There is an ethical foundation to the cultivation of mindfulness. Mindfulness is an orientation to reality that is highly connected with compassion, starting with yourself. It is based above all on the principle of non-harming, or ahimsa (in Sanskrit).
In every moment, the invitation is to be present with and for yourself as you are, with an attitude of openness, generosity, and kindness. As we have seen, being non-judgmental means that it is important not to criticize yourself every time you don’t live up to your own self-created, usually unrealistic standards. To berate yourself in such a way would hardly be consistent with the spirit of non-harming.
When we intentionally align ourselves with non-harming as the core motivation and foundation of mindfulness practice, it allows us to take an entirely different perspective on how we might be in relationship to our various transitory but often painful states of mind, as well as to the whole of our lives as they unfold moment by moment, and even to the question of what our deepest and most important needs might be.
Non-harming lies at the core of the Hippocratic Oath in medicine— “Primum non nocere”: “First, do no harm.” It is a vow that doctors take when they formally enter the profession after training. If you cultivate that kind of attitude toward yourself, then when you take your seat on a chair or on a meditation cushion you can rest in awareness with ease, without having to get anywhere else, or experience anything special.
Because as we have seen, this moment is already special.