{"id":142,"date":"2010-10-08T13:45:06","date_gmt":"2010-10-08T13:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/10\/fireworks-and-foliage.html"},"modified":"2010-10-08T13:45:06","modified_gmt":"2010-10-08T13:45:06","slug":"fireworks-and-foliage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/10\/fireworks-and-foliage.html","title":{"rendered":"Fireworks and Foliage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BS13044.JPG\"<\/a><\/span>It’s foliage season in Northern Vermont. Fabulous displays of color across the Green Mountains. As their name implies, they are covered with trees that are throwing off color; wild screaming death throes.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
I love foliage time and I also love the lush jungle green of summer and even love the bareness of mud season and stick season. Every season is a miracle in Vermont; every day has its own blessings of color, landscape, and earth.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Of course foliage is big business too; a major draw of our tourist industry. I’m certainly not against enjoying the foliage and the joy it brings to people from around the country. However, I often wonder whether dukkha (that sense of pervasive dissatisfaction with the world) is being reinforced through such quests for novelty.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It’s the same thing with fireworks. I enjoy fireworks as much as the next guy, but I don’t go out of my way to see them. In fact, I rarely do. Every moment contains its own version of fireworks if we are paying attention. The pursuit of fireworks, like the foliage, may just reinforce a way of viewing the world that is our undoing in the end.<\/div>\n

\"BS15008.JPG\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Reflecting on this, I wrote the following poem. In the poem, I recall a fireworks display I was party to  at the Siddha Yoga ashram in South Fallsburg, New York. This would have been in the mid-1980s after I returned from the ashram in Ganeshpuri India (the ashram described in Eat, Pray, Love. Please note that the depiction in Eat, Pray, Love is a personal account and not a complete portrayal of the Siddha Yoga tradition. For more information visit the Siddha Yoga Foundation<\/a>). I’ve never looked at fireworks the same.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In 1989, I took my first ten-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat and started my career in mindfulness. This practice has shown me the singular shape of each moment.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In the deepest sense, each moment that we are alive can be as exciting and “special” as fireworks and foliage, if we know how to look.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“Fireworks and Foliage”<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

People go out of their way for
\nfireworks and foliage.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Seeking these displays of
\nimpermanence.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Forgetting they live in brilliant
\nsilence.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Now.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I once saw fireworks,<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

a private showing<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

for the Guru’s devotees.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

At a time when I was in love with
\nlove.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Intoxicated after chanting the<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

108 names of Shiva.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The display, matchless only to<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

the explosions of blue,<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

roiling in my consciousness<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Years later I moved from this ecstasy<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

to the quiet solitude of breathing.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Its leaves changing color with each
\ncycle,<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

ten thousand times a day<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

People flock to my Vermont home.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Cue up along country highways<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

for red, orange, yellow, and green<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

They make a deal with reality,<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n
\n

“I’ll look at your becoming and
\ndissolving,<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

only when it is colorful
\nentertainment,<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

and when I get to go back to sleep
\nafterwards.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Not so bad; just a handful of days
\neach year<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

to know who we are,<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

to look over that precipice of
\ndespair.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

This precarious life.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

To know we are falling towards our
\nending.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Now.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

If we could smile into that knowing,<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

loose our grip and lean into gravity,<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

we’d see that despair as joy,<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

that precarious is precious,<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

that ending is beginning.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then each day is the 4<\/span>th<\/span> of July and autumnal New
\nEngland.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>Each moment that explosive bliss of
\ncolor.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s foliage season in Northern Vermont. Fabulous displays of color across the Green Mountains. As their name implies, they are covered with trees that are throwing off color; wild screaming death throes. I love foliage time and I also love the lush jungle green of summer and even love the bareness of mud season and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mindful-living","category-poetry"],"yoast_head":"\nFireworks and Foliage - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/10\/fireworks-and-foliage.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fireworks and Foliage - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It’s foliage season in Northern Vermont. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}