The Consequences of What We Feel

08/19/23 • 20 min

The Consequences of What We Feel

Do you ever feel like life is happening fast? I do. Mindfulness invites us to slow down in a particular way, taking in our experience in small chunks, in terms of what we’re seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling, and thinking. I don’t remember to do that all the time. But when I do remember, life is more interesting. It also feel slower and often, very peaceful.

Within that invitation is also a suggestion to see how each moment feels. Is it pleasant? Is it unpleasant? Is it not much of either? When I remember to do that, I can see right away how I'm influenced - even propelled - by my likes and dislikes. And seeing that, feels spacious and hopeful. It also helps me feel more connected - to the moment, and to everyone else. Do you know what I mean?

The Consequences of What We Feel

Previous Episode

Connecting With Our Experience

How many times each day do you notice that seeing is happening? Or that hearing or tasting or smelling are happening? The world is such a cacophonous, fast-moving place. To me, it feels impossible to be aware of each moment of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling, thinking, and emotion. It’s exhausting to even consider it.

But what if we could be that aware, or even just a little bit more aware than we are? What if we could know just a little more often when emotions (like frustration) were happening...before we entered a meeting? Or when sensations (like hunger...or satiety) were happening, before we went for that second latte? Or when seeing was happening, before we drove right past a sunrise or skyline or flock of geese, wheeling across the sky?

Next Episode

You Don't Always Want What You Want...

Do you really want all the things you think you want? I don’t, but I think I do. So I mostly operate under that delusion, trying to accumulate more things, more self-awareness, more peace. Even though I know they won’t make me happy. Or happier. In the end, happiness is just here, in this moment. The rest is a memory, or a dream.

Is it possible to truly understand this, and let go? To catch the wanting before it turns into grasping, and before grasping turns into perfectionism? Maybe, just maybe...

The Wake Up Call for Lawyers - The Consequences of What We Feel

Transcript

Hi everyone, it’s Judi Cohen and this is Wake Up Call 406. I hope you’re safe and well.

We’ve been looking at the classical mindfulness teaching, with contact as condition, feeling comes to be. With feeling as condition, craving comes to be. With craving as condition, clinging comes to be. Condition, as I talked about, is basically whatever is happening in the moment: the weather, my history, your history, the country, continent, and land we find ourselves standing on, the other h