Drowsiness

Standing, or going, seated, or lying down, as long as one is free from drowsiness, one should practice this mindfulness. This, they say, is the holy state here.
Sutta Nipãta 151

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What is this mindfulness business if it isn’t paying attention? Paying attention is the price for admission into mindfulness and all sorts of wild ideas have come about attempting to stay awake enough to practice it… standing or going, seated, or lying down. In the end I have to ask what the results of my practice are. When Karl Marx called religion the “opiate of the masses” he wasn’t off the mark all that much. Mediation is not a practice devised to put me to sleep thinking I am finding peace. Meditation ought to best be employed to awaken me. Awaken me to everything, for everything is God. Awakened to the call of the Heart of Compassion is to free myself from drowsiness. The process is to first become aware of my own body and the body has ways of getting my attention… pain and discomfort calls me to make a choice… obliterate all consciousness of the pain with drugs, or to embrace pain with awareness. Of course, proper medication for pain is sometimes necessary; and, I wouldn’t want to go into surgery without anesthesia. But once the pain is managed, why would I need drugs if it isn’t to escape reality?
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