How to practice mindfulness and spiritual values in daily life?
Never leave silence for any reason. There is a valuable lesson from the experience of a spiritual learner who I met a few days ago in Kuningan, Indonesia. I was astounded to learn that some people find it quite challenging to appreciate those moments, their breath, and their good health. Because people are so accustomed to those things, everything is essentially regarded as routine, nothing exceptional, and not something precious. Those who have studied spirituality ought to comprehend the truth that we receive significant blessings through time. Additionally, cultivating stillness enables us to fully comprehend and experience all of these gifts.
Meditative Practice
In the end, Mr. Agus (the person I met in Kuningan) was able to experience the beauty of simple things when he started practicing drinking hot orange juice. It is a simple thing, anyone can do it. But to be able to enjoy this moment, it is your choice. You have to choose to be able to enjoy it. Being able to enjoy it means practicing silence. To be able to enjoy it, you have to bring your attention to what you are doing. If you are drinking sweet tea, your thoughts should be focused on observing our actions so that we can feel it. So, when we come into contact with this drink through our tongue, our tongue has many sensory devices, many taste nerves, automatically it will experience the true natural taste of what we drink. However, we will not feel it if our mind wanders here and there, not giving attention. By giving attention, we can feel it fully, by feeling it, we know that it is a blessing, through which we know that it is a manifestation of God’s love. God loves you through simple things. So that’s why if we can enjoy this, we can be thankful, “Thank you, God.”
Once we are able to do that, to enjoy the moment when we drink sweet tea or coffee or anything else, until the point where we can be grateful. Then, we also do it when we breathe. If we can’t breathe, it’s difficult, even having a cold is difficult. Being able to breathe is actually a precious gift. Let the breath be as it is, no need to control it. We only bring our thoughts to pay attention, while we can feel it.
Breathing, we inhale air, there is oxygen in the air, it enters the throat through the nose, then into the lungs, and then it comes out again. Along the nose, through the throat down to the chest, there are sensory organs and taste buds. If we don’t pay attention to this activity, we can’t feel it. But if we pay attention, then what is felt by the body is understood by the brain. That’s what it means to be able to feel.
Enjoying the Beauty of Life
Moments like these happen throughout the day. All these moments are our precious opportunities to realize that there is always pure love bestowed upon us. Let me give an example to Mr. Agus when his wife serves sweet tea. Whether his wife smiles or frowns, it’s still a blessing. Because not everyone can be served sweet tea. Those who are single can’t, they have to go to a food stall. Because Mr. Agus is so used to it, he considers it not a blessing. But many singles desire that. This is not to mock singles, they have their own blessings. But I want to teach that there are actually many precious moments in life. Because we don’t pay attention, those moments pass by unnoticed. Being non-meditative, we don’t see the beauty in this life. Even when a guest comes, it is a blessing. The guest brings their own blessings. When they receive healing, they are happy, and that can trigger happiness in Mr. Agus and so on.
Each of our friends has their own unique experiences, but the essence is the same. All those experiences are moments when we are truly loved by God. That in every moment, there is always beauty and majesty. For example, when we hang out in Braga City Walk, Bandung, there are many ordinary things there, but if we are in a meditative state, we understand that there is beauty. For example, there is a mother carrying her child, guiding them, that is beauty. There is love from a mother to her child. Some men are selling and offering their goods; that is also a moment of beauty when we see it with inner clarity.
Beauty exists in all existence, and there is majesty which makes us realize that this life is an endless series of gifts.
If you can apply that, you are building the foundation of a heavenly life. It is a choice for us. If you want it, go ahead, however, if not, you bear the risk yourself.
The Teaching by Setyo Hajar Dewantoro
Retreat in Bandung, October 24, 2021
