Wherever You Go, There You Are

by Jon Kabat-Zinn

For instance, we usually fall, quite unawares, into assuming that what we are thinking—the ideas and opinions that we harbor at any given time—are “the truth” about what is “out there” in the world and “in here” in our minds. Most of the time, it just isn’t so.

We pay a high price for this mistaken and unexamined assumption, for our almost willful ignoring of the richness of our present moments.

Not knowing that you are even in such a dream is what the Buddhists call “ignorance,” or mindlessness. Being in touch with this not knowing is called “mindfulness.”

attention to this moment. It is the only time that we have in which to live, grow, feel, and change. We will need to become more aware of and take precautions against the incredible pull of the Scylla and Charybdis of past and future, and the dreamworld they offer us in place of our lives.

When it comes down to it, wherever you go, there you are. It’s your life that is unfolding.