14 - H4H News: Tune into Essence with Mindfulness





Synopsis: Hope for Humanity News is a series of three to five-minute weekly podcasts designed to educate, inspire, and comfort listeners during these challenging, but hopeful times. 

Hi everyone! Welcome to Hope for Humanity News! I’m Reverend Joan Kistler.

We’ve been discussing the difference between the ego and Essence, particularly how the ego is threatened by the present moment and therefore uses all kinds of tactics to drive us away from it – like judgment, negative emotions, and time pressures.

Essence, however, longs to experience the present moment fully – just as it is – through our human consciousness. Essence rewards us with feelings of love, peace, and joy when we tune into it.

Most of us would much rather tune into the love, peace, and joy of Essence than the judgment, negativity, and stress of the ego. We suggested that one of the ways to tune out the ego and tune into Essence is the practice of mindfulness.

What is mindfulness?

Most of us are largely unaware of our thoughts because we are often totally absorbed in them. In fact, much of the time, when we are doing something, especially something routine like driving a car, our thoughts are often about something else. How often do we drive from one place to another and have no memory of how we got there? That’s because we spent the entire time lost in thought about some past or future event.

Mindfulness is simply the practice of keeping our thoughts focused on what’s going on now rather than allowing our minds to wander into the ego’s favorite storytelling realms of past and future. So, when we are driving, we monitor our thoughts to make sure they stay focused on the act of driving.

If our thoughts wander off the task at hand, we simply bring them back. We might have to do this every five seconds, but that’s OK. The important thing is to notice when we have lost the present and bring our focus back.

Of course, the ego will have something to say about this practice. It will say, “You see! You can’t do it. Don’t waste your time!” You might even feel feelings of frustration and despair creep up with these thoughts. Just notice these thoughts and feelings without identifying with them. Then let them go.

Mindfulness gives us the opportunity to experience life’s moments purely – without them getting distorted by the ego’s judgments and stories. It’s simple, but it’s not easy. That’s why it’s called a practice. You have to keep practicing to reap the rewards of more peace and less stress.

Another way to tune out the ego and tune into Essence is to practice meditation.

What is meditation?

Tune in next week!


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