I came across an interview with mindfulness teacher Jack Cornfield. he shared a funny story during his mindfulness training.
One morning at the monastery. His Zen master was at the table, eating his breakfast and reading the morning paper.
A student came up and remarked, “Didn’t you say that ‘when you sit, just sit. When you eat, just eat.’ What is this thing about eating and reading?”
The Zen master looked up and replied, “when you eat and read, just eat and read.”
Jack’s story points out that mindfulness doesn’t mean you can’t multitask. And it’s certainly not about single-tasking or exercising or meditation.
It is the possibility of ease, at any moment. And in today’s culture, we have temporarily forgotten about it.
Mindfulness teaching brings that to our awareness, a set-point of how it feels like, a diagnosis tool when we are not, and a reminder of the option we can change it.
And of course, sometimes the best thing to do is to just eat and read.
