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Talk: 19911127-Larry_Rosenberg-UNK-anapanasati_full_awareness_of_breath_series_tape_1-33804 Leandra Tejedor.json Start_time: 01:08:53 Display_question: I have a little trouble letting myself lean into being with my breath while I'm doing other things because I don’t want to miss a great idea. Keyword_search: breath, idea, choice, mind, mindfulness, washing dishes, planning, effective, efficient, attention, culture, America, driving, TV, bumper sticker phenomena, infinite respect Question_content: Questioner: I have a little trouble letting myself lean into this. Larry: Lean into what? Questioner: Lean into being with my breath while I'm doing other things… Larry: Yes Questioner: Completely. Because I think that amidst all that scatter, and fuzzy sound that's going on all the time, that a great idea will pop up. Larry: Well, you have a choice. Has it come yet? Well, keep on waiting. We don't want to make this into a rigid kind of thing, for example. Even it's not, you must follow each, and every in breath, and out breath throughout the day, or you're no good. You may hear it that way, but that's not what's being said. And to begin with, realistically, little by little, start to get the feeling of what it's like to keep the breath in mind. It may start in the beginning, in simple situations, like waiting online, waiting for an elevator, sitting on the tee, and so forth. And then as you do that, more and more, the breath becomes a vivid object for you. The more you practice it, the more it's going to be available for you. Break_line: So, it will help you with your practice. That's why it helps you protect the mind, protect yourself. So little by little, you may find that there are certain work kinds of things you can't unite with the breathing you find. Let's say it doesn't help me to be with my breath, when I vacuum. Okay, then it's all right. The main thing is the mindfulness. The reason that the conscious breathing is emphasized, is to help us be mindful. Some of you may be drawn to the breath, in a big way, so it becomes a real path for you. And you're doing it a good deal at a time. And some of you may just use it incidentally, from time, to time. That's fine. It's okay. Let it unfold naturally. Break_line: Now, again, if we get rigid, sort of well, you're only allowed to do the dishes. You're not allowed to have any great ideas, while you do the dishes. There may be a time when you have to make up your mind about something, and you have a minute to do it. And you have to wash the dishes. And so, while you're washing your dishes, you may have to take into account, a choice you have to make about your child, about what to say when you come down here, or whatever it is. So don't make it into like a bureaucratic, rigid set of rules, that you have to follow, or you're no good. But rather a kind of set of guidelines, that conscious breathing has the capacity to help you be, more mindful. The key is the mindfulness. Break_line: In terms of the great idea, though some of that is a myth. I think people will often say, well, if I do what you say, which is to try to be with each thing in turn, like one thing at a time, then I won't have time to make all kinds of plans, and good ideas, and this, and that. But try it. See what happens. You can also set aside time for planning. You can set aside time for writing poetry, or whatever it is, but at least to some degree, if you begin to be more unified, bring a full mind, and body, be awake in what you do. See if that doesn't help you be, more efficient, more effective, so that actually, you do get more things done, by… and the quality changes. If you just think it's common sense, if you're paying attention, to whatever it is you're doing, don't you think the quality has a good chance of improving. That you have a better chance of seeing where you're off, that you have a better chance of learning something, than if you're just all over the place? Break_line: Your question is a very important one, because this culture, and I don't mean just America, and maybe it's been, but certainly in the modern world, doesn't put a premium on that at all. For example, the bumper sticker phenomena, right? I'd rather be golfing; I'd rather be playing tennis. I'd rather be fishing. Yeah, but you're driving a car. I hope that at least once in a while, I'd rather be driving, you know, because you are driving. Whoop was that? Because you heard me give that example too many times already. Okay, so we'd rather be somewhere else. Or we are walking with earphones, tuning out the environment, learning Portuguese, while we're walking through. Or the TV sets now, where you can have two things going on simultaneously, so that you can watch one program, and decide if you want to watch another, while the commercial is going on. And don't think that this is just like a high-tech TV phenomenon, because we're doing it. It's like while your husband, or wife, is talking to you, you have a bumper sticker on your back, I'd rather be watching TV. We're doing it all the time. So, we're trying to learn how to gracefully ease out of that. And to bring… Break_line: To me, it means bringing quality, and respect to life. It means taking each thing. The way the practice is set up is, that everything is even. So that even what we think of as unimportant things, like washing the dishes, or making a bed, are considered vital parts of the... perfect in terms of practice. They're not less valuable than sitting up here, and looking like someone spiritual. The reason that they're equally valuable, because that's what you're doing in that moment, that is your life. Whatever we encounter is our life. And so little by little, we're learning how to have a development of respect, infinitely. Because it's not that you're ever going to perfect it, because life is such a challenge. But at least it gives us a direction. The direction is to pay attention, to be open, to learn, to do things with care. And so even if you just start moving in that direction, I think you may find it helps, and maybe that great idea will come. End_time: 01:15:06
