Mindfulness:

A Careful Journey Into the Unknown With Clear Comprehension!
by Dr. Manijeh Motaghy

The picture above is Sofia, my niece, with her doll, trying to meditate when she was two. Now she’s almost four. A ball of fire, a magnificent creature of learning and creativity. Curious, open and inviting. She’s so full of life, full of vigour, capacity for understanding and empathy, it’s hard to catch up with her. The only thing is that there’s a trick to her.

If she perceives you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re not paying attention and you don’t have a direction, she’ll take command and run you around like a wild horse. If she feels that you are imposing something on her, not considerate of her intelligence, she’ll rebel, become angry and give you hell.

However,

If, you are Mindful, aware, attentive, have direction, treat her with care and consideration. Engage her mind and sense of responsibility with small noble thoughts, such as, “Oh, lets see how peaceful your room feels like today. Maybe I like to visit your room. That depends on how many trash are in your trash basket instead of on the floor. Lets check it out.” Letting her count the trash on the floor versus in the trash basket in her room and decide for herself how it feels to be there, then she becomes filled with purpose. Motivated to make her room inviting and peaceful, she gets on it. Putting things where they belong and looking under the bed for more trash to show you that she cares as much as you care. This not only makes her feel important, she feels peaceful and her sense of learning, practicing best methods for a happier life is encouraged and strengthened.

I find that this works well with adults as well. Even with oneself. We just have to take time for it and not assume that adults, including oneself, know or should know everything and do not need encouragement or guidance. When you sit to meditate or practice Mindfulness in daily life, there is an important practice that needs to be understood as well, and that is Clear Comprehension.

My dear teacher, Ajahn Pasanno,

Puts great emphasis on Clear Comprehension. Mindfulness, a state of clarity and alertness with a mission for freedom from suffering is just the beginning. It’s the stage where one evaluates the situation in the moment, at hand. Aware of one’s biases, asking what is necessary for an effective response, considering the drawbacks of various choices and based on clarity and wisdom making best possible choices that lead to the well-being of oneself and others.

In the past seven days, during our stress reduction sessions via Zoom, I have been emphasizing the role of Clear Comprehension in our daily Mindfulness practice using many examples to help people get their mind around it. Without Clear Comprehension, Mindfulness can go only so far.