Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about how we can practice mindfulness for a higher purpose and get deeper benefits. So when we first come to mindfulness, most of us inevitably do so because we want our mind to feel less stressed, more peaceful, more free. And those can be really wonderful motivations to begin meditation. But I think it's common that as we continue to practice, we start to see that the ultimate aim of meditation is so much bigger than that.

We start to see that peace of mind sometimes comes in our practice and sometimes it doesn't, and it actually doesn't really matter. We can be equally present when the mind is busy, when the mind is calm, when the mind is discursive or quiet. So we know that the content going through our mind in any given moment is not necessarily an indication of how our practice is going. Instead, we start to see each practice as an opportunity to more deeply understand our own mind and strengthen our capacity for presence, wisdom, understanding, and compassion. Really deepening our own self understanding, of course, helps us understand every human being and feel compassion, connection, and understanding with them.

Training ourselves to be wiser, more loving and you know, more without bias is a gift to everyone that we encounter in our life journey. So with each practice we become more and more of a locus of sanity and calm and love in a sometimes insane world. And so we can start to practice for this higher purpose. We can start to practice mindfulness for the benefit of all beings. Then we'll always be motivated to meditate, even on those days when calm doesn't show up, even on those days when relaxation doesn't show up, even on those days where we feel difficult emotions.

It's enough to know that we're meditating not, only for our own sanity, but for the benefit of all sentient beings. So our practice really becomes an act of love. So having this higher purpose, not only makes each practice feel much more meaningful and rich, but it really keeps our motivation steady on the days when practice is less pleasant. Say on days when the mind is busy or we feel a bit lazy or emotional. On those days, in those moments, we can connect again to our higher purpose, knowing that with every single practice we're sending the ripple effects of peace, compassion, and wisdom out into the world.

So that's the invitation for practice today and ongoing to consider practicing for a higher purpose, and then see what effect that has in your life. And we'll explore this some more in today's meditation. So let's settle in now for that. And as always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us.