In Pāli there is a very important term called yoniso manasikāra which has been translated as wise reflection and wise attention. The Buddha often emphasized the need for the application of wise reflection and attention in life. Wise reflection means to reflect or think in a wise way. And we need a lot of that, don’t we? In life so many things go wrong (as they do go right, too) and we must know how to reflect in such a way as to be able to keep our mind afloat and buoyant. By afloat here I mean not to let the mind sink into depression, or if it does become depressed, then not to let it stay that way for too long. This means that we should try to keep our mind either cheerful, happy, or calm, peaceful and equanimous. And for that, we need (besides mindfulness) to know how to reflect in such a way as to lift our mind out of the quagmire. There are many ways of reflection such as counting our blessings, look on the bright or positive side (that is, see the full half as opposed to the empty half), see how things could have gone worse (cheer up, for the worse is yet to come, ha! ha!, or cheer up, for soon we will all be dead anyway, so why worry so much?), compare ourselves with those that are worse off so as to appreciate that we are still quite fortunate, inject a sense or dose of humour (he who laughs at himself never ceases to be amused), understand the nature of life – the facts of impermanence, suffering and not-self (egolessness or the uncontrollabililty of events) and so on.

Now wise reflection also involves wise attention which means paying attention in a wise or proper manner. This means seeing or observing how the suffering has arisen. For example, we can notice how our unskilful attachment and grasping has contributed to our suffering. Through such understanding and realization we can begin the work of letting go, of relaxing our grip on our hold of things and people, of living lightly and happily. Life offers us a lot of lessons: there are lots of opportunities for us to learn – the question is do we learn or do we keep making the same mistakes? Expectations, for example, lead to disappointments. Can we, therefore, expect less and be less disappointed? Can we be content with little and find happiness in the good old fashioned values of caring and loving, of giving and serving?

Life has a lot to teach us but we have to pay careful attention in order to learn. Look inside yourself and look around – there are lessons to be gleaned everywhere. I like the way inspirational writer Dr Rachel Naomi Remen puts it. She said: “We are all here for a single purpose: to grow in wisdom and to learn to love better. We can do this through losing as well as through winning, by having and by not having, by succeeding or by failing. All we need to do is to show up openhearted for class. So fulfilling life’s purpose may depend more on how we play than on what we are dealt with.”

How true! Is it not how we play that counts, how we respond towards a certain situation, towards life, and all the things that happen to us in life? Sometimes kamma-vipāka (that is, the results of actions we have done in this or previous lives) may deal us certain blows or sufferings in life. But it is how we respond that can make a difference. For example, if we must or have to suffer we can choose to do so cheerfully or calmly, or we can choose to be depressed or angry. What we wish to emphasize here is we do have a choice as to how we respond, and how we make that choice is up to us. What’s important is to realize that what counts is the learning and growing, that is, whether we are growing wiser and kinder. If we are then we are doing fine, we are actually being successful, because ultimately that’s the success that counts – the loving better and becoming wiser and kinder.

Paying attention is also a form of mindfulness. It means observing the mind and body states that are arising and passing away in us all the time. Through such observation we will come to understand not only the specific characteristics of those states but also their impermanent nature – how they are just fleeting mind moments and material qualities which are constantly arising and passing away. We are not something fixed and unchanging but something flowing like a river. We are something changing and we can change for the better or worse depending on our choice. Of course having chosen to change for the better, we also need effort to bring about that change.

Seeing impermanence will lead us to understand the suffering or unsatisfactory and not-self nature of phenomena. All this understanding will lead to or culminate in a letting go of craving, anger and delusion. We will end up living more lightly, wisely and happily. For the Buddhist, however, living happily is not the ultimate goal of this practice of mindfulness: there is something further to strive for which is the attainment of Nibbana, the end of all rebirth and suffering.

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What we have shared here are only some aspects of the practice. There’s a lot more that can be written about mindfulness and the teachings of the Buddha. For us to live a more happy, peaceful, meaningful and fulfilling life, we need to cultivate the right values and attitudes. The Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path is a complete and holistic path that includes the factors of Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. We need to study all aspects of these path factors if we are to live meaningfully and exit from samsara, the cycle of birth and death.

We hope, however, that the little we have written here has whetted your appetite and that you will be inspired to read more books on the subject of mindfulness and meditation and various other aspects of the Buddha’s teachings.

May you find the peace and happiness that you seek in life. May all beings, too, be happy. May all be liberated from suffering.

In conclusion, may we offer this prayer for the well-being and happiness of all sentient beings in the universe:

May penetrating light dispel the darkness of ignorance.
May all kamma be resolved and the mind-flower of wisdom bloom
in Nibbana’s eternal spring.

May all those who are afflicted be affliction-free.
May they be serene through all their ills.
Even if bodily afflictions do not subside,
may we all be healed in heart and mind.

May all beings live in peace and harmony.
May they have health & wealth & comforts & friends that are true.
May they have skills, talents, & knowledge
& sweet success in all that they do.

May they have joy & happiness in abundance.

May all beautiful, great and noble virtues of – generosity, love, kindness, compassion, patience, fortitude, tolerance, forgiveness, honesty, courage, strength, energy, determination, resilience, perseverance, consideration, humility, gratitude, contentment, composure, serenity, wisdom, understanding and equanimity – be theirs.

May they attain full wisdom and enlightenment.

May they be liberated from all suffering.