The power of feeling and pretending in the Practice of the Way

I'm thinking a lot these days about the link between my thinking and feeling of things and what I experience - my so-called 'reality'. In my own experience, I see that the power of feeling/thinking trumps reality. In other words, what I think and feel creates my experiences of reality. More and more, I am choosing to use my thoughts and feelings in the service of becoming, manifesting, and learning all that I want to become, manifest, and learn. I say, why wait for a certain event or condition to feel joyous, healthy, and abundant in all ways? With continual practice, I experience being joy-filled now. I feel the great, good health that I enjoy now, and I give thanks for all the wonderful abundance that is mine here and now, and so on.

I learned from Thich Nhat Hanh that "there is no way to peace, peace is the way." That is, we must feel, practice, and pretend that the peace is inside of us (because it is), even in those times when the 'reality' outside of us claims otherwise. There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way. If we want to change reality, we must become the change we want to see (to paraphrase M.K. Gandhi), and to live what we want to change even while living in and with what we are wanting to change, is none other than the Practice of the Way. In his teaching, Tibetan Buddhist master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche used the metaphor of the Great Eastern Sun: "hold the sadness and pain of samsara in your heart and at the same time the power and vision of the Great Eastern Sun. Then the warrior can make a proper cup of tea." And if you know me, that's the main thing, a proper cup of tea :)



About the image:
This is teapot no. 11 (311) in my 100 Teapots Series, Set 4,
"The Book of tea and light infusion: written by God" (though it looks like Goo)


Watercolor and red fountain pen ink on 180 lb. Arches cold pressed paper
© Nicole Raisin Stern

Morning musings

The air smells like rain this morning. I open the door to let Yuki out and see the cloud dappled sky. Jesse rubs her face along the vertical line of the door and I boil water for tea. Jesse and Yuki are eating their morning meals as I begin preparing my breakfast. I paddle rice into a bowl, place an umeboshi on top, make a paste of miso in boiled water, add more hot water, then drop in a few small pieces of wakame and sliced green onions, a drop of sesame oil, and stir. I place steamed kale leaves into a shallow bowl, sprinkle a few sesame seeds over them, then grate carrots and beets into another little bowl, adding sunflower sprouts, some garlic, olive oil and apple cider vinegar. I grate daikon into a watery mound over silken tofu and drizzle both with shoyu. The boiled water I pour over tea leaves pushes a steamy spiral out the spout and gently disperses before my eyes. I pour my first cup of tea, cupping my hands around the warm glass of golden liquid.


I don't know what this day will bring, but I am going to walk into it with an open heart, an open mind. It's always my choice--in any moment, in any circumstance--to turn the corners of my mouth up slightly into a pleasant feeling smile that has the effect of loosening up my entire body/mind. Smiling in this way, I breathe mindfully in and out and enjoy being fully in the moment and fully present with whatever I am doing. Alternatively, I can turn my mouth corners down, thinking thoughts that unsettle and that tighten or constrict the body/mind and breath. This way takes me out of the present moment and mires me in thoughts of past or future and wanting to be somewhere else. (Planning for the future and thoughts of the past can be considered mindfully from the present moment).


Today, in this moment, I choose to smile and feel good. Breathing mindfully in and out while relaxing the body is a practice that can be done anywhere (even while working and performing daily actions), and can be practiced in any circumstance, even in the midst of pain, suffering, and chaos. In my experience, when I am mindfully breathing in and out and enjoying pleasant thoughts, I am choosing what to feel and how to feel. And in times of chaos or difficulty, mindfulness practice (breathing, calming, acknowledging and embracing the painful feelings, smiling, feeling good, and so on) can transform my so-called negative thoughts, perceptions, and reactions, which allows me to take the next step in peace.


After a while, when I acknowledge and embrace my pains, sufferings, and negative thoughts, they cease, much as a baby who is crying stops crying when held lovingly by a parent. Seen in this light, Thich Nhat Hanh's saying, "there is no way to peace, peace is the way" makes so much sense. Likewise, Gandhi's saying, "We must become the change we want to see." I have fun substituting "peace" for whatever it is that I am practicing or want to do, be, or become. For example, "there is no way to taiko, taiko is the way."

enjoy your non toothache

One of my favorite teachings of Thây's (Thich Nhat Hanh) is his "non toothache" teaching. We complain about all the things that are wrong, or going wrong, or will go wrong, but ignore all the good things that are happening--like our non toothache. When we have a toothache we know it; we feel the throbbing pain. No toothache? Yay! Glee! A Pavarotti moment even and cause for gratitude. I'm enjoying my non toothache.

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P.S. those tomatoes are from my nephew Jonathon's garden (those are his hands:) They were really sweet and fresh.