Cognitive Behavior Therapy Institute
and CyberClinic

Mindfulness Training

    The spring flowers, the autumn moon;
     Summer breezes, winter snow.
     If useless things do not clutter your mind,
     You have the best days of your life.

               Mumon Ekai, 1228
               from Mumonkan (The Gateless Gate)
               As translated by Katsuki Sekida       

Mindfulness is a way of thinking and behaving that involves paying full attention to one's being, activity and environment in the present moment. It can be summed up in three words: Be . . . Here . . . Now.

Of course, we are always here now, but often we do not fully revel in the fullness of It, living as it were in our fantasies (however mundane) of past and future. For even something that has actually occurred or may actually occur is, as pointed out in the Diamond Sutra, "A Star at dawn, A bubble in a stream, A flash of lightning in a summer cloud, A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream". Now, veritably, even when grounded in the here and now we are not truly in touch with Reality but rather with our own mental representation of reality, and thus in a perpetual dream or fantasy. However, at least we can  strive to live in the fantasy of the present rather than in fantasies of things that have been or have not yet to be. This is not to downplay the importance of using past and future fantasies volitionally and strategically to work toward desired ends, such as via creative visualization or pathworking. The issue is one of self-mastery, whether one is the master or slave of one's own thought processes.

Whereas  cognitive therapy techniques are taught in order to help clients to decrease the irrational content of the thoughts that are interfering with their peace of mind, mindfulness training teaches how to control the process of thinking. This involves learning how to focus attention on current thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions in an objective manner, and ultimately how to skillfully use the mind as a tool, turning verbal and visual thinking on and off at will.

Mindfulness may be considered training for the yogic practice of dharana (concentration), which is the first component of what Patanjali refers to in his Yoga Sutras as samyama (self-mastery) which also consists of dhyana (the sanskrit term translated as meditation, which was transliterated into Chan in Chinese and Zen in Japanese, thus Chan Buddhism in China and Zen Buddhism in Japan), and samadhi (divine union). "When the mind has been withdrawn from sensory disturbances (pratyahara), then dharana and dhyana  in conjunction produce the varying stages of samadhi: ecstatic realization and, finally, divine union" (Paramahansa Yogananda, 2005, God Talks with Arjuna, The Bhagavad Gita, p. 77).

Most emotional difficulties are either caused or exacerbated by engaging in the opposite of mindfulness, which is a ruminative and unproductive focus on the past, present or future. This lack of focus on current constructive or pleasurable activities often involves focusing attention on regret over something in the past, dissatisfaction with something in the present, or worry about something one thinks may or will happen in the future. This is not to say that the object of regret, dissatisfaction or worry is not, in fact, very real (e.g., a family problem, a difficult boss, or the possibility of losing one's job). However, constantly thinking about such problems rather than focusing on one's present activity (be it doing the dishes, walking down the street, doing office work, or playing with one's children) only leads to emotional and physical distress, which make it more difficult to solve problems.

Just as it would be very difficult to fully engage in just about any activity if one's arms and legs were flailing around uncontrollably, most people have so little control of their thoughts that they are rarely full participants in their own lives. Imagine trying to write smoothly with a pen if your hands were shooting up in the air one moment and diving down toward the floor the next. How then can one expect to skillfully carry out daily tasks (not to mention relax and enjoy the day) if one has so little control of the mind that it is constantly jumping from thought to thought, from image to image, from past to future, with none of this dreamlike activity related in any helpful way to where one is and what one is doing. When one shuts off the movies that are constantly playing in one's head, mindfulness of one's being, activity and environment in the present moment leads to a feeling of true engagement in life and a sense of emotional and physical fulfillment, not to mention increased effectiveness and productivity.

Mindfulness is not an alternative to thinking and "problem"-"solving". Thinking is an important human activity, and real "problems" (i.e., opportunities for decisions) exist and can be "solved" (i.e., decisions can be made and enacted). However, it is important to distinguish between repetitive, wasteful thinking (obsessive rumination) about the past, present or future that produces no result other than misery, and strategic decision-making that can serve as an effective means to a desired end. Decision-making is an activity like any other, and can be engaged in mindfully at a time that has been set aside for one's full attention.



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