Peace is every step

 As a young adult, around a similar time as discovering Albert Camus,  I became influenced by Zen Buddhism. I came across a book by the gentle Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh,  called Peace is Every Step: the Path of Mindfulness In Everyday Life. Although Thich had already published other books,  his works such as,  the Miracle of Mindfulness,  and Peace Is Every Step,  were significant in further disseminating the practice of  mindfulness,  and Buddhism in general,  into the mainstream of western culture. Mindfulness,  effort, and concentration are part of the Buddhas eight fold path to liberation. He discusses concentration, effort, and mindfulness as part of what is called Samadhi or meditative absorption. Mindfulness is a simple practice that's not easy, at least for me.  It consists of the awareness of what is simply given here and now in the present moment, in mental awareness without judgment without grasping,  clinging and without reactivity.  

What makes Thich unique is his taking of the practice of mindfulness from the seated meditation cushion into everyday hectic secular life. Doing dishes, going to the washroom or waiting in traffic are all potential occasions for cultivating mindfulness and awareness. Central to Thich Nhat Hanh and Buddhism in general is the practice of awareness of the breath. The breath is the most basic action of the body. The Buddha,  in his sutras,  taught that by the prolonged, continued observation of the rhythm of the breath we can cultivate mindfulness. the practice of the present moment. Even though I am no longer a Buddhist I am still influenced by it greatly. My prayer and meditation practice is shaped by it,  though now I'm largely within the contemplative Christian tradition. 

I've also been interested in the application of Buddhist principles to health and addiction issues. In particular the Recovery Dharma movement for the treatment of addiction issues is a very profound application of Buddhist principles for recovery from addiction. Within psychotherapy and medicine,  mindfulness and Buddhist psychology, as found in the Abidharma literature, have  become part of mainstream treatment. Personally I have been quite changed by attending a Recovery Dharma group here in Winnipeg and online groups. 


 . 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yogs Sutras of Patanjali

For some time now I have been reading a lot more Eastern spiritual writings. The Tao Te Ching, The Dhammapada,  The Bhagavad Gita, and in particular lately, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.  The Yoga Sutras are short aphorisms on the spiritual path compiled by one named Patanjali. The translation I use, Edwin Bryant's, dates it around the second or third century C.E, but some date it as early as 5th century B.C.E and as late as the fifth century C.E, but there is no scholarly consensus from what little I know. These terse aphorisms on the path of Yoga depend on a commentarial tradition to bring out what would have been just short mostly memorized teachings. For me the heart of the Yoga Sutras is contained in the second chapter on the practice of the Yoga Sutras. In the second chapter he outlines a path to spiritual liberation referred to as the Eight Limbs of Yoga or Astangayoga  .  This classical path of yoga, or royal path ( rajayoga  ) has captivated me more the...
Read more

The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

  For some time as an adult I have struggled with a dependency on alcohol and have been attending twelve step recovery groups, in particular Alcoholic Anonymous. The primary book of AA fellowship is the Big Book, as it is called, written by the cofounder of AA, Bill Wilson. It has become a large part of my life. Like Holy Scriptures it offers the possibility of finding a life on a new footing, based on a spiritual life. One of the more interesting chapter in the book describes how a hopeless alcoholic received therapy from the eminent  Dr. Carl Jung in Switzerland before the development of AA. He asked Dr Jung in desperation if there was any hope of him recovering from his alcoholism. Dr Jung remarked that there was little hope for such serious alcoholics as himself except for the possibility of a total spiritual reorientation of his being,  which he says has occurred in some alcoholics. He had been trying to encourage this in his patient.  As a Roman Catholic one wi...
Read more

Russian Literature and the spiritual regeneration of man

    Lately I’ve been on a Russian literature kick, reading in particular Leo Tolstoy. I have always been a big fan of Dostoyevsky, but I have never read Tolstoy.  So I started with a volume of his later short stories in the Everyman library edition. There are a  lot of his short stories. Some of his stories are simple folk tales with very clear ethical messages. Some seemed similar to Jewish Hasidic folk tales or Aesop tales. Tolstoy's later writings are imbued with radical Gospel moral themes, such as non-violence and turning the other cheek, as well as stories of moral regeneration and redemption.  One of his more famous short stories in this collection is the work, the Death of Ivan Illich, which explores the question of how we should die,  and by extension how we should live our life in the knowledge of our own mortality. It is considered one of his masterpieces. After reading some of his short stories the main novel I read by Tolstoy was Resurrection. ...
Read more