Mindfully consumes the unmindful things?

The fifth mindfulness training, the mindful consumption, has always been a challenge to practice. Over the new year holiday retreat at the Blue Cliff Monastery, a lay man said that it is possible to consume alcohol mindfully. I wonder how he did it. I surely can't do so. Every time I drank a bottle of beer, I immediately notice that I could not think as clear as I would like to. Yes, sometimes, that is a sensation that I would like to enjoy, but these days, I sense that it is a loss of clarity in mind. My brain cells are getting killed.

So, is it possible to mindfully consume the unmindful things? My life experiences tell me no in the most cases. Still, we could learn a lot from our mistakes so we don't make the same mistakes again. In that regard, we do mindfully consume the unmindful things....

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Rumi's poems quoted in Wikipedia

* All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there. * Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, idolator, worshipper of fire, come even though you have broken your vows a thousand times, Come, and come yet again. Ours is not a caravan of despair. o Variant: Come, come again, whoever you are, come! Heathen, fire worshipper or idolatrous, come! Come even if you broke your penitence a hundred times, Ours is the portal of hope, come as you are. * Do not grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form. * Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still. * Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart. * Everyone sees the unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon h...

Miyamoto Musashi's painting

One of the monochrome paintings he produced later in life "The Shrike" expresses his ultimate teaching of swordsmanship, namely, "the myriad principles are all of the Void." The insect that can be seen roughly in the middle of the painting, crawling up the branch of the withered tree, provides us with a hint of the meaning of swordsmanship hidden within the work. Ono interprets the painting as such: The Shrike is waiting for the fish in the pond. She could shake the dead branch to make the insect fall into the water which will entice fish to come out and eat the bug. Before then, the insect has eaten up all the leaves of the tree which was transformed into a dead tree. The shrike could catch the fish, and strike her catch to the other pointed branch to kill it. Thus: Fish kills worm; worm kills tree; shrike kills fish...; The unseen kills shrike; new trees grow around the dead tree; Shrike, fish, worm, dead trees all turn into fertilizer to grow the new tree. Such i...

True Happiness

This is one of my favorite five mindfulness trainings in the tradition of Thay. "Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking, speaking, and acting. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others; and I will share my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. I will practice looking deeply to see that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from my own happiness and suffering; that true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion; and that seeking wealth, fame, power and sensual pleasures can bring much suffering and despair. I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy. I am committed to working in a way that I ca...

Mind activities of a Stone boy

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