Eating Meditation - a real Living in the Now Meditation
| Eating Meditation |
| Degree of difficulty |
Beginners |
| Recommended duration |
5 minutes |
| Posture |
Sitting or lying |
| Advantages |
- It improves your concentration.
- It makes your senses more.
- It teaches you attention and focus.
- It makes you aware of the power of living in the NOW.
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| Remark |
It is an awareness exercise that shows us clearly the power of presence.
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We can make any moment into a Meditation by trying to let any activity become an end in itself. When we are washing the car we are washing the car, when we are doing the dishes then we try to wash the dishes with complete attention. We do one thing at a time and are completely Zen. Without realising it all of us do this very often when we are kitesurfing, bungyjumping, car racing or gardening. Everything we really enjoy is often an activity that absorbs all our attention. On the other hand: it is not really so easy to wilfully do only one thing at a time.
During our Meditations we train ourselves to BE in the now and continuously in the NOW at any moment and in all circumstances. In the present moment, the NOW, our thoughts go to a situation where t=0, they go to what happens now. Our thoughts have nothing to do with the past or the future. The ego plays no part any more, our tendency to judge has been eliminated and we limit ourselves to "pure" thinking and observing. In the NOW we observe very acutely because we do not have to judge, we do not have to understand, we do not have to reason things out. According to Trungpa this sharpened and unprejudiced observation shows us the fundamental "goodness" of the moment. In other words: because we observe much more acutely we will realise much better the beauty and perfection of many things. The way we experience things changes and at the same time we still have access to the benefits of a normal sitting Meditation. In the exercise we try to eat a strawberry with complete attention. You will experience that if you do the exercise well eating a strawberry will get a completely new dimension. You can apply the methodology of this exercise to other activities as well. Things like brushing your teeth, doing the dishes, doing the shopping, driving your car, cleaning, etcetera. Good luck!
This exercise shows how simple and satisfying it can be to be busy with only one thing at a time. We are confronted with the way in which automatism's influence the way we experience things. This exercise may well change your attitude towards things and activities like eating. We are going to eat a strawberry with full attention. In this Meditation you may well experience the real taste of a strawberry for the first time in your life. Pay attention to all the details, use all your senses and observe the thoughts and feelings that enter your mind while you are eating. Observe if you again fall back on automatic reactions. Pay attention to your reaction when you are finished. Are you satisfied? Do feel an urge to eat more? Or are you just surprised about how complete presence changes the experience? Try not to judge, try not to become angry when things do not go so well and try not to be too goal-oriented. Let us begin!
Eating Meditation
- Take a strawberry.
- Look at the strawberry as if you have never seen one before.
- What does the strawberry feel like?
- Look at the colours and the structure. Observe and take your time.
- Be aware of your thoughts and feelings as you study the strawberry.
- When your thoughts wander away to something else, bring them back to the strawberry.
- Smell the strawberry.
- Bring the strawberry to your lips with full concentration.
- Observe how your mouth, your saliva and your body react.
- Does it make your mouth water?
- Put the strawberry in your mouth, begin to chew and experience the real taste of strawberry.
- When you are finished chewing pay attention to the impulse of the swallowing reaction.
- Feel how the chewed up strawberry enters your digestive organs. Imagine that your body is now a strawberry heavier.
- Finished!
TIP:If you want to read more background information about Living in the NOW surf to our section Living in the NOW!.
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