Think Like The Buddha: 108 Days Of Mindfulness

By Victor Parachin

This book presents mindfulness teachings via short insights or meditations. Unlike many other books on mindfulness, which provide a lot of theoretical explanation?they “tell” about the subject?this manuscript “shows” the reader with teaching stories how to put mindfulness into daily life.

Mindfulness simply means being alert, aware, attentive moment by moment. The simplest definition of mindfulness is mental scrutiny. The Buddha was consistently speaking about the practice and realization of mindfulness. When asked, “Who are you, my friend?” the Buddha replied directly and concisely: “I am awake!” Though that answer was an unusual way to define himself, it pointed to the essence of Buddha’s teaching.

When we have that mind skill, the result of our living is positive, as the Buddha noted: “All wholesome words, deeds and thoughts have mindfulness as their root.” However, if the mind is not trained, the result of our living will show up much the opposite, marked by forgetfulness and neglect.

The readings in this book offer gentle reminders about how to be mindful in our daily thoughts, words and actions. All too often we “forget” to be present. We neglect to be mindful when eating, listening, speaking, working, studying, seeing the sunrise and the sunset, being with friends or sipping a cup of tea. As a result, we fail to live our lives to their fullest potential and experience the joy of living.

The Buddha, who was the planet’s most prominent practitioner of mindfulness, taught this technique to others. This book, Think Like the Buddha, offers reflections for 108 days of mindfulness. The stories and lessons are brought together to provide insight, information, instruction and inspiration for the reader to cultivate this practice daily. The book is very “user friendly”?immediately applicable regardless of any background in Buddhism, and is thus useful to complete beginners.

Mindfulness is more than stress release, or mental focus. It cannot be separated it from the ethical framework of Buddhism. Think Like The Buddha retains this ethical component of Buddhism from which mindfulness is derived. The stories and teachings in this book cover a wide variety of specific topics, from divorce, to illness, to losing a job, to determining a course of action. All these meditations are infused with the message of compassion that all today are hungering for.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hohm Press
• Release date: Jul 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781942493624

Book preview

Parachin

The 108 Days

DAY 1

Abandon and Cultivate

Happiness depends on properly cultivating what is wholesome and discarding what is unwholesome.

—Sonam Rinchen

Here’s a simple yet foundational teaching from the Buddha:

Abandon what is unskillful. One can abandon the unskillful. If it were not possible, I would not ask you to do so. If this abandoning of the unskillful would bring harm and suffering, I would not ask you to abandon it. But as the abandoning of the unskillful brings benefit and happiness, therefore, I say, Abandon what is unskillful!

Having read that, pause to ask yourself: What’s not working well in my life? What area is unskillful and no longer serves me well? This could be anything from a job, a career, a relationship, an addiction, etc. Once identified, do what the Buddha advises: Abandon what is unskillful in order to experience more benefit and happiness.

There’s a second part to the Buddha’s teaching:

Cultivate that which is skillful. One can cultivate the skillful. If it were not possible, I would not ask you to do it. If this cultivation of the skillful would bring harm and suffering, I would not ask you to cultivate it. But as the cultivation of the skillful brings benefit and happiness, therefore, I say, Cultivate that which is skillful!

Now, having read this second part of his teaching, pause to ask yourself: What brings me a great deal of satisfaction, pleasure, joy and happiness in life? Once identified, then do more of that, because these activities or attitudes bring you more benefit and happiness.

It is really just that simple!

DAY 2

Giving Mindfully

The true spirit of giving is to benefit others at the expense of oneself.

—Yin Shun

Generosity and giving are important virtues in Buddhism. However, there’s a right way and a less skillful way to give. Yin Shun (1905-2005), a Chinese Master, addressed ways to give mindfully offering these Seven Don’ts When Giving:

1. Don’t give under pressure. One may not want to give automatically but because someone comes to the door to beg (or sell), one may feel awkward about refusing and give reluctantly, Yin Shun writes. It was the reluctant giving which made it a weak action.

2. Don’t give from fear. Avoid making a donation out of fear that you will be viewed negatively if you do not contribute.

3. Don’t give from indebtedness. Because one has obtained benefits from others, one may offer to return such kindnesses. This is merely paying a debt, Yin Shun notes.

4. Don’t give expecting a reward. This applies to giving in order to be liked or to have the favor returned.

5. Don’t give merely to follow family traditions. Just because your family has supported a specific charity doesn’t mean you have to do the same. Doing so runs the risk of simply giving as a thoughtless, routine family habit and may lack sincerity.

6. Don’t give as a way to ask for divine good fortune. This one refers to those who give to television evangelists or other spiritual leaders anticipating that their donation will later bring them a larger blessing or return.

7. Don’t give for the sake of fame. This way of self-serving giving is evident, for example, in those who make substantial donations in order to have a building named after themselves.

Yin Shun concludes this teaching saying: One should give properly, with deep compassion and respect.

DAY 3

Meditation and Mindfulness

Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance.

—Buddha

A clear link between mindfulness and meditation is provided by Dr. David DeSteno, a professor of psychology at Boston’s Northeastern University. He wanted to test whether or not meditation actually produced mindfulness (or greater awareness). Keeping in mind that the Buddha’s awakening was the result of his meditation practice, Dr. DeSteno and a group of colleagues recruited thirty-nine people who were willing to take an eight-week course in meditation. None of them had practiced previously. The researchers then randomly assigned twenty recruits to take part in weekly meditation classes combined with home practice using guided recordings. The remaining nineteen were told that they had been placed on a waiting list for a future course.

After the eight-week period of instruction, test subjects were invited to the lab for an experiment that purported to examine their memory, attention and related cognitive abilities. Unknown to the members of the study group, what Dr. DeSteno wanted to know was whether there would be a difference in awareness and compassion between the meditating group and the non-meditators. To test this, he and his colleagues staged this situation. When a participant entered the lab waiting area, he/she found three chairs, two of which were already occupied. Naturally, that person sat in the free chair. As he/she waited, a fourth person—an actor—entered the room, audibly sighing in pain and using crutches and wearing a boot for a broken foot.

With no chairs available, that actor leaned against the wall. Again, unknown to the test subject, the other two people seated on chairs were also actors and had been instructed to ignore the person on crutches. Thus, the test subjects were, one by one, presented with a moral dilemma: should they give up their chair or remain seated, ignoring the suffering person’s plight?

Dr. DeSteno says the results were striking. Only sixteen percent of the non-meditating group gave up their seats while fifty percent of the meditators did. Meditation produced a mindfulness (or an awakened awareness) that increased the compassionate response threefold.

To deepen mindfulness in your daily life, consider adding times of mediation into the mix. Motivate yourself toward a meditation practice by reflecting on this wisdom from the Buddha: Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back and choose the path that leads to wisdom.

DAY 4

Why Not Become a Buddha?

Enjoy being a buddha. When you sit, allow the buddha in you to sit. When you walk, allow the buddha in you to walk. Enjoy your practice. If you don’t become a buddha, who will?

—Thich Nhat Hanh

The Buddha was very direct and clear that he was not a god but just a human being. Therefore, the path to enlightenment and liberation that he discovered is accessible to any other human. Based on his own experience, he taught and modeled the reality that we can improve ourselves, living with purpose and happiness. The Buddha summarized his teachings in the Noble Eightfold Path to guide us:

1. Right view. Accept life the way it is rather than clinging to the way we wish it to be.

2. Right thought. Develop yourself to be a person who is positive and optimistic not negative and cynical.

3. Right speech. No gossip, no lying, no misrepresenting oneself and others. Very simple.

4. Right action. Respond rather than react to life.

5. Right livelihood. Do work that is right for you, for others, for the planet. The Buddha discouraged working in these five businesses: business in weapons, business in human beings, business in meat, business in intoxicants and business in poisons.

6. Right effort. Rise daily with joy and enthusiasm. Don’t give in to inertia and laziness.

7. Right mindfulness. Be present. The past is gone and the future is uncertain. Focus on now.

8. Right concentration. Meditate regularly. This practice provides a foundation of stability, peace, confidence and awareness.

DAY 5

Silence Deepens Mindfulness

When you become aware of silence, immediately there is that state of inner still alertness. You are present. You have stepped out of thousands of years of collective human conditioning.

—Eckhart Tolle

Most people do not recognize the name Alfred Julius Emmanuel Sorensen (1890-1984). That was his birth name. Later, he would be known as Sunyata, the Buddhist word for void or emptiness.

Sorensen was the youngest child born into a Danish farming family. Operating a farm, he was expected to join the family in that endeavor, thus ending his education at eighth grade. However, the family had to sell off the farm, so Sorensen entered a four-year apprenticeship in horticulture. Working large estates in Italy, France and finally England, in 1911. Rabindranath Tagore, the famous Indian poet and mystic, visited the estate Sorensen was working on and was impressed with the quality of Sorensen’s silence.

Now, think about this for a moment: what kind of quality can there be in silence that is attractive enough to be noticed and observed by others?

Tagore was so impressed with this quality that he invited Sorensen to teach silence at his school in India. At the age of forty, Sorensen journeyed to India and began to teach. He would remain there for more than four decades during which time he was given the name Sunyata. In India, he was a popular teacher of silence and received many visitors. However, he had no interest in popularity, power, fame or money, preferring to be alone. He built himself a stone hut in the foothills of the Himalayas (near Almora) where he lived simply.

In 1973, an American group invited him to visit and teach in California. At the age of eighty-four, he left India for California. This would become his final home where he taught silence until his death in 1984 at age ninety-three, the result of being struck by a car.

Silence is an important aspect for the deeper development of mindfulness, because silence brings clarity while activity often brings confusion. Consider increasing the quality of silence in your life.

Here are some ways to cultivate this silence:

• Turn off the electronics in your home one evening a week. This