The Zen Diarist

Author website of Andrew Marshall

Archives

Categories

Mortality: why our own impermanence is such a wonderful gift

by 1 Comment

Mortality wealthMortality or immortality? Given the choice, which would you choose? Those who regularly buy lottery tickets dreaming of untold riches might think living forever would be the most fabulous gift of all. Provided the money didn’t run out, of course. That view might change as the body begins to creak and groan. Nevertheless, certain events in life can – and should – make us reflect on our own temporality. Such thoughts are not always happy, hence the burgeoning market for anti-ageing serums, Botox and the like. But perhaps mortality is not something to fear and could bring a sense of freedom, even joy.

No end, no beginning

When a tree dies, we know that all the materials that made that tree simply change into something else. There isn’t an end, just change. In fact, it’s very hard to say when the tree began. Was it when the seed sprouted, or the seed itself – perhaps the flower of the mother tree? It’s the same with us. The chain of events that led to our appearance is without beginning. Remove one ancestor from any generation and we would cease to be.

Mortality ancestorEmbracing mortality can be a blissful release

Instead of resisting life’s natural flow, we can embrace the ephemeral nature of life. That doesn’t mean simply accepting the obvious fact that one day we are going to die. Rather, it involves understanding that our appearance on this Earth, and that is what life is, is a miraculous product of constantly changing conditions. Our body didn’t suddenly materialise out of thin air. There are causes which put it together, maintain it and change its form. That’s all mortality is – impermanence of form. Not only that, our body is made entirely of recycled material. It is actually recycling all the time and the body we had in our youth simply doesn’t exist anymore. That’s pretty amazing. Don’t resist the changing face in the mirror. It’s meant to change. Cheers!

See more in The Art of Not Doing

Free guided meditations

Related posts:

  1. Losing those we love, and the search for constancy
  2. Seasons and ageing: the life-enhancing secret of Nature
  3. Thinking too much? Why it can make you ill
  4. Change is brilliant, no matter how bad it is – possibly

Seasons and ageing: the life-enhancing secret of Nature

by 2 Comments

Seasons autumn leavesSeasons are wonderful. They are like a gift that can teach us so much, not only about the world around us but ourselves, too. The optimist embraces the change of the seasons and our culture has always recognised the significance of the equinoxes and solstices in the annual cycle.

Seasons are Nature’s rhythm, so let’s dance

Often, we associate November with gloom and dampness but this year in the UK, Nature is particularly glorious. Thanks to the hot summer, the colours of the leaves on the trees are now spectacular. Is this a hint that if we live a full life, our own autumn will be colourful? Perhaps not necessarily for all, but it does indicate how deeply the past affects the present. Always living fully in the present enhances not just life today but our future, too. For the pessimist, spring is too wet, summer too hot, autumn miserable and winter just too cold to be mentioned – life is just shades of grey. But if we embrace all seasons, both Mother Nature’s and our own, life will be like a kaleidoscope – a continuous play of colour and rhythm.

Seasons hang in thereDon’t resist – hang in there and enjoy the ride

As our individual life goes through its phases, it is easy to see the correspondence with the seasons outside. The spring of youth and the summer of adulthood are full of energy. Seeking to prolong them is perfectly understandable. Knowing that these periods won’t last, people have been looking for the secret of eternal youth since time immemorial. Who can blame them? But internally we create resistance and interfere with the flow of energy through us. Instead of being happy with life, there is a cloud of dissatisfaction lurking in our hearts. In tai chi, which should be an effortless flow, our teachers will always find the knots of resistance in us. Gradually we learn to let go and practice becomes easier. The same applies in life. Outside, enjoy the seasons; inside, welcome the present with an open heart.

Much more on living in tune with life cycles is in The Great Little Book of Happiness.

Related posts:

  1. Longevity: seven secrets of ageing gracefully
  2. Be rooted again: how a simple trick enhances life and wellbeing
  3. Mortality: why our own impermanence is such a wonderful gift
  4. Movement: why listening to our body is vital for health

Longevity: seven secrets of ageing gracefully

by Leave a Comment

Longevity tai chi masterLongevity is a lovely word that beautifully conjures up images of a long and healthy life. Age merely becomes a number as the essence of youth carries us on its fragrance into the later decades of life.

But the truth is that although people are generally living far longer, longevity in our society doesn’t always match up to our ideal image. Most in middle age will say that they would rather be shot than end their days in a care home. In spite of that promise to themselves, too many end up where they dreaded being. Perhaps it needn’t be like that. Here are some things we can do to minimise the risk.

For longevity, breathe deeply and more slowly

Many of us breathe shallowly. Instead of using the diaphragm and filling the bottom part of the lungs, we fill the top and maybe a bit of the middle. Breathing more deeply reduces the stress responses in the body and can help to reduce blood pressure. It increases oxygenation and tends to stabilise the flow of qi or vitality, which we need to conserve more as we age.

Meditate or learn to sit quietly every day

There is a wealth of documentation on the benefits of meditation and quiet sitting on health and wellbeing. Imagine life like being on a train journey. We can choose to enjoy that journey, admire the scenery and stop off here and there. Sitting quietly with ourselves for five or ten minutes a day, longer if we wish, helps us to enjoy our trip through life. That really is what longevity is about.

Do something that engages both sides of your brain

Meditation helps to harmonise the left and right hemispheres of the brain. If we tend to analyse, use logic and intellectualise a great deal, the intuitive side of the brain can be underused. Drawing, gardening and listening to music, for example, if done with full awareness, will help to balance things out.

Aerobic exercise is good in moderation

If you like to run or go to the gym, great. It’s much better than sitting on one’s bottom all day. But longevity is about balance, too. As we age, the body’s energy changes and exercise that is very strenuous can be counter-productive. Walking, dancing, tai chi (taiji) and yoga are all good for promoting a long and healthy life.

Learn something new every day

Learning stimulates the brain and encourages the growth and renewal of neural pathways. If combined with physical activity, such as learning and practicing tai chi, there are multiple benefits.

Taiji and qigong

Think about looking into these classic exercise systems for longevity if you haven’t done so already. These are forms of physical exercise sequences, practised with a relaxed and heightened state of awareness. Both taiji and qigong work on the energy of the body as well as the normal physical aspects and emphasise promoting health in the vital organs.

Let go of the past – and the future

Clinging to memories of the good old days or to resentment of when they were bad causes negative energy patterns in us. Similarly, hoping for something to happen in the future takes us out of the present into an imaginary sphere. Let go of all this. It’s like junk in the attic. Clear it out and let yourself be free.

The Great Little Book of Happiness – A Guide to Leading a Happier Life looks closely at the various cycles of life and how to achieve balance for longevity.

An evening workshop entitled How to Eliminate Fear is coming up very soon in Staffordshire. A limited number of places is still available. More information.

Related posts:

  1. Energy circulation: why it is better for health than jogging
  2. Qi power – secrets of internal energy for health and stability
  3. Be rooted again: how a simple trick enhances life and wellbeing
  4. Movement: why listening to our body is vital for health

Understanding death truly is liberating

by Leave a Comment

Understanding death: there is no birth or death, just appearance

The body we have now was in fact never born. Understanding death requires us to see that there is no single thing that can be identified as the body. It has constituent parts that are constantly changing. Even conception and the growth of the embryo are not beginning points – they are conditions which have their preceding conditions. The body we have now is not the same as the body that came out of our mother’s womb; it has evolved from it but is not the same, just as a tree is not the same as the seedling it once was. Our present body was not born but is an appearance resulting from preceding and current conditions. This is a point that we really need to meditate on quite deeply.

understanding deathWhen the time of what we call death comes, the body will not be the same as it is at this minute. Some prefer to say that it is the body that dies rather than the person, in an acknowledgment that consciousness and the body are not the same. The subject of death is a very profound one, too deep to go into at this point. For our current purpose, it is enough to contemplate the temporary nature of the body and the fact that at death the elements of our physical appearance and structure do not cease to exist – they change into other things, whether that is through rotting in the ground, cremation or some other process. The body and its constituent parts are merely recycled.

What is the point of contemplating like this? Done well, it releases very powerfully much of the tension that comes from the excessive attachment (and sometimes aversion) we have to the body. Releasing that tension allows us to become more in tune with our psychic energy – the dynamism and creativity of our spiritual nature that is beyond time, and beyond death.

From The Art of Not Doing

In memory of Neil Stanley Kirk

Related posts:

  1. Change – good or bad?
  2. Calm the mind in a crazy world

Change – good or bad?

by Leave a Comment

Absolutely everything is in a perpetual state of changemTr5c7i

One of the basic causes of human unhappiness is our failure to see that. We depend so much on what we see in the outside world for our stability and well-being. Human nature makes us put up great resistance when change is threatened. Alternatively, we may look forward to things being different but our sense of pleasure doesn’t tend to last very long when they happen. The delight, or dread, is all in the anticipation, it seems.

How’s your everlasting youthfulness doing?

That comes very close to home when we think about our own body. As a child or a teenager, we may have wanted to look older and more grown up; but that looking forward didn’t last for very long once we reached adulthood, did it? Most of us don’t relish the idea of aging at all and we try to hang onto a youthful appearance, suppleness, fitness and so on for as long as we possibly can. I failed on that one some time ago! But seriously, there is in all of us, or nearly all of us, a dread of becoming old and frail, perhaps incontinent, losing teeth, suffering from failing hearing and eyesight and a weakening of mental faculties.

Our failure to accept

The reason for this dread is that we have failed to accept fully – and I mean really fully – the inevitability of change. We know that no matter how hard we try, this body of ours cannot be preserved indefinitely; but there is still a sneaking desire to prolong it as long as possible. Then instead of treating the body as an instrument that is ours to use for a limited length of time, we become dearly attached to it (or maybe abhor how it is now, which is equally as bad) and so our body becomes a source of unhappiness as it deteriorates. Not only does it become a source of unhappiness, it also becomes a source of fear because it is not only aging that results in death. Death can come at any time and some of the possible methods of its approach – cancer, terrorism, fire, drowning and so on – can lead to irrational fears which affect our thinking and our behaviour. Or we can avoid the thought of the reality of death altogether. That’s the more popular approach, of course.

If we can truly embrace our own impermanence, we can more easily accept the vulnerability of everybody and everything in our world to the forces of change.  We should look closely at ourselves to see whether we try to hang onto the “good” things – the ones that we see as essential to our happiness – and feel down when they start to slip away from us. In fact, as we shall see later, there is neither good nor bad but while we continue to label things that way, the seeds of unhappiness are lurking in our minds.

Adapted from The Great Little Book of Happiness

Related posts:

  1. Consciousness – your most important asset
  2. Opening the heart, no surgery
  3. Barriers to our natural joy
  4. Stress? Cut it in 5 minutes or less