Coming to Our Senses Summary
5 min read ⌚
Healing Ourselves and the World through Mindfulness
Healing Ourselves and the World through MindfulnessHow often do you feel fed up with life? – You want to walk out on everything and start living on a mountain.
Perhaps, it’s not the geographical location that causes the trouble, nor the people around us, but the self-imposed ideas that we protect with our lives.
Who Should Read “Coming to Our Senses”? And Why?
“Coming to Our Senses” revives the society by explaining why should we pursue a real life-altering experience with the help of mindful meditation.
This book is perfectly designed to give you the edge you desperately need for handling the issues that arise almost endlessly.
About Jon Kabat-Zinn
Jon Kabat-Zinn is lauded as an expert in mindfulness and meditation. He is a best-selling author who focuses on alleviating emotional pain and reducing stress while endorsing proven methods.
Jon is the founder of Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
“Coming to Our Senses Summary”
How to define Mindfulness?
From the beginning of time, people have always been curious about the supernatural and how to find it. Even though it all started as one huge misconception, the practice of mindful meditation continued to change the lives of true wisdom-seekers throughout history.
It stimulates perception without judgment, and it disregards the analytical attitude towards everything that surrounds us. Mindfulness is more than just becoming the witness of thoughts – how they arise and vanish. It’s the substance of all creation, your only friend, who unlike the ego, doesn’t have hidden agenda.
For reaching such state, you need to move beyond the concept of meditation
As a person faces its end, it realizes how life passed with lightning speed, and there is little hope for slowing down the pace. However, to be truly in the presence of wisdom means to discover timelessness and spaciousness that are not time-bound.
The Buddha was among the first human beings who reached a state of total awareness, and absence of the egoic-consciousness through the practice of meditation. He imparted wisdom and taught his followers to remove their attachments to the external world.
Not adhering to anything will give you the opportunity to experience peace and inner harmony. Don’t cling to your concepts, methods, ideas, opinions, but be open to new experiences because every second brings new life.
Meditation is pretty tough to grasp for most people. It’s neither doing nor undoing/ it’s simply being. In such manner, one can transform its mind and instigate a new reign of peace instead of anger. When you reach such stage, beyond even transcending experience, you can begin sharing that wisdom without pronouncing a single word.
As we stated earlier, it’s critical to understand what mindful meditation represents. If you start meditating with an intention in mind, to do this, or become that – you will once again end up being deluded. To trigger that sense of peacefulness, one must master the art of “effortless non-doing,” and gradually absorb that position as natural.
It may seem surreal, but it’s our innate essence, and we must ignite it once again, with sincere approach and determination. This mental state reflects your ability to stay in the “here and now” without losing ground by resisting the temptation to trust your mind.
Why should you endorse full-scale transformation?
Practicing mindfulness consists of following some unwritten rules, such as stay alert, don’t pay too much attention to your thoughts, and start living in the now. Apparently, this is easier said than done. Don’t get discouraged because meditating doesn’t merely involve finding the perfect posture.
Self-awareness doesn’t change regarding external factors, so you can perform any mundane activity and still be fully present, and watchful. This state will ultimately lead to emotional stability, happiness, and satisfaction.
The real struggle
Pay extra attention to the energy flowing within your body, don’t get involved in the action, just remain the seer. With time, you’ll no longer be easy prey for your thoughts, and you’ll start to feel control and dominance over your mind.
Once you get the better of your mind, it’s only natural that you’ll become aware of subtler sensations. It’s irrelevant whether your eyes are open or closed, what does matter is that you stay effortlessly in the now.
How to Meditate
Many people are misled with the idea of attaining enlightenment. Don’t plunge into such shallow thinking patterns, because reaching an egoless state requires only one thing – paying attention.
The end goal is not the priority here, but what’s happening in the present. Buddhist call this Zazen, meaning that the purpose of life is to be aware. Stop drifting around, embrace the real life and stop chasing the future.
Key Lessons from “Coming to Our Senses”
1. Lying meditation for beginners
2. The obstacles along the path
3. Change your world
Lying meditation for beginners
Staying in the comfort of your home while meditating is perfect for anyone. So, before you ask – How should I implement this type of meditation, ask yourself – What am I trying to achieve?
Truthfully, many people start with a goal in mind, and Jon advises you not to do that. Each morning when you wake up, just remain in the same position while being fully alert to what’s happening. Repeat the process!
The obstacles along the path
Evidently, life has its ups and downs, but you should not get upset about it since your only concern is to return to your natural state.
The mind wants to get as far away as possible from the present moment; producing intense heat and restlessness from within.
However, that’s pretty much how it goes, and it’s not a sign of weakness.
Change your world
We all want to bring peace and love to the world, but what about us?
Don’t clean your neighbor’s yard before you have done that for yourself. Meaning that you are not obligated to act on behalf of everyone, allow compassion to enter your heart- that’s all.
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“Coming to Our Senses” Quotes
The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. Click To Tweet It is healing simply to be heard, to be met, to be seen, to be known. Click To Tweet Even and especially as we are being confronted with the law of impermanence and the inevitability of change, conditions we are subject to as individuals regardless of how much we resist or protest or try to control outcomes. If we wish to… Click To Tweet Coming to our senses involves cultivating an overarching awareness of all our senses, including our own minds, and their limitations, including the temptation when we feel deeply insecure and have a lot of resources, to try to control as… Click To Tweet Meditation is a way of being, not a technique. Click To Tweet
Our Critical Review
Not many self-help books cut right to the chase like this one.
Jon Kabat-Zinn once again provided exclusive masterpiece, drawn from its own experience and other life-examples.
Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.
