the tasks, I'm not really engaged or aware, and my mental state is usually one that includes irritation.

Mindfulness has something to do with being wholehearted, the qualities of paying wise attention to our activities and jobs.When I have been really aware, sometimes in a conversation for instance, that conversation has taken on qualities of depth and pleasure, a sense of flow and lightness. I am really engaged and listening deeply, and responding from a greater depth in my self, there are qualities of a heartfeld engagement too.

If we can give ourselves up as it were to the job in hand and really engage with being mindfull in the moment, our experience really expands and becomes richer and more enjoyable.

Living with Awareness

One of the benefits of meditating regularly is an increasing sensitivity and development of awareness. This is particularly clear if you have been on retreat where the build up of meditation practise seems to allow us to see the world anew. Colours, sights and sounds can all appear heightened and fresh, as if we have a new pair of eyes. It is our consciousness that has changed in this instance. But I think I first became aware of this benefit in everyday life while out and about in the rain.

I am happy to see the rain fall on the gardens and land when I am inside, but having to handle busy streets and rush hour public transport in cold wet grey weather has never been my favourite pastime.On this particular day I was waiting at the bus stop wondering when the bus would arrive and whether I could fit myself on it when it arrived, I looked out at the grey clouds and was suddenly aware of the delicate colour of the grey, like the soft luminous grey of doves or wood pigeons. Then it seemed my awareness was switched on in the way it could be during meditation, The rain drops falling from the bus shelter made soft sounds and patterns on the ground and the water on the roads shone with the reflections from the sky.

It totally changed my experience of that wait for the bus to the extent that I was happy to wait and just be aware and appreciate the sights and sounds of the rain. What I also realised was this way of awareness was available to me at any time.

Although subsequent experiences based on this sort of realization are never perhaps as strong as our first ones, it can lead to a real change in our capacity and ability to respond and see the world around us.