Mindfulness Meditation (For Everyday Life)

returning to the monastic life as an old man. The
prospect of giving up these retreats, or at least cutting
back on them a lot, didn't bother me too much
because, much as I valued them, I had decided that
there was a way to look at having children as a
meditation retreat in its own right - one that would
have most of the important features of those I was
giving up, except for the quiet and the simplicity.
This was how I saw it: You could look at each baby
as a little Buddha or Zen master, your own private
mindfulness teacher, parachuted into your life, whose
presence and actions were guaranteed to push every
button and challenge every belief and limit you had,
giving you continual opportunities to see where you
were attached to something and to let go of it. For
each child, it would be at least an eighteen-year
retreat, with virtually no time off for good behavior.
The retreat schedule would be relentless and
demand continual acts of selflessness and loving
kindness. My life, which up to that time basically
consisted of looking after my own personal needs
and desires, perfectly normal for a young single
person, was about to change profoundly. Becoming a
parent clearly was going to be the biggest
transformation of my adult life so far. To do it well
would demand the greatest clarity of view and the