If you want to understand the mind- sit down & observe it.

Do you really know where you stand in your life? Are you truly happy with where you stand- absent of afflictive emotions- and free from suffering? Does having and sustaining a breathless lifestyle bring you well-being and fulfillment? How do you find time to examine where you stand- and the basic causes for your states of mind? Do you ever experience a vague sense of discontent that eludes you? Do you simply ignore even though deep in your heart there is longing for greater peace and balance- and do you take for granted the dysfunctional aspects of your life not even realizing that is possible to break out of the vicious & reactive cycles of exhausting behavioral patterns?

In mindfulness meditation practice, the object of attention is the mind and the workings of the mind. Here and now one can challenge the tendencies and patterns that limit happiness and often precipitate suffering by simply being present with them. With the right intention and effort, you can transform the way you perceive things, and thereby transform the quality of your life- as it is, the mind creates your experience of the world and translates this experience into either well-being or suffering.

In training of the mind, you sharpen and refine your awareness with a clear and accurate way of seeing things- and to cultivate wholesome qualities that remain veiled and dormant unless one makes a genuine effort to draw them out with careful and focused observation. In this practice, one not only develops emotional balance (i.e. equanimity), inner peace, and wisdom, but cultivates warmth and empathy for others.

Looking inward over and over again, you may refine the power of your awareness to observe even the subtlest mechanisms of your mental functioning. Observation—deep reflection—and continued observation leads to a penetrating awareness, with the power to transform. You may come to see a Way of being that is not subject to the patterns of your habitual thinking- and the streams of thought that just seem to multiply by virtue of association, and not necessarily from direct experience.

The relief and relaxation often experienced in this practice comes from letting go of the egocentric whims (i.e. hopes, fears, and attachments, etc.) that feed images, projections, and storylines– as well as all the inner conflicts spawned by obscure and confused mind states. At the heart of this practice and in seeing reality for what it is, in the midst of your direct experience, you may begin to unmask the deep causes of your suffering and dispel the mental confusion that walls your capacity from experiencing the fullness and wholeness of presence in being.

The willful choice to practice or not to practice- to see clearly or not clearly is yours and yours alone. The process of awakening to mindful awareness- to your mindful awareness is not an easy path for there is so much conditioning, habit, and deeply enmeshed traits of character. Meditation will open your eyes and your mind’s way of seeing. Take 20 minutes out of your day to spend in stillness- to calm and quiet your mind. Invite the questions. Explore and examine the insights to come to know your mind better. You watch what you eat, and train to keep a healthy body. Shouldn’t you carry this same devotion in training the instrument that shapes your world of experience? It’s your choice- your mind- and your life…

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