Thursday, August 18, 2011

Waking Up in Daily Life: Disclaimer.


Traditional texts on realizing the true nature generally start with a homage of some sort. This thread begins with a homage if the form of a disclaimer. It is quite possible to realize that the actual nature of your mind is free from pain and full of joy, without the extremes of excitement or dullness. This however is only possible when you relate directly with your life. Daily life and mindfulness need to be joined together. You could say that is the real meaning of yoga. Often times people approach yoga and meditation as an alternative to daily life, like some kind of escape. This is natural because dissatisfaction with the ups and downs of life will often lead to a desire to be free. The key here is that with mindfulness meditation and practice, daily life becomes the path and all of life's experiences are opportunities to be present.

So the disclaimer is like this: you will not find mindfulness in the future or in the past, and you will not find it any place other than where you are now. Your current life situation is what you have to work with and the true nature of mind is also found within your current experience.