"What am I doing here?"
I get the feeling that at some point we all are going to asking that question ... I've experienced the lows on a hike and gotten to where I was ready to toss my pack in the ravine and walk the roads back to the car to never backpack again. But something always pulls you through to where you keep going and sometime later you have some kind of wonderful moment that makes it all worthwhile.
I still remember stopping by a pond at a county park around lunchtime. I was worn out and hungry, so I took advantage of a little dock to sit somewhere clean and eat my lunch. As my mood improved I noticed it was a sweet idyllic spot. Warm sun, singing birds, splashing frogs, a light cool breeze, brilliant scenery ... I leaned back against a post and relaxed, enjoying the heat of the sun contrasting with the coolness of the air. I drifted away for a while. I came away completely relaxed and energized and ready for whatever would come my way. That is why I do this ... to find this trip's version of that spot and that moment when everything comes together in the kind of perfection that can only be found through complete immersion into your surroundings. Coming across that spot when I did, and how I felt, truly created magic.
What is the course to reach perfection? How do you find that moment in time where everything is just right, and you would not, could not, change a thing? You believe that to seek your moment you need to be in motion because these moments are not looking for you. You need to be in that place at that time.
If you are looking for moments you need to come prepared with the ability to recognize a moment when it presents itself and the ability to stop seeking long enough for that moment to unfold. Perfection is not a goal, it is something that just happens to you when you least expect it. You turn a corner and there it is. Unexpected and unimaginable and very different from what you expected.
So now you have a quandary ... do you seek or do you quietly wait for it to arrive? The answer for me is "yes". Seeking is not an act of frantic discovery, blindly rushing from spot to spot peering into each door and throwing open every cabinet. Think if it instead as a state of mind, where you can look at what is already there and actually see it. Really, truly see what is actually in front of you. Slowing down the incredible pace of your mind long enough to absorb the details. Then allowing yourself to believe in the unexpected and waiting long enough for it to happen. And happen it will -- in my experience a life-changing moment doesn't happen because I was looking for it. It happened because I was able to perceive it and I allowed myself to be carried away by the unexpected.
The hike itself will offer up many moments. It's the act of hiking that will eventually lead to perfection. The slow stripping away of the layers of perceptual clutter that blind us to our surroundings. The repetitive walking and the much reduced burdens on your mind push you closer to a Zen state than you can ever hope to achieve in our daily lives with our cell phone, TVs, music, people, worries and concerns and all of the other clutter that you must strip away to aid you in your quest for that perfect moment.
I recall an exercise where you are supposed to look at something, anything, at some point in your day. But not just glance and turn away and let it fade from your memory in a minute. This time actually look at it and see it and remember it. Study the shape, the color, the heft, the smell. Commit to memory the location, the time, the weather, the light and the way the object interacts with this environment. Make this the most important thing you will remember all day. Take the time to do it right and notice everything. Mull it over after you leave. Think about it at lunch. Recall the object fondly at dinner and go to bed remembering it before you drop off to sleep and dream about it. This is an exercise in the art of perception. It is also an exercise in taming your kapicitta or your "monkey mind".
So perhaps perfection is not a journey but a state of mind. It is the end result of slowing down and noticing. You put yourself on a trail and you strip away everything except food, water, shelter and the next step you are taking. If you are lucky you will go turn that corner and step into that glade and experience that moment of perfection.
I am going to take this journey not to seek but to shut down. The real measure will be not whether I find perfection on the trail, but if I can Reboot my brain, quiet the kapicitta, and return to civilization with my perception intact and my mind clear and ready to see the perfection that is all around us.
I get the feeling that at some point we all are going to asking that question ... I've experienced the lows on a hike and gotten to where I was ready to toss my pack in the ravine and walk the roads back to the car to never backpack again. But something always pulls you through to where you keep going and sometime later you have some kind of wonderful moment that makes it all worthwhile.
I still remember stopping by a pond at a county park around lunchtime. I was worn out and hungry, so I took advantage of a little dock to sit somewhere clean and eat my lunch. As my mood improved I noticed it was a sweet idyllic spot. Warm sun, singing birds, splashing frogs, a light cool breeze, brilliant scenery ... I leaned back against a post and relaxed, enjoying the heat of the sun contrasting with the coolness of the air. I drifted away for a while. I came away completely relaxed and energized and ready for whatever would come my way. That is why I do this ... to find this trip's version of that spot and that moment when everything comes together in the kind of perfection that can only be found through complete immersion into your surroundings. Coming across that spot when I did, and how I felt, truly created magic.
What is the course to reach perfection? How do you find that moment in time where everything is just right, and you would not, could not, change a thing? You believe that to seek your moment you need to be in motion because these moments are not looking for you. You need to be in that place at that time.
If you are looking for moments you need to come prepared with the ability to recognize a moment when it presents itself and the ability to stop seeking long enough for that moment to unfold. Perfection is not a goal, it is something that just happens to you when you least expect it. You turn a corner and there it is. Unexpected and unimaginable and very different from what you expected.
So now you have a quandary ... do you seek or do you quietly wait for it to arrive? The answer for me is "yes". Seeking is not an act of frantic discovery, blindly rushing from spot to spot peering into each door and throwing open every cabinet. Think if it instead as a state of mind, where you can look at what is already there and actually see it. Really, truly see what is actually in front of you. Slowing down the incredible pace of your mind long enough to absorb the details. Then allowing yourself to believe in the unexpected and waiting long enough for it to happen. And happen it will -- in my experience a life-changing moment doesn't happen because I was looking for it. It happened because I was able to perceive it and I allowed myself to be carried away by the unexpected.
The hike itself will offer up many moments. It's the act of hiking that will eventually lead to perfection. The slow stripping away of the layers of perceptual clutter that blind us to our surroundings. The repetitive walking and the much reduced burdens on your mind push you closer to a Zen state than you can ever hope to achieve in our daily lives with our cell phone, TVs, music, people, worries and concerns and all of the other clutter that you must strip away to aid you in your quest for that perfect moment.
Just as a monkey swinging through the
trees grabs one branch and lets it go only to seize another, so too,
that which is called thought, mind or consciousness arises and
disappears continually both day and night.- attributed to The Buddha
I recall an exercise where you are supposed to look at something, anything, at some point in your day. But not just glance and turn away and let it fade from your memory in a minute. This time actually look at it and see it and remember it. Study the shape, the color, the heft, the smell. Commit to memory the location, the time, the weather, the light and the way the object interacts with this environment. Make this the most important thing you will remember all day. Take the time to do it right and notice everything. Mull it over after you leave. Think about it at lunch. Recall the object fondly at dinner and go to bed remembering it before you drop off to sleep and dream about it. This is an exercise in the art of perception. It is also an exercise in taming your kapicitta or your "monkey mind".
So perhaps perfection is not a journey but a state of mind. It is the end result of slowing down and noticing. You put yourself on a trail and you strip away everything except food, water, shelter and the next step you are taking. If you are lucky you will go turn that corner and step into that glade and experience that moment of perfection.
I am going to take this journey not to seek but to shut down. The real measure will be not whether I find perfection on the trail, but if I can Reboot my brain, quiet the kapicitta, and return to civilization with my perception intact and my mind clear and ready to see the perfection that is all around us.
by Sir Edward Dyer
My mind to me a kingdom is;
Such present joys therein I find,
That it excels all other bliss
That earth affords or grows by kind:
Though much I want that most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave.
No princely pomp, no wealthy store,
No force to win the victory,
No wily wit to salve a sore,
No shape to feed a loving eye;
To none of these I yield as thrall;
For why? my mind doth serve for all.
I see how plenty surfeits oft,
And hasty climbers soon do fall;
I see that those which are aloft
Mishap doth threaten most of all:
They get with toil, they keep with fear:
Such cares my mind could never bear.
Content I live, this is my stay;
I seek no more than may suffice;
I press to bear no haughty sway;
Look, what I lack my mind supplies.
Lo, thus I triumph like a king,
Content with that my mind doth bring.
Some have too much, yet still do crave;
I little have, and seek no more.
They are but poor, though much they have,
And I am rich with little store;
They poor, I rich; they beg, I give;
They lack, I leave; they pine, I live.
I laugh not at another’s loss,
I grudge not at another’s gain;
No worldly waves my mind can toss;
My state at one doth still remain:
I fear no foe, I fawn no friend;
I loathe not life, nor dread my end.
Some weigh their pleasure by their lust,
Their wisdom by their rage of will;
Their treasure is their only trust,
A cloakèd craft their store of skill;
But all the pleasure that I find
Is to maintain a quiet mind.
My wealth is health and perfect ease,
My conscience clear my chief defence;
I neither seek by bribes to please,
Nor by deceit to breed offence:
Thus do I live; thus will I die;
Would all did so as well as I!
Such present joys therein I find,
That it excels all other bliss
That earth affords or grows by kind:
Though much I want that most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave.
No princely pomp, no wealthy store,
No force to win the victory,
No wily wit to salve a sore,
No shape to feed a loving eye;
To none of these I yield as thrall;
For why? my mind doth serve for all.
I see how plenty surfeits oft,
And hasty climbers soon do fall;
I see that those which are aloft
Mishap doth threaten most of all:
They get with toil, they keep with fear:
Such cares my mind could never bear.
Content I live, this is my stay;
I seek no more than may suffice;
I press to bear no haughty sway;
Look, what I lack my mind supplies.
Lo, thus I triumph like a king,
Content with that my mind doth bring.
Some have too much, yet still do crave;
I little have, and seek no more.
They are but poor, though much they have,
And I am rich with little store;
They poor, I rich; they beg, I give;
They lack, I leave; they pine, I live.
I laugh not at another’s loss,
I grudge not at another’s gain;
No worldly waves my mind can toss;
My state at one doth still remain:
I fear no foe, I fawn no friend;
I loathe not life, nor dread my end.
Some weigh their pleasure by their lust,
Their wisdom by their rage of will;
Their treasure is their only trust,
A cloakèd craft their store of skill;
But all the pleasure that I find
Is to maintain a quiet mind.
My wealth is health and perfect ease,
My conscience clear my chief defence;
I neither seek by bribes to please,
Nor by deceit to breed offence:
Thus do I live; thus will I die;
Would all did so as well as I!
