Advice to the novices

Dear friends

I have to advice you on the moment to moment mindfulness.

If we think this is a hard task or an impossible task then you would never make a good effort. Since at the start you will be disheartened. Make a commitment to practice 5 minutes then keep on increasing.

In the start you may concentrate on one word. I remember a story of a monk who was practising mindfulness on attika sanga(mindful on the skeleton)
The monk was practising mindfulness using one word "atti" which meant bones. Then one day the monk was walking towards the village and a woman came running on the same road. And when the woman laughed at the monk the monk was so mindful of the bones and monk did not notice the woman but the monk noticed the bones and skeleton.

Then a husband of that woman also came running on the same road. And when he saw the monk,he asked the monk whether the monk so a woman running.

The monks reply was 'I DID NOT SEE WHETHER ITS A MAN OR A WOMAN. BUT A SKELETON WENT RUNNING PASSED ACROSS.'

There is a great lesson behind this. The concentration of the monk was so intense on the object of  mindfulness. That he did NOT SEE the forests but he saw the tree.

There is a dammapada verse given by lord Buddha "wanan jindatha ma rukkan".
Meaning cut the forest but not the trees.

If you are mindful then you will concentrate on the object and not on the outside noise which is colouring the view of the worldling.