From the chapter "Odysseus and the Blind Seer" in Coming to Our Senses by Jon Kabat-Zinn:

The fact of the matter is that it is not so easy to come to our senses without practice. And as a rule, we are colossally out of practice. We are out of shape when it comes to our senses. We are out of shape when it comes to recognizing our relationship with those aspects of body and mind that partake of the senses, are co-extensive with the senses, are informed by the senses, and are shaped by them. In other words, we are colossally out of shape when it comes to perception and awareness, whether oriented outwardly or inwardly, or both. We get back in shape by exercising our faculties for paying attention over and over again. And what grows stronger and more robust and flexible through such workouts, often in the face of considerable resistance from within our own mind, is a lot more interesting than a bicep.

(The term "Blind Seer" is itself a wonderful phrase! cf. [1] for background about the Greek legend of Tiresias ...) - ^z - 2009-10-06