A Radical Practice

It may not be apparent to you, but the practice of mindfulness meditation is pretty radical. In many ways, it means that we are often swimming against the stream of most civilization.

In mindfulness practice, we are not trying to attain anything or reach any particular goal. This kind of attitude is not honored or encountered very often in our culture, and yet, it can be one of the most rewarding paths one can take. Remember the words of Alan Watts, "The goal of life is reached in every moment." This means that we have already achieved our objective before we even begin our practice.

So we just go from moment to moment and breath to breath, being as present and available as we can be for anything that arises along the way. What we find in doing this is that each moment is a gold mine, with the riches lying at our feet for the taking. In every moment we have the opportunity presented to us to experience joy, peace, love, wisdom, and enlightenment. These are not some imagined goals to be achieved later, they are present right here and right now.

A pretty radical idea alright.

My inside, listen to me, the greatest spirit,
the Teacher, is near,
wake up, wake up!

Run to his feet -
he is standing close to your head right now.
You have slept for millions and millions of years.
Why not wake up this morning? ~ Kabir

Blessings,
Roger