Go ahead. Fall into that hole. We all do, sometimes repeatedly. Walk the path, right over the leaves and sticks that hide the ditch, false ground made of desire, aversion, delusion.

It’s cold down there, darkness all around you, walls closing in. There’s no room to move, to breathe. How did you get here?

Suddenly, that shiny object of desire, this other place that promised paradise when you were averse to Here, the delusion of something better, feels isolating. It’s not so special anymore.

What if cittabhavana is possible, the luminous nature of mindheart unclouded by mental defilements? Is it worth climbing out of the ditch to walk with awareness, to celebrate the transition from ignorance to freedom?

I don’t care if you fell. I’ve fallen, too. I’m so done with hiding in that pit. I want to feel sunlight on my face, rain washing away old perceptions of self.

Reflecting on the trench’s discomfort and what supported the way out, let’s catch glimpses of cittabhavana, our capacity for clear seeing, beauty, and joy. Let’s walk together.
​
We’ll fall again. Faith is trusting that one of us will discover the hole is a trap, a false refuge, holding a hand out to the other so we both take one step closer to Home.

​She shares some apprehension she’s feeling about an upcoming math test. I try to listen and let her know the final grade doesn’t matter. What matters most is her preparation for the test. If she comes back with a D, then it’s important to reflect on how this happened, and ultimately connect with us (her parents) for support and guidance.

Before I can complete my thoughts and communicate them with our daughter, my husband interrupts with his point of view. Suddenly, I lose track of where I am and what I’m doing, and feel waves of anger and hurt rise and fall in succession with no safe harbor to break against. It’s tempting to redirect this internal discomfort towards him, but I know from past experience it will only increase the height, force, and impact of the waves. I say nothing.

After the waves have surrendered to a gentle, rhythmic ebb and flow, curious and ready to connect with the shores of my husband’s experience (and share my own), I check in with him. There is a willingness to recede if he isn’t ready. The conversation flows well, and it feels as if two islands have made conscious contact through the wisdom in waves.

*****

​My dear friend from college and I are sharing a room at a hotel for a medical conference. She needs to leave early one morning to drive back home for her son’s soccer game. I’m awake before her alarm goes off in worried anticipation of how this will affect my sleep. It’s not her fault.

I immediately notice the jackhammer sensations in my temples and throbbing behind my eyes. I try to go back to sleep and manage to rest a few hours before getting up. But the damn tension headache is still there! Infusing the breath with kindness, respect, and forgiveness for a mind that generates anxious thoughts and joyful ones, I gently bathe the pounding sensations in loving awareness and even massage them physically. The pulsations are still there, but I am no longer angry, surprised, or disappointed.

*****

​Wise effort isn’t about having every conversation go well, or sleeping peacefully each night (though I still have a secret attachment to these outcomes:) It’s about weaving my wholesome intentions into the fabric of a larger universal design I cannot see. I need to trust that more and more of the design will be revealed when I am ready to learn and understand.
​
Wise effort is also supported by intentionally taking in the good. Psychologist, author, and teacher Rick Hanson says, “In effect, the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones. That shades “implicit memory” – your underlying expectations, beliefs, action strategies, and mood – in an increasingly negative direction.”  It’s important to balance the negativity bias with joy. Here are some of Dr. Hanson’s suggestions on how to do this.
 
May we weave our wise efforts into the universal fabric of life, detaching from outcome as best as we can. May we incline our minds towards wholesome states of being and loving one another.
​
Thank you, Dear Ones in my life for being my greatest teachers!

The sunny side of the heart
is where we all want to live,
avoiding the shadow at any cost,
the chill of loss and loneliness
that lingers like thick fog.

What if true wealth
is not in the address
or the ratio of good to bad,
but the coin in your pocket,
with heads for joy
and tails for compassion?

May compassion transform pain
into the possibility of freedom,
understanding that a moment’s
richness was never dependent
on an external sun.
 
It’s the 7th straight day of waking up with a headache and some heartburn. What the hell is going on? Am I sleeping enough? Am I eating too much? Maybe it’s something on the taboo list. Too much chocolate? Am I worried about something? I thought the homeopathic remedy was working. Maybe I need another dose. What’s wrong with me???

As a physician, it’s easy for me to quickly analyze symptoms, form hypotheses for possible causes, and rule out conditions that don’t fit the diagnosis of what I am experiencing. It’s how I was trained. Western medicine is great for this kind of flawless, clear cut analysis. But is it so flawless and clear cut? And does this help a human like me with real fear and personal judgements about what’s going on?

In working with patients, I’m finding that astute clinical acumen is not as important as the ability to listen and appreciate their stories. A patient naturally wants an accurate diagnosis and therapy that will help them feel better. But the fears they share, the self-judgements that add layers to their suffering, aren’t easily alleviated with a quick prescription.

As humans, we desire security, satiety, sanity (and so much more). We want to live on the sunny side of the heart, avoiding illness, aging, loss, all dissatisfaction at any cost. I am no exception. I’d rather wake up with a clear head and belly ready to digest anything that comes my way with ease.

The thinking mind is helpful if it’s willing to ask wise discerning questions with curiosity and kindness, patient for the answers that come. It’s not helpful when the mind acts like a merciless lawyer interrogating me on the witness stand for a crime I didn’t commit.
 
What if the true wealth of this world, this life is not in the address of where you’d like to live, who you should be, or the ratio of good to bad moments? What if the coin in your pocket has joy on one side and compassion on the other side? Joy typically isn’t a problem for most of us. It’s the shadow side, the challenges in our lives that ask for compassionate attention.

We crave for things to be a certain way, cling to certain ideals. When we get what we don’t want, or push away things as they are, the heart space is filled with struggle. Only compassion can transform this pain into freedom. We don’t have to like what is happening. We do need to love the life that is being affected by the struggle. When we understand that a moment’s richness is never dependent on an external promise of happiness, we begin to trust our internal capacity to simply bear witness.

*****

It’s the 7th straight day of waking up with a headache and some heartburn. What the hell is going on? Before I pop an Advil or Zantac to prematurely block the inquiry, I sit still. Question marks and exclamation points float like balloons through this sky mind. Placing a hand on my heart, I breathe till the breath is not so constricted by fear and the judgments that follow. I feel compassionate presence growing stronger.

Though I’d rather celebrate a moment of pure joy, the realization slowly comes like a good friend tapping my shoulder to point out something I’ve missed. Among the question marks and exclamation points, images of Padmapani and lotus hearts begin to emerge.

*****

When our thoughts are stuck on the spin cycle of Samsara, we can press the pause button and use a different washer to purify these thoughts. Before we place the laundry coin in, we can notice how compassion and joy are two sides of the same coin, this vast heart that has space for it all. Welcome or not, each moment has the potential for full engagement, because of the coin in your pocket.

(Note: This reflection is not meant to minimize or gloss over the intense suffering that comes with chronic illness, loss, social unrest, environmental degradation, etc. It’s an invitation to explore the smaller inconveniences in life, to cultivate a compassionate presence that stays when the larger waves hit, to appreciate the flip of compassion to joy, and back to compassion, depending on what each moment requires. May the benefits of this inquiry be shared by all beings everywhere without exception.

​If this reflection is not helpful, let it pass in the sky mind till images that are useful to you appear. May your spiritual thirst for freedom lead you to your own fountain of meaning.)
​

How can I trust this process of awakening
When the world expects perfection
When we all begin this race together
But there is only one gold medal
For the one who finishes first
And a badge of shame
For the one who finishes last?

I want to step out of this rat race
Trust this heart to hold it all
The belly to digest, compost, create
A poem like this to remind me
The path to enlightenment
Was never a path but begins
With one point in time

Where the choice to leave or stay
Is the choice that matters most
 
Training for a marathon.  Graduating college.  Mastering a skill.  These are all worthwhile goals.  Goals require patience, endurance, resilience (and many more things I haven’t mentioned here).  Goals are great to have.  They help us evaluate where we have been, where we currently are, and where we are headed.  We can change our trajectory, making any necessary adjustments along the way.

But what about the path to enlightenment, to peace, to freedom?  What do we need for this journey?  How long will it take?  Do we have the right guides, the right job, the perfect family and friends to support our path?

For years, I was treating meditation practice as if it were a long, arduous path.  I must sit a certain number of minutes each day.  I must do certain things to finish first.  I can only share mindfulness stories of transcendence and mastery, not ones where I’m hopelessly lost with amnesia.  There’s no space for weakness, messy emotions, rest and reflection.  I must get there in the shortest amount of time possible.  I must strive for Olympic gold.

During a mindful mom’s yoga class, the bubble of quiet serenity I craved was quickly pierced by a wailing infant.  Irritated by this uninvited interruption, I wasn’t exactly oozing with compassion and understanding for the mother or Mr. Colic.  After noticing the irritation, I noticed the judgmental voice.

Kaveri, what the hell is wrong with you?  Why do I have to keep reminding you who you are?  You are a family physician, a mindfulness teacher, a writer.  Hello!  Have you completely forgotten you are also a mom, a mom in a MINDFUL MOMS YOGA CLASS?!?! 

At the rate you’re going, you’ll never reach enlightenment.  Forget gold, silver, even bronze.  You might qualify for tin.

For some reason, I remembered part of a class curriculum I was going teach in a few days.  It encouraged me to start exactly where I was.  If anger arises, then start there.  If fear arises, then start there, etc.  So, I decided to get curious about the irritation.  I noticed the tension in my jaw, my body recoiling from the infant’s cries, my heart closing to protect something.

What was I trying to protect?

One of my greatest fears is that I will lose something precious I have found in meditation practice.  But that something is not a particular identity.  Meditation hasn’t created a new and improved Kaveri.  It has simply stripped away all layers of bullshit – the false promises of perfection, the illusion of a utopia accessible to a select few who work hard enough to get there, the ignorance of mistaken identities.

The path to enlightenment was never a path, but one point in time, a moment, this moment.  In class, I was given the choice to leave myself, my true emotions in favor of a self that was more respected and in line with my prized identities.  When I chose to stay with the raw feelings without giftwrapping them for anyone, I noticed a small smile on my lips and inside my heart.  Mr. Colic wasn’t Mr. Colic at all, but an avatar of Siddhartha himself, speaking to me through his high-pitched cries.

Siddhartha, I choose to stay.  I choose to stay with the whimpers, the whirling emotions, the wisdom that emerges when all identities are cast aside.  I choose to stay with Loving Presence as my true nature and connect with the true nature in All.
​
What if this is my only goal?

​During our first few days in Costa Rica, I experienced some gastrointestinal upset.  What followed was not patience and kindness, but irritation and blame.  Instead of appreciating the lush rainforest rich with biodiverse species of flora and fauna, my mind was fixated on problems.  My body wasn't behaving the way it should; my tween daughter was moody; I should be snapping out of this funk faster than I was.

Eventually, I could find some balance with a little help from mindfulness and self-compassion practices.  Though the forecast called for sunny skies on the latter half of our trip, a small gray cloud still threatened to unleash a torrent of judgements if I wasn't careful.  

Stop being so anxious!  Never mind that your sleep schedule was thrown off from day 1 of this trip and that your body is slightly dehydrated from diarrhea and this weather. 

Who cares that your gastrointestinal issues started in residency with call and sleep deprivation years ago.  So what if your digestive system is still sensitive when your sleep schedule is thrown off.  You should be over this by now!!!

On our flight home, I listened to an insightful dharma talk on patience.  It reminded me to ask the right question.  Instead of Am I behaving like a mindfulness master right now?, Is kindness here? might be more helpful.

Sylvia Boorstein writes, "Patience is more the moment to moment adjustment to unpleasant circumstances done in knowing they cannot be any other way.  This is wisdom."

In Costa Rica, I was making moment to moment adjustments to unpleasant circumstances.  I was soothing my body with food, hydration, Pepto-Bismol, and self-compassion.  I was renewing my vow each day to be kind in speech to my daughter, myself, and others.  My gratitude radar was on the lookout for beauty and kindness.

Maybe my mind wasn't entirely fixated on problems this whole trip.  Maybe I was asking, Is kindness here? more often than not.  Maybe my heart is as brave and beautiful as a Costa Rican sunset sinking in darkness to rise again.

May we all ask the right question.  When we forget, may patience guide us towards wisdom.
​

Sunlit Wooded Path, Summer Green Trees by Carlin Blahnik

​It's warm here
Breath against the nostrils
Rise and fall of the chest
Soft belly tensing less
Against the world
One hand holding the other
Wise whisper from within
Beckoning,
Stay
 
It's hard to be present when the past haunts you or the future predicts disaster.  Clouds veiling mountains in mystery and majesty are missed because of the mush inside your head.  The soft whisper from within beckoning you to stay in this meditative moment is muted by the loud voices urging you to complete the do list or replay old scenes in movie mind a thousand times till you get it right.

Formal meditation practices are wonderful in giving your spinning mind some training wheels to pedal back to the present each time it leaves, to notice the direction the wheels turn, to hear the sound of their spinning.  But formal meditation practice may not be your cup of tea.

If not, you can notice your connection to the ground when you walk from one place to another, the way your body moves with each step.  You can taste the bitter sweetness of the next dark chocolate square, or the tartness of the next raspberry you blissfully bite into.  You can hear all the instruments and vocal highs and lows of your favorite song.  The five senses are a great gateway to this place called Here when you are tempted to engage elsewhere.

It's important to practice mindfulness when you are relatively calm.  This helps to strengthen the muscle memory for ways to return to the arms of Loving Presence when you are stressed.  But please don't turn this into another self-improvement project.  Heaven knows we already have enough of those painfully embedded into our psyches!

A new definition of mindfulness is emerging for me.  In addition to paying attention to my present moment experience with kindness, I must also gently release where I have been.  To do this, I need to trust that there is something larger than the wild stories of past failures and a future apocalypse.  Something that will hold me here like gravity, something that will instill a deep oak like trust that I won't easily be uprooted with the next storm.  And if I am uprooted, I can lay my body down on Mother Earth to rest, standing only when I am ready to try again.

Whether you call your practice of preference mindfulness, prayer, or sacred presence, may the soft whisper from within beckon you to stay.  May you trust this moment’s design above all else before the next kaleidoscope turn or events.  This pattern is potent, precious.  It holds your freedom, your happiness, your love.
​
Will you stay?

​