Adventures in Enlightenment: Mindfulness

OK, experiment for this month will be an old, old, old school technique: mindfulness. I've thought about this topic and even tried it in a casual way off and on for years. Most recently I've seen it discussed by Sam Harris and Susan Blackmore among others. If nothing else mindfulness is the ultimate pragmatic spiritual practice. "Don't take my word for it, just try it".

As usual I'll play around with what is interesting to try and what is "working", but as a first pass I'll try the following:

- Read this mindfulness description and suggestions.
- Try 6 minutes of sitting in as close to a lotus position as I can and try the various mindfulness exercises. Why 6 minutes, because time is money my friend. Why the lotus position? Hopefully the discomfort will prevent me from falling asleep. If I happen to have more time or the practice is interesting this time slot will go up.
- Try to remember at least three times per day to do an "in the moment" awareness exercise.
- If I'm feeling ambitious, crack open my copy of "Where ever you go, there you are" and read an occasional chapter.

OK, let's try my first micro-zazen and see how that goes.

... 6 minutes later ...

Well, I'm not *quite* enlightened yet and ouch!

So it goes...