The Mindful Project

Our minds want to attach to things out of desperation that things won’t change.  We live in the illusion of permanence in a world of constant change.  The law of impermanence is so hard for the human mind to grasp.  It is traumatic to know our human form will cease to exist and acceptance of this fact is something very hard for us to do.  Many who are told they are going to die soon still cling to permanence, dying without accepting.

During a recent meditation period, the realization of my attachment to the present moment, the past and the future dropped in.  I saw how my mind believes the illusion that time will not end.  Then there was the insight that this time, now, will literally die and the next moment will be born.  It sounds so simple yet the insight catapulted me into the present in a new way.   [Read more...]

I feel the stillness in my breath, in my mind, in every thing.  I crave the stillness. The stillness is where love is, where joy lives, and where compassion resides. Stillness is who I am. In a typical day in the life of a person, there is so much noise and activity, we don’t notice the stillness. It is still there.  It is the simplest truth of all.

Be still.  Listen.  Do you feel it?  What do you hear?  A tree stands tall in perfect stillness.   [Read more...]

We arrive here in this world presumably without choosing to be here. We are given this human form to live on this amazing planet. When we first arrive, it seems there is no suffering in our tiny bodies. We feel pain, hunger, and other sensations; however, we don’t tend to hold onto them with worry, remorse, regret, or fear. If we are lucky, our parents nurture and care for us and we are completely trusting that life will take care of us. Just as a baby bird trusts it’s mother’s lead when it leaps from the nest for the first time and spreads it wings. The baby bird doesn’t know it can fly until it soars through air. The same is true for us in our first years of life. We don’t know all that we are capable of. Yet we move forward and trust life to show us the way. We learn to walk, talk, eat, run, swim, read, etc. All are amazing feats of childhood.

When does this trust leave us? [Read more...]

Gratitude is the opposite of suffering and dissatisfaction.  Why?  Because when you are grateful, you are focused on all that is good in your life and about life.  When we say thank you, we are living within joy and love.  Our minds can only focus on one thing at a time.  So when we are giving thanks, we are not complaining, worrying, fretting, planning, or doing any of those mind activities which tend to lead to an unpleasant state of mind.  Many of us are constantly focused on what is wrong or we look for problems to solve.  When in reality for most of us, things are working well.  When you are in a state of mind where you are suffering, try taking a step back to see if anything is really wrong.  In the bigger picture, is anything really wrong?