A Mindfulness Meditation; Week 1

Today I went for a walk in the woods. The clouds were beautiful. The sky was blue. I just stood, looking up. Lost track of time...I haven't felt that tuned in to things in a long time and it inspired me.

I've decided to take the next five weeks to practice mindfulness in various aspects of my daily life so as to be more conscious of each day, each moment, each action as it comes and goes. Anyone care to join me?

Week 1 Notice the influence of the first precept in your life. Vow to bring no harm to any living creature through word, deed or thought. Yourself included. Notice all the living beings in your world you might normally ignore. Weeds poking up through pavement. Bugs. Birds. Cultivate a sense of care and reverence for them. Houseplants are buddhas, too. Stones, too.

I will also be setting aside more time each day for meditation. It's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, but we make time for what is important to us. I read somewhere - "You don't have time? That's not a valid excuse. Time is really all we have. If we decide it's necessary, there's time for it." As a somewhat unrelated and only slightly interesting side note, I recently bought a new buddha statue/figurine for my altar. One of these days I'll have to post a picture. It's really very nice.