The 21st century is expected to be ont of the toughest periods for mankind and therefore one can alwyas look at things from a new perspective. So what if it is old wine in new bottles.

In an interview. former film star and Osho follower Vinod Khanna said in the context of awareness what he learnt from Osho , 'Use everything to become meditative. If you are even blinking your eyelashes or lifting your hand, be aware of it.' Mindfullness meditation is being totally aware of each and everything that you do or come across. However one cannot help but wonder how many people actually succeed in doing this throughout the day or in all moods and all circumstances throughout their lives.

This is the jist of what the great intellectual Krishnamurthy says in his books:-

You can be free only when every incident is thought out from moment to moment, when every response is fully understood, not casually looked at and thrown aside. There is freedom from accumulating memory only when every thought, every feeling is completed, thought to the end. For this you need an extraordinary alert mind. When you are able to do this successfully, reality, truth, love, creativity, beauty etc come to you. He laid stress on an astute mind and a pliable heart.

In the book, “Practicing the power of now”, author Eckhart Tolle states how the power of being in the present can function as an effective stress management tool and can serve as a resistance mechanism in minor and major matters- a car alarm, a rude person, a flood, an earthquake, loosing all your possessions etc. Author Shannon Duncan in his book “Present moment awarness” elucidates the experience of going on a walk while being in the present- be aware of the weight of your arms while they swing, notice the feel of the muscles required to walk, feel your feet on the ground with each and every step, the temperature of the air, whether there is a breeze, whether one can smell anything particular, notice the trees and the buildings, observe the song of the bird, the texture of the sidewalk etc.

Krishamurthy himself says that eternity and happiness are in the present and Only a mind capable of adjusting itself to the present, continually from moment to moment, can meet the powerful influences and pressures put upon us by our environment as he is free from his conditioning and open to new insights by direct perception. He further goes on to say that the constant watchfulness of thoughts for that is required which is an “arduous task”.


This is an extract from a Japa yoga site

“If you have an active, chattering mind, then mantra and or japa yoga are very useful tools for learning to control the meandering thoughts that keep you out of the present moment. Mantra has often helped me when my mind is racing out of control, thinking about something in the past or future. It has come to the point that when needed a mantra comes up in the back of my consciousness and I can choose to tune into it rather than the thoughts in my head. The mantra pulls me back into the present where peace always Is.”

This is an extract from an article on Meditation :-

“Many people cannot concentrate on their work because their minds keep straying. Others keep worrying about their pet obsessions. These are the vagaries of the mind which prevent you from doing a good job at any given time. At the other end of the spectrum, you find people daydreaming a chain of colorful thoughts. So deeply engrossed are they that they loose awareness of what is going around them”

Shannon Duncan has repeatedly said in his book how the mind has to be free from worries and daydreaming to be in the present and vice-versa. There are some people who naturally have chattering minds and some others whose minds may have become like that because of the pressures of modern living. If normal people find it so arduous to be alert all the time , how do “chattering minds” achieve mindfulness?

Breath is supposed to be the most obvious anchor of the mind as the mind and breath are deemed almost as if tuned together. It is not uncommon to come across spiritual books which state that the mind is like the kite and the breath is like the string which enables you to always keep control on the kite. The issue is whether this works in all moods and circumstances. Mantra too is deemed good for chattering minds and it does keep the mental static somewhat subdued but is it effective most of the times?

Though it is said that the third eye is between the two eyebrows and the eyes are the windows of the mind or windows to the mind, eyes have not received their due importance in the context of mindfulness meditation. Even in normal meditation where one has to sit cross legged, eyes are always closed. It can be observed that while walking for instance, if one is continuously chanting a mantra while observing different objects on the ground, the mind gets anchored quite easily. Depending upon the speed at which one walks, one can even chant the mantra twice or thrice while observing an object. One can chant a mantra once and shift attention from two adjoining objects of the same or different types. In between when one is standing still and not walking, one can do a mini tratak and stare at an object while chanting a mantra ten times. Who said that concentration can only be done on a candle flame? Though mantra recitation and shifting the attention from object to object is enough to anchor the mind but one can also add the breath and synchronize all three if convenient.

The above method is beneficial in several ways:-

In meditations which call for witnessing of thoughts, it is normally said that one has to watch dispassionately- whether the thought is pleasant or unpleasant. Pain and pleasure reactions should be minimized if not eliminated. When you watch inanimate objects on the ground like this while chanting a mantra, the probability of the mind starting a whole new chain of thoughts reduces considerably than when you say try to observe other objects when say looking at a member of the opposite sex or something else, it may remind you of something and start a whole chain of thoughts.

It would not be out of place to mention here that Krishnamuthy repeatedly said that “ the word is not the thing” and how giving a name or a label was a very convenient way of identification or justification of thoughts. The minimum of verbalization, the better. Therefore it is better to look at objects where even if you name them( say a leaf, a stone, a patch on the ground etc), the memory associated with it was minimum. It must be clarified here that instead of mindfulness, krishnamurthy was for freedom from the mind and past conditioning by constantly observing and understanding the thought process but what is mentioned above can serve as a warm up to watching every thought, feeling and action that he talks about being so arduous.

The expression “down to earth “ is often used in English conversations. As pointed out by Shnnan Duncan, some people prone are to daydreaming have delusions of grandeur. They probably make the worst worriers in negative circumstances. Many times the “ emotional pleasure” of the present can become an “emotional pain “ of the future. So while following the objects on the ground, one can be literally grounded in letter and spirit- both physically and mentally.

Wherever one goes, there is, some ground or earth is always going to be there. Inside the buildings, patches can be seen on the floor. Sometimes they reveal interesting modern art patterns if you have the eye for it. There are some unlucky times when one comes across a spic and span floor in a multinational bank for instance where the attention has to shift to other objects.

One cannot help sometimes but be in situations of inter personal conflict where one wants to be calm and collected in the fastest possible time. This exercise of trying chanting mantras while shifting attention from objects to objects does it much faster and more effectively than merely the old counting to ten or chanting a mantra.

It is said that “common sense is most uncommon”. Common sense is deemed the most important thing is practical management and for that presence of mind is inevitable. This could be an added benefit.

“Concentration is the secret of success in politics, in war in all management of Human affairs.” was a a statement made by Ralph Waldo Emerson . In that context too, one cannot underestimate the importance of mindfulness meditation and why it is not introduced in schools. It is most unfortunate that instead of being pursued proactively, it is taken up only when one is facing extreme stress.


In the power of now, Tolle talks about “flooding the body with consciousness “ especially after waking up and before sleeping. This is similar to yog nidra where attention is shifted to different parts of the body which are then relaxed. If the attention is shifted with chanting of a mantra, it is much easier to do it effectively, at least in the beginning.

It is easy to talk about mindfulness but to implement it in letter and spirit is extremely strenuous as Krishnamurthy as pointed out. Being mindful while eating and bathing(especially in winters) can be quite a task. Some people even set a clock and time themselves. However, chanting a mantra while shifting attention from one to the other objects( such as food items in a plate) can be quite effective.

Considering its effect of being in the present as a stress management tool( especially in the stress filled 21 st century), it is a wonder why there are no spiritual or mental health coaches who can monitor all this just as a body builder monitors physical progress.