Ultimately ... it's not the stories that determine our choices, but the stories that we continue to choose.

The Buhha was a monastic, but the practice of mindfulness in the context of any lifestyle is one of renunciation. Every moment of mindfulness renounces the reflexive, self-protecting response of the mind in favor of clear and balanced understanding. In the light of the wisdom that comes from balanced undertanding, attachment to having things be other than what they ar falls away.

Suffering is the demand that experience be different from what it is.

Steadfast benevolence, sustained by the wisdom that anything other than benevolence is painful, protects the mind from all afflictions.

Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of present experience. It isn't more complicated than that.

If we can keep at least a bit of the mind clear about temporality, we can mange complicated, even difficult, times with grace.

Clearly the path of mitzvot is a form of meditation. The intention to act impeccably requires complete dedication and unwavering attention. I was also impressed with LUzzato's insistence that mitzvot practice is joyful.