I often think that one of the great ironies is that there are books written about contemplative spirituality and the Dharma of the Enlightened and Anointed Ones. Ironic, because in order to truly derive any benefit from those words, we have to be able to recognise them as meaningless.
There are volumes of books written on mindfulness. And it is true that one must understand what mindfulness is, and that it is healthy to learn ways to practice mindfulness. I've written books on the subject myself. Yet none of these books can really help you achieve mindfulness. Only you can do that for yourself.
Mindfulness is the term we use to describe the practice of bringing our full awareness to the moment. It is a practice of continuous refocus, breath-upon-breath, until that focus is so refined that we are consciously aware of the space between those breaths.
The great Perennialist Rabbi Jesus taught his disciples to refocus their minds on the true nature of their "god" -- which Jesus defined as being Love Itself. Nearly four decades after the legend tells us that Jesus died, during a time in which other legends tell us that he and his family were in Kashmir, another Perennialist teacher, Paul of Tarsus would call this way of mindfulness "the mind of Christ" -- describing it as something we already possess, but "forget".
The essential truth is that we don't need complicated explanations of what mindfulness is, because mindfulness isn't complicated. In fact, whatever complicated explanation you might have heard about mindfulness, you can be certain was what mindfulness is not!
If you simply sit still, right now, and close your eyes, allowing yourself to hear, smell, feel and touch all of the sensations occurring inside you, around you and through you... and then gently open your eyes, allowing yourself to notice each of the things you see and perceive... you have just practices mindfulness.
With practice, the awareness you just brought to that series of moments, which may have been distracted right now, because you were reading this article, will become richer, fuller, more present. If you did not stop what you were doing, and did not attempt the exercise, you know what mindfulness is not... and you experienced, with equal value, the way in which distractions and unuseful decisions can keep us from spiritual growth and awareness.
When I authored the book, The Dharma of Compassion, my original publisher called it "a great contribution" to the world of spiritual development. I laughed at her comment. There was nothing great about the book itself, nor about its author. And the book was no great act of compassion. It was a book. In order for that book to have any merit, it would have to reduce the suffering in the world. In and of itself, it could not do so. Therefore, only if that short book inspired someone to take action -- to volunteer at their local hospice or soup kitchen... to clean up the side of a highway... to engage the spiritual lessons they embraced in a meaningful way that impacts and ensures social justice -- only then would it have been a worthwhile contribution to the overwhelming mountain of literature that already exists on the subject.
Several folks have emailed me to ask what kind of "sanctuary" I intend to build for the Spiritus Project -- a grassroots, interspiritual movement, that operates under the auspices of our Buddhist-Camaldolese Order.
Put simply, it will be a place of Great Tranquility, where practitioners can come to learn the Dharma of Compassion, and be trained in practical ways to engage their spirituality in forms of service, social justice and healing work, back in their home communities.
It will be a place where I teach those who are ready to delve more deeply into the practice of awareness in the moment, so that they not only focus on the breath, but on the space between the breaths... the place I call The Origin -- borrowing from a Japanese Zen teaching -- which is known more commonly as Sunyata. There, each student has the potential to experience sunyatananda -- the bliss of the Origin/Emptiness.
But it will also be a place where most of the teaching is not structured, but occurs organically... in the Sacred Silence... a place where people from all spiritual traditions can come together, and dig deeper into their own paths, by learning more about the paths of others. And it will, I am hopeful, be a place that inspires others to continue the work we are doing.
As I write this, I am in bed, with 102.4 degrees fever. My back, my arms and my head are aching. I am tired. But through all that pain, I am not suffering, because I move through the experience of pain, and continue to look for whatever lessons might be hidden in each experience. Now I've never been terribly interested in the "live forever" thing, so I don't spend too much time dissecting dis-ease, and trying to come up with the right metaphysical solution for it. I simply affirm that I am not my body, and know that what is perceived as "me" or "this one" (as Nityananda referred to himself), is impermanent. So I will continue to work toward that vision, believing that the funding is already there, and simply working out the details of manifestation... but more important, hoping that every day, in some small, but consistent way, I can contribute meaningfully toward both alleviating the suffering of others myself, and inspiring others to do the same.
You already have all you need to know, within your heart. It rides on the current of each inward breath, and is shared with the world around you on the exhalation. Just take time to sit with it, listen to it, and when the seemingly endless chatter of the exterior life dies down, you will hear Her... the Mother of the Dharma... your own interior voice or Sakti. And you will have found your home in the Silence.
Namasté!
Internationally respected, life coach and teacher, Lama Gurudas Sunyatananda (Dr. F. Gianmichael Salvato, O.C., M.Sc.) is a Buddhist and Franciscan contemplative, and author of the popular book, "The Dharma of Compassion - One Monk's Reflections on the Teachings of the Enlightened and Anointed Ones". He is best known for his on-going contributions to helping people unlock the power of their own minds -- teaching them how to apply that power to create strong, loving relationships, make more money, and live more meaningful, prosperous, health and satisfying lives.
You can join his primary social network and interact with him directly by visiting:
http://www.6dgr.com/index.php?mode=join&refs_id=8412
Copyright ©2008, Dr. F. Gianmichael Salvato, All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced, blogged, quoted or distributed, provided the entire blog, including by-lines, contact information and this copyright remain intact. It may NOT be altered in any way, without express written permission.
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