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Life changes at a deeper level with experimental understanding - of experiencing realities of nature within by using one's mind-body as laboratory. |
Overview - Living each moment
The COVID -19 Pandemic also known as 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid -19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2). The outbreak is a major destabilizing threat to the global sociology and economy.
These difficult pandemic months may seem like days dragging slowly - a perception of time . Days pass neither slower nor faster. Time, life's primary factor, needs better understanding for better life.
Our daily lives get defined by time, of deadlines, appointments and many other things. We make plans for the day, weeks or for years. But what do we really know of time ?
Time is the find this moment. Conventional science knows much about the physical organ, called the brain ( Read here 🔗Phenomenon of Left-brained and Right-brained Functions) but knows little about the entity called the mind.
A better quality of life depends on how well we use the mind , and how well we use the time. Stress (Read here 🔗 Stress: Facts, Causes and Remedies) lessens when the mind is with reality of the present moment. No pinning for the past, no anxieties (Read here 🔗Anxiety and Depression - Causes, Symptoms and Remedies) for the future.
The Present Moment
The ancient practice Vipassana trains the mind to be in present moment. Through the learning of Vipassana or other method if try to figure out the present moment we can realize how much the mind wanders wildly to past or future - but rarely stays in reality of this present moment.
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Buddha declared 2500 years ago of all matter being made of indivisible subatomic particles called kalpas Photo by Hiroshi Tsubono on Unsplash |
A renowned Teacher of Vipassana Sayagyi U Goenka explained,
The ultimate truth is the truth of this moment, not of the moments that have passed, nor of the moment that are yet to come. The moment that have passed can only be remembered, the moments that are yet to come can only be imagined or desired. Only the present moment can be experienced, not past nor moments of the future.
All that is past and future is condensed in this present moment of time.
Our mundane world functions with the base unit of time as a second. The International System of Units defines the second as about 9 billion oscillations of the caesium atom. In a second the caesium - 133 atom arises and passes nine billion times. So much activity at the sub-atomic level within a second - of time understood externally through science.
Life changes at a deeper level with experimental understanding - of experiencing realities of nature within by using one's mind-body as laboratory.
These inner scientists can be Himalayan ascetics and householder meditators achieving high level of purity of mind, where life becomes this moment.
The fully enlightened super-scientist called Buddha declared 2500 years ago of all matter being made of indivisible subatomic particles called kalpas. Kalpas arise and pass trillions of times in a moment. Life is a sum total of such moments, of this present moments.
Sayagi U Ba Khin told on the Buddha's enlightenment realization,
By introspective meditation of the realities of nature within His own self, it came vividly to Him that there is no substantiality, as there seems to be, in the human body and that is the sum total of innumerable millions of kalpas (subatomic particles), each about 1/46,656th part of dust from wheel of a chariot in summer.
Each kalpa is in a continuous state of change. The Buddha experienced the subtler reality that quantum physics search in their hunt for the god particle such as the Higgs boson.
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| By CERN for the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations - https://cds.cern.ch/record/1630222, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29737816 |
This 'I to which we develop so much attachment is merely mind-matter phenomenon of subatomic particles arising and passing each moment. Being with this reality of impermanence decreases the ego- the biggest hindrance of meaningful success and peace of mind.
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A concentrated mind suffers no distractions from the task at hand. |
Being with the present moment improves quality of life. A concentrated mind suffers no distractions from the task at hand. That is why successful people get immersed in the moment. Top athletes excel in the zone, a bubble of impenetrable concentration focused on the present moment.
Performers be it athletics, other competitive games or a yoga-asana practice trance-like concentration, maintain their mind in thought-free blank before they strike. They all emphasize of being in the present moment by selective focusing.
For greater benefits are reaped in the supra mundane life, when being in the present moment becomes the core of successful meditation practice. By selective focusing or by being in the present moment, we master the mind instead of being its slave. Along with our body the surrounding falls in place
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Performers be it athletics, other competitive games or a yoga-asana practice trance-like concentration, maintain their mind in thought-free blank before they strike Photo by Sonnie Hiles on Unsplash |
Not that the past is erased from the memory and the future disappears,. We access the storage of past experiences and make plans for the future from a conscious decision, to do so not from wild wanderings of the mind like a driver losing control of the car.
Mastery of the mind can be gained with practice of Anapana. It is is a preparatory exercise for Vipassana, focuses on awareness of the natural breathing or respiration - the inhalation and exhalation of breath, as it is, this moment. No artificial regulation of the breath as in pranayama.
Sayagyi U Goenka wrote :
We have to experience the ocean of infinite waves surging within, the river of inner sensations flowing within, countless vibrations within every atom of body. We have to witness our continuously changing nature - all happening at an extremely subtle level. To reach this state, we have to start observing the flow of respiration.
Final Thought
Being in the present moment strengthens the mind. Stronger mind leads to better life. A strong concentrated mind never postpones. It focuses on work this moment - the essential to success.
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A performer be it athletics, other competitive games or a yoga-asana practitioner trance-like concentration, maintain their mind in thought-free blank before they strike Photo by Jane Palash on Unsplash |
The life of the cosmos, celestial and human beings have the inescapable basis of impermanence from moment to moment. How well we live depends on how well we use this moment.
Explicitly, the task is only to notice the sensation and not to respond to it in any positive or negative related manner.
By practicing selective focusing first, the participants achieve heightened sensibility for sensations throughout the whole body.
Also, their mind’s concentration is sharpened.
These difficult times will also pass. This words from Martin Luther King always give us strength
We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope
Dhammapada 326 says :
This mind that wanders wherever it wishes, wherever it desires, wherever it sees pleasure , I will first make it steadfast.
I will train it thoroughly like mahout with a goad, trains a wild elephant.
