This is the second attempt at answering the same question, 1 year apart. And with more wisdom gained it is going to be comprehensive. Let's dive in.
Mindfulness, is it meditation?
It is a yes and no answer. Mindfulness by definition invites us to be aware of our awareness. Or in simple terms, let us observe the observer. In meditation we focus on some object. Outside or within us. To calm ourselves which is a form of sustained awareness. Of course we cannot do that without being aware of ourselves.
On the other hand, as Mindfulness let us observe ourselves during which we might see ourselves focusing on different objects. Hence it is yes and no. In meditation object matters, in mindfulness any object would be fine.
Mindfulness is kind of meditation, and not at the same time.
Little bit of history
Meditation is a common practice in Eastern and western spiritual seekers. They saw the benefits of it and taught commoners how to do it. They taught us how to be happy just looking at drifting clouds, or flowing stream. So, most of the time meditation is seen as a solution to a problem. Just like any other solution. Let's look at some problems to understand pattern and what is the problem meditation try to solve.
When you are hungry you search for food.
When you don't have food, you buy some with your money.
When you don't have money, you do a job.
When your job doesn't pay enough money to quench your cravings, you learn a new skill
When you don't know which skill you want to learn you try few of them
When you get stressed, you watch TV or binge eat
When you are more stressed, you run a marathon or exercise
When you are even more stressed, you go to a therapist, or do yoga and mediation
And when you are broken, you take medication.
That is the traditional approach to any problem. In life this is what we do. But sometimes it becomes overwhelming for unknown reasons. And we need to calm down. More than ever when we are detached from the environment, we feel the need to connect. We need to look inside ourselves to identify what went wrong with our judgements in right and wrong. So, meditation have evolved as a method to close this gap between our expectations and reality. In fact, meditation is considered a solution a lot of human problems and it seems to be working!
When you struggle with sleep
When you are stressed or anxious
To control anger
Just before landing a plane, or pull the trigger to kill a terrorist
Meditation can improve your brain function.
Epidemic of meditation.
More problems we have which are mental in nature, more and more people are seeing the meditation as a solution. It's because of benefits of meditation. But there is another school of thought about meditation. It doesn't answer to fundamental questions that Eastern and western philosophers and even common men like you and me tried to answer.
What is the meaning of life?
What is happiness?
Why anything is a thing?
What happens when we die?
What is living?
Can you answer these questions with meditation? I don't think so. Not even if you started meditation from the day 1 you were born till you die. So, meditation is not a solution to some problems. That is where mindfulness is different. It is the solution to every problem! It is the art of investigation the problems of life itself.
Mindfulness the solution to every problem
Mindfulness is the tool we use to answer such simple yet fundamental questions about life. As we are stuck in our own subjective realities, there is no other option as the knowledge about a single self cannot come from another self. It's like tasting salt. You know what salt taste like right? But can you ever know what it tastes like for me? Or anyone else? Similarly, we are stuck in our own realities, hence investigation of life depends on one person and one method only. And that is called mindfulness. And mind you it is not pseudo-science. It is true science at its best. It's just using scientific method to investigate self. As all the problems arise from things, mindfulness is the tool to understand things about things.
So, mindfulness is not watching the breath. Its investigating what is breath. It is also investigating who is breathing, when and where all these phenomena of watching the breath is happening? Is it happening in the last second? Next second? Or this second? If then what happens, when this second becomes next second? What binds a second to the next? Is it same breath or new breath? And who said time is measured in seconds anyway?
Can you see the problem? And the depth? Let's tap into mindfulness today, to investigate phenomenon of life
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