By Andrew Shugyo Daijo Bonnici, Ph.D. · Doctor of Humanistic Depth Psychology · Master Zen Teacher and Counselor
©Copyright 1996 Dr. Andrew Shugyo Daijo Bonnici, Ph.D. · All Rights Reserved
These twenty signs are offered freely to all people as a reflection on how the practice of meditation and applied mindfulness naturally expresses itself in the texture and quality of daily life. You may find that some of these signs are already present. Others may still be ripening. All of them deepen with continued practice.
A tendency to think and act from inner trust and spontaneity rather than from fears based on past experiences.
An unmistakable ability to appreciate the wisdom and freshness of each moment.
A loss of interest in finding the hidden meaning behind the words and actions of others.
A heightened sense of experiential, behavioral, and social integrity.
A loss of interest in religious superiority, exclusiveness, and divisiveness.
A growing sense of unconditional compassion for self and others.
A heartfelt willingness to be authentic and share oneself as one truly is.
Increasing actions based on the mutual benefit of self and others.
A diminishing of worries and mistrust in the Moment.
A loss of interest in argumentative ideas and philosophical conflict.
A secure and growing openness to different beliefs and life styles.
A frequent and overwhelming need to express inner gratitude.
An ability to be serious and yet to take oneself lightly.
More frequent attacks of just smiling or uncontrollable laughter.
An increasing tendency to participate in the happening of things rather than to control and make them happen.
An increased ability to receive the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to express love and joy in one's world.
Growing feelings of wonderment and awe about the process of life and death.
The recurring felt experience of an Original Faith in one's bodymindspirit and the Universe as a Whole.
A tendency to drop egocentric self-imaging and one's conditioned mental preoccupation with derogating, defending, or inflating it.
A clear sense of belonging in the Universe while experiencing a deep and equal empathic connectedness with the simplest forms of nature and the vastness of interstellar space.
These twenty signs are not goals to be attained — they are natural expressions of what happens when the practice of meditation and mindfulness begins to take root in daily life. You do not have to manufacture them or perform them. They arise spontaneously as the ego's grip softens and the Only Moment Body grows more familiar with its own original nature of ease, wisdoming, and compassion.
If you notice these signs beginning to appear in your life, receive them with gratitude. If you find them absent, receive that too — with the same patience and self-compassion that the practice itself teaches. The path is the practice. The practice is the peace.
Dr. Bonnici's meditation manuals and video counseling sessions bring these teachings into your daily practice.