Mindfulness in the toilet, Part #1 (cartoon)

B&B; Dhr. Seven, Ellie, Jason, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

Yuck. Time to check out. This is no time to be mindful. Where's my cell phone?

Sati-sampajanna is "mindfulness and clear comprehension" or uncluttered awareness as one goes about one's business in life. If one is sitting and wishes to get up to go over there, one does so mindfully and clearly aware of what one is doing.

This applies, not surprisingly, to ALL that one is doing. And if one eats mindfully, one should also excrete mindfully. Even without eating, excreting will happen. It's the red blood cells sloughing off, and there's water to evacuate, too. This may sound repulsive.

Is it not better to pop in an air freshener, wear headphones, take one's mobile phone in while trying not to drop it in the toilet? Surely it's better to just refrain from flushing until the call is over, anything to stay distracted when answering the calls of nature?

My favorite chair, The Stone Throne

Mindfulness can lead to insight more readily when giving mindful (nonreactive observation) attention to an unattractive (asubha, loathsome, foul) thing rather than a pleasant one. One is pulled in by the pleasant and pulled out by the unpleasant.

What would more readily lead to insight about the true nature of this human body, staring at an alluring beauty or a bloated corpse that's oozing? Exactly! And we love ourselves and see ourselves in this body, of this body, as possessed of a body, owners of a body -- and such conceit is hard to break.

But if we pay attention in the restroom, all will be well: We will be able to let go of pride, egoism, conceit, lust, clinging, and coveting not only for ourselves but for other distractions that walk around in tight yoga pants.

We will finally be able to overcome the allures Cupid and Mother Nature built into the system to keep us bound up in the Sensual Sphere (kama-loka) and the unending Cycle of Wandering (samsara). See Part #2.