Zen Master Dahui talked about the place “where the road of words and speech ends” (言語道斷) and “where the domain of mental activity disappears” (心行處滅). Meditation is connecting with that place through immediate experience – What’s right in front you, right now?
Mindfulness is letting go of thinking and judgment, and returning to the mind before thinking, before judgment. Nonjudgmental awareness is just that, being fully present before the judging and thinking mind kicks in.
Have you ever experienced the mind before thinking appears? Have you ever experienced the mind before judgment appears? This mind is not controlled by thinking and judgment. Nonjudgmental awareness just reflects this moment, like a mirror.
When you eat ice cream, when you jump into a pool, when you hug a loved one, you already connect with this mind. It’s a bright and clear mind, in that moment before it’s clouded by thinking, analyzing, and judgment.
Of course, we lose this mind because we go right back into habitual thinking and mental chatter. But with mindfulness technique, we can return to this mind before judgment, before thinking. Then, more and more, we can live our life from this mind.
Photo by: RR
Mindfulness FAQ 