The helplessness, confusion, isolation and desolation that people throughout the world are experiencing, whilst bearing witness to the chaos and barbarity of the wars currently being fought in Russia, Ukraine and the Middle East, is harrowing. Our true nature leads to compassion for everyone caught in the abyss of this chaos, whilst our inability to assist plays havoc with our emotions. It is quite obvious to see how damaging a mass of egoic mindset can be when it runs out of control, in complete denial of its own sense of rationale, fixated entirely upon victory at all costs. Anyone at arm’s length of these events is astonished at how such madness prevails, unabated. It impacts us profoundly.
The sadness engulfing us leaves us feeling completely lost and confused. For many, this anguish will ingrain itself, leaving us depressed, unmotivated and questioning how humanity appears to have learned nothing after centuries of conflict and warfare. How can societies as technologically advanced as we have become, exude such stupidity in human terms?
How do we deal with these feelings when our understanding is that we have no control over any of these events, or their outcomes? My belief is that whilst we are caught up in the “head noise” of whatever it is that is negatively impacting us, we will continue to internally suffer. The desire to be free of this suffering is not an admission of a lack of care or concern for events occurring around us, as our ego would have us believe, but rather a sensible process of achieving strong mental and physical health, and even at times, survival. How is this achieved? It can only be through remaining entirely present in every moment. If we focus on what is unfolding around us at this very moment, our mind is not afforded the opportunity to wander. It is during these wandering moments that we fall prey to all forms of hurt, through the process of mindlessness.
To practice present moment awareness is to achieve a laser focus on what unfolds here and now, allowing us to concentrate solely on the task at hand. This results in attaining a quality of experience, often previously unnoticed, as well as a superior outcome for the completed task. It also protects us from the wandering mind, which in turn promotes peace, rather than suffering. It is definitely worth a try.