Personal Story of Recovery and My Zen Practice.

As I have mentioned I have practiced Zen for years. There are various stages to the practice as there is in any practice. The last stage is temed "mindfulness" and this is where we can observe the here and now. Basically, it is to the world arena as it is rather then how we think it is. The practice is to see without conditioning. Usually we observe with conditioning. That is we instantly think about what we see and compare it to other similair objects we have seen. For example, we see a flower for the first time. Immediately, we say something like "beautiful". This term comes from our memory of previously viewed flowers that were similiar.

When we do this we miss the original beauty of the first flower. The here and now is to see it the way it is without any conditioning. This takes practice. We begin to realize that this is all we have. This is the time to say "thank you", "I love you", "I am sorry". Or where ever we are to realize this is the most beautiful moment because it is all there is. This changes our perception of the world around us. This does occur naturally at times such as seeing a loved one "as if for the very first time."

Let me relate a personal story that is now almost a year old. I was living alone and quite comfortable when one day the the City Firemen told me I could not care for myself any more.
I was not aware of any problem but went with them to a rehab hospital. After several months in
the hospital I was moved to an assisted living facility. Here for unknown reasons I recovered my sense of consciousness. I recalled my Zen discipline of breathing and sitting up looking at the world. In a very short period of time I had several episodes of mindfullness.

Seeing my real situation and accepting it enabled me to start exercising and relaxing without the defeating period of depression and learned helplessness. Nor did I tear myself apart with being alone or wanting to quickly return to my former lifestyle. As a result I have recovered and making plans for an adaptable lifestyle. I am able to care for myself physically and mentally.
I credit my Zen practice combined with good medical care for my recovery.

I would love to have your comments.