After some dinner nearby, my son and I headed into the Dr. Phillips, Disney Theater in Orlando to see a live performance with Steve Martin and Martin Short. There in the busy lobby I felt consciously present, in the moment aware of the environment, absorbed by the people and ambiance of this place and time. Anticipating the two-hour performance I headed into the restroom, which appeared to be a long room with facilities on either side. As I walked along looking for an open place, I noticed an older man walking toward me, almost like he knew me, he smiled, as he grew closer I noticed that he had a baseball cap on just like mine, and I started to say, “we have the same cap,” but as I reached up, pointing to my hat, my arm came into contact with the wall-to-wall, floor to ceiling mirror at the end of the room. I realized that the stranger coming toward me was my reflection in this mirror.
I’ve seen my photograph and reflections in the mirror a million times, but this was always from my subjective perspective. It seemed this time, for a moment, perhaps for the first time; I saw this body that I call me, as a stranger, in what could only be a mindful, “not self,” reflection.
One of the tenants of Buddhist philosophy is the “No Self” concept. Whoever was there a moment ago is no longer you. The notion of “I” or “Me” or “I Am” does not exist. There is no “mini me” in the body’s mind, head or heart, making decisions. There may be memories of the past but those are thoughts stored in the archives of the mind’s modules that render a subjective point-of-view to what is experienced. The feeling of joy or pain is also not you; it’s an impermanent, passing thought or state.
Insight Meditation and the resulting Mindfulness facilitate mind and body living in the present moment, bare attention, non judgmental awareness of what is being experienced now, not thinking about past or future events and conversations.
Written by James R (Jim) Martin