If you were to ask a selection of people what they understood by the word “Mindfulness” I wonder what kind of answers you might receive. 

When I think of the word “Mindfulness” I am drawn to the recognition that this practice for many people is a paradox.  This paradox is that the power of Mindfulness is that it is an intended to invite you into the KNOWING of the unity of fullness and emptiness.

The realisation of this paradox is the essential invitation to the practice of Mindfulness.

This invitation to the KNOWING of Unity is at the heart of other practices such as Yoga and prayer. However, this essential KNOWING is not the reason why most people practice Yoga. It tends to be practiced with the intention of getting fit and subtle.  There is nothing wrong with this but it invites a more comfortable way of living in the feeling of separation rather than the revelatory experience of unity that is the primary reality.  Most prayer is practiced as a way of petitioning something that is lacking from a concept of the One Life that is thought to be withholding the very thing needed.

This kind of practice whether it be Mindfulness, Yoga or prayer is being moved from the mind. This is the personal mind that thinks and feels itself to be separate from the Source of all fulfilment. There is no doubt that such practices can lead to a deeper sense of connection to oneself but not necessarily to the revelation of what wisdom teachers refer to as the “True Self.” Fulfilment is a state of Mind that tends to be empty of the personal sense of self. 

This does not mean that you disappear. It means that you expand into the fulness that you are always intended to be and are created to be.  All wisdom teachings invite this fullness through the paradox of emptiness.  The modern Western individual doesn’t like the idea of being “empty” and yet so many of us feel empty inside.  In the words of the xxx most people live lives of quiet desperation.

Mindfulness begins with intention. What is the intention behind your practice of Mindfulness?

For most people this practice follows the intention to feel more centred, balanced and happier. Again there is nothing wrong with this other than it metaphorically speaking being a way of decorating the basement rather than ascending to the Penthouse of fulfilled Presence.

All wisdom teaching at their heart invite you into the awakening experience of fulfilment.  This is not something that you achieve. It is a surrender into the deeper reality of who you are.  It is where you give up all desire other than one. This is why the real practice of Mindfulness, Yoga and prayer are avoided. Mindfulness is where you are the flow of the One Mind that fulfils itself through you.  To use an Irish mythological symbol you become as a Cauldron of Plenty.  This Cauldron of Plenty is the fourth of the Four Treasures of Ireland.  In this story of the Four Treasures of Ireland the Cauldron of Plenty is always empty and always full at the same time.  This is a metaphor for the experience of the individual who has surrendered their personal will (desire) for the fulness of the Divine Will that is always available.

The first treasure of the Four Treasures of Ireland is The Stone of Destiny.  It is you destiny to live as a flow of fulfilment moving from the Infinite.  It is your destiny to serve as a unique expression of the One Mind that ever is and was never born or ever dies and of which you are apart but never apart from. This is not something to believe in other than as a potential.  The true practice of Mindfulness arises from the intention of being a servant of Love.

Mindfulness is the direct experience of living from the Presence of the One Mind that created you to pour through you for its own glory. 

The problem with teaching Mindfulness like teaching Yoga and prayer is that most people don’t want to give up control of their personal mind which is the never ending voice in their head. This is the voice that they identify with and which never gives you true peace of mind. It is like a badly turned radio running endless static from the EGO. This is a channel of never ending desire running from a focus on lack.

True Mindfulness is where you recognise and realise that you are here to be an outpouring from the fullness that ever is.  This willingness to be such an outpouring is the only desire you focus on.  This is the ultimate in real faith and trust. You trust that the Universe has your back – which it does.  You become available to the Presence that loves you by heart and has loved you all your life.

The Mind that is the first part of the word “Mindfulness” is the Source of fulfilment. Your personal mind is the Source of separation and suffering.  Mindfulness invites you to give up rags for riches.

You become one of the Beautiful People who live beyond the separation of time and space pouring into the world from the Timeless that ever is and ever Loves. 

This is your destiny.  Imagine living as one who pours Light into the world for the greater good.  You simply relax and allow the Mind that knows how to do your life better than you do.  This is the invitation from all wisdom teachers. It is the invitation to give up your never-ending personal desires to be the servant of Love. This is the invitation from the Lord’s Prayer that invites, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”

Heaven is not a place but a state of consciousness whereby you as a separate sense of personal self merge with the unity that is the Self.

To say it another way. Your personal “I am” merges with the one “I AM.” There is no greater joy than to live in the Presence of the One Mind. You relax and become an outpouring of this Love Presence. You live the beauty of the paradox that is the unity of emptiness and fulness.

Make the practice of Mindfulness aligned with the true purpose of being here in this time and space embodiment. This is the real source of happiness whereby you get to pour into the world the true way in which fulfilment can be attained beyond the prison of the limitation of the personal overthinking mind.