Continuing with the lessons that Mindfulness gives us, we talk that we are often mortified by past situations in which we do not understand that what happened, already happened, happened and there is nothing else. In practice this habit is more common than we think. From experience I use to share how to solve your big problems. And there are times when:
There is a story that perfectly relates this situation:
In a distant town in the East, some monks met, on their morning walk, a lady asking for help to cross the river. The young monk debated the possibility of helping her cross it but discarded it because their habits did not allow them any contact with women. He continued his steps, confident that it was the only option he had and that the woman had to fend for herself to cross.
Finally the old monk decided to help her with what he put her on his back and crossed her to the other shore. The young monk contemplated the scene undaunted and although he continued on his way, he did not understand how he could have broken his word and had contact with that woman. A deep disappointment invaded the young monk.
It wasn’t until dinner time that it exploded. He could no longer bear not saying anything to his mentor. And he snapped:
- Sir, forgive the meddling but I can’t take it anymore. I still don’t understand how he was able to help that woman cross the river. Our religion does not allow us contact with any person of the female sex. It is without a doubt an offense to our religion.
- Slowly the old man replied: My friend. Without a doubt my performance has been negligible since I know that I have made the mistake when helping a person but without a doubt I after helping the woman, I have forgotten my act and I have followed my path. Meanwhile, you have been carrying the slab of guilt all day for an act that you have not done yourself. With this you have let the present fly to only think about the past.
I love this story as it tells how it is due to many of the situations in which we often find ourselves and in which we tend to debate past acts. Life is change and things cannot always go wrong or right . We must know our steps in the present.
The problems are not found on the outside. They are inside . Learning to accept situations will help us decide to take the path of
Choosing the path with heart is more than a solution, although unfortunately we tend to live with attachment to things. We must relate this to inner peace because without it you will never enjoy what you have or generate. When you do, you will look for more things to attach yourself to. Producing peace of mind is more important than not owning so many items. By having so many objects we get unhappiness because of our attitudes to attachment and selfishness.
Seeking inner peace is something very interesting to continue growing and enjoying life. Although it is also important to take into account the 3 great evils of the world : hatred, ignorance and attachment.
It is important as these take away your happiness . They are evils that do not exist as external factors but are in our mind . To be wise, we must train the mind and thus understand that one is responsible for its ills. Interesting is the concept of ignorance of wisdom because, according to this, knowledge is not important in life. It is knowing that brings you happiness. I consider it to be correct when I remember the example of a learned Spanish language teacher with great knowledge but without minimal communication skills. It was what is called a well of wisdom in which he accumulated great knowledge but without the possibility of involving his students. It is knowledge that does not occupy place, knowledge does.
Weather in Mindfulness
The Greeks were clear about the difference between clock and psychological time. Chronos was the one that could be measured while K jairos is the notion of time. Psychological time or what we can call the feeling of time.
The continuous line of time is past-present-future. In Mindfulness you don’t believe in time. If the past does not exist and the future does not exist either, the present should not exist because if the past is “0” and the future is “0”, The 0 of the past between the 0 of the future offers the present always 0.
The only one that exists is the present continuous. The here and now . The past is erased and the future is blank. Problems tend to stay in the mind in the present continuous. That is the mistake since it is your mind that maintains the problem. A problem that has already passed, has already ended but we keep it.
In the here and now I decide how I best accept that situation that is negative. It is about not suffering psychologically from that problem and that is what we call resilience. Suffering is adding pain to pain.
Let’s finish by affirming that we take the positive for granted and perhaps out of fear we always value the negative more.
