Ghosts Among Us - James Van Praagh [79]
Along with meditation, I also find it beneficial to surround myself with things I love. For instance, I love flowers and gardens, so I choose to go outside and take part in that which brings me joy and love. The Universal Law of “like attracts like” is key in understanding that our environment influences us in profound and enlightening ways. Merely by watering my garden and planting flowers, I am brought into a state of beauty and oneness with all that surrounds me.
MINDFULNESS
As thinking beings, our minds are constantly running some kind of commentary about the reality of the world around us as well as the world within us. To be mindful is to keep the mind from wandering so as to gain a focus on or awareness of the present moment. In my workshops, I often describe the simple truth of mindfulness in this way: The past has already happened, there is nothing you can do about it, so why give it “worry energy”? The future has yet to happen, so there is nothing about it to be concerned about. The only thing you can control is the present moment. As the spiritual teacher and author Eck-hart Tolle says, mindfulness is “living in the now.” By bringing your focus back to the “now” moment, you can begin to experience the fullness of your inner and outer realities and make a conscious decision about how you want to use your thoughts. Do your thoughts have merit? Are they building something positive for your life experience? Are your thoughts trivial, judgmental, or invalid?
When I started the practice of mindfulness—and believe me, I had to practice daily until it became a habit—it really was amazing to witness how much garbage came out of my head. As I analyzed my thoughts, I noticed that many of them were based on insecurity, fear, and judgment. On the flip side, I had many creative, imaginative, forgiving, compassionate, and loving thoughts as well. I also noticed that I was in a habit of picking up other people’s energy and making their issues mine. Interestingly, when I was with a group of people or in a particular situation, I would often prejudge the people or the situation before experiencing it. This was especially difficult for me because, as an intuitive individual, I am constantly receiving impressions, so I had to use enormous discernment to distinguish between my ego mind and something coming to me from spirit. I had to learn to be in the moment and not judge it. When I did manage to be in the present moment, however, I noticed how much more fun I had and how much more freedom I felt.
Often people think that they can only be truly happy by changing the circumstances in their outer world, but I have found that once you begin to release judgments, attachments, and old habits, they are replaced by happiness. When you don’t hold on to these things, you have more room for happiness.
Judgment is a difficult thing to let go of because, when we judge something or someone, we are giving it life. When we step outside of judgment and let someone just be, we start to observe life without getting caught up in the drama.
I am often asked if one must meditate to understand mindfulness. The answer is no. I know that a lot of people have a difficult time meditating and don’t want to be so formal about it. You can be mindful every day in the ordinary situations that come up. For instance, I practice mindfulness by sitting in the garden and looking at a tree. The weather may change, but the tree just stands there. I know the tree is not analyzing the weather conditions, but merely experiencing them. I also experience mindfulness by observing the goldfish swimming around the small pond in my garden. The goldfish are not judging their environment; they are merely swimming around in the water and being goldfish.
I recommend that you get into the rhythm of practicing simple mindfulness every day. Taking charge of your thoughts will bring you unprecedented freedom.
THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE
As spiritual beings, we chose to come back to this earth at this exact