Mindful
I don't like to teach too much.
You can find the way by yourself, naturally.
Like when you learn to walk.
And you just need to have a guide to say be careful,
to say don't do this to impress people.
Just follow your way, follow your instinct.
(Sebastian Foucan)
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is about being present, being here and now.
This may sound quite simple, but most people are distracted by their
thoughts.
They are not present at all.
The value of being present cannot be over-stated.
Your body resides in the immediate. Your existence takes place in the
immediate.
Although your thoughts may wander near and far, you are here.
Awareness
Awareness involves seeing, hearing and
feeling.
Having awareness is good but it needs to be applied.
It is not enough to simply know, you must also be prepared to do.
Being mindful
Mindful conduct involves acting
appropriately, in
accord with what is happening.
This requires a certain degree of flexibility, adaptation, openness
and awareness.
Being willing to change in relation to outside stimuli
rests at the heart of mindfulness.
Mindful behaviour
Mindful behaviour is considerate.
It is not phoney or contrived; it involves taking
responsibility for your own conduct and
being sensitive to the consequences of your actions.
This is accomplished through
intuition rather than planning or psychology.
Total immersion in the moment enables a person to act without thinking, to
move without hesitation and to choose without seeming to.
To be mindful, your attention must cease to be directed upon yourself.
It must face outward and feel the nature of your
relationship with everything else.
You move as one with those around you; there is no division between you and
another.
Shedding the insincerity
People are not so keen to shed all the rubbish they have accumulated.
The image. The reputation. The opinions. The viewpoint. The politics. The money.
The possessions.
However, the very things that we hide behind and cling to so desperately are the
very things that blind us from
reality.
You
don't empty the mind just to lobotomise yourself; it's not mindlessness.
You empty it so that it can be refilled by what you're experiencing. It's
empty of the chatter, it's empty of the neurotic anxiety, it's empty of
preconceived notions, it's empty of opinions, it's empty of politics, it's
empty of social conventions, and if you empty your mind of all that, it's a
cleansing process.
Then you can allow it to be filled by the true experience of what you're
doing.
(Paul Gale)
Page created 1 June 2000