MINDFULNESS

I hope to acquire the capacity to be mindful of the present moment and to Accept “What Is” plus ridding myself of unhelpful habits that cause needless suffering.

Your thoughts are chaotic, so what to do?

To get the mind to settle you need to focus on an ANCHOR.

A place to put your attention as the mind settles itself.

We use the breath as an anchor.

Your breath is always present.

Put your attention on the rhythms of your breathing-inhale, exhale, in and out, this brings calmness to the body and focuses our Awareness.

Your mind will probably wander but keep going anyway.

Focus on your breath for at least 5 minutes at the start.

You will notice a pleasant sensation that relaxed breathing brings.

Watching and attending to your breath is a basic mindfulness practice.

Why do we always try to AVOID life’s difficulties?

We don’t want to confront our fears so we evade them!

The motivation to avoid conflicts and difficulties drives us right into SUFFERING!

Resistance to bad situations just increases our suffering.

Only the COMPLETE ACCEPTANCE of a bad situation leads to the end of suffering.

What is the difference between pain and suffering?

Because we live in a physical body pain is inevitable.

Suffering is NOT the same as pain.

Suffering is the mental and emotional RESPONSE to pain.

Suffering occurs when we RESIST the way things are.

To end suffering you must ACCEPT “What Is”.

DISSECTING MINDFULNESS

The technique of Meditation is called INSIGHT and it is a set of mental activities aimed at experiencing a state of uninterrupted mindfulness.

It is the conscious awareness of the Present Moment.

What is a state of AWARENESS?

When you first become aware of something, there is a fleeting instant of Pure Awareness just BEFORE you identify the something, just before you objectify it.

This moment of Pure Awareness is passed over, but the purpose of Meditation is to train us to prolong that moment of Awareness.

When it is prolonged it changes your entire view of your world.

What is Mirror Thought?

It is thought that reflects only what is presently happening in exactly the way it is happening.

It is NON-JUDGMENTAL OBSERVATION.

Whatever experience we may be having, mindfulness just ACCEPTS it.

It is simply another of life’s occurrences—what is there—is there!

Mindfulness is Impartial Watchfulness.

It treats all experiences equally.

Nothing is suppressed and nothing is repressed.

Mindfulness is Present Moment awareness.

It takes place in the Here and Now.

It is the observance of what is happening NOW.

To sum up:

Fully developed mindfulness is a state of total non-attachment.

If we can maintain this state we can achieve liberation from our weaknesses.

Meditation holds mental hindrances at bay.

THE RESULT IS A MIND THAT IS COMPLETELY UNDISTURBED BY THE UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE.

And to get this result you need to ACCEPT the ups and downs.

Resolve to do this and commit to it completely.

Ease physical discomfort by easing mental suffering.

To ease mental suffering pay attention to you aches and pains and to your mental stress by ACCEPTANCE of your life as it is at the moment.

The three components of physical discomfort:

The unpleasant sensation itself, pain, aching muscles, etc.

Your emotional reaction to the discomfort, fear frustration, irritation, etc.

The thoughts that are related to the first two components.

Stress stories you tell yourself, “This pain will never cease!”

Mindfulness helps you to respond skilfully to those emotions.

There are two ways to respond with aversion and fear or with acceptance.

When you resist and tell the discomfort to go away you increase your mental suffering.

The alternative is to respond with ACCEPTANCE.

Nothing in life is to be feared only to be understood and accepted.

So what to do?

Understand and accept whats going on in your mind and gently acknowledge that irritation is present and then incline you mind toward compassion for yourself.

ACCEPT AND ADAPT.