Realizing Yourself: A Short Mindfulness Meditation
In our daily life, it is negative emotions such as restlessness and anxiety that lead us to suffering. If we can keep a pure and peaceful mind, we will become optimistic and always enjoy happiness, even if we were to be put into jail. One way to realize this is to calm down and observe our own mind. If we can practice this mindfulness meditation unremittingly, it will lead us to our deep consciousness and finally to the true nature of the mind.
Let’s do a short mindfulness meditation. When we do this meditation, we first need to still our bodies and calm our mind.
The method here is to observe thoughts with our mind. You can observe what the self truly is. Whenever conceptual thoughts arise, bring the mind back to the observation. Gradually, as we spend more and more time on meditation, we will enjoy a better and higher quality of life in due course. Since in our daily life, it’s our negative emotions like restlessness and anxiety that lead us to afflictions and sufferings. If we keep a peaceful and pure mind, even if we were living in prison or in a very poor place, we will still be very optimistic and enjoy a happy life there.
And I’d like to add something here. In meditation, you should try to observe your mind and watch it calm down. At this point, some may realize the nature of their mind. When our mind goes into a deeper level of calmness, we can reach the deepest level of consciousness which is just like the bottom of the ocean. It is exactly the true nature of the mind. So the various thoughts that we have do not reflect the true nature of our mind; various kinds of negative emotions which bring us lots of sufferings are just like waves on the ocean.
So if each of you could get into the habit of meditating, then your life and the happiness you gain will be totally different from that of many people nowadays—they may endure lots of sufferings, but you won’t have troubles like that.
Now, let’s meditate for a few minutes. You’d better not fall asleep during meditation.
