Happiness & power
An important part of everyday zen practice is noticing our noticing. Noticing where we put our attention. We always have a choice about our attention - whether we believe we do or not.
I’ve long been amazed at our capacity as human beings to focus on what we don’t have, don’t like, and don’t want. Yesterday morning, amidst the most beautiful spring morning the earth is capable of choreographing, I listened to a very bright and worldly wise guy go on complaining about just about anything you could name.
Negative judgments create a sense of power over our world, and logically, we’re most negatively judgmental when we feel victimized by our world. It gives us a sense of power that we think we need.
We start to let go of unhappiness when we realize that we are not victims and don’t need power over anything. Letting go of a need for power, we discover happiness.
May 31st, 2005 13:43
I was recently at a mahamudra workshop where the instructor talked about noticing and had us work with noticing our noticing.
May 31st, 2005 20:58
This is a great practice because it reveals our usual habits of attention - and inattention. Knowing our usual patterns is the first step to realizing the choices we have. It is also a great way to experience the impermanent nature of experience!