Sir, – The thought-provoking "Unthinkable" article (March 15th) argues for the importance of "then" as opposed to "now" when we're going through emotions like grief and relief.
When you are mindful of grief and relief, you know that these are about “then”. But you also know that the emotions and thoughts and even the concept of “then” is all happening now. Using Dr Power’s language, mindfulness allows “then” to be seen as an illusion being created by our minds now.
In time, this allows us to acknowledge all aspects and repercussion of whatever happened “then”, and to integrate the experience into our worldview.
The article ends by linking mindfulness to passivity. In fact it often takes a great effort to anchor the mind in present experience.
While the person may appear to be passive and still, “being present” requires mental factors such as attention, interest and wonder.
The attempt to sit still with restlessness rivets attention on any brief moments of stillness and peace.
These are some of the qualities of heart and mind being developed as we practice mindfulness. None of these comes forth through passivity. – Yours, etc,
Dr NOIRIN SHEAHAN and ADAM DUNNE
Insight Meditation
Practitioners,
Kilbarrack Avenue,
Dublin 5.