What’s the difference?

I’ve been meditating a long time. Before the term mindfulness was ever even coined. At first, I thought the term “mindfulness” was a joke or a sarcastic comment, a term born of those that don’t really understand meditation at all and were trying to exploit meditation for money. In fact, I spent years not reading about meditation, but listening to Temple Sounds, The Inner Lotus Meditation, Healing Vibrations, and the Meditative Mind on YouTube. That’s because in meditation, the idea is to drop the mind and sit in darkness, without thought, until eventually, a light appears. That is where the term Enlightenment comes from. There is an actual light, it can be felt, and sometimes, if you get deeply enough into meditation, you’ll find yourself in it. The thing is that usually at some point the mind kicks in, and starts chattering, “Oh there’s a light!” or “Oh! That feels good!” or the one that gets me every time, “What’s for dinner?” and then the light is gone, you’ve lost touch with the darkness, and you find yourself sitting in the room. Dang it, or not so much dang it, because you feel incredible. When that happens, all is not lost, simply look back into the darkness, focus on your breathing and allow the thoughts to float by like clouds in the sky. Or just get up and go about your business. It’s all up to you. No worries.

Mindfulness is kind of the opposite of what actually happens in meditation. The funny thing is that for living your life mindfulness, is exactly what you need to cultivate a meditative state. Especially when awake. The key is to become more aware of your senses in general, and less reliant on the random thoughts of your mind. I call the random, racing, habitual thoughts my Peabrain, because that part of my consciousness is so small and narrow in comparison with how you live in your senses when practicing mindful living. Mindfulness is the cultivation of awareness and use of intelligence. It is the dropping of habitual thoughts, the kind that help you decide what’s for dinner, and tuning into that good feeling of joy. The joy that attracts opportunities and assists in making better choices. In mindfulness we catch and stop ourselves from making knee-jerk reactions that are not beneficial to anyone, least of all ourselves.

Namaste