~ Reflection on Mindfulness Meditation ~
What is mindfulness meditation?
Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), says: “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally. This kind of attention nurtures greater awareness, clarity, and acceptance of the present-moment reality.”
And Zen teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, says: “Mindfulness shows us what is happening in our bodies, our emotions, our minds, and in the world.”
In other words, mindfulness is about being aware of our direct experience in the present moment. We are aware when we are thinking, talking, reading, listening, walking, seeing, etc. We are aware of emotions like anger, joy, sadness, fear, etc. We are aware of sensations in our bodies like warmth, hunger, thirst, itches, aches, tingling, etc.
Not very long ago, someone told me he was being mindful because he were totally immersed in reading an article on his smart phone. But was he really being mindful? I doubt it, because mindfulness is about being aware of our actual experience. He was so absorbed in the story he was reading that it’s unlikely he had much awareness of what was going on.
So mindfulness is the ability to be aware of our experience in the here-and-now. To feel hot and to be aware of the sensations of heat. To think and be aware that you are thinking. To feel cold and to be aware of the sensations of cold. To feel angry and be aware of what anger feels like in the body and the mind.
Moreover, when we are mindful, we don’t try to get rid of anything, we don’t try to change anything, and we don’t get attached to anything. We simply notice whatever is present whether it is pleasant or unpleasant. Rather than judging, rejecting or clinging to anything, we hold all of our experience with a gentle, open, and kind acceptance.
Sounds easy, right?
But the truth is that most of us go through our lives without a lot of mindfulness. We get up, take a shower, brush our teeth, have breakfast and so on without being aware of what we are actually doing. It’s as if we are on auto pilot.
Our bodies are always in the present moment but most of the time our minds are somewhere else – in the past re-hashing what happened yesterday, last week or decades ago, or they are in the future planning and imagining what might happen, or they are running a commentary on what’s happening. And as a result we are rarely mindful of the present moment. Many years ago, a well-known Buddhist teacher who was visiting from Thailand was asked about what he noticed most about western culture and he simply said: “Lost in thought.”
So when we practice mindfulness, we are simply remembering to notice our experience. Indeed, “sati”, the Sanskrit word for mindfulness means remembering. In each moment, we can ask ourselves “What is my experience right now?” As meditation teacher, Sharon Salzberg says “Mindfulness isn’t difficult. We just need to remember to do it.”
One common misunderstanding is that mindfulness meditation is about having a blank or empty mind that is free from all thoughts and emotions. But this is not accurate because we meditate simply to get to know our experience better, without getting so caught up in it. This calms and quietens the mind, so we become less reactive. Thoughts, emotions and sensations are still there but we don’t react to them as strongly as before.
With mindfulness meditation, we begin to see that thoughts come and go, emotions come and go, sensations come and go — and this means we don’t have to hold onto anything, we simply welcome everything - without judgment, without fear, without attachment and without aversion.
As Rumi, a 13th century Persian poet said in his poem The Guest House:
And Zen teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, says: “Mindfulness shows us what is happening in our bodies, our emotions, our minds, and in the world.”
In other words, mindfulness is about being aware of our direct experience in the present moment. We are aware when we are thinking, talking, reading, listening, walking, seeing, etc. We are aware of emotions like anger, joy, sadness, fear, etc. We are aware of sensations in our bodies like warmth, hunger, thirst, itches, aches, tingling, etc.
Not very long ago, someone told me he was being mindful because he were totally immersed in reading an article on his smart phone. But was he really being mindful? I doubt it, because mindfulness is about being aware of our actual experience. He was so absorbed in the story he was reading that it’s unlikely he had much awareness of what was going on.
So mindfulness is the ability to be aware of our experience in the here-and-now. To feel hot and to be aware of the sensations of heat. To think and be aware that you are thinking. To feel cold and to be aware of the sensations of cold. To feel angry and be aware of what anger feels like in the body and the mind.
Moreover, when we are mindful, we don’t try to get rid of anything, we don’t try to change anything, and we don’t get attached to anything. We simply notice whatever is present whether it is pleasant or unpleasant. Rather than judging, rejecting or clinging to anything, we hold all of our experience with a gentle, open, and kind acceptance.
Sounds easy, right?
But the truth is that most of us go through our lives without a lot of mindfulness. We get up, take a shower, brush our teeth, have breakfast and so on without being aware of what we are actually doing. It’s as if we are on auto pilot.
Our bodies are always in the present moment but most of the time our minds are somewhere else – in the past re-hashing what happened yesterday, last week or decades ago, or they are in the future planning and imagining what might happen, or they are running a commentary on what’s happening. And as a result we are rarely mindful of the present moment. Many years ago, a well-known Buddhist teacher who was visiting from Thailand was asked about what he noticed most about western culture and he simply said: “Lost in thought.”
So when we practice mindfulness, we are simply remembering to notice our experience. Indeed, “sati”, the Sanskrit word for mindfulness means remembering. In each moment, we can ask ourselves “What is my experience right now?” As meditation teacher, Sharon Salzberg says “Mindfulness isn’t difficult. We just need to remember to do it.”
One common misunderstanding is that mindfulness meditation is about having a blank or empty mind that is free from all thoughts and emotions. But this is not accurate because we meditate simply to get to know our experience better, without getting so caught up in it. This calms and quietens the mind, so we become less reactive. Thoughts, emotions and sensations are still there but we don’t react to them as strongly as before.
With mindfulness meditation, we begin to see that thoughts come and go, emotions come and go, sensations come and go — and this means we don’t have to hold onto anything, we simply welcome everything - without judgment, without fear, without attachment and without aversion.
As Rumi, a 13th century Persian poet said in his poem The Guest House:
“This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.”