Breaking Free From The Mundane

When it is presented to people, many “get” the idea of mindfulness and its practice, but others frequently resist the idea. Why is it?.... We are all seeking similar things in life – we want happiness in so many varied ways, by seeking fulfillment, joy, love, satisfaction, creativity, connection, spontaneity, stimulation, novelty, stability, consistency, etc. - overall I think in these things we are seeking some measure of sweetness in our lives, we want to be uplifted from the boring, drab, gross elements of life that drag us into the mental/physical muck or mundane. Those and other things are what we all constantly seek over and over and over and over and over again. If you notice your life, it is a constant game of seeking such things repetitively without cessation. Have you questioned the purpose of it?

But doesn’t it also occur that we cannot ONLY seek these things endlessly? There has got to be a break. There has got to be some refuge from the same old, same old, same old stuff that we do over and over and over. There has got to some mechanism, perhaps built into our lives by nature that allows us to break free from this repetitive treadmill of seeking. That is what mindfulness is. When one empties the mind and focuses on an internal event (e.g., the breath, or bodily sensations) or something external (e.g., a flickering candle, or our feet walking as they repetitively touch the ground) they are consciously taking a break from life, even if only for a few minutes. One is also taking a break from themselves, breaking free from the treadmill of desires that ensnare them. We do not do this because those desires are bad, evil, sinful, or shameful (well, maybe sometimes...)

No, practicing this is to help make those things more beautiful and enrapturing. When we take even a short break (or perhaps even a longer one) from the desiring or wanting mind or the "chasing" lifestyle, it is actually a way to enhance the pleasure and beauty and joyfulness that we return to when we are done. Without some vacation from the repetitive, it can be all too much to handle. Going to Bermuda or the Bahamas or Cancun are great, and that is recommended too, the problem is unless we are millionaires we can't do that everyday, and the other problem is that even in Cancun we won't be de-stressed if our mind is chattering and agitated. Try calming and centering in the here and now and you might find an amazing experience right within.