exhilarating is to extend this acute awareness into
ordinary moments, in the moment-by-moment
experiencing of the lammergeier and the wolf,
which, finding themselves at the center of things,
have no need for any secret of true being. In this
very breath that we take now lies the secret that
all great teachers try to tell us, what one lama
refers to as "the precision and openness and
intelligence of the present." The purpose of
meditation practice is not enlightenment; it is to
pay attention even at un-extraordinary times, to
be of the present, nothing-but-the-present, to bear
this mindfulness of now into each event of
ordinary life.
Peter Matthiessen, The Snow LeopardGoing Upstairs
Occasions to practice mindfulness in daily life
abound. Going upstairs is a good one for me. I do it
hundreds of times a day when I'm at home. Usually I
need something from upstairs, or to speak with
someone upstairs, but my long-term agenda is to be
downstairs, so I'm frequently torn between two