The Sophian

Issue date: 3/11/10 Section: Features

Mindfulness in America is a rapidly growing phenomenon currently gaining momentum in the form of the awareness meditation movement. While meditation is often taught as a practice distinct from the Buddhist religion, the practice was adapted from and continues to be informed by Buddhist principles.

"Mindfulness is part of the eightfold path for those who would be noble ... taught by the Buddha in his first public teaching at Sarnath," Jay Garfield, a professor of Buddhist studies said. "Mindfulness is necessary to maintain one's practice, whatever one's practice is, for it involves focusing on current state of mind, current intention, current motivation, current action."

While mindful awareness may be crucial for those wishing to follow the path to freedom from suffering prescribed by the Buddha, it is not necessary to be a Buddhist in order to embrace the simplicity of mindfulness meditation in everyday life.

What does it mean to act mindfully? Many meditation instructions describe mindfulness as something to be cultivated rather than achieved.

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a teacher in the Kagyu lineage of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, said that "Mindfulness does not mean pushing oneself toward something or hanging on to something. It means allowing oneself to be there in the very moment of what is happening in the living process - and then letting go."

Sofia Gambuto '12, regularly attends the Monday night guided Zen meditation sessions in Helen Hills Hills Chapel. "When I get frustrated or overwhelmed, I get caught up in my own negative thought process," she said. "Meditation helps me step back and give my mind a break. Initially I only experienced two to five minutes of clarity, but it was worth it to come back. Sitting regularly helps me focus. Afterwards, it takes me two instead of four hours to write my lab report." For Gambuto, sitting mindfully can be considered an investment in the efficient use of her time.

Discriminating awareness is not restricted to the meditation cushion. A state of wakefulness can be applied in organic chemistry class, at breakfast, on the soccer field or in any one of the diverse situations in which a student may find herself spacing out and losing touch with the present.

"So much of what we do that causes us to suffer, or to cause suffering to others, or just to fall short of the standards we set for ourselves, is the consequence of inattention to our current state of mind and our current action," said Garfield. "So much error and emotional confusion ensues from automatic reactions of which we are unaware, and which we can in fact control, or from neglect of what is perfectly obvious. Mindfulness is the antidote to all this. It is often surprising how much happier one can be, and how much more one can accomplish, if one only pays attention."

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