Butterfly Story

A story by Kumar Gauraw

Once a little boy was playing outdoors and found a fascinating caterpillar. He carefully picked it up and took it home to show his mother. He asked his mother if he could keep it, and she said he could if he would take good care of it.

The little boy got a large jar from his mother and put plants to eat, and a stick to climb on, in the jar. Every day he watched the caterpillar and brought it new plants to eat.

One day the caterpillar climbed up the stick and started acting strangely. The boy worriedly called his mother who came and understood that the caterpillar was creating a cocoon. The mother explained to the boy how the caterpillar was going to go through a metamorphosis and become a butterfly.

The little boy was thrilled to hear about the changes his caterpillar would go through. He watched every day, waiting for the butterfly to emerge. One day it happened, a small hole appeared in the cocoon and the butterfly started to struggle to come out.

At first the boy was excited, but soon he became concerned. The butterfly was struggling so hard to get out! It looked like it couldn’t break free! It looked desperate! It looked like it was making no progress!

The boy was so concerned he decided to help. He ran to get scissors, and then walked back (because he had learned not to run with scissors…). He snipped the cocoon to make the hole bigger and the butterfly quickly emerged!

As the butterfly came out the boy was surprised. It had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly expecting that, at any moment, the wings would dry out, enlarge and expand to support the swollen body. He knew that in time the body would shrink and the butterfly’s wings would expand.

But neither happened!

The butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.

It never was able to fly…

As the boy tried to figure out what had gone wrong his mother took him to talk to a scientist from a local college. He learned that the butterfly was SUPPOSED to struggle. In fact, the butterfly’s struggle to push its way through the tiny opening of the cocoon pushes the fluid out of its body and into its wings. Without the struggle, the butterfly would never, ever fly. The boy’s good intentions hurt the butterfly.

As you go through school, and life, keep in mind that struggling is an important part of any growth experience. In fact, it is the struggle that causes you to develop your ability to fly.

Sounds

“Music is the universal language of mankind.”~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“And silence, like a poultice, comes To heal the blows of sound.”~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Theory

Sounds are physical experiences, although we don’t usually relate to them as such. They are

waves of energy experienced in our body. The most sensitive body receptors for sounds are our

ear drums, but the waves can also be felt by skin, by muscle, by organs, and by our bones,

depending on their frequency and volume.

Often the sensations of sounds are overshadowed by the emotions and thinking we attach to the meaning of the auditory sensations. Here are just a few examples of how a person might attach another layer of meaning to the Sounds they hear on a moment to moment basis.

Pleasant; Birds Chirping, Waterfalling, Wind Blowing, Bells Chiming, Children Laughing & Playing, Person’s Voice, Music…

Unpleasant; Dog Barking, Wind Blowing, Gardeners, Trash Trucks, Construction, Emergency Sirens, Baby Crying, Alarm Clock, person’s Voice, Music…

Neutral; Refrigerator Running, Heating & Air Conditioning, Dog Breathing, Freeway, Computer Running, Indoor Plumbing, People Talking…

Mindfulness of sound is recognizing that there is a sound – recognizing the physical sensation of sound – and noticing the emotions and thinking that are happening along with the sound.

Often, people think of sounds as a distraction from meditation. Remember, They say in Mindfulness Meditation there are no distractions, there are only objects arising and passing within Awareness to simply observe and become Aware of.

Practice:

Begin with Mindfulness of Breath Meditation. Once you feel “settled”, let the focus of attention move from feeling the breath to feeling whatever sounds there are in the environment. Notice if you are relating to the sounds as physical sensations or if you have thoughts or feelings about the sounds.

Anytime you notice you are having thoughts and feelings about the sounds, acknowledge them, let them be in the background and gently bring the focus of attention back to the breath.

Music Practice Each day, devote 5 to 30 minutes to sit still and listen to music. Choose any music you wish. Listen to the music on speakers or headphones. Do nothing more than listen to the music. Do not use music in the background while you do something else. Use the music as your anchor to the present moment and any time attention wanders off, gets lost or gets caught up in something, gently bring attention back to the music.

Transition

“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.” ~ Alfred D’ Souza

Theory:

Life is a complex dynamic ever changing unfolding process. Just like snowflakes no two moments are ever the same and thankfully otherwise we’d all would get pretty bored rather quickly. Eastern philosophy refers to this Universal principle as Impermanence meaning that ALL things are temporary and transitory in nature. “Here today, gone tomorrow” and “ “What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours” are just a couple examples of American pop cultural references further highlighting this concept.

Why is it so vitally crucial to cultivate Mindfulness (moment to moment Awareness) to this principle of Impermanence and major Life transitions? Often during times of transition the Mind loses track of paying attention and fully appreciating the present moment. Whether it be from following the breath as the inhale flows into the exhale, in between the raising of the right foot after the planting of the left foot, traveling from point A to point B, from taking one bite to eat to taking the next, maturing from childhood to adulthood to parenthood, or winter changing into Spring the present moment is often determined as uninteresting or nonthreatening therefore becomes discounted and gets thrown away from being taken for granted for some other future moments perceived as more desirable and interesting. As soon as the Mind determines the present moment as either nonthreatening or non-interesting Awareness tends to get bored effortlessly moving onto other things that it considers more entertaining and valuable. Not that there is anything inherently “Wrong, Right” or “good, Bad” about this natural tendency of the Mind but when unrecognized and gone unchecked it may produce additional unnecessary suffering when we unconsciously engage in worrying, planning, judging, wanting, resisting, craving, regretting, desiring, Catastrophizing…

While waiting at the doctor’s office or during a medical procedure, in line at the local grocery store, sitting in traffic, while on hold with the telephone, while waiting for your partner, child, or Loved One, Food taking longer than expected all of these are perfect opportunities for utilizing that time to practice Mindfulness. Instead of getting frustrated, upset, hangry, nervous, or anxious the moment you notice Awareness constricted around unpleasant thinking and your nervous system becoming activated the invitation is to make a subtle shift in attention to any of the focused Awareness practices; following the Breath, Body Scan, Sound Awareness, Labeling, Concentration practices are all different techniques or tools readily available to be accessed by anyone at anytime to reestablish equanimity. Equanimity is a mental state of calmness, eveness of temper, or balance of Mind amidst the dynamic changing nature of life.

Practice

Part 1

Begin with Mindfulness of Breath Meditation. Once you feel “settled”, let the focus of attention move from feeling the breath to feeling whatever physical sensations are happening throughout the body. You might scan the body with attention as a way of noticing more subtle physical sensations or to notice the sensations in a sequential order from head to toes. In this exercise, you need only feel whatever physical sensations happening in the body right now. You need not do anything about them. You don’t need to figure them out or make them go away. Let attention rest with whatever physical sensation is happening and let it move whenever it wants. If attention wanders off, gets caught up or gets lost, bring it back to the breath. Focus attention on the breath until it feels “settled” again, then move the focus from feeling the breath back to feeling whatever physical sensations are happening in the body in the moment.

Part 2

When the timer alerts you, slowly move from a sitting to standing posture. Notice the shifts in sensations and energy as you transition from sitting to standing. Stand for one third of the meditation, focusing attention on sensations in the body just as in Part 1.

Part 3

When the timer alerts you, slowly return to a sitting posture. Notice the shifts in sensations and energy as you transition back to a seated position. Sit for the final third of the meditation, focusing attention on sensations in the body just as in Part 1.