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One-Moment
Meditation
Stillness for People on the Go
Martin Boroson
Copyright © 2011 Martin Boroson
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9823-7461-0
Library of Congress Control number: 2009923064
Published in eBook format by Winter Road Publishing
Port Jefferson Station, NY
Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com
For distribution information contact:
or Baker & Taylor at 1-800-775-1800
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
FIRST EDITION
Design by Level C
First published in 2007 in the United Kingdom by rider, an imprint of Ebury Publishing, Random House, under the title The One-Moment Master: Stillness for People on the Go.
ALSO BY MARTIN BOROSON
Becoming Me: a story of creation
for my parents,
Florence and Louis Boroson,
with love
With a man’s dying breath,
he should be prepared to make a fresh start.
Nikos Kazantzakis (attrib.)
Introduction
Think of all the moments we “lose”—stuck in traffic, standing in line, sitting in a boring meeting. Think of all the moments we “waste”—going to parties we don’t enjoy, working when we’re not focused, watching one more television show before bed. Then there are those “stolen moments”—the moments we grab when no one’s looking—to window shop, surf the net, or fiddle with our phones. And then there are those moments that pass by unnoticed—the moments between other moments. What if each of these moments offered us an opportunity? What if each and every moment offered us a chance to become more calm, alert, balanced and content? What if there were something simple we could do, in just a moment, that could have a profound effect on our lives?
• • •
This book was conceived in a moment.
I was meditating one morning for my usual thirty minutes, and was determined to sit still, eyes looking down, for the full thirty minutes. But this particular morning, I was restless, my mind was racing, and time seemed to be moving so slowly. I worried that I had forgotten to set the alarm, and that I might end up sitting there for hours. It certainly felt like hours. I wanted to check the clock. Many times. But I was determined to sit still, and just didn’t want to give in. Then I gave in.
I turned to the clock and discovered that I had not forgotten to set the alarm. There was one minute left. Which meant that I’d just spent twenty-nine minutes wondering if thirty minutes had passed. Discouraged, I thought, “With just a minute left, I might as well quit for today.” And then it hit me: “What’s wrong with a minute of meditation? What did I hope to experience in thirty minutes that I can’t experience in one minute?” So I decided to start again, as if from the beginning. I decided to meditate for whatever time was left. I decided to meditate for a minute . . . but make it a good one.
From that moment on, my attitude toward time began to change. I began to think less about long-term goals and more about present opportunities. I began to realize how much could be achieved in a very short time. And I began to meditate in a new way—not just sitting on my cushion each morning for thirty minutes, but briefly, all throughout my day, wherever I happened to be—on the train, at my desk, at the gym. I began to understand that the more quickly I could tap into peacefulness, and the fewer props I needed, the better. In short, I began to meditate whenever I had a moment.
• • •
Most of the time, we fail to realize the enormous potential of a moment. Perhaps this is because we think of a moment as a very short amount of time—just a few seconds—and therefore rather negligible. But the word “moment” actually comes from a Latin word that means “a particle sufficient to turn the scales.” In other words, a moment can be revolutionary. It can turn your life around. A moment is, by its very nature, momentous.
Imagine what can happen in a moment: a dam bursts, the earth quakes, a dry forest bursts into flames. In just a moment, a drunk driver speeds through a stop sign and hits your car. In just a moment, stock prices start tumbling. You never know when something that you take for granted will be gone.
But a moment can also bring healing, inspiration, and joy. In just a moment, a fantastic new idea lands, unexpectedly, in your mind. In just a moment, someone solves a problem for you, or you get a phone call from a long-lost friend. In just a moment, after years of division, a wall comes down. In just a moment, during a long illness, you simply start recovering, and no one can say exactly why.
But whether life-changing moments are happy or sad, global or personal, they remind us that ordinary life has the possibility to be extraordinary. In just a moment, ordinary life can crack open to reveal another reality that was inconceivable the moment before. In other words, dramatic change doesn’t require a lot of time: it only takes a moment.
I have helped many individuals and organizations through processes of major change. And although these processes can take time, when the breakthroughs do happen, they happen suddenly, in a moment. No one can predict when they will happen or what they will be. But the best condition for having a breakthrough is when the people involved are truly present in the present moment, and open to its possibility. In other words, they are open to the radical possibility that no matter what their plans, habits, or expectations might be, this moment offers the potential for significant change.
• • •
This book will help you notice the moment, understand the moment, appreciate the moment, be in the moment, and tap the enormous potential of a moment. And it won’t take a lot of time. The first exercise requires no more than one or two minutes each day—guaranteed. As you progress, this exercise actually gets shorter and shorter, taking less and less time, until you can do it in just a moment.
With this approach, you will be able to refresh and recharge yourself many times throughout the day. You will learn to experience deep stillness (which is your nature) in the midst of activity (which is also your nature). You will understand time in a new way, and learn ways to transform a day that feels crowded and rushed into one that feels spacious and full of opportunity.
As you practice
