Week 38 - No One Else Has the Answer

Week 38 Activity

NO ONE ELSE HAS THE ANSWER

One of my favourite poems by the Chinese philosopher Lao

Tzu begins with the words "Always we hope someone else

has the answer" before going on to say "This is it. No one

else has the answer." It's easy to absolve ourselves of

responsibility for what happens to us, but—while

sometimes things do happen through no fault of our own—

there is plenty about our experience that we can influence.

And of course we can always choose how we relate to those

things that we can't control.

When we begin to pay attention to our experience in mindfulness practice, we start to see how much suffering we create for ourselves. We notice the stories we create about why this happened or that did not. At the same time, through regular meditation we connect with the inner strength and wisdom that we all have but sometimes lose sight of. Lao Tzu's poem continues: "At the centre of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want"

One of the benefits of mindfulness is that it is something we can explore at any time and in any place. We don't need props or professional help (although both can be helpful from time to time), but we simply pay attention to our experience in a particular way and use our breath and other physical sensations to anchor ourselves to the present.

Paying attention to bodily sensations can give us invaluable feedback about a situation and how we really feel about it, rather than how we think we should feel.

We always have our breath to turn to, and the more regularly we do so the stronger an anchor it becomes.

This week, notice those moments when your default is to put the responsibility of your experience on to someone else, and instead do something different. Take ownership of it and acknowledge that there are small actions we can take in any situation. Taking control, albeit in a small way, is empowering.

You might want to look at what you are eating or drinking (or not), the activities you are taking part in, your sleep patterns, and your other habits. Is there something you could do differently?

You might want deliberately to bring a situation that is on your mind to your sitting practice. After a period of settling on the breath and body, silently ask yourself a key question or two and notice your response. Keep repeating the question, and remain open to whatever comes up, rather than looking for a particular outcome.