The Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche once said, “You know that space between your thoughts? Stay there.”
I’m visiting the little town I grew up in. I’ve only returned here twice in the last thirty years, so the things and places I see bring up very clear memories of my childhood. But there is often something in the way – the song running through my head, or the thought of something that needs to be done at work when I go home. These obscure the experience of the moment. So I take a few moments to find that space between the thoughts, that silence that lies behind the pop melody that keeps looping in the mind.
Just a few moments is all it takes. A big sigh, relaxing the body, breath and mind, then several breaths consciously letting gravity bring the breathing down to the belly. The mind settles too – thoughts and music fading away, until what remains is what is here right now, in clear focus because it’s against the backdrop of inner silence. And at this moment, that means green trees, thistles and bird songs I haven’t heard in decades.
I’m visiting the little town I grew up in. I’ve only returned here twice in the last thirty years, so the things and places I see bring up very clear memories of my childhood. But there is often something in the way – the song running through my head, or the thought of something that needs to be done at work when I go home. These obscure the experience of the moment. So I take a few moments to find that space between the thoughts, that silence that lies behind the pop melody that keeps looping in the mind.
Just a few moments is all it takes. A big sigh, relaxing the body, breath and mind, then several breaths consciously letting gravity bring the breathing down to the belly. The mind settles too – thoughts and music fading away, until what remains is what is here right now, in clear focus because it’s against the backdrop of inner silence. And at this moment, that means green trees, thistles and bird songs I haven’t heard in decades.
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