Naikan - or How to Eat a Pear
Posted on Mar 22nd, 2006
by 
Maile
Maile
I've noticed that Buddhism and mindfulness are fairly common threads here on zaadz, but few people (no people?) seemed interested in or, perhaps, aware of Naikan.
It is yet another system for cultivating mindfulness, but it's one that I've found particularly wonderful. It's a form of Buddhist-based Japanese psychology and one of the foundations of Constructive Living. It is also very simple.
To perform Naikan, you reflect on three questions:
1- What have others done for me?
2- What have I done for others?
3- What troubles have I caused to others?
You could spend your life thinking about these questions and not even come close to finding all the answers. I try to spend ten minutes each day for each question, reflecting on the previous twenty-four hours. At least for questions one and three, I never get through them all.
Try this: sit down with a very simple meal, an raw piece of fruit for example, and reflect on these three questions. Delve deep. If you got the fruit from the store, consider the person who worked at the checkout, the person who stocked the produce, the person who delivered it, the gas they had to used to drive to the store and its impact on the environment and the beings in it, the farmers who worked to grow it, the people who cultivated the seeds over time, etc.
A simple practice, for sure, but the way it changes your life can be profound.
If you try this, I'd love to hear back about your experience. I'm also open to answering any questions you have about Naikan and how to learn more. Feel free to leave comments or to mail me directly.
It is yet another system for cultivating mindfulness, but it's one that I've found particularly wonderful. It's a form of Buddhist-based Japanese psychology and one of the foundations of Constructive Living. It is also very simple.
To perform Naikan, you reflect on three questions:
1- What have others done for me?
2- What have I done for others?
3- What troubles have I caused to others?
You could spend your life thinking about these questions and not even come close to finding all the answers. I try to spend ten minutes each day for each question, reflecting on the previous twenty-four hours. At least for questions one and three, I never get through them all.
Try this: sit down with a very simple meal, an raw piece of fruit for example, and reflect on these three questions. Delve deep. If you got the fruit from the store, consider the person who worked at the checkout, the person who stocked the produce, the person who delivered it, the gas they had to used to drive to the store and its impact on the environment and the beings in it, the farmers who worked to grow it, the people who cultivated the seeds over time, etc.
A simple practice, for sure, but the way it changes your life can be profound.
If you try this, I'd love to hear back about your experience. I'm also open to answering any questions you have about Naikan and how to learn more. Feel free to leave comments or to mail me directly.
Access: Public
buddhism
June 2006
Very cool, i love it! I've never heard of this before, and this is the type'a stuff I actually seek out. I'll definitely sit myself down with these questions.
Your description reminds me of the old “enlightenment simulation” exercise, where you sit down and think of all the possible causes you can think of to answer the question: How do I find myself right here, right now? I'd go in to the details, but it's basically like you said. I'm eating this plipear from the person that stocked it from the person that shipped from teh person that grew it from the town they established… And all sorts of angles, all the different histories that are focused on the moment. Hmm..maybe i'll write a blog about it, sometime!
Anyway, I dig the Naikan, thanks for bringing it up!
(as two asides, I just found your blog and really dig on the topics you've touched! Second: I saw an author, Dan Millman, last weekend give a little talk, and he recommended Constructive Living. Now there's two strikes, I gotta read it!)