How do u practise mindfulness?

Isis SG · 2006-12-08T22:16:19+00:00

just found this in another thread in this forum.. Some reasons why we need to practise mindfulness...

Isis SG

Looking for baby steps in practising mindfulness..
Something simple and practical which that can be incorporated into my daily life

any suggestion?

Cenarious SG

The other day I thought I had cancer on my armpits, and I was automatically very very mindful that day.

Isis SG

Laughing .. am i supposed to laugh?

can explain clearly ur zen-ness?

Isis SG

From my understanding, being mindful is being awared but then hw to practise awared all the time or majority of the time.

im looking for baby steps..

Like try not to use the edit button..

as evidenced from my previous postings...

Definitely take efforts.

An Eternal Now SG

Do read Upasika Kee Nanayon's article which I have shared with you the other time Smile

Cenarious SG

when you think you are going to die any minute you will be mindful

a-Lost-9uY SG

Laughing

An Eternal Now SG

=== JKrishnamurti.org - Daily Quote ===

Only One Hour to Live

If you had only one hour to live, what would you do? Would you not arrange what is necessary outwardly, your affairs, your will, and so on? Would you not call your family and friends together and ask their forgiveness for the harm that you might have done to them, and forgive them for whatever harm they might have done to you? Would you not die completely to the things of the mind, to desires and to the world? And if it can be done for an hour, then it can also be done for the days and years that may remain... Try it and you will find out.

The Book of Life - November 9

LinYu SG

Pratice concentration mediataion first eg anapana sati meditation. There are lots of books on this. It is good to find a teacher if possible

Then progress to Mindfulness ie: awareness. Find a teacher. I believe it is necessary. There are also lot of books on these subject

Concentration is like when you play with magnifying glass under the sun. if it is concentrated enough, you can burn paper with it.

When you are concerated enough, you can be aware of the thought, feeling etc around you but are not affected by it. Just aware of its existence without prejudice.

Very Happy

An Eternal Now SG

Actually Anapanasati is not a concentration meditation.

The name 'Anapanasati' is literally, Mindfulness of Breathing, and Sati means mindfulness, awareness.

However there are two sides of practising mindfulness of breathing. If you are aware of the breathing, the sensation, the coolness and warmness, that is considered Vipassana side. If you note the breathing in and out, that is samatha. Different suttas teach anapanasati different way and has different leanings.

LinYu SG

agree. but i find it to be a concentration exercise
Embarassed

Xprobe SG

please dont just buy a book and try, you will be putting yourself at a huge risk, if you cock it up, no one will be able to bring u back, doesnt make sense that one can attain a certain "level" of spiritual awakening with a book that cost a couple of S$

that is why gurus and lineage are so important in the spiritual business, your guru will know how to help you if you accidentally cock up

be warned!

An Eternal Now SG

Here's an article I find very well explained the topic on Anapanasati:
Samatha or Vipassana?

Anyway I find that anapanasati is a very gd, recommendable practise. If done regularly can gradually lead to insight and awakening. Another good article on aimwell.org, I'll copy a particular part: Anapanasati

VI
MINDFULNESS OF RESPIRATION LEADS TO NIBBANA

...
Monks. If mindfulness of respiration is cultivated and made much of, the four foundations of mindfulness are fulfilled and perfected. If the four foundations of mindfulness are cultivated and made much of, the seven factors of enlightenment (bojjhanga) are fulfilled and perfected. If the seven factors of enlightenment are cultivated and made much of, knowledge (vijja) and liberation (vimutti) are fulfilled and perfected.

Here, knowledge means the four path knowledges, and liberation means the four fruition knowledges. The essential meaning is that if mindfulness of respiration is practiced diligently for days and months, the work of the four foundations of mindfulness, the seven factors of enlightenment, and of knowledge and liberation are automatically accomplished. The foundations of mindfulness, the factors of enlightenment, and knowledge and liberation comprise the thirty-seven requisites of enlightenment (bodhipakkhiya dhamma) so the development
of the thirty-seven requisites of enlightenment are automatically fulfilled.

This ends the exposition of the introduction to the Anapanasati Sutta.

An Eternal Now SG

Yes I do agree that it's best to learn meditation under a qualified teacher.

Isis SG

mmm i definitely agreed that learning under a qualified teacher is most conducive...

However, i don't tink I have the time to look for one to learn nor do i actually feel comfortable to do it no. Looking for simple small steps that can incorporate into my life..

maybe i shld start with "breathing" meditation every day for 5 to 10 minutes.

An Eternal Now SG

30 minutes a day at least Wink it's especially difficult for a beginner to enter deeply into silence and tranquil calmness without a certain length. So 30 minutes shld be minimum.

gradually lengthen to one hour if possible.

Isis SG

but it cant sustain for long.. only when the thought arise "when u r going to died ", can sustain some sense of urgency to be mindful. However, eventually u know that u will not exactly died and thus the effect can only be temporary..

just to sidetrack abit: i realise that my restless and inability to concentrate is due to my attachment to sensual pleasure, the five sense and the constantly dreaming.. instead of focusing on the NOW.

An Eternal Now SG

Ok let me translate something very simple for you. Something I just shared with someone (ceecookie) on MSN. Very interesting analogy of the cat waiting, watching for the mouse Smile

poor translation by me

http://www.humanbliss.com.sg/ques_ansdetails.asp?articleNo=249

The mind is purified only through observing it

Question: What is purifying the human mind?

Ans: Purifying the mind? Good! Now, let's discuss this question. Everyone of us are human, and everyone has a mind, whoever doesn't have a mind please raise up your hands, let me see. Nobody raised up their hands, so that means everyone has a mind, still don't have anyone who doesn't have mind. Because everyone has a mind, so we always get conned by the mind, we get conned by our mind for our whole lifetime, being led in circles (i.e wild goose chase), yet we do not know it! With regards to this mind, if it is virtuous/wholesome, of course that's very good, this mind can be reborn as a human, it can ascend to heavens, it can do many good things. Let's say this mind is bad, deviant, unvirtuous, then how? At this time it will lead everyone to become animal, become ghost, or fall into the hells. This is because our minds are not pure, therefore the world becomes the sea of suffering, this sea of suffering is also called "samsara", samsara means you must tolerate, therefore it is called "the world of tolerating suffering".

If we people have our minds purified, then the human world will be heaven, everyone will be happy, and all will not have sufferings. When we learn Buddhism and practise, what is most important is, that we purify our mind, when our minds are purified, this world will then be blissful.

Because everyone have mind, we'd better watch our minds, this is called "observing the mind", when the mind is defiled, we should use the sweet dew of Buddha to cleanse our mind, if our minds are cleansed, then they will be the same as the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, if our minds can be cleansed, then to learn from Buddha and attain Buddhahood will be very quick.

Now, I wish everyone after going back, everyday watch their own mind, this 'observing mind' method is very simple, I will teach everyone to observe the mind. Anyone of you have mice in your home? Anyone who has mice please raise up your house, are there mice? Those who raise up their hands are very few, maybe very few people's house have mice. Ok, you should watch your mind now! That's similar to looking at the mouse, it secretly wants to eat your things, it bites away your shirt, these mice are very annoying, therefore it is said "When the mouse walks across the street, everyone shouts 'attack!'", therefore we can see that mice are no good, if we want to defeat the mice, there is one way - that is the cat. When you see the cat catching the mice, when he sees the mouse crawling out of the hole, the cat uses all its four legs to stand there, and stares at the mouse with its eyes, when the mouse sees the cat, it panics and shivers, and doesn't even dare to move! So, you should treat your mind as the mouse, and treat the "awareness" of mindfulness as the cat, everyday every moment be alert of one's mind, just like the cat watches the mouse in the same way, the mouse wants to live and doesn't want to die, at this time, it would be busy escaping, how would he think of stealing things? So if everyone of us were to observe our minds, then we would be busy cherishing our Wisdom-life (hui ming), how would we do unwholesome things?

Therefore when we learn from the Buddha we should learn to "observe the mind", if we can accomplish observing the mind, then to "Avoid all evil, do all good and purify the mind", that will be very quick/efficient.

"Avoid all evil, do all good, purify the mind, this is Buddhism", other than avoiding evil and doing good, we should also cleanse our thoughts, when we cleanse away our thoughts, that is having our minds purified, learning from Buddha and cultivating is to purify the human mind, because we are all humans, therefore we should have our minds purified. If every family member purifies their mind, our families will be pure/peaceful; if everyone in this society have their minds purified, our society will be pure/peaceful; if every countrymen in our nation have their minds purified, then our country will be pure/peaceful; our world and humanity will be pure;peaceful, then our world will be as joyful/blissful as the Western World of Bliss (Sukhavati/Western Pure Land).

Because our minds are like mice, secretly wants to commit evil, and we do not know. I hope everyone will have a cat to observe their mind, then, everyone will attain Buddhahood very quickly.

An Eternal Now SG

Oh yes! I knew Eckhart Tolle wrote something about this too Smile (had this vague memory) I guess "watching the mouse" must be a common phrase used in Zen circles.

It's Not What You Think It Is

You keep talking about the state of presence as the key. I think I understand it intellectually, but I don't know if I have ever truly experienced it. I wonder - is it what I think it is, or is it something entirely different?

It's not what you think it is! You can't think about presence, and the mind can't understand it. Understanding presence is being present.

Try a little experiment. Close your eyes and say to yourself: "I wonder what my next thought is going to be." Then become very alert and wait for the next thought. Be like a cat watching a mouse hole. What thought is going to come out of the mouse hole?

Try it now.

Well?

~ The Power of Now

That's the sort of question a cat would ask Wink Ever alert, ever present, watching.

-----

I remembered another one Eckhart Tolle wrote in The Power of Now which has rather similar way of putting it.

The Esoteric Meaning Of "Waiting"

In a sense, the state of presence could be compared to waiting. Jesus used the analogy of waiting in some of his parables. This is not the usual bored or restless kind of waiting that is a denial of the present and that I spoke about already. It is not a waiting in which your attention is focused on some point in the future and the present is perceived as an undesirable obstacle that prevents you from having what you want. There is a qualitatively different kind of waiting, one that requires your total alertness. Something could happen at any moment, and if you are not absolutely awake, absolutely still, you will miss it. This is the kind of waiting Jesus talks about. In that state, all your attention is in the Now. There is none left for daydreaming, thinking, remembering, anticipating. There is no tension in it, no fear, just alert presence. You are present with your whole Being, with every cell of your body. In that state, the "you' that has a past and a future, the personality if you like, is hardly there anymore. And yet nothing of value is lost. You are still essentially yourself. In fact, you are more fully yourself than you ever were before, or rather it is only now that you are truly yourself.

"Be like a servant waiting for the return of the master," says Jesus. The servant does not know at what hour the master is going to come. So he stays awake, alert, poised, still, lest he miss the master's arrival. In another parable, Jesus speaks of the five careless (unconscious) women who do not have enough oil (consciousness) to keep their lamps burning (stay present) and so miss the bridegroom (the Now) and don't get to the wedding feast (enlightenment). These five stand in contrast to the five wise women who have enough oil (stay conscious).

Even the men who wrote the Gospels did not understand the meaning of these parables, so the first misinterpretations and distortions crept in as they were written down. With subsequent erroneous interpretations, the real meaning was completely lost. These are parables not about the end of the world but about the end of psychological time. They point to the transcendence of the egoic mind and the possibility of living in an entirely new state of consciousness.

An Eternal Now SG

By the way for introduction to Mindfulness, this is a very good and essential book: Mindfulness in Plain English

Here's a previous topic in our that has some sound advise on Mindfulness practise: The Essential Practise of MINDFULNESS; relief of Sufferings