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And if you want to read more about what true mindfulness is and what it can do for you, read on...

Mindfulness is a word that’s been so hijacked by popular culture, it’s lost it’s true meaning and origins, hence modern so-called mindfulness training, though far better than no mindfulness training, only provides the superficial rudimentary half of the trick. The Taoist approach provides the full picture. 

Why advanced? Because it is. 

The general run-of-the-mill so-called mindfulness trainings are aimed at people with zero self-awareness factor and hence relatively superficial. 

The Taoist method, a few thousand years older even than the original Buddhist version John Cabot Zing lifted his version from, goes far deeper and is precise rather than vague. Obviously I’m biased and an opinionated bastard in this respect so don’t take my word for it. You’ll figure it out for yourself as soon as you get a taste of the one I’m presenting. Also bear in mind I’ve been practicing this method with increasing depth for no less than 50 years and teaching it for 40 and as an artist – we all are – have my own interpretation and way of explaining it. And despite any inevitable flaws as we’re all human, I have enough proof it’s effective to have no compunction in recommending it most highly to you.

I’ve taught it to everyone from dangerous psychotics as part of a mental health pilot scheme, convicted murderers dealing with guilt and the tedium of life sentences, and people suffering from various compulsive disorders for instance, to captains of industry, world-famous DJs, porn stars and politicians

– and no one has failed to benefit greatly. 

Whenever a phrase or word is hijacked by popular culture it loses clear meaning, which is a shame as its a good word and difficult to better. Mindfulness was never intended as a method in itself, but merely as comprising an essential aspect of enlightenment and is common in the respect to Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism. Mindfulness is the precursor to what I call ‘supercognition’, which will comprise the training that comes after this and include all the psychic, telepathy, astral travel, psychic protection, intuitive alertness, remote viewing and other such tricks Taoist practice is renowned for, and which are becoming increasingly pertinent as external danger levels apparently increase by the day (if you believe everything you see in the news).

Mindfulness gets you seeing what’s a story and what isn’t. 

Mindfulness means observation, observation is the first and most important stage of the healing process, no matter what aspect of self you’re attending to. 

But paradoxically this cannot be effectively achieved by using the mind. 

In fact, mindfulness might be better described as mindlessness, were it not for the fact that word has come to mean imbecility. 

Again, this isn’t the place to go into it in more depth short of writing this as a whole book – hence the training – to give you the full experience.

You’ll never again succumb to the mindless state after the training

– because it’s a training and that’s what trainings do – they entrain you along a given path. 

That’s why I’ve been doing them for ten years instead of focusing on books – books spark the idea and enthusiasm, but don’t train you, unless you’re unusually dedicated and graced with an abundance of spare time and self-discipline. But with a training you let yourself undergo a process.

The training is by nature an orderly, methodical, stratified

as it has to address all facets of mind, body, emotion and environment, and the internal narrative associated with all of these. It's presented via film and lasts about three weeks, consisting in daily exercises that take a few minutes to learn and can then be practiced during the day as you go about whatever you’re doing, gradually building to such a solid state of cognitive awareness of every facet of experience, the Buddha himself will bow down in admiration. You’ll undergo a process – because unlearning the outworn useless habits of a lifetime requires a process even though you absolutely know everything you need to know already. However, it’s impossible to deploy your innate wisdom and skill when belabored by a lifelong addiction to self-agitation and losing yourself in external distractions.

You’ll learn to refine your proprioception (the ability to feel into every part of the body all the way to the bone marrow

which skill constitutes the basis of the remarkable chi-channeling skills (acquired through qigong and tai chi practice just for instance), and more crucially still, the psychospatial repositioning, the ability to shift your internal assemblage point to the back whence you’ve a commanding view of the room so to speak. 

You’ll gain a clear understanding of all elements and aspects of the internal narrative – that endless conversation you’re having with yourself that tends mostly to go nowhere very fast, that parliament style debate involving characters like the adventurer, the scaredy cat, the daredevil, the devil’s advocate, the wise sage, the cretin, the pragmatist, the dreamer, the rationalist, the romantic, and so on – and the way between them they perpetuate a description of reality, along with an evaluation of your position in relation to that description, your mindfulness is extremely limited and offers not the true benefits it was designed for.

You’ll develop cognitive awareness

– not just of the internal narrative, but the body and how it’s moving, feeling and functioning, of the emotional state as it changes and morphs, and of the surroundings and your positioning in relation to them and those with whom you share the space. 

It’s systematic yet organic and is at the root of all other aspects of practice – healing, keeping fit, self-defense, communication skill, manifesting magic, motivation, meditation (obviously) and all of it – and once a self-defeating pattern is observed with cognitive awareness it starts dispelling itself.

You’ll develop intentionality – Taoist mindfulness naturally incorporates developing intentionality – because if you’re not mindful of your intentions step by step, you’re at the mercy of the random choices your unconscious makes according to a set of spurious childhood associations, which is what tends to cause life to become repetitive, dull, fearful, messed up and an adventure wasted.

Without these skills mindfulness, while obviously preferable to mindlessness, is as relatively banal and superficial as modern day counselling is compared to psychotherapy, or flying low-cost or private.

And that’s why you need it, excuse me being so presumptuous, but it’s true – if you want full value from this ride, rather than finding yourself on the last breath thinking how you’ve wasted it being asleep, it’s imperative to acquire and develop cognitive awareness skills – and as any soldier will tell you, these are the same skills that increase your recall function and sharpen your wits to be far more alert to danger and adjust your trajectory accordingly as you go along.

it’s your birthright to be fully present and experience the whole deal while you’re alive – and nowhere will you find a more precise, sophisticated, simple, straightforward, effective, enjoyable or delightful way to claim your birthright.