Weekly Dipa Ma

The message in the image is a simple but very deep teaching about mindfulness and suffering, attributed to Dipa Ma.

Meaning
“Human beings will never solve all their problems.”
Life will always contain difficulties—work pressure, relationships, financial concerns, health issues, uncertainty, loss, and changes. We may solve one problem, but another will eventually arise. So waiting for a completely problem-free life is unrealistic.

“The only way is to bring mindfulness to wherever you are suffering.”
Instead of immediately trying to escape, suppress, or fight unpleasant experiences, bring awareness to them.

​For example:
* When you are angry → know, “Anger is present.”
* When you are worried → know, “Worry is present.”
* When you are afraid → know, “Fear is present.”
* When you are rushing → know, “I am rushing.”

You don’t necessarily have to stop the experience. First, be aware of it.

“Meditation is always possible, at any time.”

Meditation is not limited to sitting quietly for 30 minutes. Mindfulness can happen while:
* walking
* eating
* travelling
* working
* talking to someone
* waiting
* even rushing to the office

The important thing is to know what is happening while it is happening.

“If you are rushing to the office, be mindful of rushing.”

This is particularly beautiful. It doesn’t mean you have to stop rushing and sit down to meditate.

You can simply notice:

“My body is moving quickly. My mind is hurried. There is tension.”

That moment of knowing is itself mindfulness.

“If you can only find 5 minutes a day to meditate, do that.”

Don’t think:
“I don’t have enough time to meditate.”

Five minutes of sincere practice is better than waiting for the perfect circumstances.

The deeper message is:
Don’t wait for life to become peaceful before practising mindfulness. Practise mindfulness in the middle of life as it actually is.

This is also close to an important Buddhist principle: we cannot always control what happens, but we can develop awareness of what is happening in the mind.

In short:
You don’t need to solve every problem before you can be peaceful. Learn to be aware of the mind while the problem is happening.