We Die When We Lose Our Mindfulness | Oct 2024
by Ajahn Anan
Ajahn Anan emphasizes that we "die when we lose our mindfulness." The core teaching is that daily life involves meeting sensory objects, which the mind clings to, creating a sense of "me and mine," leading to suffering (dukkha). This process is driven by worldly desires (the eight worldly winds) and is compounded by the constant decay of the body. The mind's own afflictions—anger, worry, jealousy—are the true birth of suffering. To find freedom, we must train the mind to realize the impermanent, stressful, and non-self (anatta) nature of all phenomena. When mindfulness is lost, we cling and suffer; in this sense, the heedless are already "dead." By cultivating continuous mindfulness, virtue, and realizing the world as empty of a permanent self, we prevent suffering from arising in the heart.
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