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Right Mindfulness, the seventh step on the Noble Eight-Fold Path, might even be called the escalator to enlightenment. Fortuitously, the timeless teachings of mindfulness also seem tailor-made for today’s fast-paced world. Many Westerners, in fact, have already benefitted from the truths contained within Right Mindfulness even if they haven’t recognized their roots in Buddha Dharma. To get a sense of how mindfulness teachings have become part of our culture and are at the root of a significant part of New Age philosophy. Consider all the books, articles, and personal-growth techniques reminding us to “let go and live in the moment,” to “be present,” to “live a conscious life,” to “slow down,” and to be “in touch with our feelings.” Conscious presence, here and now, is the lesson of mindfulness. It’s one we all need.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING,

AND WHY ARE YOU DOING IT?

Once years ago in China, a young monk asked his Zen master, “What is enlightenment? What is it like for you?” The master replied, “When I eat, I eat. When I sleep, I sleep.”

Most of us are not usually paying attention to what we actually do and say. We are not really eating when we eat; we are not really sleeping when we sleep. Our minds are distracted and our thoughts are scattered. Too often we are either lamenting about and clutching at the past, or anticipating and fearing the future. Instead of fully inhabiting our bodies and experiencing our experience, we’re semiconscious at best—not fully present, barely aware. This sad state is reflected by the foolish and mindless things we do as we whizz along life’s fast lanes as if driving on autopilot.

We become so busy and we scurry about so quickly that we forget to stay in touch with who we are, what we are, and what we are doing. In this way, we miss the beauty; we miss the sadness; we miss the actuality, the full texture of our lives. We miss the truth of our experiences, moment to moment. Our lack of mindfulness makes us careless: Often we hurt others without thinking or sometimes even without noticing we’ve done so. And we hurt ourselves. We keep falling asleep at the switch of our lives, leaving ourselves vulnerable to all kinds of accidents, both physical and emotional.

Not fully aware, we step on the ant—or worse. Not paying attention to our lives in the immediacy of the present moment, we look up only to find ourselves embroiled in disastrous personal relationships. Not present for our loved ones, we find ourselves with alienated children and angry mates. The direct human repercussions caused by a lack of mindfulness and awareness are omnipresent—from misplaced keys to misdirected lives. Present awareness and mindfulness implies an understanding of what we are doing and saying. This sounds simple enough. But it isn’t easy to live fully in the present moment; it isn’t easy to sustain clear awareness and mindfulness.

One day, on three-year retreat, our teacher Nyoshul Khenpo, writing in the Tibetan language, used a Magic Marker to scrawl the following spontaneous words on a large paper towel. He tacked the paper towel on the inside of the wooden gate separating our enclosed forest cloister from the dirt road leading to the outside world. We were so inspired by it that we wrapped the paper in Saran Wrap to protect it from the elements and left it hanging there as a constant reminder to stay awake.

THE MIRROR OF MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness is the root of the Dharma.

Mindfulness is the body of practice.

Mindfulness is the fortress of the mind.

Lack of mindfulness will allow the negative forces to overcome you.

Without mindfulness you will be swept away by laziness.

Lack of mindfulness is the creator of evil deeds.

Without mindfulness and presence of mind,

Nothing can be accomplished.

Lack of mindfulness piles up shit.

Without mindfulness you sleep in an ocean of piss.

Without mindfulness you are like a heartless zombie, a walking corpse.

Our teacher wished to remind us that without the vital heart of awareness practice, mere form and ritual is