I seem to be enjoying the sunlight on things (see earlier daffodil entry). I have recently moved into a very light sunny place and sunlight spills in here all day. I sat in that sun today and started peeling an orange. Looking at the way the light shone through each segment made me smile. It made me remember a meditation that I heard about a few years ago. It is from the Vietnamese zen teacher - Thich Naht Hanh
"I often teach "orange meditation" to my students. We spend time sitting together, each enjoying an orange. Placing the orange on the palm of our hand, we look at it while breathing in and out, so that the orange becomes a reality. If we are not here, totally present, the orange isn't here either.
There are some people who eat an orange but don't really eat it. They eat their sorrow, fear, anger, past, and future. They are not really present, with body and mind united.
When you practice mindful breathing, you become truly present. If you are here, life is also here. The orange is the ambassador of life. When you look at the orange, you discover that it is nothing less than fruit growing, turning yellow, becoming orange, the acid becoming sugar. The orange tree took time to create this masterpiece.
When you are truly here, contemplating the orange, breathing and smiling, the orange becomes a miracle. It is enough to bring you a lot of happiness. You peel the orange, smell it, take a section, and put it in your mouth mindfully, fully aware of the juice on your tongue. This is eating an orange in mindfulness. It makes the miracle of life possible. It makes joy possible."
There are some people who eat an orange but don't really eat it. They eat their sorrow, fear, anger, past, and future. They are not really present, with body and mind united.
When you practice mindful breathing, you become truly present. If you are here, life is also here. The orange is the ambassador of life. When you look at the orange, you discover that it is nothing less than fruit growing, turning yellow, becoming orange, the acid becoming sugar. The orange tree took time to create this masterpiece.
When you are truly here, contemplating the orange, breathing and smiling, the orange becomes a miracle. It is enough to bring you a lot of happiness. You peel the orange, smell it, take a section, and put it in your mouth mindfully, fully aware of the juice on your tongue. This is eating an orange in mindfulness. It makes the miracle of life possible. It makes joy possible."
5 comments:
That's a lovely one, you always did like orange!
I often think it's one of the simple little delights of the English language that oranges are orange, and nothing rhymes with it!
brilliant, where orange is more than a color.
I need to zen myself more.
Hello again.
I have tagged you in a meme, or two in fact. To find out more, go to mine!
Lovely! I once wanted to paint an orange like that, glowing with light and practically bursting with life. I didn't have the skill at the time. Maybe one of these days I'll come back to it.
How odd! I started salivating when I saw the pic!
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