Sometimes, doing nothing, just being, is
very calming, very therapeutic.
The first day of work in
the New Year is upon us. And interestingly, it is a Monday morning!!!
Instead of rushing off to
work, honking and struggling through traffic, try slow travel if you can. Slow travel
need not be a vacation idea alone. You can slow travel daily. Start early, don’t
drive if you can avoid it – take a cab or take public transport. And when you commute
to work, don’t get immersed in your mobile device. Instead observe Life as it
happens around you. Allow your mind to soak in each detail – the way people
behave, the way vehicles snarl at each other, the way the city moves, the way
the method to all the madness unfolds. In all this chaos, you remain silent –
and calm. Don’t let your mind complain. Just be an observer. Don’t opinionate,
even to yourself, or to a fellow commuter, on what you feel. Don’t label what
you see as good or bad. Just take it all in. Breathe well – observe your
breathing – slowly: in, out, in, out…
To be sure, what I
suggest you must try is not a bizarre idea. This is just bringing in the
ancient Zen practice of Mindfulness into everyday urban, city Life. Jiddu
Krishnamurti (1895 ~ 1986), the thinker-philosopher, has said this: “You see, you are not educated to be alone. Do you ever go out for a
walk by yourself? It is very important to go out alone, to sit under a tree—not
with a book, not with a companion, but by yourself—and observe the falling of a
leaf, hear the lapping of the water, the fishermen’s song, watch the flight of
a bird, and of your own thoughts as they chase each other across the space of
your mind. If you are able to be alone and watch these things, then you will
discover extraordinary riches which no government can tax, no human agency can
corrupt, and which can never be destroyed.” I believe – I have practiced this
and found it to be true – that this same principle can be applied to rush hour
traffic, while waiting at airports, on crowded metros, on a plane ride…wherever,
in any context, in fact, as long as you remain silent and are willing to be
just an observer, a witness.
Obviously,
the nicest thing to do would be to go sit under a tree or by the beach. But in
today’s world and time, when each of us is berating ourselves for being
slave-runners on the rat race, any suggestion to “take time off from everyday
routine” will be considered preposterous, inhuman and insane! So, why not tweak
the routine, without disrupting it, why not employ silence periods (when you
remain silent and detached from your mobile device), alone-ness (certainly not
loneliness), witness-hood, slow travel and conscious breathing in your daily
commute?
Another great
thinker-philosopher of our times, Thich Nhat Hahn, now 89, and recovering from
brain haemorrhage-led coma, has said: “In our busy society, it is a great
fortune to breathe consciously from time to time. We can practice conscious
breathing not only while sitting in a meditation room, but also while working
at the office or at home, while driving our car, or sitting on a bus, wherever
we are, at any time throughout the day…While I sit here, I don’t think of
anything else. I sit here, and I know exactly where I am.”
So, try just being – no doing, no analyzing, no messaging, no
complaining – for the duration of your home-work-home commutes today. Try it –
it sure works!
PS: All illustrations are property of the creator. They have been sourced from the Internet. No effort is made to infringe on the original copyright or to commercial gain from using them here.
Gud one.
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