Sublime

takes less than a minute of attempting to practice inner stillness to realize that however fidgety the body may be the real obstacle to inner silence is the mind.

Learning to pause is the first step in the practice of Radical Acceptance.

and it may take you three or four minutes, counting distractions, to give it the thirty seconds of attention it needs.

The most important skill I’ve learned in my monastic life is to renew myself in every moment. This may take only a mindful breath, a mindful step, a smile, or a pause to look at a flower or the sky. Then I can be solid, spontaneous, and present for myself and for the blue sky, so that I can be that way for others and their difficulties.

Stopping, being still, and practicing mindfulness can bring about a whole new dimension of being. We can transform our anger and anxiety, and cultivate our energy of peace, understanding, and compassion as the basis for action.

Keep settling into the breath, perhaps with a growing sense of peacefulness. Be aware of the changing nature of what passes through the mind. Notice how it feels to get caught up in the passing contents of awareness—and how it feels to let them go by. Be aware of peaceful, spacious awareness itself.

The instrument for watering wholesome seeds is mindful living — mindful breathing, mindful walking, living each moment of our day in mindfulness.