No doubt we all time travel. Our minds constantly wander to the future or cruise to the past. I started studying mindfulness meditation when I discovered how often I wasn't really 'present' in my day to day activities.
For example, I might eat a meal while thinking about a project, my kid's homework, or something I failed to do, and not even notice my food disappearing. I might be in a conversation with a friend and actually thinking about my own troubles instead of listening to them. Worse, I might be on holiday and thinking about a past one or fantasizing about a future one while missing the one I was on.
Once I realized how often my mind wasn't present, I began to alter it. I did so with many exercises like meditation, yoga, walking in nature, and art. I've found it easier to 'be present' with any experience -- good or bad -- through these practices.
Ironically, it's made my time travelling mind a lot calmer and a lot happier in time travels as well. Now when my thoughts venture into the future -- to daydream, to imagine -- I do so without an emotional 'clinging' or 'striving' or 'wanting' attached to it. When I wander down memory lane, I do so with less wanting as well, without an anguish to wish I had made a different choice, or with a guilt or sadness attached to the choices I made.
I seem to be able to look at events in the past or future as if I'm being told a story or as if I am visiting a friend in a far-way land. A friend said it's like you are a time traveler but now have packed just the right suitcase -- with just the right clothes for the trip -- no more, no less; a perfectly packed suitcase to enable me as a player in the adventure to wear the right clothes and be adequately prepared for the part.
A monk, Ajahn Amaro, called this sort of awareness 'unentangled participation'. I can't think of a more perfect way of describing it.
Time travel or present moment experiences conducted with unentangled participation means experiencing life -- whether that is travelling to the future or past or not -- without the excess baggage. It is experience without becoming entangled or snared by emotions or thoughts of desire, wanting, striving, avoidance, fear, greed, etc. It's a means of accepting things as they are and at the same time, heightening one's awareness of the forces that entangle us.
I think of Br'er Rabbit when I hear the term 'unentangled' and the experience of being caught in an Elderberry bush of emotion or thought versus the freedom when we are not.
Mindfulness is a practice that hones our skill as Br'er Rabbit might, to move stealthily through the garden of life without getting 'caught'. It makes time travel so much more enjoyable.
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Meditation fights pain, reduces stress, and prevents disease
Crossing the sea of samsara six holes will leak defilments into our vessel.
In silence meditation over and over we bale out those defilements,
only to refill them later again through our six senses.
Alas! Are we to drown exhaused before reaching the other shore?
Just practice Right Mindfuness to plug those senses.
Gate,gate, paragate.
On the other hand, I think it also has a lot to do with where you let your mind wander. If you asked the average male where his mind wandered off to, you'll almost always find that it went to a nice, if not fantasy-filled place. If you ask the average female where her mind wandered off to, you'll almost always find that it went to a very negative place, a worst case scenario place. So I think the next time you're engaged in mental masturbation, it's important to remember that masturbation is supposed to give you pleasure, not cause you pain.
Our recent Fly Fishing Expedition - http://jerryvest.pages.qpg.com
I have found that as the mind expands and becomes purified of stress through transcendental meditation, one's awareness is naturally more absorbed and fully present throughout the day. Though some people may believe that trying to maintain mindful awareness is a way to be more present, science is discovering that focus and attentiveness is a by-product of a coherent style of brain functioning. The benefit of deep transcending in meditation is that the brain becomes more orderly. Then the mind is powerful and capable of being present in daily life without having to contrive it.
The constant practice of watching ones thoughts and controlling the mind in activity can actually weaken the mind's natural creativity and inquisitiveness.
http://meditationforwomen.blogspot.com/2009/07/blog-post.html
It takes between 10 - 20 seconds to heat a pita over the stove. Burning 9/10 pitas made me extremely frustrated. I had to find out why this was happening!
Oh boy, was I in for a huge lesson in seeing how I go about living life. While I stayed with my pita bread to heat it up following the instructions of my teacher, feeling all my feelings, being with the experience, being with my breath, etc. I observed how absolutely difficult it was to just do one thing at a time. I saw how I could not stay put to finish this task. I had to run to the fridge to get something, wash vegetables, cut them, put on music, etc. while leaving the bread on the fire and rushing to turn it over in between all those other tasks.
OMG, I could not, for the life of me to stay put. It was absolutely uncomfortable to pay attention to one thing at a time. As if it was not worth my time or something! As if I had to prove I can do more! It was one the most bizarre experiences I encountered with myself.
"Where else in my life do I behave this way? Where else do I not pay attention that might be so much more harmful than just burning a few pieces of bread?"
dr. manijeh
http://www.uniteinvision.com
Practicing a meditation that allows you to dive deep within and fathom the full expanse of the mind culture this kind of heightened awareness.
I like the Br'er Rabbit imagery too. :) Thanks Susan.
Suzanne Matthiessen
living-mindfully.com
As a researcher in the fields of anthropology, primatology, and zoopharmacognosy (animal self healing), I find it puzzling that modern humans have chosen a variety of isolated and lonely activities for stress reduction. Mindfulness, meditation, prayer, yoga, etc. are primarily solo practices in that they do not involve physically touching, or being touched by, another living human.
Well, if you look at what nature has planned for stress reduction in primates, examples abound in studies involving hunter-gatherer societies and our closest living genetic relatives, chimps and bonobos.
Stress reduction in nature is all about touch of another living being. In hunter gatherers, hugging, dancing together, and grooming are the way to go. In chimps and bonobos, it is all about grooming each other. Modernly, that might be translated into hugs, hand holding, massage, hair styling, dancing together, and good old lovemaking. Pets often serve as a surrogate for touch, with great results.
Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com
Meditation's real benefits exist in a realm chimps and bonobos may not be able to comprehend... (though being neither I can't be certain of that...!)
http://www.online-meditation-lessons.com
As a person with chronic illness, I've had a lot of opportunity to practice "unentangled participation" when I time travel, whether it's my mind drifting into memories of so much that I've lost (a beloved career for one) or whether it's worries about the future. I love your idea of using mindfulness practice to allow us to travel into the past and future just to be there, but without attachment.
Toni Bernhard
www.howtobesick.com
Right Mindfulness
Most of the time our mind is either in the state of like or dislike. We get stuck in either state without knowing it, deluded in that moment which becomes our temporary existence.
We often recognize other people’s problem but often fail to see our own state of mind when the same thing happens to us. Only when we have gone excessive or on an overdose of our like and dislike that we regret thereafter.
When things get out of hand then only do we recognize hatred, greed and regret being deluded in such a state of mind. Some people are stuck in delusion they become bitter and spiteful. Some get addict to their likes.
Greed and hatred is easy to recognize but when conditions are not ripe it stays as simply like and dislike. Delusion is when we are stuck on either sides. Right mindfulness is to know where the mind is. To move away from greed(loba) and hatred(dosa). To be awaken from a delusive state.
Keep in touch. More back to basics post. Thank you.