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by Jayaram V
A student asked the Zen master Ichu, "So what does
this word attention mean?" The master replied,
"Attention means attention."
There is that mountain with the evening sun on
it; to see it for the first time, to see it, as though it had
never been seen before, to see it with innocence, to see it with
the eyes that have been bathed in emptiness, that have not been hurt
with knowledge,- to see then is an extraordinary experience. - Jiddu Krishnamurthy.
From the time we wake up till we go to sleep, we receive
so much of
input every day through our senses that we hardly have time to pay
attention to what is going on. Our minds devise their own methods
and shortcuts to deal with the vast amount of information that keeps
coming in all the time. To manage our cognitive experiences arising
from our interaction with the reality surrounding us, we develop
coping mechanisms such as selective perception, habitual thought
patterns, stereotyping, generalizing and plain insensitivity.
We shut down parts of us to avoid information overload. Not
all the information that we receive from various sources is important.
But unless we pay attention, we do not know what is necessary or
how much is sufficient for our survival in this world. Unless we
know how we are responding to various situations and what consequences
are arising from our responses, we cannot resolve the problems arising
from our actions and understand the nature of our suffering and
its ultimate remedy.
There are three ways in which people tend to cope with the suffering
and the problems that arise from their interaction with the
external world: avoidance or withdrawal, resistance or suppression
and acceptance or understanding. The first alternative is rather
difficult to practice for long because the distractions are everywhere
and if we escape from one, out of fear or discomfort, another one
will resurface. The second method is practiced in some traditions
in the form of severe austerities to burn our desires and weaknesses
in the heat of self-denial and self-torture. The Buddha tried it
and found it be ineffective. The third approach is to accept things
as they are, without judgment, and understand them and their
influence upon us comprehensively through pure, objective
and non-judgmental attention, free from selective perception, conditioning
and habitual thought patterns. In that understanding and unadulterated
awareness we find the means to cut our bonds of attachment and become
free.
About 2500 years ago the Buddha suggested such a vastly useful
and ingenious method to his followers. Having practiced it himself
during his search for answers to the problems of old age, sickness and
death, he advised his followers to cultivate the wonderful
state of mindfulness to break themselves free from their ignorance
and existential suffering through awareness, compassion, acceptance,
love and understanding. The practice of mindfulness rests on the
pillars of the highest ideals to which the mankind aspires. While
cultivating this supreme virtue, we do not treat ourselves harshly
or cruelly or aggressively. Rather we apply the principles of love,
acceptance, compassion and understanding to our knowing and becoming
aware. The use of cruelty and punishment whether for a greater cause
or a selfish cause, whether directed towards others or at ourselves
cannot be justified on any grounds because they imply the use of
violence, cruelty and bad karma. Besides such an approach is directly
in conflict with the teachings of the Buddha who advocated non-injury
both to oneself and to others. The practice of mindfulness, tempered
with compassion, detachment and understanding, is in tune with the
teachings of the Buddha on the Eightfold Path.
The meaning of mindfulness
Mindfulness means to be now and here and perceive with clarity what is going on in
your mind, body and environment. It is to be aware of all the
things that are happening to you simultaneously. It is to be consciously
aware of your cognitive experiences mentally and physically,
using bare attention in the present moment. Mindfulness is whole body awareness.
There is nothing ethereal or surreal or otherworldliness about it.
It is a down-to-earth, universally verifiable practice, rooted in
the immanent and the existential domain of each human being.
Mindfulness has three identifiable characteristics: it is non-judgmental,
moment to moment and disinterested. In the practice of mindfulness
we learn to observe things are they are, without comparing and contrasting,
without projecting ourselves, our thoughts and prejudices and without
our conditioning, memory, choice or expectation. Mindfulness of
the right kind is an all encompassing and all inclusive observation,,
in which you try to observe as much as possible through the normal
channels of perception.
Mindfulness and concentration are different practices but they
compliment each other. In mindfulness you include as many objects
as possible for your observation where as in concentration you try
to exclude as many as possible to focus on just one. However we
cannot practice of concentration successfully unless we learn to
remove the hindrances and distractions to perfect concentration
by taming our minds through the practice of mindfulness. The Buddha
mind does not arise through concentrated mindfulness unless we tame
the monkey mind through concentration and mindfulness.
Two conditions are imperative for the practice of mindfulness.
The first condition is it can be practiced only relationship with
something. Mindfulness is not a process of shutting down the sense
organs but letting them go forth freely and perceive things as they
are. So there can be no mindfulness if the observer is unaware of
the observed. Secondly, mindfulness has to arise from the actual
awareness of the thing observed, not form the imagination or projection
or recollection of the mind. In other words has to be rooted in
and arise from reality.
For example I can say I am mindful when I am breathing and simultaneously
aware that I am breathing, I am feeling and simultaneously aware
that I am feeling, I am acting and simultaneously aware that I am
acting; and when I see the breath in my breath, the feeling in my
feeling and the action in my action. (If you confused with these
expressions, let me clarify. Seeing the breath in the breath means,
to be in the present and see the the breath as it enters or goes
out at that precise moment and in that precise location, that is
from the tip of your nose right up to your lungs. It should not
be something that you realize or make up later.)
Most of us perform our actions rather absent mindedly. It is
more so in case of routine tasks, such as switching on that light
in your bedroom or changing the gears of your car or applying
soap to your body in the bathroom. In mindfulness practice, when
you are breathing, you are aware that you are breathing. When you
are cleaning are aware that you are cleaning and when you are feeling
you are aware that you are feeling. In mindful state, your actions
and your awareness happen simultaneously in the exact space and
time where and when they happen, without imagination, recollection
or superimposition of your accumulated knowledge. When you are mindful
you live in the present, enjoying the moment, accepting life as
it comes, letting go of things and flowing free with the river of
change and transformation. You become free from the concerns and
anxieties of your mind, as you come to accept them as mere mechanical
responses of your mind to external events. You become equal to all
situations in your life, accepting your joys and sorrows and your
pain and pleasure alike.
The purpose of mindfulness
Mindfulness is practiced in Buddhism to understand the process of
becoming, the nature of suffering caused by the desires, how the
cause and effect create and sustain the reality we experience and
subject us to different mental states and the subtle nuances of
change and transformation. We accept the forming, becoming and changing
that shape our destinies upon earth as the norm of our
lives, despite the suffering that accompanies them. Through mindfulness
we come to know our selves, the basis of our actions and reactions,
attachments, preconceived notions, habitual thought patterns and
the conditioning that is interwoven in our whole consciousness.
Through such awareness, we learn to control our minds and bodies,
our thinking and actions and our future. Most importantly through
mindfulness we come to accept the world as an ever changing and
impermanent place, a great flux which cannot be relied upon or taken
for granted. Through mindfulness when we realize the futility of
our existence in this transformative world, we return to the path
that leads to ceto-vimutti or the release of the mind, In other
words, nirvana or freedom from becoming. The practice of mindfulness
is also the basis for vipassana or insight into things and our own
existence.
The Four Immeasurable Minds
The Buddha taught that the practice of mindfulness would lead
to the development of Four Immeasurable Minds or the four Brahma
Viharas (dwelling places of Brahma). They are:
- Cultivation of metta or maitri (feelings of love and friendship)
that knows no hatred or enmity towards anyone.
- Cultivation of karnua (compassion) that knows no distinction
between the suffering of oneself and of the others.
- Cultivation of mudita (pure joy) that rejoices at the good
fortune of others with no consideration for oneself.
- Cultivation of upalekha or upeksha (equanimity or forebearance)
that accepts the equality of all beings and favors none
The practice of mindfulness
The practice of mindfulness, although sounds easy, is rather
difficult, because the restless mind does not confirm to a pattern
of behavior without adequate preparation and strong commitment.
It may take years before you understand the full implications of
the practice and experience some level of perfection and insight
in your mindfulness. At the most basic level, as the Buddha himself
suggested, mindfulness can be practiced using our most common daily
tasks such as walking, eating, cooking, cleaning, sweeping, talking,
breathing, "while stretching one's limbs" or even "bending over."
You may practice it formally during a particular time of the day
and at a particular place or whenever it is convenient for you.
You may do it with your eyes wide open or closed. In the beginning
you may require definite procedures and practices and the help
of a master. But as you make
progress you may extend the practice into your mundane life.
In other words, with some discipline, guidance and preparation,
mindfulness can be practiced anywhere and everywhere by anyone.
We do not require expensive gadgets or accessories to practice it.
We do not have to change our daily routine, except for some minor
adjustments here and there. In the comfort of your own environment,
you can use the ordinary events and activities in your life to practice
it. All that you require are pure and simple attention and detachment.
With these two you can climb the steps of the heaven which is hidden in your
consciousness or go beyond it into the transcendental states of
samadhi.
The Buddha gave instructions for the practice of mindfulness
to his followers based upon his own experiences. What he preached
them was not his invention, but the knowledge of ancient practices which he brought
to light. His teachings on this subject are recorded in two early
Buddhist sutras, namely Anapanasati (awareness of breathing) and
Satipatthana (establishing mindfulness) sutras.
Anapanasati: Anapanasati is a very useful technique, which
the Buddha himself declared as an effective means to cultivate Perfect
Mindfulness on the Eightfold Path. The technique is recorded in
the
Anapana Sutta. In the most elementary form of anapanasati, you
become aware of your breathing, remaining in the present and
observing attentively your inbreathing as well as out breathing,
and count your breaths. The advanced methods of anapanasati include
the following.
- Mindfulness of bodily postures
- Mindfulness of all bodily activities
- Contemplation of various bodily parts or the aggregates
of the body
- Analysis of the body elements (the mahabhutas)
Satipatthana Meditation: In Buddhism there is yet another
powerful meditation technique to practice mindfulness. It is known
as the
Satipatthana,
which is derived from the name of the sutta (sutra) bearing the
same name. In this method, four forms of meditation are suggested:
- Mindfulness of body
- Mindfulness of feeling (vedana)
- Mindfulness of mind (citta)
- Mindfulness of mental objects
Mindfulness on the Eightfold Path: Just as the asanas
(postures),
dharana (concentration) and dhyana (meditation) cannot be practiced in isolation without reference
to the other aspects of Patanjali's yoga, mindfulness cannot be practiced in
isolation without reference to the overall purpose which the Buddhist
Dhamma aims to reach, which is the liberation of the individual
being from the ubiquitous problem of suffering and bondage to the
cycle of births and rebirths. In Buddhism mindfulness is the means
to success on the Eightfold Path. The practice of mindfulness leads
to Perfect View (samyag drishti), Perfect Effort (samyag vyayama)
and Perfect Mindfulness (samyag smriti). It is essential for the
purification of the being, for the overcoming of sorrow, for the
destruction of pain and grief, for staying on the path and reaching
Nirvana. Mindfulness grounds the mind in the present and keeps it
firmly entrenched in the being.
The practice of mindfulness eventually resolves into equanimity,
where by the mind comes to repose or perfect equilibrium. You realize
the true meaning and purport of the Four Noble Truths through your
own awareness, independent of what has been taught to you or learned
by you. You begin to see the deep connection between the cravings
of your own mind and the suffering that arises from them. You will
realize how the great flux of change and transformation is effected
through simple acts of your mind and body and how you have become
a problem to yourself. In that supreme awareness you will find the
means to end your suffering.
The practice of mindfulness is useful even if you are not a
Buddhist and do not intend to practice the Eightfold Path. By
practicing it you will gain better awareness and insight
into your own behavior and thinking.
Suggested Further Reading
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