Sunday, February 10, 2008

There's Nothing to Do!

Good Morning Everyone,

"There's no where to go!" "There's no thing to do!" Any parent or couple married longer than a couple of years has heard these laments. These are the words of boredom. I occasionally feel bored myself. Yet, rather than dive into whine, I prefer to experience myself in the state of boredom. What does it really feel like?

There is the sense of being trapped, the sense of numbness, the sense of pure flatness, or the sense of restless despair that sometimes masks itself as boredom. We often lack the language to deal with such states and feelings, as dealing requires a naming of sorts, a dialogue -- even if it is just interior dialogue.

More importantly, though, is the need to be aware What is it? What is it!

Too quickly we rush to answer our feelings: we rush to label or we rush to solution. Delay here is a wonderful strategy. Feel. Be the feeling. Experience yourself as uncomfortable as it might at first be.

In the process, we learn a few things. First we learn we are not really slave to our impulses. second, we learn that being bored, or flat, or even trapped, is not all that bad. Third, we can learn that such feelings are more a result of our thoughts about a situation than any actual reflection of that situation.

We would not learn these things without being still.

Stillness is a great teacher.

Be well.




Harvey Sodaiho Hilbert-roshi
Clear Mind Zen
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