Browse
Top articles
How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
Benefits of Mindfulness: Mindful Living Can Change Your Life
Mindfulness 101: A Beginner's Guide
00:00
00:00
Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:
Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today I'm going to talk about skepticism versus discernment and curiosity. So there's an old Zen story about this. There was a man who was born blind and he said, "I do not believe in the world of light and appearance. There are no colors, bright or dull.
There's no sun, no moon, no stars. I don't believe that anyone has witnessed these things." Now, his friends tried to argue with him about this, but he clung to his opinion. "What you say you see are illusions," he said."If colors existed, I should be able to touch them. They clearly have no existence and are not real. They have no weight, no substance.
I feel no substance, no weight where you see colors. So clearly they don't exist." Then one day a doctor was called to see this blind man. He mixed up a medicine which he applied to the cataracts and the blind man's eyes. And as he mixed this mixture into his eyes and the cataracts melted suddenly a whole new world and reality opened up before him. He suddenly took in all the light he could not see.
In some ways we have a similarity with the blind man, because if we've not experienced something directly, sometimes we have this insistence or this idea that it's not possible. It's just fanciful thinking. So when it comes to your own mind, for instance, maybe you haven't had a chance yet to glimpse the possibilities laying dormant there. You may have heard some teachers or some wisdom traditions, or even modern neuroscience talking about the possibility of easing suffering and stress and finding a sense of wholeness, oneness, and inner peace. But if you've never felt it yourself, you might have a lot of skepticism and doubt about that.
Now it's important to know that skepticism has its purpose and we don't want to just go around believing everything that people tell us and being kind of naive. But on the other hand, skepticism can block us off from new experiences and possibilities. So rather than seeing skepticism as an altogether bad thing, I'd invite you to just make a slight pivot and reorient to a healthier curiosity. So think about being an investigator, an explorer of your own direct experience, rather than just believing or disbelieving what somebody tells you. So just being interested and open to exploring mindfulness and meditation for yourself.
Giving the practice a go for a number of days, weeks or months and then checking in with yourself. Is this making a difference? What kind of difference? In this way we can find our own direct experience to be the most important part of our discovery process. So instead of coming to this practice already having made up your mind, instead, we lay aside our assumptions, preconceived ideas and opinions, and instead make the effort to know and see for ourselves. So as always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us and just inviting you now to settle in for today's meditation.
All the Light We Cannot See
Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:
Duration
Your default time is based on your progress and is changed automatically as you practice.
Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today I'm going to talk about skepticism versus discernment and curiosity. So there's an old Zen story about this. There was a man who was born blind and he said, "I do not believe in the world of light and appearance. There are no colors, bright or dull.
There's no sun, no moon, no stars. I don't believe that anyone has witnessed these things." Now, his friends tried to argue with him about this, but he clung to his opinion. "What you say you see are illusions," he said."If colors existed, I should be able to touch them. They clearly have no existence and are not real. They have no weight, no substance.
I feel no substance, no weight where you see colors. So clearly they don't exist." Then one day a doctor was called to see this blind man. He mixed up a medicine which he applied to the cataracts and the blind man's eyes. And as he mixed this mixture into his eyes and the cataracts melted suddenly a whole new world and reality opened up before him. He suddenly took in all the light he could not see.
In some ways we have a similarity with the blind man, because if we've not experienced something directly, sometimes we have this insistence or this idea that it's not possible. It's just fanciful thinking. So when it comes to your own mind, for instance, maybe you haven't had a chance yet to glimpse the possibilities laying dormant there. You may have heard some teachers or some wisdom traditions, or even modern neuroscience talking about the possibility of easing suffering and stress and finding a sense of wholeness, oneness, and inner peace. But if you've never felt it yourself, you might have a lot of skepticism and doubt about that.
Now it's important to know that skepticism has its purpose and we don't want to just go around believing everything that people tell us and being kind of naive. But on the other hand, skepticism can block us off from new experiences and possibilities. So rather than seeing skepticism as an altogether bad thing, I'd invite you to just make a slight pivot and reorient to a healthier curiosity. So think about being an investigator, an explorer of your own direct experience, rather than just believing or disbelieving what somebody tells you. So just being interested and open to exploring mindfulness and meditation for yourself.
Giving the practice a go for a number of days, weeks or months and then checking in with yourself. Is this making a difference? What kind of difference? In this way we can find our own direct experience to be the most important part of our discovery process. So instead of coming to this practice already having made up your mind, instead, we lay aside our assumptions, preconceived ideas and opinions, and instead make the effort to know and see for ourselves. So as always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us and just inviting you now to settle in for today's meditation.
Duration
Play in-app
Scan the following QR code with your camera app to open it on our mobile app
Get Unlimited Access
A Mindfulness Plus+ subscription gives you unlimited access to a world of premium mindfulness content.
Email Missing
We couldn’t detect your email with the SSO provider you have selected.We are here to make a positive impact on the world. We never want to sell you something that hasn’t helped you live a better life. That’s why if you’re unhappy with any purchase from us, you have 30 days to get a full refund and your money back.
If you subscribed to Mindfulness Plus+ and are unhappy with your purchase, please get in contact with us within the 30-day period and we’ll refund your purchase.
Learn more about our Mindfulness Guarantee.
Mindfulness
We believe in a world where everybody has access to the life-changing skills of mindfulness.
Private Browsing
Congratulations on taking the first step towards a more mindful life! As a token of our appreciation, we want to offer you an exclusive opportunity to upgrade to Mindfulness Plus+ for a price you won't find anywhere else.
Mindfulness Plus+ is our premium membership that includes everything you need to learn mindfulness and keep practicing throughout all stages of life.
Take this exclusive offer to further your mindfulness skills and experience deeper levels of well-being.
Annual membership
$0
Just a small sample of the life-changing 5-star reviews we get on a daily basis.
Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
-
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
-
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
-
Thank you for joining us
Dive into the full library and enjoy all it has to offer!
Claim your free access
Create a mindfulness account and we’ll unlock this premium session in your account forever.
7-Days free trial, cancel anytime.
Complete a few quick questions to make your own personalized mindfulness plan.
Sign up or login to your mindfulness account to proceed.
Sign up or login to your mindfulness account to proceed.
Mindfulness
One membership to gain access to a world of premium mindfulness content created to help you live happier and stress less.