The Miracle of Mindfulness

It was originally written in Vietnamese as a long letter and later translated into English to be published as a book. In the digital era, we are drowning in information and always multi-tasking endeavoring not to go a single second wasted in mundane activities.

Lesson 1: Washing the dishes to wash the dishes

While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance, this might seem a little silly but its a very powerful suggestion.

If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not “washing the dishes to wash the dishes”. What’s more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes. If we can’t wash dishes, the chances are we won’t be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.

The Sutra of Mindfulness says ” When walking, the practitioner must be conscious that he is walking. When sitting, the practitioner must be conscious that he is sitting. When lying down, the practitioner must be conscious that he is lying down… No matter what position one’s body is in, the practitioner must be conscious of that position…” However, mindfulness of the positions of one’s body is not enough. We must be conscious of each breath, each movement, every thought and feeling, and everything which has any relation to ourselves.

Thus, when you are washing the dishes, washing the dishes must be the most important thing in your life. Just as when you’re drinking tea, drinking tea should be the most important thing in your life.

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Lesson 2:

While sitting in meditation, one should sit upright, giving birth to this thought,
” Sitting here is like sitting on the Bodhi spot.“

While sitting in meditation state, let a half smile come to your face. As the half smile appears, all the facial muscles begin to relax. The longer the half smile is maintained, the better. It is the same smile you see on the face of the Buddha.

Often it helps to meditate on the image of a pebble thrown into a river. Sit down and imagine yourself as a pebble that has been thrown into the river. The pebble sinks through the water effortlessly. Drenched from everything, it falls by the shortest distance possible, finally reaching the bottom, the point of perfect rest. At the center of your being is your breath.

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Lesson 3: Awareness of Breath

Breath is the bridge that connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again. In a Buddhist monastery, everyone learns to use breath as a tool to stop mental dispersion and to build up concentration power.
In those moments when you are upset or dispersed and find it difficult to practice mindfulness, return to your breath. As you breathe in, count 1 in your mind, and as you breathe out, count 2. Continue through 10, then return to 1 again. This counting is like a string that attaches your mindfulness to your breath.

Breath is aligned to both body and mind and it alone is the tool that can bring them both together, illuminating both and bringing both peace and calm.

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Lesson 4: Observe Mindful Day once a week

In this fast-paced life, where we often engage in multi-tasking, it’s hard to practice mindfulness every day and every hour. Thus, each person should reserve 1 day out of the week to devote entirely to their practice of mindfulness. On this day, please don’t do any task in order to get it over with. Resolve to do each job in a relaxed way, with all your attention. Enjoy and be one with your work. For instance, Dont’ drink your tea like someone who gulps down a cup of coffee during a work break. Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves- slowly, evenly, without rushing towards the future. Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life.

Also, maintain a spirit of silence throughout the day and speak only when it’s absolutely necessary.

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Lesson 5:

If you want the tree to grow, it won’t help to water the leaves. You have to water the roots. Meditation is not evasion, it is a serene encounter with reality. The person who practices mindfulness should be no less awake than the driver of a car; if the practitioner isn’t awake he will be possessed by dispersion and forgetfulness, just as the drowsy driver is likely to cause a grave accident. Be as awake as a person walking on high stilts- any misstep could cause the walker to fall. Be like a medieval knight walking weaponless in a forest of swords. Only with this kind of vigilance can you realize total awakening.

For beginners, the method of pure recognition is recommended, recognition without judgement. Feelings, whether of compassion or irritation, should be welcomed, recognized, and treated on an absolutely equal basis.; because both are ourselves. In mindfulness, compassion, irritation, mustard green plant, and teapot are all sacred. The mustard greens I am planting are me. I plant with all my heart and mind. I clean my teapot with the kind of attention I would have was I giving the baby Krishna/ Buddha/ Jesus a bath. Nothing should be treated more carefully than the task at hand.

When possessed by sadness, anxiety, hatred or passion, or whatever, the method of pure observation and recognition may seem difficult to practice. If so, turn to meditation on a fixed object or sound. Such meditation reveals and heals. The sadness or anxiety, hatred or passion, under the gaze of concentration and meditation reveals its own nature- a revelation that leads naturally to healing and emancipation. The sadness ( or whatever has caused the pain) can be used as a means of liberation from torment and suffering, like using a thorn to remove a thorn.

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