The art of living is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

 - Alan Watts

 

We have much to gain from the idea of mindfulness, from a study of Buddhist practices that are being offered today by everyone from Pema Chodron and Thich Nhat Hanh to Eckhart Tolle. Each of these teachers, as well as Mr. Watts quoted above and many others, presents a different approach to and different appreciation of the power of being present, the capacity fully to be engaged in one's life and the self-healing that occurs as more and more we insist on not abandoning ourselves to the whims of the world around us, to staying present with ourselves.

 

As Vedic meditators encountering these other approaches, we are doubly blessed. Our familiarity with the Vedic world view and our experience of connectedness each time we meditate allows for the possibility of a deep and profound understanding of these other ideas; and the continuing release of stresses from our system in our meditation makes it easier with each passing day for us to choose the joy of the here and now over the suffering of speculation.

 

Today I will open myself to the idea that each moment is utterly new and unique. I will look past the familiar in every situation to see what is not.

 

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