Mower Musings

This morning as I was meditating, my silence was interrupted by the very considerable sounds of a huge riding lawn mower.  (We live in one of several townhouses and these tasks are done for us.)  I had opened the window wide to let some of the lovely fresh air in before it got too hot and muggy. 

I focus on my mantra (a Sanskrit phrase given to me by my teacher) as I meditate, and the mower intruded on my concentration.  Several thoughts came to me.  Should I get up and close the window so that the sound was less?  One of the goals in meditation is to remain still, so I didn't.  This noisy mower presented me with an opportunity.  My main thought was to just let the sound come and go, without needing to grab it--just witness it--over and over.  What I realized did not work was to try and make it go away--then I was grabbing it.  What made the whole situation more difficult was one minute the mower would be really loud right outside my window, and then fade as the mower went far away, which was nice, but then I found myself wondering when it would come back my way again!  (If it had been consistent, I think I would have phased it out of my consciousness.)  I discovered that actually listening to it, letting myself hear it, without reacting to it, was the next best thing to being the witness to it.  Soon I wasn't listening to it, I was merely hearing it pass through my mind as I focused on my mantra.

Sometimes meditation isn't "perfect," but that's just the way of meditation.  Don't get upset over those times.  Be purely in the moment and content with whatever is happening.

Namaste