Being with a Feeling: a Small Experiment

  Recently while walking to Thetis Lake, I was aware of a feeling that my thoughts were labelling as "feeling neglected" or "abandoned".  Krishnamurti's suggestion to explore being with a feeling without naming, labelling, or evaluating and judging it in any way came to mind  and I thought I'd give it a try.  I'd experimented with this many times before but this seemed like a fresh moment, as if doing it for the first time.  When I paid attention to the feeling without putting any words to it I found that the feeling couldn't develop further, feed on itself, or continue to create a story about itself and what it meant, what I should do about it, and so on.  The feeling was stopped in its tracks.  The feeling had a quality of "isness", just being what it is.  There was no problem in the feeling and nothing that needed to be done.  The feeling itself was just a subject for curiosity and wonder.  There was a sense of freedom and lightness that arose in this meditation, and the issue that had evoked the feeling was no longer of any significance.  I could go on to enjoy the walk, the beauty available in the moment.