Mindfulness and Elephants

(Jan Chozen Bays, Mindfulness on the Go, pp. 20 ff)

In the Buddhist tradition, the practice of mindfulness can be described using the analogy of elephants. In the Buddha's time, elephants were used in war. They had to be trained in order to follow orders and accomplish vital tasks in the midst of the din and confusion of the battle.

When an elephant is untrained or wild, it runs away; it attacks when scared. In short, it is of no use but can rather cause great damage.

The untrained mind is just like that: When confronted with problems and challenges, it might just run away, go numb, engage in disastrous behaviour or even attack others. It needs mindfulness training in order to remain calm in the midst of the different stress factors in life and in order to continue really life to the full every moment in life.