The last 8 weeks, which officially ended with today's slated exercises, have been an amazing experience that have forever changed and enhanced my life. Although I have been a devout meditator for over 30 years now, I have always been frustrated with the activity of my inner mind. I have taken study courses and have read countless books on the topic, but have never allowed that on-going rambling to just sort of be without reacting to it. The MBSR course encouraged and guided me to not only become aware of the on-going mental noise, but to realize that everyone experiences this. I learned that the goal is to stop listening to it and giving it so much attention. Successfully navigating through that process in and of itself would have made the course life-altering. However, the positive realizations did not stop there! I began to realize that our mind, in its on-going chatter, is constantly making micro-judgments. It is continually evaluating and assessing absolutely everything in the world and comparing it to our memory, ala amygdala response. When we make these micro-assessments or judgments, they are actually not of any significance, as they are only based on our mind’s memory and comparison analysis. However, when we attach an emotion to that micro-judgment, it takes us on a journey that starts moving us further and further away from the moment. That is when we get "stuck”. We are no longer truly present and cannot allow the energy of the moment to just move through us without getting attached. That was what I had always read that the Buddha had stated, "ALL pain and suffering comes from attachment.
The next amazing revelation came about during the sessions focusing on compassion. I have always worked with heart-centered awareness. I have studied the works at HeartMath and I began this course wondering how I could integrate the two into my life. When I began the section on compassion, the answer became apparent very quickly. Mindfulness to me is in fact the act of compassion to self and to the world.
Logistically, the course was very well planned and executed. Many days, I found myself doing one or more long exercises just to enjoy the process. I never quite became a fan of the Body Scan, but perhaps that was due to meditating to music alone for so many years. After that step, I found the exercises were enjoyable and excellent. I not only read every assignment and gratefully viewed the videos, but most times, read the additional material as well. I was even inspired to order a few new books.
Thank you so much for making the course so readily available and for offering it to us all for free. It is such a tremendous blessing and I have shared your site with countless friends and colleagues in the hope that they too can and will receive some of the amazing insights that I have gleaned from this simple, yet profound program.
- Robert G.
"Letter of Learning"
from Robert G. in Tennessee
