保持正念应当是不费吹灰之力，最自然不过的事情。然而对我们这些习惯了心念散乱的众生来说，保持正念可能是令人畏惧的差事。我们越是没有正念，就越加强化我们心念散乱的习性，那么正念的境界就更加遥不可及。这多么可怕！从此刻起，让我们都好好看护我们的念头吧。
那天，将近中午的烈日之下，我朝着地铁站走去，心里记着对自己发过的誓言∶一整天都要尽可能保持正念。太阳酷热难耐，我发现自己脸部扭曲了起来，对着耀眼的阳光皱眉。这是我感到有些晕眩以后才发现的。我的正念拖了这么久才被唤醒。
突然之间，我搞不清楚到底是太阳的炎热还是我对太阳的厌恶让我产生晕眩？
可笑的是，我想答案是后者。太阳毫无恶意。追根究底错在于我。我应该毫无执着地保持正念，仅此而已，根本没有必要在内心埋怨。
(1月1日 – TDE 1)
Mindfulness should be the most natural thing in the world—without any unnecessary strain or effort. But for us, habitually unmindful beings, being mindful might be a daunting task. The more unmindful we become, the more habitual it becomes, and attaining mindfulness soon feels near impossible. How scary! Let’s all guard our minds more carefully from now on.
I was walking to the subway station in the near noon sun. I remembered my promise to myself to be as mindful as I could the whole day. The sun felt hot. I caught myself screwing up my face, frowning in its glare.This, I realise, only when I realised I developed mild dizziness. The mindfulness came this “late”.
Suddenly, I wasn’t sure whether it was the heat of the sun that made me dizzy, or that it was me feeling contempt for the sun that made me dizzy.
Funny. I think the latter that is true. The sun meant no harm. It was me to be blamed ultimately. I should have experienced the heat mindfully without attachment—that’s all—no need to grumble about it inside.
(1 Jan – TDE 1)
