What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the practice of living in the present moment.  It is the art of engaging reality on a moment-to-moment basis. While fully engaged in whatever we are presently doing, we attune our minds to what is happening right here, right now.  We watch our thoughts and emotions come and go, but we do not cling to them. Our primary focus is to maintain a calm, attentive, nonjudgmental state of heightened awareness.

We may think that we are already mindful of our life experiences, but this is just another trick fabricated by our minds to keep us in a dream state. Our minds have an uncanny ability to weave fleeting sensations, memories, thoughts, emotions into a coherent story that reinforces our false sense of a permanent, unchanging ego. We cling to our ego at all costs, even at the expense of seeing things as they really are.

Mindfulness is the art of transcending the mind with the mind. By this we mean freeing the mind from its habitual attachment to thoughts, feelings, and other mental phenomena. Through mindfulness we wake up to the here and now, to reality as it is unfolding, and we gradually awaken from the dream (or nightmare) in which we have lived most of our lives.

Mindfulness offers us a way to perceive reality in a more direct, intimate manner. Through mindfulness, our life experiences become richer and fuller. We learn to see more clearly, listen more attentively, taste more acutely, smell more discerningly, and touch more fully.  The calm, expanded awareness that builds up over time illuminates every aspect of our conscious experience and awakens us to our True Essence.  Every moment in life becomes immensely sacred, and ordinary daily activities take on a spiritual dimension.

This site is dedicated to the study and practice of mindfulness. I have developed it as an online companion for my upcoming book, Mindfulness: The Art of Living, but it also serves as a stand-alone resource to introduce mindfulness to those interested in taking up the practice and to offer support and inspiration for those already practicing.  It contains excerpts and adaptations from the book as well as other useful material not presentable in a book format.

As you may have noticed, this site is still in the initial stages of development. I will continually post new material as my schedule permits.  Be sure to check back often for more content. Please e-mail me with with any comments or suggestions.
 

NAVIGATION:

1. Excerpts from Mindfulness: The Art of Living

2. Articles on Mindfulness (from various sources on the web)

3. Books on Mindfulness

4. Related Sites

5. Discussion Forum