Tao Of Mindfulness

Words: Dr Rajgopal NIDAMBOOR

We all go through life like waves over matter, or slow, measured upsurges — a form of precise, or inventive, transformation. This is part of our time and space continuum. It defines us and contextualises our existence — of who we are, as self-regulating, independent entities, with each of us being as distinctive as our signature, or fingerprint.

This is the simile of our being too — it underlines our mindfulness, existence and thinking process, including the diversity of our evolution. Call it the self-effacing, abundant element of life, or what you may, despite the fact that most of us live more in our heads, rather than in the totality of our being.

It is a given that when we do not hold on to the light, or completeness, of our being, we are not whole — the sum of the parts and part of the whole. We remain disconnected, with no connexion to our own self, or others.

We can, if only we are willing, change the whole context, or essence, of it without much ado — what all this calls for is not rocket science, but the simple resonance of what we already know for nurturing the sum total of our being, while connecting ourselves more to our mind, body, and soul. This is because our life and existence present to us all the elements we can perceive, grasp, or distinguish, within and outside of the endless activity of our mind, or body, if only we listen to them in full measure.

Nature Nurtures

Nature has bestowed us with the aptitude to channelise our own innermost assets to the full — this is a key feature that drives us to engage ourselves through our inner, resident soul, and turn things around from the inside out, whenever required. It is up to us to use this celestial gift to take part in our own gradations of action and creativity — to live well in a dispassionate, accepting manner.

It is this thrusting action behind every action that compels us to doing better, also one’s best, at every step. This uplifting idea works on that vibrant loop called conscious awareness. The result is simple — a strong yen to become explicitly useful to self and also others.

There are good people all around, all right, some of them with great individual, or personal, capacities and qualities. They are people with augmented mindfulness — the power to be what they want to be. It is this abundant aspect of mindfulness that places them at the drivers’ seat, as it were. They achieve because they envision and execute what they espouse into action. When you are in their company, you are also raised to a refined level of conscious awareness.

This whole progression plays a fundamental role in the conservation of our optimal health and well-being too. However, when there are alterations — positive, or negative — in our consciousness they bring physical, emotional and mental subtexts. From good perception, attitude, and harmony to forgetfulness, confusion, loss of sensitivity, as also anxiety and hyperacidity, aside from other functional and systemic disorders, like diabetes and hypertension.

Such functional changes bring in certain implications in every tissue and cell of our body too. This could trigger a plethora of cascading secondary effects. The resultant upshot is apparent — a breakdown in our activity pattern, or flow of energy. When this subtle variation happens on a chronic footing, it leads to compromised health. This is why the whole process of recovery, or restoration, of health and wellness may, at times, take a long time. The more one gets stuck with long-term health issues, the more difficult it is to resolve them. The result is protracted therapy, including its inevitable spin-offs — stress, anxiety, and depression.

Road To Optimal Wellness

The best thing that any of us could do is making, not just attempting, a constant and resolute effort towards optimal health, while heeding to our body signals and improving the quality and depth of our conscious awareness. In simple terms, we should learn to unlock ourselves from meaningless observations and trepidations. To achieve this position is not easy. We have to apparently use our intuitive and intelligent mind with better judgment, foresight, and sensitivity. This will take us to a new upland — it will help us to untangle ourselves from our made-up emotions and moods. It will also help us to realise ourselves as spiritual individuals — not just a physical body with a mind and soul. The rest is explicable — when our sense of spiritual self-consciousness swells, it elevates us to a higher level of consciousness. Call it the mystical, or cosmic, consciousness — or, what you may.

This seems unpretentious, yet again, on the surface, but it is actually weighty and intense. This is because no matter the quantum of our life’s familiarities, or similarities, there are certain thought processes that are not perpetual. They are merely ephemeral; not long-lasting. It is only when we achieve a steady state of constant, persistent awareness of our true self, that our conscious awareness becomes long-lasting, also achieving. This is, in its totality, not just spiritual oneness, but also its fusion with the ‘divine in us.’

All of us have the proclivity to believe that our self-consciousness is, for the most part, a cogent process. Hence, the idea — that conscious-awareness of the ‘divine in us’ should apparently be a spiritual process. For most people who dig into and are engrossed with their spiritual awareness, their intent is obvious — to retain and embrace the ‘divine in everything’ at all times.

The most interesting part is when one embarks on their perpetual voyage for the ‘divine context,’ one is certain to understand that the crux of self-awareness and conscious-awareness of the divine is as much related to the mind as one’s inner, ‘inhabitant’ soul. What does this suggest? That true consciousness, including what philosophers and mind scientists refer to as ‘mindfulness’ is the central core of our entire being, a transcendent prism that epitomises the breath of life — prana, or chi — juxtaposed by the syntax of all our feelings and emotions. Conventional medicine calls it immunity, or immune defence, while mind-body, integrative, and complementary and alternative medicine [CAM] refers to its whole, archetypal context as our inner healing instrument that we are all endowed with.

This is nothing short of our own conscious compass or radar — the most persuasive healing force that exists within each of us. It supplements and thrusts every function and process of our body. It ‘jazzes-up’ our normal therapeutic processes with a spurt of health-giving energy that directly impacts every bit of illness. It leads to what we call as ‘complete’ cure, while presaging the flowing influence of our expanding spiritual consciousness that incorporates everything in us. It includes our thoughts, thinking, tissues, cells, or anything that you’d relate to — within us and outside of us. It is not just a feeling, but a revelation that each of us has in full measure to epitomise our whole mindful experience, while looking at a wholly new accommodating perspective to ‘up’ the ante of our being for a higher purpose.

Dr RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR, PhD, is a wellness physician-writer-editor, independent researcher, critic, columnist, author and publisher. His published work includes hundreds of newspaper, magazine, web articles, essays, meditations, columns, and critiques on a host of subjects, eight books on natural health, two coffee table tomes and an encyclopaedic treatise on Indian philosophy. He is Chief Wellness Officer, Docco360 — a mobile health application/platform connecting patients with Ayurveda, homeopathic and Unani physicians, and nutrition therapists, among others, from the comfort of their home — and, Editor-in-Chief, ThinkWellness360.

[This article was first published October 10, 2021].

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