Mindfulness bells.
In the Buddhist tradition, temple bells remind us of the need to return to the present. Every time the bell rings, we Buddhists stop talking, stop thinking and come back to ourselves, inhale, exhale and smile. No matter what we do, we take a moment to stop and just enjoy breathing. Sometimes we say to ourselves:
Listen, listen!
This wonderful sound brings me back to my true essence.
As we inhale, we say, “Listen, listen! " And when we exhale, we say, "This wonderful sound brings me back to my true essence. ".
When I got to the West, I almost stopped hearing the Buddhist temple bells. But, thankfully, the bells of Christian churches are ringing across Europe. There are far fewer of them in the US, which saddens me. When I lecture in Switzerland, I always base my mindfulness practices on ringing bells. When it sounds, I stop talking and we all listen until the sound stops. It's such a pleasure (probably more than the lecture)! When we hear the bell, we can stop, focus on breathing, and reconnect with the wonders of life around us: flowers, children, beautiful sounds. Every time we come back to ourselves, life seems to help us here and now to withstand them.
I once suggested to UC Berkeley professors and students to stop and take a mindful breath every time the campus bell rang. Everyone should stop and just enjoy life! We don't have to do things around the clock. You have to learn to feel happiness even from the sound of the church bell, even from the school bell. The ringing of bells is wonderful, it can really wake us up. If you have a bell at home, practice breathing and smiling with its sweet sound. You don't have to bring it to the office or factory: you can use almost any sound to stop, breathe and enjoy the moment. A buzzer that reminds you to fasten your seat belt in the car also encourages awareness. Not only sounds can become a wake-up call to awareness, but also, for example, light rays pouring through glass. They invite us to come back to ourselves, breathe, smile and live fully in the present moment.
🍀 Thich Nhat Hanh "Peace at every step. The way of mindfulness in everyday life".