I do a lot of painting outside directly from nature, and normally I am lost in seeing and moving the paint around for several hours, not unlike when I sing and then once more I am lost in feeling and sound. So for me, for someone who has spent her life looking 'out there' it is difficult to constantly be aware of the senses through the senses, as and when they arise, whilst I would also describe myself as a sensitive and aware person. Mindfulness, when sitting, becomes a retrospective time of noticing how I am often responding and curious, about how I am always being pulled and tempted through the sense doors. It's a strong pull, but mindfulness, also shows me, retrospectively, how inaccurate, insubstantial, transient and ultimately unimportant my sense experiences are. To be aware of the senses, through the senses as and when they arrive, seems to be a good thing to aim for, not just to be fully anchored, here now in the heart, but to glimpse that which is formless, both inside and out, that precious pot of gold that is at the end of all rainbows
On Jun 17, 2014 annie wrote :