In Buddhism, we study five mental companions that mold our thoughts, emotions, and actions. They act like captains steering our mind's ship. Understanding these companions helps us find calm and mindfulness, showing us how our minds really work and how we can work with them for a greater YOU!

Let's meet these 5 guiding mental companions:

Contact: Picture yourself wandering in a bustling city. Contact occurs when your hand grazes a vibrant painting at a street stall—a direct link between your senses and the bustling world around you.

Feeling: As you gaze upon the painting, feelings rise—perhaps joy at the vivid colors or indifference if the style doesn't resonate. These feelings paint the canvas of our experiences and nudge desires or hesitations forward.

Perception: You recognize the painting as "abstract art," a label shaped by your past art encounters. This is perception, sifting and categorizing the sensory mosaic.

Intention: Now, imagine the intention to purchase the painting, moved by an appreciation for its uniqueness—a motive guiding your actions.

Attention: Your attention homes in on details, capturing the intricacies of the artwork—brushstrokes, hues, and emotions it evokes.

Let's weave together the relationships between the 5 companions in a relatable setting:

Consider someone strolling in a serene garden: their eyes engaging with trees, flowers, and birds (contact). This contact sparks emotions—pleasure, indifference, or discomfort (feeling). Through perception, they label these objects (perception). Intentions may sprout—admiring nature's beauty (intention) and perhaps to pluck out a flower, catch a bird or touch a butterfly. Lastly, attention magnifies captivating details (attention).

To deepen our kinship with these mental companions (#wellbeing), let's learn how to dance with each of them.

Meditation: Picture a serene retreat. Observe these companions surfacing during meditation—contact, feeling, perception, intention, and attention—in thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations while focusing on your breathing rhythm. Slowly, you neutralise the 5 companions to ground zero and looking upwards, you see vastness of emptiness - that's where peace resides. 

Daily Mindfulness: In your daily flow, invite mindfulness. Observe these companions' dance in your experiences—sensory contact, blooming feelings, shaping perceptions, guiding intentions, and focusing attention. 

Reflective Practice: The keyword here is 'Pause'. Pause for introspection - taking a short minute into going inwards. Observe how the 5 companions color your thoughts, decisions, and interactions. Identify patterns causing distress, paving a road to insight and conscious choices.

Wise Discernment: Sharpen the lens to discern wholesome from unwholesome traits. Redirect unhelpful intentions or attention to nurture kindness, compassion, and focus on well-being.

Non-Identification: Witness these companions without entanglement. Recognize their transient nature, fostering spaciousness and freedom from their sway.

Understanding these companions enriches our self-knowledge and comprehension of life's tapestry. They wield the power to steer us onto both useful and not-helpful paths, sculpted by their qualities and intentions.

Let's envision examples of how each of our mind companion can steer our actions, essentially leads to the quality of life:

Contact:

• Not-helpful Action: Contact with a desirable item fuelling greed or attachment, leading to impulsive purchases.
• Useful Action: Contact with someone in need igniting compassion and guiding supportive actions. 

For instance, consider the singing bowl whose relaxing and healing sound emerges when touched with a stick. This experience often sparks compassion and a meditative state of mind, fostering a sense of love and guiding us toward supportive actions.

Feeling:

• Not-helpful Action: Unpleasant feelings fuelling reactions rooted in anger or frustration.
• Useful Action: Joyful feelings inspiring actions of generosity and sharing positivity.

Perception:

• Not-helpful Action: Misguided perceptions fostering biases and discriminatory behaviour. False projections. 
• Useful Action: Clear perceptions nurturing understanding and inclusive actions. See and accept reality. 

Intention:

• Not-helpful Action: Unwholesome intentions birthing actions rooted in spite or harm.
• Useful Action: Wholesome intentions guiding actions of empathy and wisdom. 

Start by seeding positive thoughts. Thoughts shape intentions, which, in turn, drive actions. Negative thoughts can cultivate unfavorable intentions.

Attention:

• Not-helpful Action: Unwise attention feeding actions dwelling on negativity or self-criticism.
• Useful Action: Wise attention paving the way for actions fostering well-being and understanding.

These companions often walk hand in hand, producing patterns that influence our actions. Recognizing their sway empowers intentional cultivation of actions fostering joy, well-being, and harmony.

Shape your own life experiences and actions by getting familiar with your five mental companions. They're your key allies in understanding how your mind works and what reality truly is, helping you become wiser and find freedom from unhappiness.

The journey to transforming ourselves is a lifelong one. Keep going!

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