DEVELOPING MENTAL IMMUNITY
During the week, as the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop joked about who
got up too early and who was praying and meditating too much, it was
clear that both believed strongly that spiritual practices were the essential
ground of their being, sustaining and supporting them through their lives.
These daily times of prayer and meditation kept these two masters in
spiritual alignment. I thought about what the Archbishop had said about
the even greater importance of these practices for those who are not
spiritual teachers but who must live and die in the blur and buzz of the
marketplace. During the week, we had had a chance to discuss some of
the spiritual practices that help to cultivate and sustain their joy.
Here we present some simple practices that can help overcome the
obstacles to joy and support the eight pillars of joy. We have bookended
this section with practices that Tibetan Buddhist monks typically do at
the beginning and end of each day. The other practices can be tried on a
regular basis or when needed. Like physical exercises, spiritual practices
are not ends in themselves. They exist to support our mental health and
mental immunity. The more we practice, the more we benefit. There is no
spiritual competition. Do whatever you need to adapt them to your life
for maximum benefit. (Remember the Dalai Lama adapting his morning
practice to accommodate his aging knees.)
As the Dalai Lama said, he finds the science very motivating when he
is trying to decide whether to wake up or hit the snooze button. Earlier we
mentioned Daniel Siegel’s explanation of the brain on meditation. It
seems that we are literally using our attention and awareness to establish
neural firing patterns that help the brain avoid the destructive reactivity
that the Dalai Lama said was so toxic to our mental and physical health.
Many of these practices appear to integrate and harmonize the brain so
that we can respond to the inevitable challenges of life with less
fragmentation and more integration, less fear and anger and more ease
and joy.
In our age of instant gratification, any information can be googled in a
matter of seconds, but real knowledge and wisdom take time. These