17 May 2017

Awareness...

is the main part of mindfulness.

The Buddha taught awareness in every single aspect of living. For instance, enjoying tangerines went like this:

Look at the tangerine - really look at it - the color, shape...
Peel it slowly and carefully
Take one segment at a time and enjoy eating it, conscious all the time of the taste of the tangerine
Gather up the peels

There is no hurry, and yet no time is lost. Thus there is no strain or stress in the mind or body. This is the beauty of awareness and mindfulness.

This is mindful eating and the Budda ate all his meals in this way. His followers did so too.

This is just one small example. One has to practice this in everything one does. It takes time and effort till it becomes an effortless part of our living. As soon as the mind starts wandering, one concentrates on the breathing to bring back the focus and concentration...