Mar 19
9
Does Mindfulness Lead to Enlightenment?
Or should it be the other way around? It all depends upon your point of view.
In Mindfulness, Access to Excellence, the author Mark Kennedy, an over twenty year practitioner of his own brand of mindfulness, lays out prosaically, yet with almost scientific precision (and sprinkled with enough scientific data to be quite convincing), the simple steps that will help anyone begin practicing their own brand (the one that works best for each individual) of mindfulness.
Just published, Mindfulness, Access to Excellence is the first of a planned series of mindfulness books by Mark …and this one for individuals that, from my point of view, is an enlightened approach, to mindfulness and makes a clear and important delineation between meditation and mindfulness.
What I’m saying here is that writing this book took enlightenment. I believe, which makes it true only for me, that part of the process that brought Mark to this point of enlightenment, is his practice of mindfulness.
Siddhartha Gautama referred to by millions of people as The “Buddha” also reference him as enlightened. Jesus of Nazareth also referred to by millions of people as The Christ and some of which would also refer to him as enlightened.
I’m aware of the tensions I produce by putting both names in the same sentence or referring to them in the same breath, so to speak, so why do it? Repeat after me, “IT IS ONLY A POINT OF VIEW,” repeat this several times aloud, PLEASE and LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY to what YOU are saying!
This is a Brad Cullen small group exercise in order to have peaceful (if “spirited”) dialogue instead of argument about different personal points of view that can lead to conflicts that are known to produce religious wars!
The point is NOT to diminish your own point of view, but rather to understand another person’s point of view, thus expanding your own, by being able to see where they’re coming from and how they got there.
From one point of view that is how BOTH Jesus AND Siddhartha proved their own personal enlightenment and got others to follow them.
Neither Ryan Bruce, erstwhile and still Mark Kennedy nor Brad Cullen, erstwhile and still Doug Ferguson claim to have reached nirvana or enlightenment, but we both claim to know how to tune in to the SOURCE which/who is BOTH nirvana AND enlightenment; this is the point of Mark’s book and his mindfulness training and personal coaching; and Doug’s Brad Cullen small group meetings. By the way, the following link demonstrates how Doug/”Brad” practices his own brand of mindfulness, but get Mark’s book, because it provides some great principles from which to build your own brand. http://spiritualhealingsource.com/?p=8021