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Our true home is not in the past. Our true home is not in the
future. Our true home is in the here and the now. Life is available
only in the here and the now, and it is our true home.
Mindfulness is the energy that helps us recognize the conditions
of happiness that are already present in our lives. You don’t have
to wait ten years to experience this happiness. It is present in
every moment of your daily life. There are those of us who are
alive but don’t know it. But when you breathe in, and you are aware
of your in-breath, you touch the miracle of being alive. That is
why mindfulness is a source of happiness and joy.
Most people are forgetful; they are not really there a lot of
the time. Their mind is caught in their worries, their fears, their
anger, and their regrets, and they are not mindful of being there.
That state of being is called forgetfulness—you are there but you
are not there. You are caught in the past or in the future. You are
not there in the present moment, living your life deeply. That is
forgetfulness.
The opposite of forgetfulness is mindfulness. Mindfulness is
when you are truly there, mind and body together. You breathe in
and out mindfully, you bring your mind back to your body, and you
are there. When your mind is there with your body, you are
established in the present moment. Then you can recognize the many
conditions of happiness that are in you and around you, and
happiness just comes naturally.
Mindfulness practice should be enjoyable, not work or effort. Do
you have to make an effort to breath in? You don’t need to make an
effort. To breathe in, you just breathe in. Suppose you are with a
group of people contemplating a beautiful sunset. Do you have to
make an effort to enjoy the beautiful sunset? No, you don’t have to
make any effort. You just enjoy it.
The same thing is true with your breath. Allow your breath to
take place. Become aware of it and enjoy it. Effortlessness.
Enjoyment. The same thing is true with walking mindfully. Every
step you take is enjoyable. Every step helps you to touch the
wonders of life, in yourself and around you. Every step is peace.
Every step is joy. That is possible.
During the time you are practicing mindfulness, you stop
talking—not only the talking outside, but the talking inside. The
talking inside is the thinking, the mental discourse that goes on
and on and on inside. Real silence is the cessation of talking—of
both the mouth and of the mind. This is not the kind of silence
that oppresses us. It is a very elegant kind of silence, a very
powerful kind of silence. It is the silence that heals and
nourishes us.
Mindfulness gives birth to joy and happiness. Another source of
happiness is concentration. The energy of mindfulness carries
within it the energy of concentration. When you are aware of
something, such as a flower, and can maintain that awareness, we
say that you are concentrated on the flower. When your mindfulness
becomes powerful, your concentration becomes powerful, and when you
are fully concentrated, you have a chance to make a breakthrough,
to achieve insight. If you meditate on a cloud, you can get insight
into the nature of the cloud. Or you can meditate on a pebble, and
if you have enough mindfulness and concentration, you can see into
the nature of the pebble. You can meditate on a person, and if you
have enough mindfulness and concentration, you can make a
breakthrough and understand the nature of that person. You can
meditate on yourself, or your anger, or your fear, or your joy, or
your peace.
Anything can be the object of your meditation, and with the
powerful energy of concentration, you can make a breakthrough and
develop insight. It’s like a magnifying glass concentrating the
light of the sun. If you put the point of concentrated light on a
piece of paper, it will burn. Similarly, when your mindfulness and
concentration are powerful, your insight will liberate you from
fear, anger, and despair, and bring you true joy, true peace, and
true happiness.
When you contemplate the big, full sunrise, the more mindful and
concentrated you are, the more the beauty of the sunrise is
revealed to you. Suppose you are offered a cup of tea, very
fragrant, very good tea. If your mind is distracted, you cannot
really enjoy the tea. You have to be mindful of the tea, you have
to be concentrated on it, so the tea can reveal its fragrance and
wonder to you. That is why mindfulness and concentration are such
sources of happiness. That’s why a good practitioner knows how to
create a moment of joy, a feeling of happiness, at any time of the
day.
First Mindfulness Exercise: Mindful Breathing
The first exercise is very simple, but the power, the result,
can be very great. The exercise is simply to identify the in-breath
as in-breath and the out-breath as the out-breath. When you breathe
in, you know that this is your in-breath. When you breathe out, you
are mindful that this is your out-breath.
Just recognize: this is an in-breath, this is an out-breath.
Very simple, very easy. In order to recognize your in-breath as
in-breath, you have to bring your mind home to yourself. What is
recognizing your in-breath is your mind, and the object of your
mind—the object of your mindfulness—is the in-breath. Mindfulness
is always mindful of something. When you drink your tea mindfully,
it’s called mindfulness of drinking. When you walk mindfully, it’s
called mindfulness of walking. And when you breathe mindfully, that
is mindfulness of breathing.
So the object of your mindfulness is your breath, and you just
focus your attention on it. Breathing in, this is my in-breath.
Breathing out, this is my out-breath. When you do that, the mental
discourse will stop. You don’t think anymore. You don’t have to
make an effort to stop your thinking; you bring your attention to
your in-breath and the mental discourse just stops. That is the
miracle of the practice. You don’t think of the past anymore. You
don’t think of the future. You don’t think of your projects,
because you are focusing your attention, your mindfulness, on your
breath.
It gets even better. You can enjoy your in-breath. The practice
can be pleasant, joyful. Someone who is dead cannot take any more
in-breaths. But you are alive. You are breathing in, and while
breathing in, you know that you are alive. The in-breath can be a
celebration of the fact that you are alive, so it can be very
joyful. When you are joyful and happy, you don’t feel that you have
to make any effort at all. I am alive; I am breathing in. To be
still alive is a miracle. The greatest of all miracles is to be
alive, and when you breathe in, you touch that miracle. Therefore,
your breathing can be a celebration of life.
An in-breath may take three, four, five seconds, it depends.
That’s time to be alive, time to enjoy your breath. You don’t have
to interfere with your breathing. If your in-breath is short, allow
it to be short. If your out-breath is long, let it to be long.
Don’t try to force it. The practice is simple recognition of the
in-breath and the out-breath. That is good enough. It will have a
powerful effect.
Second Mindfulness Exercise: Concentration
The second exercise is that while you breathe in, you follow
your in-breath from the beginning to the end. If your in-breath
lasts three or four seconds, then your mindfulness also lasts three
or four seconds. Breathing in, I follow my in-breath all the way
through. Breathing out, I follow my out-breath all the way through.
From the beginning of my out-breath to the end of my out-breath, my
mind is always with it. Therefore, mindfulness becomes
uninterrupted, and the quality of your concentration is
improved.
So the second exercise is to follow your in-breath and your
out-breath all the way through. Whether they are short or long, it
doesn’t matter. What is important is that you follow your in-breath
from the beginning to the end. Your awareness is sustained. There
is no interruption. Suppose you are breathing in, and then you
think, “Oh, I forgot to turn off the light in my room.” There is an
interruption. Just stick to your in-breath all the way through.
Then you cultivate your mindfulness and your concentration. You
become your in-breath. You become your out-breath. If you continue
like that, your breathing will naturally become deeper and slower,
more harmonious and peaceful. You don’t have to make any effort—it
happens naturally.
Third Mindfulness Exercise: Awareness of Your Body
The third exercise is to become aware of your body as you are
breathing. “Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body.” This takes
it one step further.
In the first exercise, you became aware of your in-breath and
your out-breath. Because you have now generated the energy of
mindfulness through mindful breathing, you can use that energy to
recognize your body.
“Breathing in, I am aware of my body. Breathing out, I am aware
of my body.” I know my body is there. This brings the mind wholly
back to the body. Mind and body become one reality. When your mind
is with your body, you are well-established in the here and the
now. You are fully alive. You can be in touch with the wonders of
life that are available in yourself and around you.
This exercise is simple, but the effect of the oneness of body
and mind is very great. In our daily lives, we are seldom in that
situation. Our body is there but our mind is elsewhere. Our mind
may be caught in the past or in the future, in regrets, sorrow,
fear, or uncertainty, and so our mind is not there. Someone may be
present in the house, but he’s not really there, his mind is not
there. His mind is with the future, with his projects, and he’s not
there for his children or his spouse. Maybe you could say to him,
“Anybody home?” and help him bring his mind back to his body.
So the third exercise is to become aware of your body.
“Breathing in, I’m aware of my body.” When you practice mindful
breathing, the quality of your in-breath and out-breath will be
improved. There is more peace and harmony in your breathing, and if
you continue to practice like that, the peace and the harmony will
penetrate into the body, and the body will profit.
Fourth Mindfulness Exercise: Releasing Tension
The next exercise is to release the tension in the body. When
you are truly aware of your body, you notice there is some tension
and pain in your body, some stress. The tension and pain have been
accumulating for a long time and our bodies suffer, but our mind is
not there to help release it. Therefore, it is very important to
learn how to release the tension in the body.
In a sitting, lying, or standing position, it’s always possible
to release the tension. You can practice total relaxation, deep
relaxation, in a sitting or lying position. While you are driving
your car, you might notice the tension in your body. You are eager
to arrive and you don’t enjoy the time you spend driving. When you
come to a red light, you are eager for the red light to become a
green light so that you can continue. But the red light can be a
signal. It can be a reminder that there is tension in you, the
stress of wanting to arrive as quickly as possible. If you
recognize that, you can make use of the red light. You can sit back
and relax—take the ten seconds the light is red to practice mindful
breathing and release the tension in the body.
So next time you’re stopped at a red light, you might like to
sit back and practice the fourth exercise: “Breathing in, I’m aware
of my body. Breathing out, I release the tension in my body.” Peace
is possible at that moment, and it can be practiced many times a
day—in the workplace, while you are driving, while you are cooking,
while you are doing the dishes, while you are watering the
vegetable garden. It is always possible to practice releasing the
tension in yourself.
Walking Meditation
When you practice mindful breathing you simply allow your in
breath to take place. You become aware of it and enjoy it.
Effortlessness. The same thing is true with mindful walking. Every
step is enjoyable. Every step helps you touch the wonders of life.
Every step is joy. That is possible.
You don’t have to make any effort during walking meditation,
because it is enjoyable. You are there, body and mind together. You
are fully alive, fully present in the here and the now. With every
step, you touch the wonders of life that are in you and around you.
When you walk like that, every step brings healing. Every step
brings peace and joy, because every step is a miracle.
The real miracle is not to fly or walk on fire. The real miracle
is to walk on the Earth, and you can perform that miracle at any
time. Just bring your mind home to your body, become alive, and
perform the miracle of walking on Earth.
From the March 2010
issue of the Shambhala Sun.
