To be mindful is to be aware in the present moment (Now) to what is happening while it is happening. Anything that happens in life doesn’t have any specific effect, its effect is linked to a person’s conditioning, this is why one reacts to what happens as they do. This conditioning is in place for everyone, it just manifest in different ways. The quality of how mindful one is of what’s happening while it’s happening determines the awareness of it. Before something occurs there’s always the space of stillness that it arises from so if you’re already in a distracted state of unawareness, when the next thing arises it’s immediately labeled by your conditioning. How can it not be? If one is in a mindful state of awareness or quietness and the same thing takes place, the label won’t be applied; the key here is to pay attention to things conducive to your well being. This is not always easy to see because of the conditioning in place. Many are unaware of Now so things aren’t done that are conducive to your well being, but they’re done anyway because that’s what’s in place.
Until there’s awareness of this, the same conditioned behavior will be repeated over and over.
You are always in the present moment (Now) whether you are mindfully aware of it or not. When you’re not, what arises grabs hold of you. It’s one of the reasons the Buddha said “Nothing can harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts” because the unguarded thoughts control you as if you were a puppet on a string. Going beyond this is more of a mindset than effort, it’s simply being awareness aware of awareness. Stillness of each moment is where everything arises from so if you’re in harmony with this what arises will have less effect on you. Life will always be life and it will always be as it is, but you don’t have to be stuck in a mind state where you’re not mindfully aware of what’s actually happening; awareness aware of awareness…
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