Buddha Pada

In a post-pandemic maximalist world, I have found myself busier than I have ever been. Fed by my own FOMO, it's as if I just cannot sit still. I have also often suffered from brain fog. Sometimes, I pick up the phone to call or text someone and go blank. I try to juggle multiple jobs, myriad responsibilities and tend to over-commit. And often botch up when I multi-task. Due to the demanding nature of my various jobs. I feel I come up short in fulfilling all my responsibilities well. And there could be a separate calendar for all the things I've missed because I was committed to be elsewhere at the same time!

In writing this one article for instance, I will have gotten up 8-10 times, stopped mid-sentence to check WhatsApp the moment I receive an alert, and while the phone is in my hand, also quickly scroll through my emails. Impatient about asking the difficult questions, looking for creative ways to solve problems, I have been in a terrible rush to find the answers(read, quick-fixes).

At a time when mindfulness is the trendiest word to throw around in the 'wellness' circuit, my mind feels full. Pushed to the brink of physical and mental exhaustion, I asked my friend and teacher, Geshe Tenzin Lhabsum to help me understand my own predicament better. This is what he had to say,

“In the journey of life, our mental and emotional well-being plays a crucial role in our overall happiness and fulfilment. However, the complexities of modern life often disrupt our mental and emotional balance. Mindfulness practice serves as a valuable tool to address these challenges by prompting us to question our priorities and expectations. It enables us to cultivate a state of presence, attentiveness, and empathy in our relationships, leading to enhanced communication, connection, and relationship satisfaction.

Many individuals suffer physically and mentally because they are unaware that their constant busyness prevents them from slowing down and experiencing the peace and serenity that mindfulness offers. It is in the stillness and silence of mindfulness that we can tap into our creativity and discover our greater purpose in life.

Mindfulness practice serves as a potent means of self-exploration. By engaging in mindfulness, we embark on a journey of exploring our inner selves, delving into our thoughts, emotions, and beliefs. This transformative process allows us to gain understanding, heal, and address our mental and emotional health issues, ultimately contributing to a happier and more content existence.

Through mindfulness, we develop heightened self-awareness, enabling us to consciously respond to our mental and emotional experiences. By transcending the incessant mental chatter we often experience, mindfulness empowers us to flourish like a flower, radiating beauty, fragrance, and vitality for all to witness, smell, and embrace.

Mindfulness involves embracing vulnerability and cultivating self-compassion. By acknowledging and accepting our vulnerabilities, we create a nurturing environment for personal growth. Self-compassion fosters resilience, self-forgiveness, and enables us to navigate challenging emotions with kindness and understanding.

Through prioritizing self-care via mindfulness, transformative shifts occur that extend beyond our own well-being. We come to recognize that others face similar challenges, and our wisdom, love, and compassion expand to include them. The compassion and altruism that arise from mindfulness have a ripple effect, inspiring and encouraging others to embody these qualities.

Developing a deep understanding of oneself through mindfulness is crucial for nurturing healthy relationships. By exploring the workings of our minds and comprehending our inner selves, we cultivate self-awareness that serves as a foundation for meaningful connections based on mutual understanding and support, rather than on a sense of need or attachment.

This process enables us to examine our fears, understand their origins, and release them, paving the way for relationships founded on trust and openness.

Some key points to practice mindfulness are:

1. Present-moment awareness. Cultivating a calm mind.
2. Breath awareness.
3. Learning to let go of our attachments.

Cultivating gratitude for what we have and finally developing self awareness.”

A moment of quiet reflection on Geshe's words and it becomes apparent that my busyness is not always a response to the supposed demands of the outside world. It could very well be just my own unsettled, restless and confused monkey mind creating constant chatter to ensure I can keep up the facade of being important / useful / productive / happy / you-name-your-reason. A persistent urge to keep doing. Often, we do this because we are afraid. Afraid of sitting still and seeing our own minds. As if our busyness is linked to our sense of self-worth.

Thinking pulls us away from living in the here and now. The present moment is the only moment we have. When our mind is full (and when we're not mindful of what it's filled with), we can end up stressed or anxious. When we silence our minds, through slowing down of chatter, when the need to speak, share, opine reduces, silence creates the space for stillness.

So, here is the invitation to slow down and move to the natural cadence of life. Even as you contemplate this, you might feel an undemanding, unhurried deliberateness set in. Your inner rhythm may start to shift. You may realise, there is no place to be other than here, and no thing to rush to over there.

Watch your levels of patience, joyousness and creativity rise.

Mindfulness creates the grounds for us to see our own truth, to self-define what is good, important, meaningful and necessary. To move beyond concepts and long-held (and often erroneous and limiting)beliefs. To not conform behaviour to a belief system.

No need to travel anywhere. Let silence and stillness become your most sought-out destinations.