Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
As the article above said:
[b]...You can't develop mindfulness by force. Active teeth gritting
willpower won't do you any good at all. As a matter of fact, it
will hinder progress. Mindfulness cannot be cultivated by struggle.
It grows by realizing, by letting go, by just settling down in the
moment and letting yourself get comfortable with whatever you are
experiencing. This does not mean that mindfulness happens all by
itself. Far from it. Energy is required. Effort is required. But
this effort is different from force. Mindfulness is cultivated by a
gentle effort, by effortless effort. The meditator cultivates mindfulness
by constantly reminding himself in a gentle way to maintain his
awareness of whatever is happening right now. Persistence
and a light touch are the secrets. Mindfulness is cultivated by
constantly pulling oneself back to a state of awareness, gently,
gently, gently...
Another thing he said just in the article above which might be
useful..
There is, however, another Catch-22. Mindfulness does not react to
what it sees. It just sees and understands. Mindfulness is the
essence of patience. Therefore, whatever you see must be simply
accepted, acknowledged and dispassionately observed. This is not
easy, but it is utterly necessary. We are ignorant. We are selfish
and greedy and boastful. We lust and we lie. These are facts.
Mindfulness means seeing these facts and being patient with
ourselves, accepting ourselves as we are. That goes against the
grain. We don't want to accept. We want to deny it. Or change it,
or justify it. But acceptance is the essence of mindfulness. If we
want to grow in mindfulness we must accept what mindfulness finds.
It may be boredom, irritation, or fear. It may be weakness,
inadequacy, or faults. Whatever it is, that is the way we are. That
is what is real.
Mindfulness simply accepts whatever is there. If you want to grow
in mindfulness, patient acceptance is the only route. Mindfulness
grows only one way: by continuous practice of mindfulness, by
simply trying to be mindful, and that means being patient. The
process cannot be forced and it cannot be rushed. It proceeds at
its own pace.
How to be mindful... being mindful is being bare, clear, aware. If
you are thinking incessantly.. dwelling on the youtube video you
watched yesterday or daydreaming about your future husband or
what... thats not being mindful. When you caught yourself thinking
and there's a sudden withdrawal from the content of the thoughts,
or the thoughts are allowed to pass without reacting or dwelling
more on them, that is a form of mindfulness. Mindfulness is aware
of things as they are without reacting or attaching to them.. it is
non egotistic, non preferential, etc etc.. and there is crystal
clarity of what is arising in consciousness. Mindfulness also
brings you back to the object of attention if you have lost
yourself... for example on breathing meditation, but also things
like listening in class (see the three fundamental activities of
mindfulness). Please read this chapter on mindfulness if you
haven't (you probably had, I've pasted so many times 
): http://www.budsas.org/ebud/mfneng/mind13.htm[/b]
it helps.. but take consistent practise..
