Mindfulness as Moonlight

The following is an extract from Mindfulness as Medicine by Sr Dang Nghiem, who is a Buddhist nun in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh.  She lives in Magnolia Grove Monastery, outside Batesville, Mississippi, USA.  Before she became a nun she was a practicing Physician at UCSF Medical Centre.  She contacted neuro-Lyme disease in 2011, and applied her mindfulness practice and medical knowledge to overcome her illness.

“The Buddha used the image of the moon to describe the gentle, discreet but ever-embracing quality of mindfulness.  When the moon rises in the sky, it rises so quietly that it’s unnoticeable.  Most of us are not aware that the moon is rising.  Even when the moon is already up there in the middle of the sky, most of us are still unaware of it.  Yet when the moon is still at the horizon, it already starts to spread its soft gentle light and brighten the surroundings.  As it ascends higher, the moon’s light spreads farther and farther to the bamboo groves, to the forest, and to every small corner.  Every part of life is being shined upon by the moon and is reflecting the moonlight.

This gentle, discreet, but ever-embracing quality of moonlight can be seen in mindfulness.  Mindfulness is something soft, quiet, gentle and discreet, but nevertheless it has the capacity to embrace all aspects of our life.  It imbues every pore of our skin and every part of our being.  When we are aware of our breathing, our steps, or a drop of dew that is hanging from the tip of a leaf, that awareness is gentle and soft like the moonlight.  Yet it is ever penetrating and it brings a certain quality of brightness and lightness to us.  We feel connected to that dewdrop, to that leaf, to that in-breath and out-breath, and to every aspect of our life.  Quietly and slowly, we feel connected to life itself”.