Tools and Practices for Mindfulness Development

Tools and Practices for Mindfulness Development
Recognize the sleep of unawareness. These things keep us asleep:
Being unaware that we are asleep.
Being unaware that we can choose to be awake.
Not choosing it.
Presuming that we are already fully aware.
Believing that we are already good.
Negative emotions and our attachment to them.
Justifying our negative emotions.
Automatic habits.
Constant inner talking.
Fear of change.
Spiritual laziness.
Allowing ourselves to be swept up in the current of our responses to life.
Fearful emotions:
insecurity,
embarrassment,
impatience,
self-pity,
dread, anxiety, worry, nervousness,
criticizing,
hopelessness,
depression, despair, and jealousy.
Discipline your mind to be aware.
Stop and silence negative thoughts and negative emotions.
Silence justifications. Never accept your justifications for your negative emotions.
Don't believe fear. Fear opposes faith.
Don't consent to anger. Angry emotions have violence in them.
Remember why you are choosing to overcome your anger.
It is unhealthy physically, mentally and spiritually.
It wastes your energy and life force.
It never produces goodness.
To not allow yourself to be under the dominion of changing circumstances.
To choose to act, not just react to life.
To become more than only the result of what has done to you.
Practice not criticizing, not objecting, not exerting or expressing your opinions and attitudes.
Silence negative inner talking.
Think of scale and relativity, your universal significance and what is really important.
For a moment, stand outside of the stream of events and your responses.
Sense your real self above them and outside them.
Become aware of your unique individuality and become aware of your relative insignificance.
Become aware of your connectedness with all things.
Quiet your mind by thinking about what is good and worthy and beautiful.
Stop thinking about yourself and how you feel, and what you like and what you don't like, and whether you approve or not of every person and event.
Consciously give your attention and time to whatever good things inspire you.
Realize and accept that you alone are responsible for all of your actions and their consequences in the world.
Accept not being understood.
Accept injustice, judgment, condemnation, slander, gossip, and your insufficiency . . . and return good for evil, forgiveness for offense.
Stop complaining. It is noisy and there is no "Thy will be done" in it.
Stop taking offense. Humility is not offendable.
Release your requirements that other people be how you think they should be.
Release your expectations of life and circumstances and your need to be satisfied by them.
Live the fruits of the spirit whether you are satisfied or not.
Stop thinking that you deserve better. No one deserves anything.
Give up having to have the last word.
Don't worry about the impression you make on others.
Sacrifice your need to be right.
Don't speak negatively about any other person.
Refuse to listen to, believe, or participate in gossip.
Give up being impatient. It is the vanity of wanting your will now over God's timing.
Stop thinking about what other people are thinking about you.
Refuse to accept your justifications for acting badly.
Practice being scrupulously honest with yourself and other people.
Whatever you do, do it to please God. Who else do you have to impress?
Strive for purity of heart.
In purity you will find peace and humility.
In humility you will find freedom, authenticity, and serenity.
Process for Spiritual Development
Aim: Loving God, goodness, purity, servanthood.
Acquire knowledge to know what you must do to live out your aim.
Know thyself and know what to do about thyself.
Direct your attention to become aware of what is going on inside you, in your thoughts and emotions.
Observe yourself with:
scathing honesty,
perseverance,
integrity and patience.
Use discernment to recognize how and when you are outside God's will which is always good.
Practice STOP toward your negative thoughts and feelings.
Practice silence toward them one at a time.
Create a separation between your authentic self and your automatic habits of thoughts, feelings, attitudes and opinions.
Choose what you consent to think, feel and do.
Choose goodness before gratification -- what you know to be good rather than what feels good.
Sacrifice, give up, your negative emotions. Don't condemn yourself for them. Change them.
Do not allow yourself to express negative emotions out loud.
Make yourself passive to your automatic reactions.
Make your internal responses quiet so that you can act with intentionality.
Release your requirements of life, people and circumstances.
Release your desire for satisfaction.
Willingly bear your necessary suffering, including all the efforts you must make to develop spiritual maturity and obedience.
Remember that Mindfulness nature is one thing and that is perfect Goodness.