A few mornings ago, I woke up & could fully take into my heart the reality that I am going to die. Usually, this feels like just a thought or idea, but this time, it landed deeply. I was struck by the Buddha’s recommendation to reflect on death daily, and this reflection brought a profound awareness of the poignancy of ordinary experiences—the routines that fill my day.
I noticed the feeling of my breath, the sound of a crow outside, the light breeze, the sensation of getting out of bed, and putting on clothes. Later, it was the warmth of a mug of tea, the sound of my partner’s laughter, taking out the trash, driving, making a meal, and hearing my mother’s voice on the phone. These ordinary experiences suddenly had a richness & depth. The mundane became extraordinary.
These routine activities make up most of our lives. They happen whether we’re joyful or sorrowful, peaceful or troubled, healthy or sick. Yet, it’s so easy to overlook them, to be on autopilot.
This autopilot mode is sometimes necessary, but too much of it can make life flicker by without truly being present. If these ordinary moments constitute most of our lives, I want to be there for them.
In Theravada Buddhism, mindfulness of these routine activities is crucial. The Satipatthana Sutta, a foundational Buddhist text, emphasizes
embodied mindfulness in everyday actions—walking, sitting, lying down, standing, reaching, eating, and even sleeping.
Being mindful of these ordinary experiences strengthens our presence in daily life, creating a foundation for deeper mindfulness. But this isn’t easy. Modern living often feels at odds with being fully present. Efficiency & multitasking can impede our ability to be with the ordinary & routine.
Two key components help me stay present in the ordinary. The first is embodied awareness—being fully aware of bodily experiences like standing, sitting, reaching, or even flossing teeth. This awareness roots my experience in the body, rather than in thoughts & ideas. The second is a curiosity about the process of activities, not just the outcome. This shift in focus makes life feel like a dance, a flow of movement, rather than a series of tasks to complete.
These practices disrupt the narrow, habitual ways we relate to life. They allow deeper ways of perceiving & being in the world to emerge. By tuning into the extraordinary in the ordinary, we touch something profound & mysterious that transcends the notion of “I” doing something. This insight into the selfless nature of experience can inform how we live these brief lives of ours.
So, like me, you too will die one day. In light of this, how do you want to relate to the routine, to the ordinary, during this brief life of yours?
For a more complete reflection on this topic you may want to listen
to this Dharma Talk by Brian:
The Ordinary Becoming Extraordinary
What is it that enables us to move towards ‘being a Buddha?’ What makes one a true heir of the Buddha? A phrase that the Buddha often used – “ehi-passika,” come & see – is an invitation not to come & believe, but to come & see for ourselves what is true. To come & see in this way requires great interest, willingness & courage which includes a growing faith that blossoms out of our own direct experience, interest, willingness & courage to look with humility… directly, deeply, & honestly into the body, the heart & the mind… without relying on what others say is true via what we’ve heard or read. To come & see in this way requires that we don’t settle into the inertia of our habitual perceptions of, our relationships to, or our self-identifications with our inner & outer experience.
day, we were connecting with & knowing ‘where we were’ again & again in so many ways & on so many levels, that the intermediary of a Global Positioning System seemed absurd.
…I know firsthand that chronic bodily pain can eat deeply into the entrails of the spirit. It can cast dark shadows over the chambers of the heart & pull one down into moods of dejection & despair. I cannot claim to have triumphed over pain, but in the course of our long relationship, I’ve discovered some guidelines that have helped me to endure the experience.
“Whatever feelings there may be—past, present, or future—all feeling is not mine, not I, not my self.” Benefiting from this technique does not require deep samadhi or a breakthrough to profound insight. Even using this formula during periods of reflective contemplation helps to create a distance between oneself & one’s experience of pain.
My yearly endeavor of Spring, Summer & Fall gardening was not possible last year. I was very sick… sick enough to be in hospital for a month & then sent home in hospice. As it all evolved, I ‘graduated from hospice above ground, which is very unusual,” as one of my doctors said. This year, my 84th, I am back to growing much of my food & tending the extensive flower gardens that grace this piece of northern New Mexico ground I have the honor of living on.
change & perishing… every animate & inanimate form of life displays & goes through this inevitable process. As each of us life forms move through this totally natural process, we are also in the midst of an intimate & intricate interdependent relationship with all other life forms, both near & far. My teacher, the garden, clearly displays & reflects this. I recognize again & again that this is also my human reality, if I’m willing to let this truth in.
Today I sat outside in the rain under the roof of the small porch behind my house… openhearted, in love & fully present to all that was visibly being rained on, and to the many birds that were eating, singing & appeared in their own way to be enjoying the gentle rain that was moisturizing everything. Today was an experience of ‘garden bathing’ at its best… feeling intrinsically deeply grateful for & joyfully intertwined in the amazing abundance of life forms appearing all around me.
An engaging way to teach a course in beginning mindfulness is to hand each new yogi a tangerine when they arrive. They’ll sit down & gingerly hold the fruit as if it’s too hot, occasionally taking discreet glances at it to make sure it really is a tangerine, wondering what it’s for. They soon learn: It’s the object of a guided 30-minute mindfulness meditation. Even experienced yogis graced with Beginner’s Mind find this meditation unexpectedly intriguing. Briefly, this is the guidance:
because of its comprehensiveness in teaching the objects that are the best for cultivating mindfulness through meditation: the body, feeling tones of pleasant-impermanent-unpleasant, the mind, and Dhammas (teachings of the Buddha).
The clue is, Are you O.K.?
experience. I ask them to consider whether, if they had a friend who spoke that way, they would keep that friend. The moment in which people discover they are not holding themselves in compassion, not speaking kindly, is often startling and always sad. That awareness is sometimes enough to cause the critic’s voice to soften, and the soother’s voice to be heard.
The Buddha described five additional, specific benefits of walking meditation. The first is that one who does walking meditation will have the stamina to go on long journeys. This was important in the Buddha’s time, when bhikkhus & bhikkhunis, monks and nuns, had no form of transportation other than their feet & legs. You who are meditating today can consider yourselves to be bhikkhus, and can think of this benefit simply as physical strengthening.
When we practice mindfulness meditation, we most often start with guiding our attention to our own immediate bodies. Students of mindfulness become aware of the simple sensations of breathing in & out, and then expand mindfulness to include all body sensations. We can also become aware of our bodies in stillness & during daily activities. From a steady foundation of mindfulness of the body, many aspects of the Buddha’s teachings ripen into the experience of true happiness & liberation. Mindfulness of the body becomes a refuge for developing compassion & wisdom.
happiness & contentment. Our senses show us the world, yet we don’t need to compulsively chase tastes, sights, sounds, or thoughts, trying to capture them. Instead our well being comes from having our bodies ground us like a pillar. Strangely, as this happens, our senses relax & become clearer. The taste of food, for example, becomes more exquisite as we rest in our bodies & receive the flavors.
The year 2023 has been difficult for many of us; illness, climate change, political tension and war, have been at the forefront of our minds for many months.
himself left behind such a statement. “Of all the footprints,” he said, “that of the elephant is supreme. Similarly, of all mindfulness meditation, that on death is supreme.”
mortality can often lead to awakening. Seeing that we don’t have forever becomes a real motivating factor.