Day of Mindfulness

Buddha and Sky
Photography by Vicki Dodge

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As part of my spiritual practice, I try to make each Sunday a "Day of Mindfulness." In our tradition, which is Thich Nhat Hanh's Order of Interbeing, affiliated with the Unified Buddhist Church, mindfulness is the core of our practice. It simply means being aware of the present moment or being truly present in the here and now.

Of course I achieve this practice with only limited success. Today I did get up and meditate for 20 minutes before doing anything else. That is always a good way to start. Then I had breakfast and read the Sunday Cape Cod Times. After breakfast I fed my pet box turtle corn on the cob. That was fun. He really enjoyed it. It is a beautiful sunny day on Cape Cod. I hope to spend some time enjoying it outdoors.

In the afternoon I will attend the Buddhist meditation group I founded nine years ago, called the Cape Sangha -- www.capesangha.org.

I am very grateful for my practice. May all beings be happy.

9 p.m.: It was a terrific day. In the afternoon I went for another five-mile run, which I have been doing for five or six days in a row. I run 2.5 miles to Corporation Beach and then take off my shoes and shirt and jump in the water for a quick swim. Them I brush off my feet, put my shoes and shirt back on and run back again. It is a great routine.

After that I went to the Cape Sangha, and it was a lovely meditation session. We had a couple of guests from Colorado. The man, Tom, was especially thrilled to visit us. We meet in an historic building that once served as an elementary school for the village of Barnstable. It turns out Tom attended school in that very building 50 years ago. The room where we meditate was his third and fourth grade classroom. It was a moving experience for him, and, by extension, for all of us.

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