{"id":98,"date":"2010-08-25T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2010-08-25T09:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/08\/wisdom-wednesday-mindfulness-and-the-metaphors-we-live-by.html"},"modified":"2010-08-25T09:00:26","modified_gmt":"2010-08-25T09:00:26","slug":"wisdom-wednesday-mindfulness-and-the-metaphors-we-live-by","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/08\/wisdom-wednesday-mindfulness-and-the-metaphors-we-live-by.html","title":{"rendered":"Wisdom Wednesday: Mindfulness and the Metaphors We Live By"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Wisdom Wednesday! In a previous entr<\/a>y, I discussed how the Buddha loved to teach with metaphors. Each Monday I present a new metaphor for your enjoyment, education, and inspiration. For previous metaphors see the entries on Teach a Horse to Sing<\/a>, Being Comfortable Being Out of Balance<\/a>, Everybody Needs a Tap Code<\/a>, and “Her Belly May Be Full But Her Spirit Will Be Empty.”<\/a> <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Today, I’ll talk about the wisdom inherent in metaphors. Robert Frost warned, Unless you are at home in the metaphor, unless you have had
\nyour proper poetical education in the metaphor, you are not safe anywhere.” <\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
And metaphors are not just colorful devices to spice up language, they are a fundamental part of how we speak and think. Whether we realize it or not, we are using metaphors all the time. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In one compelling example, the late psychologist Julian Jaynes discussed how the verb ?<\/span>To
\nbe <\/i>comes from the Sanskrit bhu <\/i>that mean to grow or to make grow. “Am” and “is” evolved from the same root as the Sanskrit asmi <\/i>that mean to breathe. He concludes, “It is something of a lovely surprise that the irregular
\nconjugation of our most nondescript verb is thus a record of a time when man
\nhad no independent word for ‘existence’ and could only say that something
\n‘grows’ or that it ‘breathes.'”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This, of course, is fascinating to me because breathing is the foundation of mindfulness meditation practice.<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
Emily Dickinson tells us:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

\"BCBS_Buddha.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

A WORD is dead <\/span>           <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n

When it is said,            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n

  Some say.            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n

I say it just            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n

Begins to live            <\/span>    <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n

  That day.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\n

She is right. The words we utter to each other and in the privacy of our own minds matter, and can make the difference between happiness and misery.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
Everything we see, feel, hear, and understand is filtered through the metaphorical structures of our minds. There are very few experiences that are not colored by metaphor. The linguist George Lakoff suggests that all of our concepts are formed by the frames and metaphors shaping our brains. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This includes the concept of self. While he cautions the media plays a large role in forming our political opinions, our internal “media” provides a powerful form of self-indoctrination. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Mindfulness can help us to become aware of how we may be indoctrinating ourselves with certain “political” views about ourselves. For example, mindfulness can help us to see where we are making our sense of OK-ness contingent on what other people think of us or how certain things go, neither of which we can control. With that awareness we can make choices about what words we believe about ourselves.  <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Here is an example from my book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness<\/i>. It’s metaphor 43 called “Don’t Believe Everything You Think”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n

We’ve all been admonished not to believe everything<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

we read–after all, the press is fallible and marketers<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

are always selling you something. The best approach<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

to the written word is to develop a healthy skepticism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

But what about the cogitated <\/i>word?<\/p>\n

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

\n

I’ve seen a bumper sticker that neatly sums it up<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

for us: “Don’t Believe Everything You Think.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

If we validate thoughts as truths simply because<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

they originate within our own skull we’re going to be<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

in all sorts of trouble. What might it mean to recognize<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

thoughts as just thoughts and develop a healthy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

skepticism toward them, without mistaking our<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

thoughts for Ultimate Truths? Is there a way to do this<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

without becoming cynical or debilitated?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

We can start with the mental objects that have a<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

negative flavoring, the ones that are critical in nature.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

When they arise, first ask, “Is there any important feedback<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

for me here; is there something for me to learn?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

If so, identify that important feedback, say “Thank<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

you” to the critical thought, and move on, integrating<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

that feedback to the extent that it is useful and possible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Often, however, there is no useful feedback or corrective<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

action to take, such as when you are dealing with<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

a generalized criticism like, “I am no good.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mindfulness practice will help you to become<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“suspicious” of these thoughts and less sucked into<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

their negativistic stories. It takes some practice and<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

time to develop the sensitivity to recognize the feeling<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

flavor of what I call the strident self–the inner voice<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

screaming thoughts and hawking them as the final<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

words on all matters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

With mindfulness practice, you can bring a degree<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

of distance and incredulity to such interior utterances.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

You can smile and ask patiently, “Says who?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

<\/b><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\"Thumbnail<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I’ve collected 108 these metaphors for mindfulness in my book that was published last year by Wisdom Publications. Some of these metaphors are classic Buddhist teaching metaphors and others I’ve invented or adapted myself using images from among other things modern technology and, for those of you who know my work already, Star Trek. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Sign up for the Exquisite Mind<\/a> Newsletter and receive a five chapter excerpt from the book. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

if (document.location.protocol === “https:”)
\ndocument.icpsignup.action = “https:\/\/app.icontact.com\/icp\/signup.php”;
\nfunction verifyRequired() {
\nif (document.icpsignup[“fields_email”].value == “”) {
\ndocument.icpsignup[“fields_email”].focus();
\nalert(“The Email field is required.”);
\nreturn false;
\n}
\nreturn true;
\n}<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n<\/tr>\n\n
\nJoin Our Email List <\/font>
\n<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/form>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Read praise for Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants. <\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Buy your copy now. <\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I invite everyone to check in on Mindfulness Matters<\/i> everyday. My general posting schedule will be:<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n