Thought for the month

January 2012

My favourite poem connected to Mindfulness practice is the following poem by Rumi:

The Guest House

This being human is a guesthouse.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honourably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond

What this poem means (and there is a beautiful Mindfulness exercise that I teach, called ‘RAIN’ that connects with it) is that every day when we awake there is an accompanying emotion. For those of us having struggles, that emotion could be a negative one, such as sadness. Mindfulness teaches us acceptance. Acceptance is a way of coming to terms with whatever is present within our experience. To some people this might imply that we approve or condone negative states of mind, and so they might react – “oh, so if I am an angry person I can just carry on being angry and shouting at people”. This is not the case because it would amount to acting out and reinforcing anger, which is the opposite extreme from suppression. Acceptance is a middle path between acting out and suppression.  Accepting ourselves does not mean mindlessly indulging in emotions or inappropriate behaviour; nor does it mean showering ourselves with affirmations or having to like everything about ourselves. In fact, liking ourselves for some reason – because we approve of our behaviour or measure up to some standard – is conditional self-acceptance. Unconditional self-acceptance is of a totally different order – it is being completely open to the experience we are having, whatever it may be.

So this month, accept yourself as you are, accept the emotions that arise in your mind and let them be while you continue with your day. Like the guests in our internal Guest House, they will leave eventually.

Enjoy the first month of the year – Spring is on its way!