As part of establishing a morning
meditation routine, as I mentioned previously, I followed Norman Fischer’s book
with its 59 slogans to give me structure.
Now that I’ve worked my way through them, at least a first pass, I find
myself a bit adrift. One slogan though,
number 41, is an easy one for daily practice:
Begin at the beginning and end at
the end. “As soon as your feet
first strike the floor on arising from bed,” advises Fischer, “say ‘today I
want to dedicate myself, to the best of my ability, to being generous and
openhearted and benefiting others.’” And
similarly, he advises that just before pivoting your legs up into bed in the
evening, you review the day’s activities and hope that in some way the actions
might have been for the benefit of others.
The morning practice of this slogan
has been easy and calming. Each morning
as the sun breaks into my east-facing bedroom window, my cat Pogo starts circling
my head and meowing for his morning meal.
I wake up, swing my legs over the side of the bed and just as they touch
the oak floor, together and in complete synchrony with Pogo’s soft front paws, I
put forth this intention. For a brief
moment, my brown legs are merged with the wooden base of my bedroom and I hoist
myself up ready for another opportunity to be more present, more compassionate.
Now if only I could be that mindful at the end of the day!
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