How to drive like a Buddha?
Driving can be stressful and even dangerous unless the driver has two skills – able to maintain the focus on the driving activity and be able to respond to the inevitable unexpected and stressful events during driving with a cool mind. ‘Focusing on breathing’ is a great tool for both acquiring and honing these two skills. Let us see the 1-2-3 steps for achieving these very useful skills.
Step 1: Establish the meditation habit
Practice the following phase 1 meditations till they become automatic habits. You don't need to set aside time for these practices nor you have to sit for practice. ALL THESE ARE DONE LYING IN THE BED!
Step 2: Practice the Feeling mode during all the routine and non-routine stoppages
Use the feeling mode during all the routine and non-routine stoppages during which you impatiently wait for a few seconds to minutes, watching the traffic to take a left or a right turn, merging onto a busy road or highway, stopped at a ‘STOP’ sign, stopped at the red light waiting for the green light and crawling at the toll gates or traffic jams.
Step 3: Practice while driving on a hassle-free highway
The final step is to practice ‘Focusing on breathing’ while driving on a hassle-free highway without much traffic.
Try one or more of the following steps.
Use the ‘Folding mode': Develop this practice when driving on a hassle-free road without frequent lane changes.
Start with one hand.
Fold the tip of the little finger over the rim of the steering wheel. Breathe three times. Let it go.
Fold the tip of the ring finger (finger adjacent to the little finger) and breathe three times. Let this finger go.
Repeat the same process at the next three fingers ending with the thumb.
Switch to the other hand and repeat the same process.
Don’t mind any interruptions to the process due to traffic changes. As soon as the traffic stabilizes, restart the practice from the little finger, forgetting the last finger used.
Practice the ‘Counting mode’: When driving on long and straight roads, practice this mode, counting breaths in sets of three without using the fingers.
Practice the ‘Feeling mode’: In short spells, you can use the simpler ‘Feeling mode’ – just feeling the cool sensation inside the nose when breathing in without using the fingers or counting. Even a couple of breaths will abort the expanding wave of tension in the mind.
Over a few months, this practice will become spontaneous. As soon as you are on the road, the breathing practice kicks in! Believe me, I am saying this from my personal experience.
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