How Can I Be Mindful While Reading, Writing, Or Planning?

[With English interpretation] Ven. Pomnyun Sunim's (법륜스님) Answer to “How can I be mindful while reading, writing, or planning?”
A question chosen from the weekly Sunday meditation with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim(법륜스님).

Peace of mind is only one step away.

Transcript

At the previous session,

Sunim said to be aware of the other person's face expression,

Voice,

And mind when talking to someone.

It was a great help to me.

What should we be aware of when we do activities that are focused on thinking,

Such as reading,

Writing,

And planning?

What kind of attitude would be helpful to us when we do activities that are focused on thinking?

So I don't think that's the right way to approach it.

If you want to write something,

Having a peace of mind in which you can focus on what you want to write and how you want to write it is the right attitude to bring,

But not what you need to be awake or aware of when you're doing such activities.

So when you're writing,

You're focused on writing.

When you're reading,

You're focused on reading.

But asking questions about what you should be awake to,

Aware of,

When you're doing this activity is not the right way to ask.

However,

If you're not able to focus well on your activities such as reading,

Writing,

And planning,

Being aware and mindful that you're not being able to focus well,

That you're being distracted,

That is useful.

If you tell yourself I need to focus,

That means you're not yet focused.

And you're making an effort to focus because you're not yet focused.

But if you're really focused,

Then there's no longer intent to want to be focused.

That all disappears in the state of focus.

So if you're doing these activities,

You're focusing on writing,

Focusing on reading,

Focusing on exploring other subjects,

But asking what you should be aware of or mindful of is not the right way to approach this.

Because when I say you need to be focused on your breath while reading,

That means you're not focusing on reading.