This week we suggest you practice taking refuge. A refuge is a place of safety, security, ease. If you look at its roots, “refuge” means “flee back” or, we could say, “fly back.” So, as mindfulness practitioners, to where do we fly back to find safety and ease? We fly back to our mindfulness, our awareness—we fly back home to ourselves.
If you continue to practice mindfulness, it’s because you have experienced some calm, some peace, some ease. Though we aren’t usually aware of this, mindfulness, awareness is always there always waiting for us. This is our true home. It can’t be taken from us. It’s our birthright.
So, this week, we suggest you practice taking refuge. You are already familiar with sitting meditation, walking meditation, stopping and taking 3 breaths. These are all forms of taking refuge, flying back home to our true selves.
Last week we practiced noticing aversion. This week, if aversion arises, you can take refuge in mindfulness by stopping and taking 3 breaths. Or, if it’s the aversion is powerful, try walking meditation or, if you are able, sit mindfully with it for a while.
Of course, you don’t have to wait for a negative emotion to arise for you to take refuge. Any time it comes to mind during the week, you can take even one mindful breath to come back to yourself. The more you practice, the more readily the refuge of mindful awareness will be available to you.
In fact, any activity you do mindfully—washing the dishes, weeding the garden, eating, driving, folding the laundry—any activity done mindfully is taking refuge. And remember: just as in sitting meditation if our minds wander off, we just come back to the breath, if your mind wanders from, say, your weeding, just gently bring it back, time after time just bring it back home.
Enjoy this practice, enjoy coming home.
With bows and smiles,
Warren and Marion
