Mindfulness, mindlessness, even-mindedness...

by nvrgnbk 25 Replies latest jw friends

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  nvrgnbk

  Anyone who has ever sat at home, healthy, well fed, surrounded by loved ones, and suffering from intense anxiety will readily agree that peace of mind is the necessary condition for happiness. But how can we possibly learn to have peace of mind when the mind is by nature restless, projecting its wants and fears endlessly into the past and the future? Think about your favorite activity for a moment. When you are really enjoying something you like, how do you feel? As you listen to your favorite music with full attention, other thoughts and desires fade away. You are simply in the moment. There is contentment - peace. Inevitably, of course, your mind kicks back in. How can you sit and listen to music? You need to clean the house, or think about your job, or get something to eat, or worry about finances, or make a phone call, or any of a thousand things. No longer in the moment, you're off and running. If you could train your mind to let go of other desires, returning to them when the actual moment has come to do the bills and make the phone call, you would be able to experience peace of mind. The road to peace of mind is through a practice called mindfulness. Its opposite, the state in which the mind is in many places at once, is called mindlessness...(click on link to continue reading about mindfulness, mindlessness, and even-mindedness http://www.intouchmag.com/Mindfulness.html) Everything you need to be at peace is within you. Happy New Year, friends. Love, Nate
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  eclipse

  Welcome back, Nate Happy New Year to you as well...

  Hope you had an awesome vacation
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  R.Crusoe

  It is always a cunning plan to start off with a good looking female. What a tricky side step to proving a theory!
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  Satanus

  So true. The wt trains people to use and live in their minds. It teaches that the mind cannot ever relax, for that will allow in demons. That mind training is much harder to undo than are the wt doctrines.
  
  The mind cannot be stilled by using the mind. What you mentioned works. For me, breath focus meditation works. The best for me though, is painting art.
  
  S
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  Open mind

  Good to see you Nate.
  
  I've spent the last few days as you described: "healthy, well fed, surrounded by loved ones". I was able to break away about three times to have some quiet time and experience "mindfulness" on my own with no outside distractions. That was truly refreshing, as usual.
  
  More importantly, I tried experiencing the moment and having a quiet mind in the presence of JW relatives. It's amazing how well that works in reducing inner anxiety.
  
  There are a couple of them I have hope for. They are quiet and don't spout the JW party line the way the others do.
  
  Great post Nate. Thanks for the link.
  
  "Prospero Año Nuevo"
  
  OM.
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  flipper

  Hello Nate- Good to have you back ! Hope you had a restful vacation ! Nice thread. I guess I'm what you would define as a " mindful " person then from your description. I find personally that when I'm doing mundane chores like paying the bills, cleaning the house, getting something to eat or cooking for my wife, it helps me experience these things more joyfully doing it with music playing on the stereo in the background. I actually work better with music playing. I don't know what it is, but it works for me . Especially once a year- when I sit down to prepare my tax information, which I dread doing , it really relieves stress having music playing ! LOL! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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  blueviceroy

  Namaste

  The voice of reason is so quiet and slight one can easily overlook it in favor of the loud and belicose rantings of society.

  The very best one can do is to become quiet within , it doesn't trouble anyone and is very simple.

  Being present in the present . What a concept.
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  changeling

  So true. I have a very noisy brain and I find it very difficult to meditate.

  When I am totally wrapped up in something : A good book, a great movie, a yoga pose... I am trully happy and peaceful.

  Eckart Tolle has written a lot on the subject of mindfullness, I have one of his books somewhere, but find it difficult to get "into "it.

  I'm a restless creature.

  changeling
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  journey-on

  Glad you're back, Nate. And your first post of the year is right on. I, myself, am working on this concept of mindfulness and after reading Elkhart Tolle's "The Power of Now", I'm convinced that this is truly the key to happiness. It opens the door, the rest is up to you. Thanks for sharing this.
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  Hortensia

  so there you are! Everyone was worried. As for mindfulness, I think it's kind of hard for us to do because we are trained to keep thinking. I never learned to meditate until I learned lymph drainage massage, which requires concentrarion, focus, breathing and counting, just like meditation! I read a book called Active Meditation which says that some people need to meditate while active, walking for instance, or working at a repetitive project, rather than sitting and meditating quietly. Really helpful book.