We can learn the
methods of mindfulness practice within a few days, but it takes months or years
until they really become our experience. We don't need to hurry. We don't need
to think that we have to be successful right away.
The practice cannot be like instant noodles.
The practice can better be compared with rice. When I was a little boy, I
learnt to cook rice on fire. If we want to eat rice, we need fire and water in
order to cook it. The fire has to be burning during the whole time of cooking.
If for example we use rice that has to be cooked for 20 minutes, the fire needs
to burn for 20 minutes. If the fire is extinguished after five minutes, then
burning again for five minutes, then extinguished again etc., then the rice
will never be cooked.
It is the same in our
practice. We need to keep the fire alive, so that later we can enjoy the
fragrant rice. This fire is the energy of mindfulness, concentration and
insight. In the practice of mindfulness meditation, the energy of mindfulness
is very important. That is also why its name is „mindfulness“ meditation.
Each time we are mindful, we are generating
the energy of mindfulness. In our modern world we have to bring meditation into
our daily life. Meditation is not only taking place while we are sitting in the
meditation hall. After the sitting our practice continues. If our meditation is only taking place inside
the meditation hall, we are not able to integrate it into our daily life. That
is why we start practicing mindfulness meditation as soon as we wake up in the
morning, and we continue until we go to bed at night.
No comments:
Post a Comment