the escape to stillness

The mindbrain has many moods – some up, some neutral, some down. For the past few months, as far as I remember, the mood has been on the upside – calm, contented, happy and relaxed. Today, however, there have been flashes of the downside – anxiety, fear, low self esteem and depression. But no new issues have appeared. What has changed is how things are perceived. And that is controlled by the churn in the unconscious.

There is a feeling to be rid of the downside blues = and there are ways of doing it. For example,

notice that the mood is rising and point attention to an activity that encourages non-egoic flow. My list of activities is long and includes reading, writing, doodling, radio, TV, various household and garden chores done with grace, and, above all, various styles of mindful sitting.

These activities make up Everyday Zen. You inhabit the present moment and focus on the task with a quiet mind. You operate in flow. In the 13^th century Dogen instructed his full time monastics to just sit and drop off body and mind. In the 21^st century neurologists can measure physical changes in the brain of participants after an eight week MBSR course.

I have been meditating off and on for 40 years. It has pulled me out of the downside more often than I care to remember. The trick is to be awake to my 'reality' being mind-made and linked to language. And most of the words come 'from other people dead and gone whose preaching makes the world go on - or off.'

When attention is in the present moment it is possible to be awake to the non abiding nature of worldviews – mine, our's and their's. There can then be an end to zealotry and war. So escape to the non-egoic stillness and give peace a chance.