Reader's Guide for Ch. 3 & 4 of "Mindfulness Survival Kit"

[Parallax Press]

Our guide for Ch. 3 & 4 is up!

Sorry for the delay and we hope you enjoy it. The discussion generated by the guide for chapters 1 and 2 was excellent and very inspirational.

You can find the guide on our website or below.

Thank you.

Reflections

1. Map out a path, whether short or long, to walk in complete mindfulness. This path can be from your front door to the bus stop, your office door to the restroom, or from the parking lot to the store. On this path, kiss the earth with your feet and feel the negativity seep down into the earth with each step.

Describe what your path is. Isn’t it lovely to walk together?

2. When strong negative emotions overtake you, think about the different things you are thankful for, and write them down.You can keep this list to yourself, or you may share them with friends and loved ones.

3. We live in a consumer society. Brainstorm ideas on how we can practice the First and Second Mindfulness Trainings (Reverence for Life & True Happiness) in this context.

Food for Thought

“You’re working toward less suffering. It’s not that there’s no suffering. But you choose the way to minimize the suffering. We can reduce the suffering a little bit every time we act, every time we eat, every day.” p. 36.

“Can each of us act in such a way that we can lessen the huge amount of fear, anger, and suspicion that exists?” p.39

“Prayer or good intention is not enough to change an angry or violent situation. The First Mindfulness Training is a reminder that you have to practice, to train yourself to lessen violence through understanding.” p.40

We can go back to the Earth as we walk. The Earth is our mother and a solid place of refuge. When we feel overwhelmed by hatred or anger and we want to do harm to ourselves or to others we should walk on Mother Earth and ask her to receive and embrace all our negative energy… She is willing to receive everything —beautiful and sweet-smelling things but also whatever is foul-smelling and impure.” p.44.

“If you haven’t been able to be happy, maybe it’s because you’re holding firmly to your idea of happiness.” p.54

“What makes us truly happy can’t be found in the marketplace.” p. 59

[Pixiepjp]

Describe what your path is. Isn’t it lovely to walk together?

I live very close to a large city. Though it is a suburb it's still city like. Not too many trees , mostly sidewalk. Still nice to walk but at times I find it difficult to walk mindfully.
Saturday I decided to visit a park that my family used to picnic frequently when I was a child. As soon as I walked down into the park I immediately felt the tension leave my shoulders. It smelled exactly as I remembered. Damp earth , green and lush. There's a creek that runs through the center and it was making it's very beautiful musical sound. The red , yellow and orange leaves we're falling off the trees in a constant shower. Though over grown in parts I was able to find the tree where my father had carved his intails and mine. This was truly the first time I felt all the negativity seep down into the earth. Taking in all the beauty and walking mindfully. I plan on visiting there again soon.

[Tim]

Pixiepjp, thank you for sharing that beautiful story. I felt as if I was there with you. With metta,
Tim

[Alexa]

1. My path will be from my front door, to the end of my block. This is the first part of my walk to reach my car every morning, and I think it's a great place to practice mindfulness as it's before I need to worry too much about watching for cars or other people, which often distract me from walking mindfully.

2. While I write down at least five things I'm grateful for every day, I love the idea of doing this in moments of negative emotions! Often, I'm overcome by a fear that I'm not good enough and will do something wrong, so I'll try writing down more things to be grateful for in these moments and see how it goes!

3. a) For the first mindfulness training, I think it can be beneficial to really think about what we eat. While I'm not a vegetarian, I also don't have meat too often - maybe a time or two a week. I am always thankful for the sacrifices made so that I can eat a healthy meal, and I think it can be beneficial to help others think of their impact, too. I also think taking the time to take care of our own emotions (anger and fear, especially) is crucial. In my own life I always come back to the realization that I need to take care of myself before I can be expected to interact healthily with others.

b) For the second mindfulness training, I think the most important thing is to release attachment to what we think we "need" to be happy, and focus on what we already have and how happy we can be already. Gratitude really helps here - for everything we think we need to "fix" about our current situation, there's plenty of things for which we can be deeply grateful.

[Sabine]

“If you haven’t been able to be happy, maybe it’s because you’re holding firmly to your idea of happiness.”

Scary to let go of my ideas of happiness ! A whole new world opens up when I let go of my notions and ideas.