“In mindfulness one is not only restful and happy, but alert and awake. Meditation is not evasion, it is a serene encounter with reality.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh
“Knowledge is learning something every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day”.
-Zen proverb
“Mindfulness isn’t difficult, we just need to remember to do it”.
-Sharon Salzberg
One of my daily goals is to see life as it really is. This means that I must make the effort to remove my own filters and mis-perceptions. I am reminded of the saying, “Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see”. Meditation should open our eyes not close them. Meditation is not a blissful avoidance of reality. Meditation should teach us to be more present to life, not less present. Meditation does not put you in a bubble. It bursts bubbles. Sometimes as a person ages, it appears they care less and less about stuff. This can be misunderstood. As an older person I care about a lot. However, I also care about a lot less. If one ages wisely, you begin to see the differences between what is truly essential and what is not. I have let go of a lot but I still carry around too many concerns that I hope will eventually fall by the wayside. Finally, mindfulness and consciousness are very much the same thing. We are mindful when we are conscious that we are conscious. I am mindful when I am aware that I am mindful. I don’t think you are truly awake if you don’t know you are awake.
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