Finding Peace in a Troubled World.

The brutality of war has many faces. When I first joined the Devon Ambulance service in 1975 I had the honor of carrying veterans from both World Wars and survivors from other conflicts including Burma, Korea, Vietnam, Northern Ireland. I have worked with men who fought in N Ireland, the Falkland’s, Serbia and Iraq. My school friend Philip Stentiford was killed by a landmine whilst on foot patrol in County Armagh on 21st January 1972 aged 18….. the same age as me and I could not understand why.

After Philip’s funeral I made a promise to myself that I would never take up arms, but in the event of war I would drive an ambulance and tend to the wounded from both sides but never fire a gun in anger. In peacetime I drove an ambulance and tended to the sick and injured or 20 years. I have never fired a gun.

It was H. G. Wells who published articles in London newspapers and later published them in book form, who described World War 1 as “The war to end all wars”, but around 9 million combatants and 7 million civilians had their lives taken away from them. Today the term is used disparagingly because there has not been a decade free of conflict since WW1.

Twenty years after WW1, the Second World War (1939 and 1945), directly involved an estimated 100 million people from 30 different countries and claimed an estimated 50 to 85 million fatalities. The weapons became more powerful, sophisticated and technical, and more people died, culminating in the first use of atomic bombs on August 6^th and August 9^th 1945. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki an estimated 150,000 and 246,000 people died from the acute effects of the atomic bombs within the first four months, (approximately half this number killed on the first day). And still we do not learn.

War, Terrorism and Conflict continues. In the intervening years ten’s of thousands of combatants and civilians have had their lives taken away from them. In recent months conflicts in the Ukraine, Syria, Gaza/Israel have peppered every news item. Around the world aircraft have been brought down, ships capsized, and earthquakes, hurricanes and floods have torn communities apart. Some have lived with conflict for so long they do not know what peace is and for some peace may look as though it has abandoned humankind. 

Peace has not abandoned us, peace is still here, but we may have to look deeply for it. We have to penetrate the brambles, stinging nettles of anger, negative thoughts and our judgmental mind to find the beautiful flowers of love, peace and happiness.

Peace starts with you and me and our friends, our friends, friend’s and their friends, and their friends, friends and so on. We each have to sow and nurture the seeds of peace. Peace can grow out of a smile, find peace in our hearts and we can find peace in the world, cultivate peace and the beautiful flowers of love, compassion and forgiveness will grow. But the moment we adopt an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth attitude we can never have peace, as long as we have anger in our hearts there can be no room for stillness, love, peace and compassion.

In November The Stillness Project plans to hold a day long meditation session on the theme of "Finding Peace in a Troubled World", The first of a series of "Peace Meditation sessions" leading up too the 70th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The sessions will be held at the Woodlands Community College, Minstead Avenue, Harefield, Southampton, SO185FW. The Date and finer details are still to be announced. 

"Peace In the world starts with peace in our hearts"

The Great Bell Chant

Today I include a video and a prayer, the poem is read by Thich Nath Hanh and chanted by brother Phap Niem in Vietnamese.

May the sound of this bell penetrate deep into the cosmos. 
Even in the darkest spots, living beings are able to hear it clearly, 
So that all suffering in them ceases, 
Understanding comes to their heart 
And they transcend the path of sorrow and death.

The universal dharma door is already open.
The sound of the rising tide is heard clearly.
The miracle happens:
A beautiful child appears in the heart of the lotus flower.
One single drop of this compassionate water
Is enough to bring back the refreshing spring to our mountains and rivers.

Listening to the bell, I feel the afflictions in me being to dissolve --
My mind calm, my body relaxed,
A smile is born on my lips.
Following the sound of the bell,
My breath brings me back to the safe island of mindfulness.
In the garden of my heart, the flowers of peace bloom beautifully.

A Contemplation on death and dying.

The Fragility of our Existence.

The recent loss of the mother of a dear friend has once again brought my attention and focus on the subject of death and dying. Twenty years as an ambulance-man/paramedic showed to me the fragility of this existence, whether it was the tragedy of a road traffic accident, a child’s sudden death, the ravages of war, or the onset of old age and disease, the circumstance of each death may have been different but the net result was always the same. 

Peter’s mum was in her eighties when she passed away, my mother-in-law, the beautiful Li Zhen was 84. Although still in good health my teacher and great inspiration dear Thây, (Thich Nhat Hanh), is now 89, my mother is 83, I am 61 in a few days time. Whilst I can enjoy their company now, I know that life is only as long as the next heartbeat.

There have been times when “a near miss” has made me contemplate the fragility of my own existence, twice when caught in storms in the western approaches, three times when guns were directed at me, (including the one occasion when a shot was fired!), plus a couple very close shaves being reckless whilst riding motorbikes. But it was the 4-way bypass in 2003, and being told a year later that the surgeon had cut one of the grafts too long and that when in intensive care it had kinked and popped allowing the heart to pump life’s blood into the chest cavity, that I had the realisation that death for me was only one heartbeat away, this changed my perspective and confirmed the fragility of "my" existence. The Grim Reaper visited looked at his list and passed me by, I know one day the emissary form the nether world will stop and tap me on the shoulder and it will be my turn.

In the west dying has to some extent become so sanitized we distance ourselves from the thought of dying, but dying is as much a part of life as life its self, what matters is…… how we live our life. When we touch stillness, we give ourselves the opportunity to meditate and bring mindfulness into our everyday existence and enjoy life fully in this moment, the present moment, this heartbeat.

Thich Nhat Hanh on Embracing Reality: 
The Five Remembrances

When you deny the reality of life, you appreciate it less. Meditate on the Buddha’s Five Remembrances and rediscover the magic of life just as it is.

I am of the nature to grow old.
There is no way to escape growing old.

I am of the nature to have ill health.
There is no way to escape ill health.

I am of the nature to die.
There is no way to escape death.

All that is dear to me and everyone I love
 are of the nature to change.

There is no way to escape
 being separated from them.

My actions are my only true belongings.
I cannot escape the consequences of my actions.

My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

Leon Edwards

© The Stillness Project

Things Have Not Changed…...

I watch people in the world
Throw away their lives lusting after things,
Never able to satisfy their desires,
Falling into deep despair
And torturing themselves.
Even if they get what they want
How long will they be able to enjoy it?
For one heavenly pleasure
They suffer ten torments of hell,
Binding themselves more firmly to the grindstone.
Such people are like monkeys
Frantically grasping for the moon in the water
And then falling into a whirlpool
How endlessly those caught up in the floating world suffer.
Despite myself, I fret over them all night
And cannot staunch my flow of tears.

                                        Ryōkan (1758 - 1831)

Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf

(Zen Poems of  Ryōkan)

Translated by John Stevens

The Core of Touching Stillness

Touching Stillness 
is the practice of using Tai Chi, 

Qigong and Meditation to harmonise 

the body, mind and the breath. It has both 

a therapeutic and spiritual quality that elevates us to 

the innermost centre of our being. Allowing us the opportunity 
to nourish the seeds of peace and tranquility.

Leon Edwards

© The Stillness Project

Touching Stillness 16 "The Tightrope of Life"

"Let your life dance

lightly in the present moment,

like dewdrops balanced on the tightrope 
of a spiders web"

Leon Edwards

© The Stillness Project

Developing Stillness 15 "Centre Body, Centre Mind"

Centre Body, Centre Mind 2.

With modern living it is easy for our mind to become distracted, multitasking in our 24/7-stress bubble. With the mind full of chatter, we indulge in an internal dialogue of self criticism, regurgitate the past, or rehearse for the future, and not be present in that space between heartbeats we call the present moment. We prevent ourselves from noticing the good things that happen in our lives and we fail to hear what our body is telling us. 

Touching Stillness is to an extent an active not a passive exercise, we have to want to find peace and tranquility, and then create the conditions for stillness to manifest. Stillness is all around us, like a giant ocean or the air we breathe, but just as we have to tune a radio to a specific station so we have to tune our body and our mind to the “stillness channel”. Centre Body, Centre Mind is a posture that allows us the chance to touch stillness and find peace and tranquility even for the briefest of moments.

Centre the Body:

Stand with feet shoulder width apart, parallel and pointing forward with equal weight in each foot. Slightly bend the knees and rotate the pelvis so that the posture is not unlike someone siting on the edge of a table or stool. At the same time imagine the crown of the head is being drawn upwards by a “golden thread”. 

With the weight evenly distributed in the legs and feet and the spine slightly stretched, relax and drop the shoulders, (we create so much tension by constantly “carrying imaginary shopping,”), relax, let go of the tension in the body. Let your arms fall naturally by your side and let your fingers relax. With correct posture you should feel lite and almost floating. Mentally scan your body and bring your attention to any areas that feel tense, feel the tension and breathe energy to those areas to help them relax. 

Centre Mind:

Now close your eyes and place the tip of the tongue on the top palette just behind the teeth, breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. Concentrate on the breathing. Some people find it easier to feel the slight movement of the abdomen others may concentrate on the movement of air as it passes over moist lips. Take a few deep breaths and relax, it is important to focus the mind on the breathing. 

Thoughts and distractions will naturally occur, this is unavoidable; so don't worry. Just let the thoughts "float" to the surface and let them dissipate, just like the bubbles in a glass of lemonade, bubbles float to the surface, ‘pop’ and disappear. 

Try to avoid hanging on the thoughts and having an internal discussion with them, if necessary ‘think’ to your self “I am breathing in” when you are breathing in and “I am breathing out” when you are breathing out. You can try counting the spaces between the out breath and the next ‘in’ breath.. When you notice your mind has drifted, gently bring your mind back to focus on the breathing.

Leon Edwards

© The Stillness Project

Developing Stillness 14. "Mindful Moments"

Touching Stillness with Mindful Moments

The Oxford English Dictionary defines Mindfulness as:
Mindfulness /ˈmʌɪn(d)f(ʊ)lnəs/

1. the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.

2. a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

It is easy for our mind to become distracted multitasking in our 24/7 stress bubble, listening to an internal dialogue of self criticism that prevents us from noticing the good things that happen in our lives and failing to hear what our bodies are telling us. We are either regretting the past, rehearsing for the future and not present in our own lives. When we learn to live in the present moment we learn to step away from our habitual thoughts and unconscious emotional and physiological reactions to everyday events, and see things as they really are.

The objective of mindfulness is to achieve a relaxed, non-judgmental awareness of our thoughts, feelings and sensations, switching off of our automatic pilot and maintaining a direct knowing of what is going on inside and outside ourselves, moment by moment. We become aware of the world around us and notice and observe our thoughts and feelings and wake up to the physical sensations of things.

With its origin in the 2500 year old teaching of the Buddha, "Mindfulness", is the English translation of the Pali term "Sati" and from Sanskrit "Smṛti", and refers to "Right Mindfulness", the seventh element of the Noble Eightfold Path. (Translated as "nian" 念 in Chinese, "nen" in Japanese and "trenpa" in Tibetan).

The Noble Eightfold Path
1. Right Understanding
2. Right Thought
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

The Noble Eightfold Path can be divided into three sections elements 1 and 2 is the Wisdom with in the Noble Eightfold Path, whilst elements 3,4,5 and 6 fulfil the section - Morality. Elements 7. Right Mindfulness and 8. Right Concentration form the third section - Meditation. For 2500 years within its teaching, Buddhism has never proposed beliefs of the supernatural or transcendent, but rather is concerned with feelings, emotions, sensations, and cognition of the causes of suffering and in doing so, offers a practice: the cultivation of cognitive, emotional, and physical practices to bring about change. Whilst the benefits of meditation, (and therefore Mindfulness and Concentration), have been known and practiced for thousands of years in the Buddhist tradition, it is only through the teachings of monastics such as Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, that the benefits of "Mindfulness" has been brought to the western attention.

But it is to practitioners such as Kabat-Zin, Teasdale, Seagal and Williams et al, who in the late 1970's, are credited with popularising mindfulness and putting scientific meat on traditional Buddhist bones, through the development of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme's to help with conditions as diverse as chronic pain, heart disease, anxiety, psoriasis, sleep problems and depression.

It is only through focusing one's awareness and experiencing the present moment with mindfulness that we encourage the regular practice of mindfulness in our daily lives. Accepting life is only as long as the space between heartbeats, we can focus and learn to live fully in the present moment non-judgmentally. Assuming a heartbeat of 60 beats a minute, then we have 3,600 opportunities per hour, (or 86,400 opportunities a day), to experience a present moment. The Japanese have an expression "Ichi-go ichi-e" (一期一会 "one time, one meeting"), that reminds us that each "present moment" is unique and never to be repeated.

Mindfulness-Moments.
Everything we do or say, everything….. can be done with mindfulness, with total concentration, focusing on the present moment, (this heart beat), when we loose the present moment and we are aware of it … … come back to the breath, relax into your breathing….. focus. Mindful moments will vary in length from a few seconds to many minutes and some mindfulness moments will stand out over others, the most important thing is focus on that one object, when you listen to the ships foghorn, "Listen to the ships foghorn" when you watch Great Tits dancing in catkins, "watch! Great Tits dancing in catkins" and if the mind wonders come back to your breathing. When you walk….. only walk. When you do the dishes…. only do the dishes. 

At the end of the day reflecting on the days mindfulness moments and distilling one mindful moment to a short sentence, we allow the opportunity to review and record a mindful moment. By concentrating on our breathing whilst writing about mindfulness moment's, the very act of writing becomes an act of practicing mindfulness.

(Example of a week of recording Mindfulness Moments).
Monday's Mindfulness Moment:
"Mist and the mournful sound of ships foghorns"

Tuesday's Mindfulness Moment:
"Feeling the emotion's when seeing my wife after 6 months being apart"

Wednesday's Mindfulness Moment:
"Great Tits dancing in hazel catkins"

Thursday's Mindfulness Moment:
"Watching clouds scud across a winter blue sky"

Friday's Mindfulness Moment:
"Warmed by the smile that says Thank You"

Saturday's Mindfulness Moment:
"The sound of rain on the window's"

Sunday's Mindfulness Moment:
"The Stillness in early morning meditation" 

Leon Edwards

© The Stillness Project

Developing Stillness 13

Dissolving Anger

"With anger in your heart, there is no room for love, compassion and forgiveness…."

Leon Edwards

© The Stillness Project

Developing Stillness 12.

Mindfulness in Every Action… With Tea and Tai Chi.

Every action is unique and of the greatest significance. When an action is performed with total concentration and non attachment, the value found in each  and every 'movement' is more than worthy of our full attention. Developing that attention is as simple as the act of making and drinking a cup of tea or practicing Tai Chi mindfully.

Leon Edwards

© The Stillness Project

Developing Stillness 11.

Sowing The Seeds.....

To read books and “know” about mindfulness is to be like the gardener walking into a garden center and reading the information on the back of a packet of seeds.

To “practice” mindfulness, is to be like the gardener who prepares the soil and nourishes the seeds.

But to have mindfulness as "part of your daily life" is to be like the gardener who reaps the benefit of a bountiful harvest.

In the practice of Tai Chi/Qigong we practice “mindfulness of movement”, and with the concentration of the breath we turn the mindfulness of movement into a deep meditation that touches the vast ocean of stillness that lies within.  

Leon Edwards

© The Stillness Project

Developing Stillness 10

The Mindfulness of drinking tea…..

Tea is the product of the whole universe the earth the sky and much hard work….

The “terroir” of tea refers to the environmental conditions the tea grows in, the sunlight, rain, wind, clouds earth type, and minerals, everything that nourishes the tea bush and gives tea its unique taste. In the act of adding hot water to tealeaves we create an intimate dialogue between man and nature. Drinking our tea mindfully we elevate tea from the mundane to the spiritual and create a state of “Wa” – harmony, “Kei” – respect, “Sei” – purity, and “Jaku” – tranquility.

Leon Edwards

© The Stillness Project

Touching Stillness 1

A monk sips morning tea,

it's quiet,

the chrysanthemum's flowering.

Matsuo Basho

(1644-1694)

Translated by Robert Hass