Day 32: Cultivating Mindfulness: How do we Quiet the tumultuous horde? How to Live in the Present Moment

I've heard the story of a CEO whose life-changing recognition occurred when he realized he simply couldn't be with his himself. Apparently, he had taken a break to recuperate from the physical and mental exhaustion he felt on account of the rigour at his work. However, when he was finally able to arrive at his desired destination, it just took him a few minutes at the pool by himself to start to think about his work and get anxious. He simply couldn't bring himself to be with himself.

How difficult is it to quietly sit-down with ourselves? Many who have visited Ramana Maharishi in up until the 1950s seeking solutions to the problems that tore them apart were transformed with just a single advice he offered in which he set a tremendous example too - "Summa Iru" or "Sit Quietly" he would say. This advice when earnestly applied was sufficient for several people to find peace in their lives.

Blaise Pascal the French scientist and philosopher observed "we bring all of our miseries on ourselves by our simple inability to quietly sit in a room by ourselves"


This is partly the consequence of the times we live in - the phenomenal pace of change, the crowd of social media distractions and the endless choices we are presented.


Peter Drucker, well known as a management theorist also had a keen understanding of the human predicament in the present times. He made the following uncannily accurate observation: "In a few hundred years when the history of our time will be written from a long-term perspective, it is likely that the most important event historians we'll see are not technology, not the Internet, not E-Commerce - it is an unprecedented change in the human condition - for the first time literally substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices, and for the first time they will have to manage themselves. And society is totally unprepared for it"

Upon finally becoming the CEO of a large conglomerate, Ahmed thought he had arrived at the pinnacle of his success. But the lasting happiness he hoped for never did arrive. There was only a brief thrill of gratification which was too short lived. Soon a thousand challenges sought his intervention - strikes by employees, transportation problems in his Asian locations, break down of machinery in US operations. In addition, although Ahmed had known there was going to be social obligations but he was totally unprepared for the sheer volume of people who wanted FaceTime with him. Employees, Shareholders, analysts, Journalists, politicians, fundraisers for various causes, customers, social activists, community organizers, the list was endless.

Ahmed became more efficient by dividing his time into smaller slices, scheduled appointments for 5 minutes, and even planned 30-second bathroom breaks,. He got used to functioning like this. And then one day - HE Retired and his world came crumbling apart.

There was nothing that could replace that speed of living and give him joy. He tried to find joy in golf, but what had been an interesting activity when he was a busy CEO, no more gave him joy.

In despair sought a sage who agreed to meet him. He knocked the door at and was asked to enter. But as he was about to enter, the Sage said, "Go away! I allowed permission only to you, I didn't permit the crowd. I see that you have your wife, your board members, your children your unemployed nephew and so many other people. Come back when you are alone

Ahmed got the point. He knew that his mind was full of thoughts concerning the people in his life. So he tried to be free himself of them returned to the sage the next day and the next at the next and the next. Each time he was turned away. When he had stopped bringing people he had started bringing things. Ahmed was so frustrated he sought to advise from the Sage. And the sage gave him a powerful idea to quiet his mind. With this, he was finally able to quiet his mind and he was allowed in

The same is true about us. We're seldom aware of the army of people and things we are lugging around each day. Each of these clamours for our attention and we surrender our attention to these at the cost of the precious capacity to live in the moment.

The evidence of this is rampant in our life. We are introduced to someone and 10 seconds later we can't remember their name. Were listening to a favourite song and suddenly realise that it had ended while our thoughts carried us elsewhere? We forget a mail a letter or buy an item our spouse requested. We carry a load of desires, hopes, fears and aversions. That sage would surely turn us away as well.

So whats the way out? What idea did he tell sage offer the executive? Can you avail of this as well?

Here is the idea to develop the ability to be purely present in the moment.

Preparation:
Pick any task that you have to get accomplished.
Gather everything you need to work on it
Turn off all potential distractions - email, phone, internet, anything
If you have to use a browser for the task, keep only that browser open

Visualizaion: 

Visualise what you have to do

Visualize your attention as a golden stream of oil flowing on your tasks

Breath

Slow your breathing - get it down to 10 breathes a minute or fewer

Take deep abdnominal breaths rather than shallow chest breathe

Action:

And simply simply focus on the task for 20 minutes

Don't allow any distraction to take away your focus

Thoughts, many of them, will come into your head unbidden. 

Some of them will seem urgent, and the demands will be incessant. 

Observe all of them calmly and let them go. Don't get carried away by any of them.
If a particularly useful idea strikes you, note it down on a pad so you don't forget it and then let it go
Do this for 20 minutes and give yourself a five minute break

Then repeat this. 

Gradually increase this to a  2 hours span

Remember: 

Multitasking is a myth that simply means that you do too many things badly and take much more time to do it.

Remember hurry is in the mind it is not in the task. This means you are in full control to avoid the sense of urgency YOU put into the task

You will will discover that this seemingly simple exercise is a lot tougher than it appears. 

There will be many occasions when you fail by drifting off into a hazy cloud as the minutes have ticked by unnoticed.

Simply note this as an indication of how far you have to go and get down to it again. 

Do not beat yourself up. That is simply more drama of the kind the mind loves to create and it distracts you from the task at hand. 

You will discover that as you practice, you accomplish a great deal more than you normally do and with much less effort. 

Celebrate this discovery.
This relaxed focus is mindfulness.

Cultivate it, but don't try to be mindful all the time. The perceived failure in such an endeavour could actually take you on a downward spiral.
You want to get to the stage where you can, at will, become mindful for a 20 min span.
Once you get there, increase it to 30 minutes. Go up in increments of 10 minutes, until you can be continuously be mindful for two hours.

As you do this exercise, you’ll notice that the crowd you're carrying around (in your head), thins.
Celebrate this. ‘They will all come back later. But now you know how you can banish them and this knowledge will give you many future victories. Extend this practice deliberately to all areas of your life.

Notice how superficial many interactions are, have you ever had a colleague wish you good morning and be halfway down the hall before you could reply? Do you do this yourself? When you say good morning, really mean it. Establish eye contact, say it with energy and from your heart. Wish the person every good fortune and blessing.

Do it silently and sincerely. Do it with people with whom you have casual interactions such as the cashier at the cafeteria, your cab driver and do it with people who are important in your life such as your spouse or boss.

Again do this a many times and consciously but don't expect to be able to do it all the time.
You will notice that the nature of your interactions with others changes. Relationships become deeper, conversations happen that didn't before, celebrate this as well. If you are diligent with your practice and as you become more proficient, you will observe that many members of your gaggle have left for good. Exercises in later days, ill drive even more away.

Remember you do not have to remain in a mindful state all the time. Practice mindfulness throughout your day.

I found this exercise very powerful. The trick is to be simply umcomfromising in the quality of attinaiton we pour in the 20 minutes - no coffee, no water, simply nothing other than an absolute pouring of our attention into the task.