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Mindfulness and Healing
Since to climb to the sixth step you must abandon the fifth, non-attachment is essential—even for scientists—to leave one “truth” in order to discover another.
Thay’s core teaching is mindfulness of the present moment in every thought, emotion, and action.
• Four exercises of mindful breathing:
- Breathing in, know you are breathing in; breathing out, know you are breathing out.
- Follow your in-breath and out-breath all the way through to deepen concentration.
- Breathing in, be aware of your whole body; breathing out, allow it to release tension.
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Scan the body with mindfulness (eyes to heart to limbs), embracing any pain to accelerate healing.
• Walking meditation: link each step with in-breath (“I have arrived”) and out-breath (“I am home”) to cultivate solidity, freedom, and encounter life’s wonders.
Mindful consumption of the four nutriments is crucial for healing:
- Edible food—eat so compassion remains alive.
- Sensorial impressions—choose sights, sounds, conversations without toxins (anger, fear, despair).
- Volition—direct your deepest desire toward helping and protecting rather than punishing or craving.
- Consciousness—select environments and communities that think, speak, and act with compassion and understanding.
