Mindfulness, an ancient technique of Buddhism, helps us manage our inner reactions to a turbulent and unpredictable world. We want to respond with poise and peace but all too often, our thoughts and feelings will not cooperate. While there can be no respite from troubles and pain, mindfulness helps us receive the tests and trials of life in calm repose. Practice of this simple technique helps us increase our attention and awareness so we can be awake and ready for anything. By avoiding the destructive excesses of the mind and emotions, we can receive what life brings with even-minded tranquility.
In the transformation to spiritual consciousness, we can bring the mind under control by placing it where we want it to be: in the current moment, awake, attentive, and ready. It is in this alignment that we are most able to learn, solve problems, relax, serve, and enjoy. We can enter this state by cultivating the witness as an antidote to the restlessness and ruminations of the mind.
The witness is an aspect of the higher self from which we can observe the changes of life with calm neutrality. Change is not the objective of the witness. We do not add, subtract, del-ete, or edit. We accept reality as it is while we change our frame and attitude. We focus on the stillness and silence within and the outer present moment. As the witness grows through the practice of mindfulness, we can slowly bring the dimensions of spaciousness and serenity to the events of life.
In ordinary consciousness, we identify with the stream of negative and disruptive thoughts, feelings, desires, impulses, and fantasies that pass through our awareness. With the practice of mindfulness, we create a space large enough to hold the negativity. In this space, we do not identify with the rubbish and therefore do not need to repress or express it, both of which are destructive. Instead, we go to the compassionate witness of the true self and create a healing space within. This is a furnace of sorts: here we can burn up the junk thoughts, feelings, desires, and fantasies that keep our consciousness from rising.
Love is more powerful than any of the wayward forces that traverse our consciousness. By invoking and affirming love and her consort qualities, we create an inner atmosphere conducive to healing. As our compassion burns up the troublemaking negativity, there is a corresponding shift to peace and strength.
Aligning the mind and attention with the present is a crucial element in the healing process. The next step in our spiritual evolution is in these moments. They hold the continuity of our story, a story pregnant with lessons, entertainment, and opportunities to produce, create, love, and serve. In the lower state of ordinary consciousness, we miss these opportunities because we are preoccupied with other fields of awareness.
To practice mindfulness, there is no need to make any changes other than the placement of the mind as we go about our usual activities. With practice, the mind remains calm and poised no matter what occurs in the material world. We remain in balance. We get the rhythm of the story. There is no force in it. We are ready for anything.
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