The bones and tendons of the mind are mindfulness and awareness. Mindfulness is the mindโs strength, and awareness is its flexibility. Without these abilities, we cannot function. When we drink a glass of water, drive a car, or have a conversation, we are using mindfulness and awareness.
Sakyong MiphamWhat is really happening in meditation is that we are developing the ability to think when we want to, and to not think when we donโt want to.
Sakyong MiphamWhen I ask people to contemplate selflessness, the sometimes react as if I've asked them to put their house on the market or give away all their money. If there was a self that existed in the way we think, discovering selflessness would be like putting our house on the market. But in the Buddhist tradition, the discovery of selflessness is called "completely joyful." It's not called "the raw end of the deal," or "I'd rather go back to bed," or "This is scary and depressing."
Sakyong MiphamEven when we speak of selflessness, the mind goes to "me." We think, "I'm selfless," but everything is selfless.
Sakyong MiphamIf you decide to go on a Buddhist path, you have to be careful if you start mixing a lot of different traditions you are not totally familiar with - mixing this kind of meditation with that kind of practice or this kind of visualization with that kind of mantra. Then you really are concocting your own thing, and you have no idea what is going to happen.
Sakyong Mipham