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Do every act of your life as if it were your last.
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Mindfulness is a practice which originated from the Buddhist concept of Sati, and it has been developed as a meditation technique in both Zen and Tibetan Buddhism. Mindfulness has been popularised in the West for the last several decades as a way to overcome the stress and the pressures of modern life and to enhance one’s attention and concentration in dealing with daily tasks. It has also been adopted now by many health practitioners, including the National Health Service in the UK, which actively promotes mindfulness as a practice that is beneficial to our mental health.
Mindfulness and mental health (NHS UK)
There are now numerous apps available these days to aid one in the practice of mindfulness.
What is mindfulness?
Imagine that you are seeing a friend that you have known for a long time. You usually get together for a cup of coffee and share your life challenges and events and seek each other’s advice. You have been doing this for a long time and you have always had positive feedback and a pleasant outcome after seeing your friend. However, on this particular occasion, your friend acts very differently, for no apparent reason. Instead of listening sympathetically to your story, he takes a completely negative approach towards you. He harshly rebukes you for your actions and calls you “very stupid.”
Your immediate reaction is to feel hurt and become angry. There are two ways you can now deal with this situation:
- Let your hurt and anger overwhelm you and get swept away by negative feelings and emotions. You will then become defensive, perhaps raise your voice, and accuse your friend of total ignorance of the situation. Your anger has taken over and you have no control.
- Acknowledge the negative emotions that arise in you as a result of your friend’s harsh words, but not cling onto them. As hard as it is, you try not to take his rebukes personally. You detach yourself from the emotions, take a deep breath, and focus your attention on the present situation and your friend. Since you care deeply about him, you engage in calm dialogue to understand his reasons. You show genuine empathy and understanding in the face of his harsh words.
The second approach is acting in accordance with the principle of mindfulness.
The Character of Mindfulness
A simple characterisation of mindfulness would be paying attention to the contents of one’s consciousness without identifying them as belonging to oneself, clinging on to them, or giving any value to them. You simply notice the content of your consciousness as an impartial observer. The consequence is to begin to live in the present moment.
Most people live unhappy lives because they pay no attention to the present moment; instead, they focus on the future or the past, which is futile. The core insight of mindfulness is to point out that reality is always now.
Being mindful does not mean to think about your experiences, but rather to experience them more clearly. If you are angry, you become aware of your anger without identifying with it or following it into reaction. Observed in a dispassionate manner, the emotion soon disappears and is replaced by another thought or feeling.
Mindfulness also requires that we observe the quality of our experience at every moment—pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral—eventually letting go of the perception that there is an “I” or ego who is “observing.”
A Simple Practice
Find a quiet place and sit either cross-legged or in a chair. Shut your eyes and breathe normally. Pay attention to each inhale and exhale of your breath. When thoughts arise, observe them without identifying with them or being carried away. Continue focusing on the breath.
This sounds easy, but most people quickly find themselves distracted.
Beyond Neutrality
This neutral characterisation of mindfulness—overcoming stress or achieving mental health—makes it accessible and widely adopted, even by politicians, salespeople, corporations, or surgeons.
But in Buddhism, mindfulness was taught to overcome greed, delusion, and egotistical desires in order to achieve enlightenment: liberation from the illusory self and experience of limitless awareness as one with the cosmos.
This corresponds to concepts in Sufism: fana (annihilation of self) and baqa (subsistence in God).
Without a spiritual objective and right intention, mindfulness remains merely a skill—like driving, which can be used for travel or for smuggling goods.
In Sufism
The practice of zekr (remembrance of God) is similar to mindfulness, focusing on the breath while repeating God’s name, aiming to leave the ego behind. Initially it is dualistic—rememberer and remembered—but the aim is Oneness.
As the seeker gives himself to zekr, ego (nafs) diminishes until it disappears completely in God, like a drop merging into the ocean.
Love of the spiritual guide can also serve as a ladder to divine love. The guide helps redirect love toward all creation. This devotion was central in Alireza’s upbringing in Iran, as disciples expressed love toward his father, Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh.
But devotion has risks: seekers may have unrealistic expectations, or guides may fall into charlatanism. True spiritual love must be unconditional, free of worldly desires.
Love and Oneness
Unconditional love itself is sufficient to achieve mindfulness effortlessly: to live in the present moment and experience Oneness, even briefly.
Rumi illustrates this in the Mathnawi:
A lover knocked at the door of the beloved one day.
“Who is at the door?” the beloved asked.
“It is me,” he replied.
“Go away,” the beloved scolded. “There is no room for two I’s in this house.”
After burning in the fire of separation, the lover returned transformed. When asked again, he replied, “It is You.”
In Sufism, as in Buddhism, love or mindfulness can shatter the illusion of the self. Love arrives suddenly, not manufactured. Until then, mindful practice is a way to cultivate divine qualities and gradually liberate from the ego.