When we were children, our parents and their friends would have a good time speculating on what kinds of lives we would lead, what sorts of jobs we would work at and how our family life would evolve. Most of us would have spent considerable time planning our lives and envisioning what they might entail. For some, these dreams have become a reality and for others, not so much, but both groups likely have in common a similar feeling. Now that “when we’re grown up” is here, life doesn’t necessarily have the same appeal that it did when it was more of a projection. Interestingly, some of us may find ourselves reminiscing about our more youthful days when we had more fun and less responsibility. What a paradox this life can be when the mind is undisciplined and is allowed to roam from the present to the future and back again without any coherent structure.
The reason that life exhibits this unsatisfactory nature is because we haven’t fully embraced our inherent purpose as human beings which is to acknowledge the condition of this present moment. This ideal is attainable for most of us if we make it a priority to discipline the mind so that we note each moment as it arises and ceases. Of course there are times that we need to plan for the future or remember what happened in the past in order to accomplish our worldly tasks. Those are not the conditions that cause us trouble. The troublesome mind state that we need to learn how to avoid is the one where we are living in the past or the future. We need to ask ourselves whether we are working solely for some future reward or to avenge some past experience that we haven’t learned how to let go of. If we know that we are not living in the present moment, then now is the time to take action.
The path to the training of the mind is fairly simple although it does take effort to execute. It consists of repeatedly and gently bringing the mind back into the present moment after we acknowledge how it has wandered. As we do this, the mind will begin to observe a series of conditions which are indicative of progress to insight. These conditions of meditation practice are not very widely known or understood so it is very common for meditation students to misinterpret them and veer off the path of mindfulness. In order to succeed, we all need to practice meditation under the supervision of a qualified teacher. That is why we invite you to join us for a meditation retreat at our centre so that we can guide you towards what we all want out of life: happiness born of wisdom.