The practice of mindfulness meditation can be contained in two phrases: “What’s happening now?” And "Can I be with it?" The first question is about awareness of our experience - from the larger rhythms to the most minute shifts and changes. The second question is about accepting that experience, allowing the experience to be - because it is already here, whether it is difficult or pleasant or neither one - and knowing it for what it is. It doesn’t mean becoming passive, getting run over, and not trying to change what can be changed. It means accepting the reality of this experience without denying it or pretending it’s other than what it is. This is what is happening right now. And knowing how we feel about it is also what is happening right now. Our liking it or not liking it, our resistance or our acceptance.
Having experiences is one thing. Knowing having experience is being awake to the miracle and possibilities of the moment. This knowing is what unlocks the transformative power of mindfulness.