Making Mindfulness Last

One of main reasons anyone comes to a practice of mindfulness, is a sincere desire to experience more peace and happiness in their life. Often they see their mindfulness practice as a temporary refuge from their daily stresses and dramas. And it does work.

Any decent mindfulness practice should deliver a fairly immediate reprieve from the assaults of the mind and world. Unfortunately, for most practitioners, these positive effects are short lived. They no sooner finish their practice than the busy mind revs up again, bringing with it all the pressures of modern life.

While many attempts at mindfulness may lead to fleeting results, that does not mean a more permanent solution isn’t possible. Like a swan attempting to take wing from the surface of a lake, a certain amount of momentum is necessary to achieve flight. The same is true with any mindfulness practice. If we stick with it, and receive the right instruction, breakthroughs are inevitable.  

Ultimately, any mindfulness practice is not about permanently trying to quiet, fight, or control the mind. Not even the saints, sages or the Buddha himself could achieve this. Rather it is about re-discovering that part of us that lies beneath all of this activity. That part of us that is always present, observing the whole process, yet not affected by any magnitude of passing thoughts, emotions or life circumstances.

In matters of mindfulness, understanding is far more valuable than practice. Fully recognizing the reality that what is most true about you, is that which does not change, has life altering implications. You are the intangible, unchanging, imperturbable, simple knowing essence of awareness, that observes everything without resistance or desire. Taking your stand here frees you from needing to respond to the constant stream of thoughts, emotions, perceptions, sensations, concepts, history or ideas about the future.  And while the mind might continue to react and ramble on for quite a while, without interest or identity, it cannot distract you for long.

Even for the most dedicated seekers, this understanding may take some time to ring true. It is a perspective that only has power to the extent it is tested and found to be true, and there are many commonly held assumptions to examine and debunk.  And even after your most scientific vestiges of your mind have exhausted its arguments, it can take additional time for the understanding to fully colonize your being and overcome decades of conditioned feelings.

However, if you are one of the very small minority of souls called to explore this road less travelled, you will find the journey well worth the effort.

 

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