You don’t have to be a sci-fi geek like myself to have a passing familiarity with “The Strange tale of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde.” Why is this tragedy ubiquitous? Because we all fear our darker impulses, or to put a finer point on it, we all fear giving in to them in a moment of exhaustion or overwhelm. Perhaps that could be why we dread to examine our less sustainable drives too closely, too vulnerably, too frequently. Though old we may be, and grey of hair, there is still a frightened child within each of us. A terrified tot, who in their magical thinking, have convinced themselves that the monster under their bed cannot find them if only they pull the covers over their head with suffícient tightness.
However the Buddha’s first, second, third, and fifth enlightenment factors are mindfulness (or vulnerability) investigation (or curiosity), energy, and tranquility. Could we arrange these puzzle pieces into a plan of action that gives us the safety net we require? Every time we inhale (thanks to our sympathetic nervous system) we are already wired to exhilaratingly and mindfully notice: vulnerably, passively, viscerally, randomly, and fleetingly. Each time we exhale our parasympathetic nervous system supports both our meditation’s physical relaxation as well as mental release which undermine the explosive release of that which Dexter referred to as his dark passenger. This is useful for, truly, a tranquil serpent cannot strike.
But we are right to be wary for most of go through life not only oblivious to the beneficial machinations of our autonomic nervous system operating like a computer program running in the background of our laptop. But more than clueless the overuse of our analytical prefrontal cortex as well as the anxiety and aggression of our amygdala actively endeavor to suppress our latent mindfulness and meditation. Fortunately this is easily remedied by silently and mentally reciting “this” and “ease” in harmony with our respective inhalations and exhalations as quietly and dynamically we sit.
Safe it is for us to passively watch the dark parade, as perceptions, emotions, impulses, thoughts, memories, and imaginings (dark, light, kind, cruel, rational, and mad) slither by. And yes we can allow ourselves to notice whatever feelings arise in congratulations or condemnation of that which we notice. Protected we are by our autonomic nervous system with which we actively cooperate as silently we meditate.
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