Finding the Center Within: The Healing Way of Mindfulness Meditation. by Thomas Bien Page A
Authors: Thomas Bien
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the first place. We do not need to fill ourselves with new things—we need to experience more fully what is already there.
So how do we learn to soften and open to what is already present?
How do we come to live fully and deeply this life and not some imagined life that we hope someday to have?
In this chapter we describe the main principle for finding the center within, the Buddhist practice of mindfulness, and show how it meets the dilemmas of modern life.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a quality of gentle presence. Mindfulness is the capacity to be present with what is going on here and now, without judgment or resistance, without evasion or analysis. It is a willingness to experience without reservation what is happening in our lives in the present. It is the practice of radical acceptance .
This is easier to understand as a concept than it is to experience or practice. But the practice is what matters. Often we dislike what is happening in the present. This is why we keep so busy, trying to push ourselves ahead to some future time when things will be lined up more the way we like, engaging in all manner of fantasy about how it will be in that illusory future. It’s a good thing that life does not come equipped with a fast-forward button. We would all be dead already. For instead of experiencing what is going on, we are busy trying to avoid it. Even when we try to come into the present moment in a mindful way, most of us experience the wild, intractable nature of the mind. This “monkey mind” is a total restlessness and jumping about from limb to limb and tree to tree, never stopping anywhere for very long, not finishing this bite of our banana before we are already stuffing the next one in. Fortunately, there is help. There are time-tested ways to develop greater presence or mindfulness in your life. There are ways to learn to keep your appointment with life in the only place it can be kept: 02 BIEN.qxd 7/16/03 9:46 AM Page 25
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the present moment. That is the good news. And we will introduce you to some of these ways, both Eastern and Western, both ancient and modern.
Work with Three Kinds of Experiences
Though mindfulness is a single thing, it is helpful to distinguish three types of objects: things that are difficult and painful; things that are delightful, healing, and restoring; and things that are somewhere in between or neutral. The practice of mindfulness involves all of these. If you are doing walking meditation along a forest path and suddenly remember that there isn’t enough money in your bank account to cover a check you wrote earlier that day, you should be aware that you are walking down the forest path. Come back to the present. Feel the earth beneath your feet. Smell the pine trees. Feel the wind caress your hair. Notice the little wildflowers along the side of the path. Be where you are. This is the practice of being in touch with what is healing and restoring. This does not mean that you should try to repress your financial fear. You have to respect these feelings and work with them. But don’t forget to experience walking in the forest when you are walking in the forest. Some fear or worry or concern is always lying in wait for us. What is the point of being alive at all, if we let these things dominate our attention? This is cultivating mindfulness of what is delightful.
The second type of practice is to work with the negative feeling itself—in this case, the financial fear. However, even then, you need to be in touch with the present moment. To practice in this way is in effect to tell yourself: “Here I am walking in the forest, and also worrying about my checking account. I hold these feelings of fear tenderly, and smile at them. I am completely willing to be here, walking in the forest, and also having these thoughts and fears about money.” With gentle persistence, you learn what your fear is trying to teach you and integrate it, but are no
So how do we learn to soften and open to what is already present?
How do we come to live fully and deeply this life and not some imagined life that we hope someday to have?
In this chapter we describe the main principle for finding the center within, the Buddhist practice of mindfulness, and show how it meets the dilemmas of modern life.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a quality of gentle presence. Mindfulness is the capacity to be present with what is going on here and now, without judgment or resistance, without evasion or analysis. It is a willingness to experience without reservation what is happening in our lives in the present. It is the practice of radical acceptance .
This is easier to understand as a concept than it is to experience or practice. But the practice is what matters. Often we dislike what is happening in the present. This is why we keep so busy, trying to push ourselves ahead to some future time when things will be lined up more the way we like, engaging in all manner of fantasy about how it will be in that illusory future. It’s a good thing that life does not come equipped with a fast-forward button. We would all be dead already. For instead of experiencing what is going on, we are busy trying to avoid it. Even when we try to come into the present moment in a mindful way, most of us experience the wild, intractable nature of the mind. This “monkey mind” is a total restlessness and jumping about from limb to limb and tree to tree, never stopping anywhere for very long, not finishing this bite of our banana before we are already stuffing the next one in. Fortunately, there is help. There are time-tested ways to develop greater presence or mindfulness in your life. There are ways to learn to keep your appointment with life in the only place it can be kept: 02 BIEN.qxd 7/16/03 9:46 AM Page 25
F I N D A PAT H T O T H E C E N T E R
25
the present moment. That is the good news. And we will introduce you to some of these ways, both Eastern and Western, both ancient and modern.
Work with Three Kinds of Experiences
Though mindfulness is a single thing, it is helpful to distinguish three types of objects: things that are difficult and painful; things that are delightful, healing, and restoring; and things that are somewhere in between or neutral. The practice of mindfulness involves all of these. If you are doing walking meditation along a forest path and suddenly remember that there isn’t enough money in your bank account to cover a check you wrote earlier that day, you should be aware that you are walking down the forest path. Come back to the present. Feel the earth beneath your feet. Smell the pine trees. Feel the wind caress your hair. Notice the little wildflowers along the side of the path. Be where you are. This is the practice of being in touch with what is healing and restoring. This does not mean that you should try to repress your financial fear. You have to respect these feelings and work with them. But don’t forget to experience walking in the forest when you are walking in the forest. Some fear or worry or concern is always lying in wait for us. What is the point of being alive at all, if we let these things dominate our attention? This is cultivating mindfulness of what is delightful.
The second type of practice is to work with the negative feeling itself—in this case, the financial fear. However, even then, you need to be in touch with the present moment. To practice in this way is in effect to tell yourself: “Here I am walking in the forest, and also worrying about my checking account. I hold these feelings of fear tenderly, and smile at them. I am completely willing to be here, walking in the forest, and also having these thoughts and fears about money.” With gentle persistence, you learn what your fear is trying to teach you and integrate it, but are no
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