I’m reading a book called “The Gods Drink Whiskey”, by Steven Asma.  It’s the story of Asma’s experiences in Cambodia, where he went as a visiting professor to bring Buddhism back to the Cambodians.  As well as describing his adventures, he also presents basic ideas of Buddhism and Buddhist practice.  In one chapter, Asma talks about mindfulness in a way I really liked.  He talked about a simile offered by the Buddha, called the Six Animals.  In Buddhist thinking, humans have six senses, rather than five, the sixth being the mind.  Each of these senses is represented by a different animal.  The Buddha talks about how each animal constantly struggles to get to its own environment – as when the crocodile pulls to get to water, the bird to  the air, the monkey to the forest, etc.  The Buddha asks us to imagine that each animal it tied to its own rope and that all six ropes are knotted together so that when one animal pulls especially hard, all the others are dragged along, hither and yon, as we so often are by our emotions, thoughts, physical sensations, or urges. The solution, according to the story of the Six Animals, is to tie all the animals to a steady pole or stake.  Then, as each animal struggles to go in the direction its urges pull, it will tire, and eventually stop struggling.  Finally, it will stand, sit or lie down near the pole.  This settling of the senses leads to the peacefulness, the equanimity, of mindfulness.

As I read this story, I found myself experiencing a deep, core stake – a thin but strong pole, actually - going down the center of my body, almost like another spine, and down into the earth, where it is deeply grounded.  I could imagine my thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, urges, and every other kind of distraction tied to this pole, and could feel the pull of them as they moved into my awareness.  I was also aware that the stability of the pole made these “six animals” unable to drag me away from my center.  I also experienced how these urges and momentary distractions would, indeed, begin to settle if they couldn’t succeed in going off in their own directions.

I found this meditation metaphor very useful, and so wanted to share it with you here, as an experiment.  And so, for this week, I invite you to play with having a solidly planted, deeply grounded stake or pole right down the middle of your body-mind being and to notice what it’s like if you become that pole or stake, feeling yourself immovable and grounded.  Then, notice what happens when thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, urges – whatever comes into your experience – pull at your awareness.  As you continue to focus on being the pole or stake, allow the pulls to wear themselves out and finally settle and notice how you experience that settling. The key thing here is to know that the pulls, the “six animals,” *will* eventually settle if they can’t go anywhere. 

As with all the other mindfulness metaphors and exercises we’ve explored over these years, allow yourself to be curious rather than judgmental as you play with this one.  The goal, as you know, isn’t to succeed at becoming a mindfulness master.  Instead, it’s to offer yourself a way to become even more aware of what it’s like to realize you’re being pulled here and there by the contents of your consciousness and experiences of your body – and, especially, to have the choice to recenter into a grounded and settled awareness if you choose to do so.