Contemplative Gardening

I love this picture. It is from a series on Flickr by NativeDesign.

So I was looking through the meditation archive on the site I referred to in yesterday's post http://www.interluderetreat.com/ and I came across the perfect piece about what Allie suggested, contemplative gardening(and no, this isn't Allie either).

The Zen of Gardening

“Most cherished in this mundane world is a place without traffic; truly in the midst of a city there can be mountain and forest.”Wen Zhengming (1470-1559)
Springtime is an opportunity to feel more alive by getting our hands in the dirt and being part of the growing that is happening outdoors. Garden work can be just a chore we do grudgingly, or it can be a fulfilling opportunity for satisfaction and even spiritual practice.If you visit a formal Japanese or Chinese garden, you find that it draws you into a more contemplative mental state. You see, not so much individual plants, but pleasing arrangement. Like a song puts together notes to form a composition, the gardener puts together plant and earth to create balance and flow, movement in stillness, a natural harmony within the context of confined space. As you move through these gardens, your mind tends to settle down. The garden asks to be seen with fresh eyes. It invites the busy mind we brought through the gate to calm itself. What must it take to create such harmonious natural beauty? What state of mind must one attain to foster such a peaceful environment? The oriental garden may be less a showplace than a place for the gardener’s spiritual practice.We don’t need acres of land to bring gardening into our spiritual practice. We can tend a single plant in a pot with mindfulness and compassion. But if we have a piece of land, why not use it to create something beautiful, to bring another dimension to our mindfulness practice. Working with plants and digging in the dirt can be stress relieving. It brings us back into contact with the natural world. We become aware of being part of the whole process of growth, death, decay and rebirth. Gardening is a lesson in the truth of impermanence. It invites engagement with the cycles of nature. As you tend your garden, practice mindfulness. Create the intention of paying attention. Instead of daydreaming or running your thoughts, focus your mind on the task at hand. If you are digging in the soil, just dig. Feel your body, the shovel, the movement, and the feel of the soil. Not so much thinking. Just doing with awareness.Take time to see. Look at the garden as a whole. Observe the land and the plants. Observe the sky and how your garden interacts with it. Feel the garden. Get a sense of it as a unique place. Feel the energy. If it flowed like water, how would it flow? Where would it go? Look at your individual plants and how they fit into the whole. Look at the space where there are no plants. How can emptiness create form?As you prune plants and pull weeds observe your emotions. To the extent that you take away life, do it mindfully and with clear intention. Don’t just work in your garden. Spend some quiet time there. Enjoy the beauty. Appreciate the life there. Open to the wonder.

Touching the Earth

The Earth Handling You

You handling the earth .

As I wrote earlier, meditating on stones, or soil is a way I can feel the basic contact with simplicity.
Allie of http://www.alliesgreenanswers.com/ wrote that she has too frenetic a thought process to sit in meditation. She must be gardening(no, this is NOT Allie nor anyone else I know) or performing some other simple task to be able to still her mind and become fully aware. There is much wisdom in this way of 'living awareness. I can't think of a better activity in which to pactice full awareness and still the mind than gardening. I actually find gardening sans coulotte to be a bit buggy, but it does make for a different level of contact and awareness. But Allie is onto the path of awareness, fer shur.

Chop Wood, Carry Water(from, www.interluderetreat.com )
"Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success." Swami Sivananda
Work. What does the word mean to you? Is it something to be avoided? Is it a means to an end? Is it the only appropriate focus of your attention and energy? Is it a way to avoid the rest of your life? Is it a joy? Is it a part of your spiritual practice?
There is a Zen saying, "Before Enlightenment chop wood carry water, after Enlightenment, chop wood carry water." What’s the difference? The tasks are the same. The need is the same. What about the frame of mind? Who is chopping? Who is carrying water?
When you labor, stay awake. Notice the frame of mind you bring to your work. Do you approach your work as if it were a nuisance? Do you remove your consciousness from work so that you are filled with resentment or worry? What would you need to do to be more fully present in your work?
Practice mindfulness in work. It does little good to attain clarity of mind on your meditation cushion if you lose it as soon as you become active. Start with simple activities like brushing your teeth, ironing clothes, or washing dishes. Be fully alert as you move. Notice the position of your body in space. Notice the feelings in your body as you move. Pay attention to the thoughts that enter your mind when you do the task. See if you can let them go and just focus on the work itself.
If you are cleaning a countertop, feel the sponge in your hand. Feel the wetness. Feel the texture. Observe how the sponge moves in your hand from the sink to the counter. Sense your movements as you scrub. What do your eyes see? What do you hear as you work? Clean that countertop as if it were the most important thing you could do. Move with fluid motions. Waste no energy. Allow yourself the grace of economy of motion. Be grateful for the countertop, the sponge, the water, the soap. Be grateful for the hand, the arm, the whole body that can move a sponge. Be thankful for the floor you stand on and the roof that protects you. Without letting your mind wander too far, be grateful for all the circumstances that put you where you are at that moment with that sponge and that water and that countertop.
We travel to the ocean or to mountains, rivers and canyons, in part to escape the mundane world of work, but also to experience the awe that arises more spontaneously in nature’s magnificence. We give ourselves an incredible gift when we can experience some of the same awe in the mundane world of our daily lives. The weed that grows in the crack of a sidewalk is a phenomenon as miraculous as the redwood tree that towers into the sky. The raindrops that streak the window are no less an occasion for awe than the spray that dampens our face at the waterfall. The fingers that tap a keyboard are as worthy of praise as the feet of a ballet dancer.
When we open awareness to the tasks in our lives they become lighter. When we are able to be in the moment, we no longer feel compelled to watch the clock. Whatever your work might be, bring all of yourself to it. When you are fully present, you may find that your labor is no longer a burden. Wood is chopped. Water is carried. Life happens.

But Why An Earthen Home?

This is a lovely cob house(hand made mud and straw 'cobs' or oblong bricks)). The small picture does not do it justice so I suggest you look at it on Flickr in the large size. And if you want to see how a cob house is built go to www.small-scale.net/yearofmud/

Ok, so you don't HAVE to fondle dirt to simplify your life. That was a meditation suggestion, jeez-don't take everything so seriously!
But I really like the stone meditation and hope you try it. I find it puts me into a place of, not eternity exactly, but a sense of change over eons. One of the things I have always loved is to come across very old marble steps that have been deeply worn by scajillions of footsteps.
But the reasons for a wonderful little cob house like the one in the picture are that it is so very natural, mud and straw; it would be all hand made; I would have touched and squished almost all the mud in my walls; it would be cheap; I could scupt things on the walls; I could make a house that isn't square or rectangular; I could reach out and touch my walls and be touching the earth.
So much for mud hut fantasies.
I believe that the best way to move toward simplifying attitudes is to make time for 'awareness' meditation. Awareness of the breath is a great technique and allows you to examine your thoughts non-judgementally, it is utterly simple and there is no way to do it incorrectly.

Basic Breath Awareness (From: openmindopenbody.com by Kelly McGonigal )
The most basic breathing practice is simple breath awareness. Come into a comfortable seated position - cross-legged, kneeling, or in a chair. It's important to have the spine straight, so that the lungs and torso have room to expand in all directions as you breathe. To lengthen the spine, consider sitting with a folded blanket just under the hips (cross-legged) or between the hips and heels (kneeling).
Close your eyes and bring your awareness to your breath. Begin by simply noticing each breath as it happens. As you inhale, notice that you are inhaling. As you exhale, notice that your are exhaling. Continue this noticing until you feel your awareness settling comfortably and reliably on the breath. You can then refine your awareness, by noticing more subtle aspects of the breath. Consider shifting your awareness to the following aspects of the breath:
· Notice the breath entering and exiting the body at the tip of your nose.
· Notice the breath move through the airway, from the nose to the mouth to the throat as you inhale, and from the throat to the mouth to the nose as you exhale.
· Notice the quality of your breath: Does it feel jagged or smooth? Does it feel rushed or slow? Does it feel shallow or deep?
· Notice the sound of your breath: Can you hear it? What does it sound like?
· Notice the length of each inhalation and exhalation. Are they even? Is the breath slowing down or speeding up?
· Notice the belly moving with the breath. Place your hands on your belly and feel the belly expand and contract.
· Notice the rib cage moving with the breath. Place your hands on your rib cage and feel the ribs expand and contract.
· Notice the chest and upper back moving with the breath. Wrap your arms around your upper chest and shoulders, and feel the chest and upper back move with the breath. (see the hug breath for a more detailed version of this observation).
· Notice the full dimensionality of your breath: radiate out, in all directions, with each breath.
Continue to notice whatever you notice - go deeper with this awareness practice and notice the subtleties of your own breath. With this practice, you are not trying to consciously control the breath. However, as you become more aware of the breath, you may find that the quality of your breath changes. Allow this to happen naturally, without strain or effort.
Suggested Practice Time: 5 minutes or longer. Practice several times a day, if possible. This is a practice that can stand on its own, whenever you have the chance to practice it.

If you have trouble focusing on breath alone without the mind racing at great speed, try counting ten breaths, and then ten more, until you feel somewhat calmer. See http://www.openmindbody.com/basicmeditation.htm for really excellent instruction on awareness meditation.
Some peolpe say, "nothing doing" to doing nothing, but how simple is it to be busy every second of every day? take some time from diversion, from entertainment, and get to know yourself.

So, how to simplify?

"Progress means simplifying, not complcating." Bruno Munari(1907-1998)

As you can see, I am smitten with balanced stone sculpture. This particular photo with the stones against the blue sky and water with a solo kayaker epitomizes the idea of balanced simplicity for me.

I think that a stone house would be excellent. An earthen house, say cob or adobe with a stone fence and walkway would be ideal.
For the Anishinaabe, rocks are 'ancestors'. For the Lakota as for many, if not all, of the First People, Earth was sacred. For these people mining, tearing holes in Maka ina(mother earth) in order to rip out the resources was horrifying. It was done with no respect for the Maka and her gifts. Look at mountaintop destruction to extract coal in Appalachia and we see it has only gotten worse.
In asking how to simplify we could make lists of things to do or not do, of things to save or to discard. You can find many excellent lists and suggestions at www.zenhabits.net and these are practical and helpful. Eventually this may be a thing to do, especially if your life is extremely cluttered and complicated. I believe that before you actually add another 'thing to do' to an already frenetic environment, you take time to, as Alan Watts put it in the title of his excellent book, "Still The Mind". If your mind and heart are not simple, all the rest will only be busy work getting rid of a few items, dumping a few obligations. But without a prevailing attitude of simplicity, you will only accrue more things, take on more busyness."But I haven't the time" is the typical complaint. We all have the same amount of time, its a matter of how we spend it.

I started with talk about stones, earth and sky and water. In order to cultivate a simple heart, these are basic necessities. Find a stone. It can be lovely or plain. You probably have one you've picked up as a souvenier on a trip. Hold the stone and think of it as an ancestor. Think of its age and how long it took to form. If you have collected it, think of its environment, the hills, the lakeshore and sand from which it came. Consider your own needs and obligations in relation to the stone and its earth home. How long will these needs and obligations matter? Think in terms of all the things you own. Do they please you and fulfill you. Or do they bind you to a life you can't be easy in? When can you do this? Take time from diversions, from television, from music, from the desperate craving for entertainment and take time to be, not do. Be like the stone for a time and connect with the earth.
When weather permits, gather a handful of earth. Hold it, consider its makeup of finely ground minerals, organic matter, perhaps small stones. If possible, sit outside and hold the earth, allowing it to slowly sift through your fingers, consider its potential for providing you with food. Consider that it is very much alive and without this we cannot survive.
This may all sound airy fairy to you. It certainly isn't getting your closets organized or getting rid of clutter in the basement. But, if you cannot take time to connect with that from which we draw life and that to which our bodies will return, if you cannot take time to still the mind, do you really hope for simplicity?

A Much Better High

Yoga above the clouds
Originally uploaded by carl kalabaw

Junkies, and especially 'needle freaks'(addicts who will inject anything ) have needle scars and collapsed veins or 'tracks'. At AFR there are plenty of those type of tracks so I found it curious that the assorted elective evening programs are called 'tracks'.
The Holistic track is run by an earnest young ex-acid freak who has studied yoga and meditation. I tried one yoga session on a saturday afternoon and kept up with the youngsters pretty well; the next oldest person was 23, only 39 years younger than moi! Alas, I woke up in the middle of the night with the damndest head and back aches. Oh well, so much for the parsva dandasana posture. Fortunately, I healed quickly. Most evenings, Matt leads the group in different types of meditations and I went to those when the Indigenous group watched movies that I had already seen, but on Tuesdays, Buddhist Bob came in to answer questions about Buddhism and to teach us mindfulness meditation. I went to those religiously (little play on words there, he he). Actually, that was one of the first things Bob, a Buddhist priest in his late 60's, addressed with us. Many of the people were surprised that Buddhism is non-theistic and so not a religion in the traditional sense. Bob was so lucid and down to earth that I got as much from his visits as I had from all the books and articles I have read about Buddhism over the years, perhaps more, a living experience. Bob, who also runs meditation groups in a prison in Michigan, embodied the spirit of the bodhisattva for me and I have come home determined to undertake a disciplined meditaion and study practice, not as a 'tool' in my aftercare plan, but because it is the right thing for me to do. Thanks, Bob. If you are interested in learning more about Bob and his work check out http://www.sokukoji.org