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Quiet Mind, Open Heart
Finding Inner Peace
through Reflection, Journaling, and Meditation
In creating Quiet Mind, Open Heart , Laura Wright has served us all. Skillful means abound, informed by wisdoms from many traditions, all illumined by a generous heart.
This is a deep tool for anyone serious about wakefulness.
—Mark Nepo, author of
Facing the Lion, Being the Lion and Surviving Has Made Me Crazy
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A message from Laura:
I wrote this book to help people bridge the gap between having a busy mind to having a quiet mind. So many people came to me and said, "I can't meditate." and I thought long and hard about what I was doing with my life that enabled my meditation practice to bear wholesome fruits. What I realized was that I had been engaging in a process of reflective journaling since I was a teenager, and that this process helped me unload my thoughts onto paper, and was making the space for mindfulness and equanimity in my meditations, as well as in my life.
Thousands of wise people journal because it is a powerful and empowering tool. If you want to develop a quiet mind, to have greater inner peace, and/or to deepen your meditation practice, this book is for you.
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Over 20 Meditation Practices
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Empowering Journaling exercises
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Great for Spiritual Study Groups
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Ideal for Kalyana Mitta Groups!
Available Nationwide through
Barnes & Noble
also
Amazon.com
A section from Quiet Mind, Open Heart:
Renunciation
Be content with what you have,
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.
—Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, ch. 44
Renunciation gets a bad rap in our pleasure-seeking culture, as if renouncing means giving up everything fun. Actually, renunciation happens all the time when we are ready to give up one thing for something seemingly better. Many of us will readily renounce the money in our pockets for dinner out, or we will renounce our comfort zone in one culture to experience the consciousness-altering experiences of another. The theory behind any kind of letting go is the belief or realization that something greater is presenting itself. Renunciation does not have to be a dirty word; letting go for something better is, well, better.
We all have basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, and medicine. But many of us overlook the fact that once our basic needs are met, more items, and particularly more luxurious items, do not appreciably add to our happiness. Yes, it is nice to have a few special things, but if we get carried away thinking that more and pricier is better, we can get swept away by mindless spending, not realizing that our inner emptiness cannot be remedied by outer possessions. Many in our culture are chronically driven to accumulate more, caught up in appearances, expecting outer wealth to bring about inner satisfaction. Sadly, luxury items offer diminishing returns. The pleasures of our indulgences are limited.
We can view renunciation as a facet of simplification when we recognize that our basic needs are being met and that an excess of possessions only complicates our lives. Simplification means that we wisely consider our wants versus our needs and make purchases with awareness. Yes, there is plenty that we might want, but what do we really need? It doesn’t mean we have to live like ascetics. There is nothing wrong with living in comfort beyond the basics; however, it pays to be clear with every purchase and know that it should enhance the quality of our lives and not invite clutter.
Outer renunciation is one thing, and inner renunciation is another. Through the process of self-study we recognize that certain thought patterns no longer serve us. We may notice our unhelpful habits of fantasy, self-judgment, lust, or ill will and start to wonder if we can do something better with our minds. It is challenging to renounce our habitual mental thought streams and to realize the unexamined emotions that steer us there. Know that it is possible to change. The more we let go, the more we simplify our outer and inner worlds, the greater the space for the arising of insight into what really matters. Renounce for something better.
Reflective Journaling
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What are your basic needs?
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What are some of your wants?
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How much luxury is enough?
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How can you simplify your life?
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What items do you have that you have not used for over a year? Two years? Three years? Is your life improved by having these things?
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What five, and limit this exercise to five, main habits of body, speech, and mind are no longer serving you?
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What emotions, pleasant or unpleasant, might emerge if you renounced these habits?
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Visit the home page for info. on meditation talks, workshops, and retreats.
Laura Wright Quiet Mind, Open Heart
Reflective Journaling, Meditation
Albuquerque New Mexico USA
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