Being mindful means being in the present moment, focusing on what lever you are doing without being distracted and without thinking of the past or future. Ajahn Suchart Abhijato from Wat Yannasangwararam explains more on sati (mindfulness) :
Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto: Dhamma for the Asking
July 28 at 8:00pm · “The term—mindfulness (sati)—means to be present in this particular place and moment. It means to be here and now.”
Reciting ‘Buddho’ frequently can be useful in certain situations. When you’re sleepy, you can recite it more continually. You can do this too when your mind is distracted. But if you’re not mindful, it doesn’t matter how repeatedly you recite it, your mind will still go astray.
So you have to train yourself to maintain mindfulness. You can’t avoid it. Without developing mindfulness, you’ll never make good progress in meditation practice. It won’t really work if you think that you can just maintain mindfulness during your sitting meditation. You have to be mindful at all times, no matter where you are and what you do.
The term—mindfulness (sati)—means to be present in this particular place and moment. It means to not think about the past or the future, no matter how immediate or distant. It means to be here and now—present with whatever you’re doing. You don’t need to think about other things. When you’re listening, only focus on listening. Don’t think about other things in order to benefit from listening.
If you keep thinking about other things while listening, it won’t really make sense. Whatever you’re listening to will merely be heard but not properly understood. You won’t be able to grasp it or know how things all come together. If there’s no mindfulness to control your mind, you won’t stop yourself from thinking about things.
By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto
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