Unexpected Freedom

Unexpected Freedomon cultivating mindfulness in this discipline of attention. Iuse the word discipline not in some brutal regimental waybut in a sense of giving direction to something that’sdynamic and alive. So long as our minds are still swayed bydeluded preferences, if we give no direction to our attentionthen it will just go anywhere and everywhere.Mindfulness and ConfidenceWith feeling, with skill and with sensitivity, we learn to applythe discipline of attention, and so we discover for ourselves anaturally increasing strength of mindfulness. Experiencingthis brings with it an increase of faith and confidence. Evenwhen there are very difficult and challenging situations,whether global, individual, inner, or outer, there is a feeling ofstrength there with which we can meet those situations.When we have developed mindfulness we won’t turn awayfrom them. We won’t necessarily like them of course, butour conditioned likes and dislikes will no longer determinehow we respond.If we discover this power of mindfulness, we won’t feel sothreatened. It’s like having a back problem; your back isgiving out all the time, and there are lots of things that youcan’t do because of this weakness in your back. You findyourself a good physiotherapist who teaches you some exercisesthat give you just the right sort of strength in the rightplace, and you find that you’ve got your confidence backagain. You can do things that you weren’t able to do before.As you experience physical strength, so you feel confidence.So it is with spiritual strength. Through the cultivation of thespiritual faculty of sati or mindfulness, confidence and trustin life grows.44