Blog 4: Kill the Buddha!

The beginning of Khong’s article really piqued by curiosity: “In short, what happens if we encounter the Buddha in the therapy room? A Zen Buddhist would probably reply, ‘Kill him,’ as the Buddha or Buddha-nature is already inside each of us” (2007, p. 11). Unfortunately, I’ve never been entirely convinced that the Buddha-nature is inside me, personally, as I can never get my mind to sit still. For example, I’ve recently been going to a yoga class on Sunday evenings and instead of reveling in my quiet mind, listening to the sounds of the soft music playing, or paying attention to my quiet breathing and the movements of the class members around me, here is what my mind sounds like instead: “I wonder what I’ll have for dinner tomorrow night-pizza sounds really good, but I’ve been wanting to cook something in my crock pot, maybe a rotisserie chicken! Okay-what do I have to get accomplished this week-2 blogs for Dr. Baker’s classes and that assessment homework-also, I should really finish my outline for my Group presentation-that’s due in a week-ooh!-I can’t wait to sleep in on Saturday-I haven’t done that in a while-then I probably have time to run down to the Central Market if I don’t sleep in too late, but I have to find parking, bummer.” Before I scare you too much, I think you probably understand where I’m going here. And that’s only one example of a stream of consciousness-I feel as if I’m often ruminating about things that happened in the past or worrying about things that will happen in the future, but am never really allowing myself to just be. The thing is, I don’t think I’m alone in these habits, and after reading Khong’s article, I am even more convinced that it is human nature for our minds to follow these patterns. According to Khong, mindfulness practice does not require that we ignore or suppress our thoughts and emotions; instead we have to accept that we will have these feelings, acknowledge them, listen to them, and quietly let them run their course. As a result, we may also reduce our tendency to ruminate over certain things, such as the case study highlighting Felicity and her development of successful coping mechanisms for addressing her anxiety: “It is because I allowed myself to feel the feelings. I don’t try to run away from it. I tell myself: ‘It’s ok. Just experience it’…I ask myself where is the feeling located, and give myself loving kindness. I then put it in the circuit breakers. I just let the anxiety sit there. I am becoming friends with it now” (Khong, p. 16). Luan Khong, B.S. (2007). The Buddha's influence in the therapy room. Hakomi Forum, 18, 11-18.