My daughters the gurus
“At first meditation is one of the things you do in life. Eventually you have to reach the point where life is something that takes place inside meditation.” — Shinzen Young
18:00 – Time for the evening ritual of our toddler: inhaler for her cough, ointment for a litle wound, clothes off, pajamas on, brushing her teeth, reading a book, storing the book, marbles as a reward for the cooperation, singing a lullaby, protest, singing the right lullaby, kisses, hugs, answering some questions … About half an hour later it’s finally time to sit by myself for my daily hour of meditation. Phew!
18:30 – I practice a vipassana technique where I note my experiences out loud (or whispering): unrest, itching, seeing, hearing, itching, imaging thought, talk thought, smiling, tension, swallowing, pressure, contentment, seeing, music thought, planning thought, sleepiness, itching … After ten minutes or so, I hear noises in the hallway (hearing, anticipation, frustration, imaging thought, irritation), the door swings open (confirmation, smiling, irritation, intention to remain patient) and Aiko stands before me with a broad smile: “You are here daddy? I need to do pee pee!” (affection, softening, impatience). I get up, try to preserve the same meditative attention while I help her on the toilet, remind her several times that she has to go back to bed, dodge her attempts to stretch everything eternally … Finally she has managed to squeeze out a tiny drop and after a lot of delay she returns to bed.
18:42 – Back on the cushion: unrest, itching, tension, blinking, imaging thought, talk thought, pressure, contentment … noise in the hallway (hearing, anticipation, irritation, anger), the door swings open (irritation, softening, smiling, intention to remain patient) and the same scenario repeats itself FIVE MORE TIMES. All the while I hear my wife comforting the screaming baby downstairs.
19:26 – I’m back by myself on the cushion. Four minutes later the timer sounds. The hour has passed.
One of the main reasons I meditate, is to be able to deal better and more consciously with whatever happens in life. As unsurpassed gurus Aiko and Mila help me to never forget this intention.
