Mindfulness Meditation Essentials

• The meditating mind is naturally relaxed, calm, and peaceful. Learn to not focus, control, create, constrict, or restrict.

• Why is there so much focusing? It could be that you want a certain experience or you dislike what is happening.

• Do not create or reject and do not forget to be aware whenever something arises or passes away.

• Where is the mind? Is it paying attention to what is happening within (to mind and body)? Or is it paying attention to external phenomena (i.e. to other people)?

• A mind is a meditating mind when it doesn’t have greed, anger, grief, or anxiety in it. You’ll only tire yourself by practicing with wanting or expectations.

• Trying to create something means greed is at work. Rejecting something means aversion is at work. Not knowing when something arises or passes away means delusion is at work.

• Don’t have any expectations, don’t want anything, and don’t be anxious, because if these attitudes are present in the mind, it becomes difficult to meditate.

• Regularly check the attitude in the meditating mind.

• We pay attention to and are aware of both the good and the bad. Meditation is accepting whatever arises, “good” or “bad,” and observing it in a relaxed way.

• Is it meditation when we crave for what seems good or have an aversion to what seems bad?

• It’s not right practice if we try to create the kind of experience we want. We are trying to know and observe what is happening as it is.

• There is something unbalanced or missing in the practice if the mind is tired or miserable. It becomes difficult to meditate when the mind feels tense or restricted. Check how you are meditating when you find your mind or body getting tired. Is the right attitude present in the mind?

• The meditating mind is relaxed and at peace. It’s only possible to meditate with a light and free mind.

• What is the mind doing? What work is it doing? Is it lost in thought? Is it aware?

• Don’t try to find fault with the thinking mind—you are not trying to stop thinking. Instead, you work to recognize thinking when there is thinking.

• Is the meditating mind, the mind that is aware, just knowing superficially, or knowing deeply and thoroughly?

• We are not trying to remove objects. However, we do want to understand the defilements that arise in relation to the objects and keep examining these defilements.

• The object is not really important. The observing mind that is working in the background to be aware is of real importance. If the observing is done with the right attitude, then any object is the right object.

• Only when there is faith or confidence (saddhā), will effort (viriya) arise. Only when there’s effort will mindfulness (sati) become continuous. Only when mindfulness is continuous will there be a steady, stable mind (samādhi). With the steadiness of mind, you will begin to understand things as they are (paññā). When you see reality as it is, then faith and confidence (saddhā) grow even stronger.

• Maintain awareness in the present moment—don’t revisit the past or speculate on the future.