meaning

Mindfulness and Meaning

My Mindfulness approach to understanding the meaning of our experiences came as quite a shock to me. As a typical person brought up in a culture stressing the importance of finding meaning in our lives and the world around us I spent many years searching for those answers. I never really settled on a final explanation and meaning. I will leave that to other fields like quantum physics and mechanics which seem so tantalizingly close to making great breakthroughs in these age old questions.

When I started my mindfulness practice many years ago I was drawn in by the allure of paying close attention to all things “present moment”…breath, body, emotions, thoughts etc. with the expectation that if I was diligent in my practice an explanation and meaning for everything would eventually come to me. As I paid close attention to being present I did begin to imagine explanations for many things but was still unable to come to an understanding of the meaning of things.

After a few years I started to get tired of looking for meaning and explanations so decided to simply fully experience the present moment without trying to ascribe any meaning or explanation to it. That meant letting go of trying to find the meaning of why I thought the way I did, had certain emotions and bodily makeup and responses. It was difficult to do as I had been brought up in our culture of looking for meaning in everything. As I was able to let go of the search for meaning I discovered the doorway into a deeper experience of the present moment. There was a dramatic shift in the way I saw and experienced things. There was also a dramatic sense of freedom and adventure unfolding. I have continued to use this approach in my practice and at my classes at MBSR Phoenix/Scottsdale and it has paid dividends in my ability to fully experience life, sustain a sense of freedom and wonderment and participate in the adventure of life. It has also allowed me to more fully impart these things to others.

I have learned that there is a lot more to life than what meets the eye and that there is no need to figure it all out.