Ordinary Mind is the Way

During the last session of my Unified Mindfulness Level Two Teacher training, the system’s originator, Shinzen Young, held a day-long virtual workshop for all the trainees. During a portion of that workshop,  Henry Anderson, a family counselor and fellow cohort member volunteered to present a particular challenging aspect of his personal meditation practice so Shinzen could demonstrate how to interactively discover different options that could be used to work with the challenge.  One notable quote that Shinzen shared that his teacher used to say was, “Ordinary Mind is the Way”

Henry and I both resonate with that statement.  He has since begun a deep dive into the topic with what is planned as a 10-part series of articles on, as Henry says, "how we may actually learn to find 'the Way' in the shadows of our lived experience", with what he considers 10 of the most uncomfortable aspects of an average life:

1. Restlessness (from subtle impatience to deep unrest)

2. Anxiety (general, performance, social)

3. Anger (from slight irritation or offense to enraged explosion)

4. Depression (from subtle lowness to deep sorrow)

5. Embarrassment and Shame (looking bad and identifying with “bad”)

6. Laziness (lack of motivation)

7. Excess (lack of self-control)

8. Regret (maybe as a result of laziness and/or excess…)

9. Parenting (we’ll see how that one goes…)

10. Confusion (mental fog, distressing aimlessness, and “Don’t Know” mind)

I hope you enjoy Henry’s writing, writing style, and insight about these parts of life as much as I do. I will link the future articles as they become available.

To your happiness, independent of conditions - Tim