First the concept of “right mindfulness”:
The concept of “positive thinking” originated in Buddhist meditation, which developed from sitting meditation, contemplation and enlightenment. It is a kind of self-regulation behavior method. That is: purposefully, consciously, attention, awareness of all the present, and all the present without any judgment, any analysis, any reaction, but simply aware of it, pay attention to it.

The above is the definition of “mindfulness” from the popular science article, What is “mindfulness”? What is “mindfulness”? It is literally a good description of what it means: “today” and “mind” are thoughts, i.e., what is in the mind at the moment, which is really very “Zen” in meaning.

Let’s take a look at the meaning of “right mindfulness” in the context of Zen practice. According to Zen, all troubles come from the “mind”, and in order to be happy in life, one must rest in one’s “mind”. Zen practice is to “understand the mind and see the nature”, through the “observation”, always aware of all the current existence, with the perception of reality, to subdue that nowhere to put the “heart”, so as to be able to see clearly the way forward in life. This is the only way to see clearly the way forward in life, so as not to be confused and to be at ease!

We all have this experience: when we close our eyes or work idle with nothing to do, it is very difficult to control the direction of thinking in our minds, and it is really a free-for-all. Like a fluttering butterfly, jumping repeatedly in the flowers, when you think you want to catch it, it quickly fly away. When you stop paying attention to it, it comes back to your eyes.

“To “look into” the heart is a way of practicing Zen, which is to focus your mind on everything that is happening at the moment, so that the butterfly has no chance to jump, and focuses on the flower in front of you. In fact, it is to occupy your mind with the reality of everything, so that it does not have the opportunity to think about anything else.

The term “right mindfulness” can also be interpreted as: to correct what is in your mind at the moment, to pay attention to what is happening now, to be aware of it, to pay attention to it.

Second, the application of “right mindfulness”:
Why is it necessary to perceive the present moment? Therefore, only what is happening right now is meaningful to you! Only what is happening is real. Only by feeling this reality can you bring your mind back to reality, stop wandering away from your body, and find the place where your heart belongs.

Take an example:

You are preparing for the college entrance examination at this time. But your brain pops up other ideas from time to time while you are reviewing, such as: how to fill in the volunteer? The weather should not be too hot when you take the test, otherwise it will affect your performance; the test center should be near your home when you take the college entrance examination; after the college entrance examination, I must play with him for three days and three nights without caring about anything… Such mental wanderings are common, right? Anything more outrageous! It’s even possible to envision life in college.

“Positive thinking is to remind you, “Hey, you’re studying now, don’t think about things that have nothing to do with studying”! When you are filling out your aspirations, fill out your aspirations, when you are taking your exams, take your exams, have fun after your exams, and when you are reviewing, review well. This is the truth of “peace of mind”, “what to do what to do, what to think”, such a simple truth and everyone is “day-to-day use but do not know”.

In fact, this is “living in the present moment”, and only in this way can you “focus”. If your brain is filled with thoughts that have nothing to do with the present moment, like the above, how can you still be quiet to review? You will be interrupted at any time by those delusional thoughts. Thinking about filling out an application, you may be anxious because of the difficulty of choosing; worrying about the results of the exam at all times, you may be depressed, and even have no courage to take the exam, and have the idea of escaping. Because there is no focus on the present moment, the mind will be chaotic, the mind is chaotic, irritability, irritability affects behavior, the source is in the heart!

Therefore, Zen Buddhism uses “Observation” to remind oneself to be aware of what is happening in the present moment. Nowadays, “mindfulness” has become a method of psychotherapy, the principle of which is the same as that of Zen meditation, that is, to help the patient to feel everything that is happening, so as to drive away the unnecessary distractions and worries in the brain, thus restoring mental health.

J. Kabat-Zinn defines “positive thinking” as a method of spiritual training. In this type of spiritual training, conscious awareness, focusing on the present moment, and non-judgment of all present ideas are emphasized. In psychotherapy, “positive thinking” plays a positive role in the present and the future.

C. Precautions for keeping “positive thoughts”:
Maintaining “right mind” is to “think in the heart and hand to do or is happening the same”, to do “right mind” these issues deserve attention:

1, “positive thinking” is not no idea, but “in the idea of no idea”:
From the above “college entrance examination review” example can be seen, “positive thinking” is active, conscious behavior, and not think of nothing, but always think of everything that is happening now. It is not a matter of thinking about nothing, but of thinking about everything that is going on right now, right now, right now.

2. “Right mindfulness” is not mixed with thoughts of the self:
This is also known as “non-residence” and “no-phase” in Buddhism, so that you don’t let your own mind judge everything that is happening. Because no human judgment is real, and the real is the present moment.

“Buddha, Lao Tzu, Confucius, and Chuang Tzu tell either reality or fables, not going into the proof or reasoning process and the end result. Because only the story (phenomenon) is the truth, detached from the story (phenomenon) of the principle (personal insight) is not the truth, can only be counted as the master’s life epiphany, personal perception how can be counted as the truth?”

People’s judgments are always subjective because they are either comparing with past experiences, comparing with others, or comparing with their own inner perceptions. The results of such comparisons inevitably differ from reality, and if the judgment is higher than reality, complacency is inevitable; if it is not as good as it should be, self-depreciation and possibly self-denial discourage motivation. Either way, it leads to an eventual deviation from the truth. It gives you an “unusual” mindset!

The non-judgmental attitude of “right mindfulness” is actually respect for the objective existence, just to be aware of everything that is happening around you, to feel their existence, and to keep an “ordinary mind”, so that you can see clearly what is really happening.

3. “Right mindfulness” should be focused on the present moment:
The “right mind” is to pay attention to the present at all times, to respond when it comes, and not to stay when it goes. The meal on the meal, the sleep on the sleep, the work on the work, “look at the mountain is just a mountain, look at the water is just water”, the most common is also the highest state of cultivation.

“Positive thinking” can be applied to all behaviors in life, eating, sleeping, walking, meditating, working… You put your mind out of the way and silently watch them happen naturally.

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