Everyday Epiphanies

Image from riverdaughter.com

We’ve all experienced them: those flashes of recognition in which we suddenly perceive
something familiar in an entirely new light. Simply by being open, sensitive, and receptive, we can make these epiphanies--­­usually understood to be rare phenomena­--­ nearly everyday events. And experiencing them on a regular basis need not by any means cheapen their significance.

There is probably nothing quite like a mindfulness meditation practice to place us in the
receptive mental state that leads to these deeply life-­affirming realizations. Meditation turns down the noise in one’s mind, allowing these wonderful experiences to occur frequently and with clarity.

Probably the most significant epiphany I’ve experienced recently is the deep realization of the fact that we are literally made of the remnants of exploded stars. When stars die, they explode, sending out in all directions the elements that make life possible. The iron in our blood, the calcium in our bones, the electrons that form thoughts in our brains; these all once resided within the stars. Carl Sagan used to refer to this as our being “made of star stuff.” Such a beautiful and profoundly poetic idea:­­ that we are indeed one with the universe at a molecular level!

This epiphany leads naturally to another: that we are all part of the web of nature; that
everything is interconnected. The Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn gave his monastic order the name The Order of Interbeing; he explains the concept as follows:

"In Buddhism the most important precept of all is to live in awareness, to know what
is going on…to be aware of what we do, what we are, each minute. When we are totally mindful—in direct contact with reality, not just images of reality—we realize that all phenomena are interdependent…endlessly interwoven."

You and I are parts of exploded stars as well as parts of one another. There is no such thing as a completely independent self;­­ all selves are composed of non-­self elements. When we come to understand the oneness and interwoven nature of all things, compassion for other selves becomes as natural as breathing. Concern for the environment grows out of the deep realization that we are the environment, and the environment is us. If we poison it, we poison ourselves. When we nurture it, we nurture ourselves, and all other selves as well.

Living in a state of ongoing mindfulness, which is the natural, everyday outworking of our
meditation practice, produces these flashes of insight in the midst of the ordinary and the
mundane. They can come while we are preparing food, washing dishes, caring for our
families, doing our work, and enjoying our free time. Everyday epiphanies are what I am
most grateful for in this, the season of gratitude.

'Tis the Season...

...for Walking Meditation!

Image from eattheweeds.com

Autumn has come to our little town by the Chesapeake Bay. The air is chill, the leaves are a symphony of colors, and the time has come for some serious walking meditation.

What’s walking meditation? It’s simply meditating while walking. It’s all about finding your stride and letting it take the place of your seated position during sitting meditation. Walking peacefully and in touch with the beauty of our surroundings, we fall into a rhythm, our feet making gentle contact with the earth. We become aware of everything: our breath, our heartbeat, the earth and sky. We take in the distinctive aromas of fall, the dappled sunlight, the bracing chill of the late October air.

The object is not to achieve anything; we simply want to be aware: aware of what is happening inside us and all around us. Some walking meditation practitioners count their breaths and cultivate an awareness of how those breaths grow deeper and longer throughout the walk. Others sync up their steps with their in- and out-breaths, silently repeating a mantra all the while. Others find that this distracts them too much from the beauty of their surroundings: they miss too much by over-concentrating. On the other hand, you don’t want “monkey mind” to set in, letting your thoughts fly to the future and the past. Whatever keeps you rooted to the present moment is recommended!

In this, my favorite season, it’s very important to me that I not miss any of the sights, sounds, and smells unique to this time of year. I’m reminded that the leaves of the trees are beautiful in death, and that death is not extinction. Rebirth will occur in the spring; like the leaves, I will eventually fall to earth, providing food for new life to grow. Seen in this way, a death can be as beautiful as a birth. All this I’ve intuited (and it’s become undeniably real to me) while doing walking meditation on autumn days near the Chesapeake. Autumn afternoons and evenings are like poignant poems; they are to be savored, and are made even sweeter by the knowledge that winter is close on their heels.

Copyright Ⓒ 2013 by William K. Ferro

All rights reserved

Samhain Approaches!

The Precursor to Halloween

What are the roots of Halloween? How did the celebration get started?

It all began with the pagan celebration of Samhain, a word meaning “Summer’s end” in the Brythonic branch of Gaelic. The pagans of the British Isles saw the date as the official end of summer, and one of several “thin times” of the year. By “thin,” they meant that the veil between the world of the living and that of the dead was more porous than usual; spirits could easily pass through the veil and interact with the living. This, and the fact that some in these agrarian communities might or might not survive the winter (depending on how successful the harvest had been) accounted for the death-related themes of the holiday. This obviously continued in the Halloween (All Hallow’s Eve) holiday that Samhain preceded.

When the tribe gathered around the bonfire on Samhain night, the flames

would attract bats. With the fire being the only source of light, they resembled capering spirits, reinforcing the belief that the spirits of the recently dead were crossing over into the realm of the living. While the pagans worshiped gods and goddesses, there were still strong remnants of ancestor worship among them. They believed that the spirits of family and friends had to be appeased to ensure good fortune-- something that could easily be a matter of life and death. This is where the practice of going from house to house and asking for treats came from: children (and not a few adults) would offer to make sacrifices to the gods and the recently dead on behalf of each household they visited in exchange for treats.

When Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire (outlawing pagan practices in the process), the Church appropriated Samhain and turned it into All Hallow’s Eve, a Holy Day of Obligation when Christians were to appeal to the saints for the quick release of their deceased loved ones from purgatory. The house-to-house begging that would eventually become known as trick-or-treating took on this new aspect: the children at the door promised to pray for the release of the household’s recently dead from purgatory in exchange for “soul cakes.”

The death-related themes have persisted into modern celebrations of Halloween. It is the one day of the year when we are allowed to mock death and make it entertaining. If you were to put up the traditional funereal Halloween decorations outside the house any other time of year, you would run a real risk of being arrested!

Copyright Ⓒ 2013 by William K. Ferro

All righs reserved

A Blending of the Ancient and the Cutting-Edge

A Glance at Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

Image from pro-psychcentral.com

Most of us have heard or read about the efficacy of meditation in the treatment of depression. In fact, it’s probably a safe bet to say a great many of us have experienced it firsthand. But how does it work? What can psychology and the other cognitive sciences tell us about the effect of mindfulness practice on the mind of someone who’s chronically depressed?

Recently a team of psychologists at Oxford University staged a study to answer precisely this question. Their results confirm that combining ancient forms of meditation with current cognitive behavioral therapy can indeed benefit depressed individuals-- even those whose depression is recurrent and severe.

The Oxford team have dubbed this new approach Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and have published their inital findings in the Journal of Behavioural Research and Therapy. In the study, 28 patients who had suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts in the past and were currently experiencing symptoms were randomly divided into two groups. One group received traditional therapy and treatment, while the other were introduced to Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy as well. A statistically significant number of participants in the MBCT group experienced a marked reduction in symptoms, while the control group’s responses to therapy were in the normal range.

MBCT includes mindfulness meditation tutorials and tools for mood management, especially when feelings of despondency threaten to overwhelm the patient. According to lead researcher Professor Mark Williams of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry,

"We are on the brink of discovering really important things about how people can learn to stay well after depression. Our aim is to help people to find long-term freedom from the daily battle with their moods.”

Instead of being caught up in disturbing memories of the past or anxiety about what the future may hold, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy helps people to live in the present moment. This lies at the heart of MBCT, just like ancient meditation methods. The team at Oxford is currently carrying out a larger study that will compare the new approach to traditional cognitive therapy. What’s clear is that meditation can be highly conducive to mood management and the treatment of depression-- and its counterpart, anxiety.

Copyright Ⓒ 2013 by William K. Ferro

All rights reserved

The Ballad of Teddy Cruz

Image from Salon.com

Every week there is a dick

who makes the rest of us quite sick.

I realize this is hardly news,

but this week it is Teddy Cruz.

He did not like Obamacare;

he would not like it anywhere.

It made him pace and rant and roar

for hours on the Senate floor.

That’s what he did, this Texan dude

(who makes us think of words quite crude).

He ranted and he quoted Seuss,

The Doctor, who would have no use

For such an application of

His verses we all know and love.

Ted Geisel was a caring soul

Who felt for people on the dole.

He would not like his work misused

by hucksters like this Teddy Cruz

to try to take health care away

from who need it most, I say.

The Senate’s now the butt of jokes

Because of Teddy Cruz-like folks.

It makes us mad, it makes us pissed

To see the Senate used like this.

Teddy Cruz, he wants to be

The President of you and me.

That’s why he played around like this:

Our Teddy is a narcissist.

Don’t be fooled by patriotic

talk: that would be idiotic.

Everything Cruz does and says

is ‘cause he wants to be the Prez.

For Teddy’s buddy Randy Paul

This kind of stunt seemed a good call.

He seemed to take the world by storm

(at least among the Fox-informed).

So why should Ted not follow suit

And launch a stunt that’s just as cute?

Oh yeah! Because Ted cannot win--

You see, Cruz is Canadian.

So all this nonsense, all this bluster,

all this so-called filibuster,

helps our Teddy not one bit;

He just chose to be a shit.

Copyright Ⓒ 2013 by William K. Ferro

All rights reserved

Dark Days

The End of War

I was looking through an old notebook yesterday, and discovered a poem I'd forgotten I'd written. It's called Dark Days (The End of War), and was written in 2006 at the height of our national madness. Due to the perennial nature of that madness, and in light of the latest in the seemingly endless series of gun massacres, I thought I'd share it. -- WKF

*      *      *

image from kliguy38depression2news.blogspot.com 

I weep for the children of Haditha

For the victims of violence every day.

And I grieve for our children with guns in their hands

Who should never have been placed in harms way.

And I mourn for the soul of my nation

Because I don't recognize her anymore.

And so I light a candle in these dark, dark days

And hope that we will find the end of war.

I think of the people of Fallujah

Of the families that were forced from their homes.

And I grieve for our children with blood on their hands

For killing turns a human heart to stone.

And I mourn for our great Constitution

Because it doesn't seem to rule here anymore.

And so I light a candle in these dark, dark days

And hope that we will find the end of war.

Because there's murder and rape and torture

Being done in my name

And I know that I'm to blame

If I turn a blind eye.

Today I am a prisoner at Camp Delta

The condemned in the hell that men have made.

Five years on now, still no trial in sight 

In the clutches of the free and the brave.

And I weep for the soul of my country

Because I don't recognize her anymore.

And so I light a candle in these dark, dark days

And hope that we will find the end of war.

I hope that we will find the end of war.

Copyright 2006 by William K. Ferro
All rights reserved

Make Joy Your Default Position

Image from mnn.com

I've written in the past about cultivating the habit of contentment, and how this can be a valid goal for the holistic spirituality practitioner in and of itself. It has a great many benefits, of course; making happiness a habit can get you through tough times and make joy your default position in life. It also makes you much more enjoyable to be around, which means that everyone in your life can benefit from your practice as well.

Because we all have problems to solve in our work, homes, and relationships, we can easily get in the habit of approaching every situation from a "what's wrong here?" angle. But in the same way that that response becomes habitual--through practice--the happiness habit can be cultivated as well.

Neuroscience tells us that our habits become established when repeated behaviors create neural pathways in our brains. When we get a payoff for a behavior (through the release of endorphins), we repeat it in search of that same reward; this is how the "grooves" in our brains are created. And yes, there is a payoff for the pessimistic approach: even when the response is negative, our brains are happy with what's familiar to them. We get the same biochemical reward for positive and negative responses to life; it's just a matter of what we've gotten used to. (Anyone who's predicted the worst possible outcome and then feeling perversely satisfied when that's exactly what happens will understand what I mean!)

The point is that conscious living gives us a choice of which patterns to make habitual. This is one of the great tools an active yoga and meditation practice offers-- the ability to make conscious choices about how we're going to respond to events in our lives. It also teaches us to let go-- to release the impossible goal of total control. A great deal of suffering and emotional unease can be traced back to attempts to control things that are by their nature quite beyond our control. There's a well-known quotation that is often erroneously attributed to the Buddha, but which nonetheless is an excellent guide:

       In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

Regardless of who originally said this, it's quite brilliant! Love liberally, live gently, and release things not meant for you-- like total control, for instance! Make joy your default position; it will benefit you and everyone who comes in contact with you.