The Art of Living in the Present Moment

Mindfulness is the art of living in the present moment.  It is the practice 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.

Mindfulness offers 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.  It is in this exquisite state of increased receptivity that our True Essence blossoms. Every moment in life becomes immensely sacred, and ordinary daily activities take on a spiritual dimension.

We may think that we are already mindful of our life experiences, but this is just another trick fabricated by our mind to keep us in a semi-dream state.  Our minds have an uncanny ability to weave fleeting sensations, memories, thoughts, and 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.  The calm, expanded awareness that builds up over time illuminates every aspect of our conscious experience and awakens us to our true essence.