Terminology & Frequently Asked Questions
What is mindfulness practice?
Mindfulness practice typically involves focusing the attention on a single point and repeatedly bringing the attention back to the single point whenever you notice your mind has wandered. The purpose, however, is not simply to be mindful while doing the practices. Rather, the point is to expand time spent in mindful awareness fully into more and more of your daily activities. That is, to be awake moment by moment no matter what you’re doing or what’s going on around you. To live consciously.
What’s the difference between mindfulness and meditation?
I
generally use the terms interchangeably even though this is not
precisely correct. The term “meditation” may be correctly used to
refer to contemplating or thinking intensely about spiritual or
religious matters. However, when I use that term here, I am
referring to practices that are explicitly “non-thinking” and not
“religious” in the sense that word is typically used in Western
cultures.
I’ve tried meditation but it doesn’t work for me. I can’t make my mind shut off.
The job of the mind is to
generate a stream of thoughts. Some may be important. Most are not.
Let the mind do its job. There’s no need to resist it. With
mindfulness, we learn to detach from the stream of thoughts, to
allow the thoughts to pass by without chasing after them. To try to
stop thoughts by force of will keeps you attached to them.
“Single point” or “single-pointedness”
Most
mindfulness practice involves seeking as best you can to keep the
center of your attention focused on a “single point”, such as the
breath or a physical sensation. This single-pointedness is the
common denominator of most mindfulness practice.
“Monkey-mind”
When
people first start meditation they are often astonished at how
difficult it is to keep the attention on the single point. We sit
and focus on the breath, but soon the attention wanders to other
things. Long ago, mindfulness teachers called this “monkey-mind”,
referring to the way excited monkeys in trees jump around from limb
to limb and can’t seem to be still. Now, we might call it
“thought-surfing”, noting the parallel with “web-surfing”, jumping
from link to link on the internet.
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