Photography as Meditation: The Friday Flower. Sometimes just photos. Sometimes with writing. Appearing on Fridays.
© 2009 Mahala Mazerov
How we start our morning influences our entire day.
Some of the fortunate, disciplined and/or devoted among us manage to start with meditation, yoga or some small ritual to ground the day in mindful awareness.
But most of us simply hope to take care of the needs of children, partners and pets with a minimum of stress, not gulp down breakfast and be organized enough to rush out the door without leaving anything behind. Even if we’re single or work at home, we spin our way into the chaos of the day far too rapidly.
From my experience, the influence of the day begins in our firsts fluttering moments between sleep and waking. When the alarm clock goes off, with one foot still in dream land and the other slipping out of bed to touch the floor, we’re in a supremely subtle and impressionable state.
This is a precious opportunity to infuse our day with love and awareness. A moment that can easily be lost or destroyed.
When I was an undergraduate in college, the first weeks of my freshman year were punctuated with violent nightmares just as I was waking up.
One morning I woke before my clock radio alarm and discovered I was waking, not to music, but to the local crime news report. In those moments before I was fully conscious I was hearing about beatings, break-ins and other crimes. I changed the station, as well as the time the radio played to ensure that I heard music and not reporting.
The nightmares ended instantly.
I’ve never forgotten how actively my mind is engaged, whether I’m aware of it or not.
Now my morning wake up is another way to bring meditation into my day, much like the prayers I regularly bring to mind. My clock plays dvd music as the wake-up alarm. I wake to music and familiar prayers in Tibetan.
…and I bring to mind these words by the Dalai Lama:
A Precious Human Life
“Every day, think as you wake up,
Today I am fortunate to have woken up,
I am alive, I have a precious human life,
I am not going to waste it
I am going to use
All my energies to develop myself.
To expand my heart out to others,
To achieve enlightenment for
The benefit of all beings,
I am going to have kind
Thoughts towards others,
I am not going to get angry,
Or think badly about others,
I am going to benefit others
As much as I can.”
How do you wake up on your way to enlightenment?
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
ah, I could not agree more! How different my days are when I start them with love and intention, how simple and life changing this practice (s) are and how amazed I am when people have NO morning practices…. and, on the other hand, how I struggle with mine. Ah, the cycle of knowing/forgetting.
Your writing is wise and truly luminous!
Jennifer Louden´s last blog ..The Zen of Surgery
Beautiful picture, thank you for your kind words.
Constance Casey´s last blog ..Care for Karma
mahala, my favorite time of the day…birth of a new day! my mornings are filled with rituals that i love to do, it’s the rest of the day that gets heavy…
such beauty in your flowers and words that you choose.
what happened to kitty? glad all is better in your world(s)!
hazel
hazel colditz´s last blog ..Age of Aquarius
Hi. Hope you and your kitty are feeling better. The flower is so beautiful. Thanks for sharing the Dalai Lama’s words. Remembering to slow down and be in the moment gets away from me. Then I remember again and that is a good thing. When I wake up in the morning my sweet puppy is always there to greet me. Thanks for writting Mahala.
Thank you for sharing this. I need to create a better morning routine for myself… not just physically with a healthy breakfast etc., but also in preparing my mind and spirit for the day.
Lovely photo too. I am really enjoying your blog since I found it just a few weeks ago
Colleen´s last blog ..tiny log cabins and string blocks
Jennifer ~ I’m with you in your amazement of people who have NO practices. I can’t imagine how I’d function or what I’d express in the world without them. Even so, like you, it can be an ongoing struggle just to do them.
Hope you are surrounding yourself with comfort during your healing process.
Constance ~ I truly appreciate your dropping in to say a few words. Happy you enjoyed the photo.
Hazel ~ Any time of the day can trip us up, can’t it? I think that is why many Buddhist practices call for recitations 6 times a day, why Muslims stop and pray 5 times a day… I don’t know what other traditions have “programmed” into their daily round.
Kitty has liver problems, it turns out. Hoping medicine will reverse it. It may be a serious condition that requires more intervention. Taking one step at a time. Thanks for asking.
Debbie ~ Thank you, too, for asking about kitty. Our fur families are so dear to us, aren’t they?
The Dalai Lama’s words are a great reminder to me every morning. I think we all need reminders to slow down, be in the moment and focus on love and compassion.
Thanks Mahala for the nice flower I glad you are better now.
Yes you help me put may intention in order.
So we can do more during each day.
I like to listen to first morning news.
I want to be aware of what happen on my island.
For sure the news take a loth of time.
I have to fucos on my meditation.
Have a nice day.
Virginia.
How precious is that morning pause. And, even like the most important meal of the day, it can get sacrificed so easily… as though the Pause was some quaint option, rather than vital maintenance.
Oh, that I may remember to put third things third… and leave room for the First Things. Selah.
Mahala, I am so refreshed by your luminosity.
Beautiful photo, and I love the poem. Your words are very thought provoking. I have lived alone for many years and love the mornings. It is my time of quiet and solitude. What you have written has made me think about my current “wake up” music. It’s something on my cell phone, and a little jarring. Today I must look for something a little more gentle. Thanks for sharing.
Ladyexpat (Nancie)´s last blog ..World’s quietest places according to Forbes Travel http://www.forbestraveler.com/best-lists/quietest-places-story.html
This photograph is very beautiful!