The Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is the leader of Shambhala, a
worldwide community of centers to help people enrich their lives either through
the Shambhala Buddhist study and training or through hosted courses. He’s
written many books and teaches all over the world. He’s now written a book
about running and meditation called Running with the Mind of Meditation. This
isn’t the first book to combine spiritual elements with athletics endeavors, in
this case running; it is the first written by an important worldwide spiritual
leader. It’s written with the depth and length of his experience as a spiritual
leader, and with many years of running and training including 9 marathon
finishes. That combination is what brings the unique flavor of this book.
The book itself is written in six sections: Running with the
mind of meditation, Tiger, Lion, Garuda, Dragon, Windhorse. The titles of each
section come from the Shambhala tradition and path of warriorship where each
section builds on, deepens, and includes previous sections. This review will
also be written in several sections to capture the essence of each section and
how to enfolds into the next.
For those that have been running for a while, especially
long runs, the connection between running and a focused mind is a natural. We
may not even think of it until asked, but once asked, the answer is obvious.
That’s where the book starts – with the recognition that running and meditation
have many similarities, and obvious differences as well, and that they have an
inherent complimentary nature.
The start of the book also brings forth Mipham’s humility
and humanness. Here is a man who has been an athlete all his life with extensive
training in several sports, and still acknowledges that his first 10k run
around the Boulder Reservoir has him wondering if he’ll make it around the
loop. The acknowledgment of this lack of experience is also where most people
start, Mipham is no exception. So the first step is building a base, both for
running and for meditation which is the primary focus of this first section.
It’s at this early point in the book that the title really
starts to take on meaning. By bringing the mind
of meditation to running, Mipham
is referring to bringing the strength, awareness, and focus of the mind
developed through the practice of
meditation to the practice of
running. He gives a short introduction to meditation and how important breath
is, especially when starting; the breath being one of the first connections
between running and meditation. He offers a kind reminder that for both running
and meditation, the beginning is often the hardest and most challenging. The
beginning is the time that brings the most challenge and requires the most
discipline to get going, to engage in a steep learning curve at the start, and
to find the balance of finding the edge without overdoing it. Clearly this
message is coming from his own personal experience and certainly common to
anyone, and still a powerful reminder.
While most of the material here is basic, there is one point
Mipham makes that seems significant and in some ways sets the tone for the rest
of the book, and one of the primary reasons to put effort into a meditation
practice.
“The mental clarity brought about
by physical exercise is temporary. When the horse has more energy, it resumes
running around. Then we have to go for another run, exhausting the mind again.
Using running as a way to train the mind is incidental, whereas the peace and
clarity that come from meditation are cumulative … generally the body’s benefit
through exercise are temporary, while meditation allows for a cumulative
benefit to occur.”
Anyone who runs knows the fitness achieved is temporary, and
even fleeting. Stop running for a few weeks and suddenly we feel like we’ve
stepped backwards. The muscle memory isn’t gone, but the actual bodily fitness
has diminished. Whereas while not meditating for a few weeks is not ideal, the
change is rarely as significant. He furthers this by offering ways in which a
basic meditation can be expanded itself and into other areas of life.
It’s at this point the book starts to deepen with discussions of motivations – that is why we run and how those motivations can expand from something basic like better to health, to moving on to a clearer mind, and beyond that to serving others. This is also where Mipham describes the “four dignities” of the Shambhala training which are Tiger, Lion, Garuda, an Dragon. While they are specific to the Shambhala tradition, don’t be intimidated as it allows a framework of progression for both running and meditation.
Some of the main themes of the book are immediately present in these first chapters – balance, gentleness, determination, progression. They are all significant for running and for meditation.
Tiger is next ...
Thanks to Michael Sandrock for encouraging me to write a review and post it.
No comments:
Post a Comment