..oh, reality is just fine as it is.

 

Just had a conversation in the pub tonight about misrepresentation, and though and behold, I turn on the computer at midnight, and the Naked Monk is exploring the same topics in a very similar manner: Isn't life grand in the 21st century! Cancel enlightenment = initiate waking up...

"...But it’s all worth it, because the prize is Enlightenment! Practice assiduously and you’ll transcend ordinary reality to live on an elevated plane of existence!
Well, once again, there’s little evidence to support this fancy. In fact, the Buddha speaks out against transcendence in no uncertain terms. He bluntly insisted that his students stay firmly grounded in the here and now of sensory experience. The term ‘Enlightenment’ simply doesn’t exist in the Buddhist languages (nor do sacred, capitalized words). ‘Enlightenment’ has been used in the West for nigh on a hundred years now to translate the word ‘bodhi,’ which actually means ‘awakening’ – coming to your senses.
What’s really interesting is that what the Buddha actually taught is so compatible with today’s secular outlook on life. On the other hand, Buddhism in the West has a funny way of attracting people in search of escape — you know: those who interpret every bit of good news as the universe looking out for them personally."
Stephen Schettini

Mindfulness of the Body

 

Mindfulness of the Body

In contemporary society we generally have a very dysfunctional relationship with our bodies. We treat our bodies badly, we often eat wrongly, push our bodies excessively, or fail to give our body the degree of care and attention it needs. Addiction is incredibly widespread and nail biting, skin picking, excessive gum chewing, and other nervous habits, are all signs of a dysfunctional connection to the physical environment in which we partake. 
Then, added on to this, we have all of the distorted images of the body given to us by advertising and consumerist culture, by celebrities, comics, and pornography; a mass of illusions of how we are supposed to appear and present ourselves to the world. We often look at our bodies in a very distorted manner, or even refuse to look at our naked form out of fear, or shame. The commodification of the body and the falsification of body images have the function of collectively disassociating people from the simplicity and immediacy of how their bodies really are and how wonderful they are in their diversity. The general obsession with external image often causes us to seek to present our bodies in specific postures, poses and shapes. How often do you either strike a model’s pose when you look at yourself in the mirror, or refuse to look honestly and deeply at your naked body without tightening up or judging it? These are all aspects of the collective baggage that we carry around and filter our perception of our body through.

Because the body is the starting place for mindfulness and because of the complexity of the issues I have just laid out, it is important to realise that mindfulness is a very rich and profound pursuit of re-engaging with experience based on very new rules. Mindfulness is not just being present, but it is also looking deeply at things to see how they really are and how we are relating to them. In this sense it is truly a path of freedom, because if we are brave enough to go all the way with it, it can free us from the mess we are in collectively and individually with regard to our bodies. 

What follows are the seven factors of mindfulness. They immediately illustrate a more complete and holistic picture of deep mindfulness practice. They also show us that mindfulness is not just something you do on a cushion in a safe, quiet space, but is rather an adventure that is embarked on that can result in the radical change and gaining of freedom that I have pointed to in several previous posts. Below is my own non-traditional wording of the seven factors.

Seven factors of Mindfulness

1.      Being present and deeply engaged with what we are doing

2.      Bridging the gap to experience: non-judgement & intimacy

3.      Appreciation for experience: acknowledging & honouring your life as an unfolding process

4.      Relieving of unsatisfactoriness & reducing separation: feeling connected & part of it all

5.      Looking deeply: penetrating experience to see clearly what is real and important, releasing our natural intuitiveness 

6.      Gaining insight & direct understanding through being grounded in experience & fully open

7.      Transformation: growth, healing, opening, freedom

Mindfulness: Introduction

 

Mindfulness

For this section I have taken inspiration from Thich Nhat Hanh. Hanh is a spokesman and elder of mindfulness; a Vietnamese Zen monk, and international figure in promoting world-peace and civil rights. He was also nominated for the Nobel Peace prize by Martin Luther King and he is probably the world’s most famous Buddhist after the Dalai Lama, although this certainly does not detract from the potency of much of his teaching. At times his works are seemingly geared towards the mass-market, but within his books are many real gems, especially regarding mindfulness, and he has been forthright in transmitting a heartfelt form of Buddhism to a much wider audience whilst making mindfulness popular and accessible to all.

Mindfulness is a rich and varied topic central to the world of Buddhism. It has become increasingly popular and widespread, being incorporated into hospitals, prisons, major businesses such as Google and Apple, and has been implemented in the cure of depression and recognised by the medical establishment for its validity and comparability with antidepressants. Much research has been undertaken on the beneficial effects of mindfulness practice and this has led to a great variety of books being published that extol its virtues, usually aimed at as wide a market as possible.

This is all great news and certainly needs to be commended. It is important though to consider the intent behind this popularisation of meditative technology practice as intent is paramount in shaping the experience of actual practice and the capacity for it to move us in one direction or another. Mindfulness used to manage difficult emotions and feelings, and mindfulness used to help one focus one’s mind in order to work more effectively are not the same as mindfulness used as an ongoing path for liberation, radical freedom and change.

Perhaps it would be useful at this point to make a distinction between Non-Buddhist Mindfulness and Buddhist Mindfulness, between mindfulness stripped of any overt Buddhist leanings, and of mindfulness practised within the Eightfold Path, or any path for that matter, with the intent of waking us up. We can consider the latter as Right Mindfulness for the sake of simplicity and this post.

Right Mindfulness

‘Right Mindfulness is at the heart of the path of awakening and radical change. It is the basis for awakened living. Growth must emerge from awareness of what needs changing and mindfulness, with time, gives us direct access to the patterns that keep us from experiencing our lives more consciously, and more directly.’

So, what is mindfulness? Well, within that word we have three clues. The first is mind, the second is full and the third is –ness. We have then a fullness of mind. Mindfulness is primarily concerned with bringing attention to the present as fully as we are able. It has a second and third function. Its second function is developing the capacity to bring attention and awareness to all areas of experience, without exception. Its third function is integrating and developing inclusiveness. This means we stop pushing certain experiences away and we give up discounting areas of our experience as unworthy of our attention, or time.

Mindfulness is practiced both on and off the cushion. On the cushion we engage in formal sitting practice. We can experiment with any technique we like, but formal practice is best when guided by an experienced meditator and competent teacher. 
 Mindfulness however we practice it is a developmental process. It is not an instant cure, but the developing of the capacity to bring our energies back to where we are in as full a manner as possible. It has a lot to do with retraining our impulsiveness and confronting dualistic drives such as the classic attachment/aversion dynamic that informs so much of our experience.

When mindfulness is developed it pulls in the other factors of the path. This is a very useful point to know. Mindfulness allows us with time to experience directly what is Right Speech, Right Action, and so on, without having to rely on prescriptive or abstract descriptions.

Mindfulness is typically aimed at four targets; the body, feelings (sensations), mental formations (or states) and phenomena. These are the basis of our experiencing presence in the world. In practising mindfulness it is useful to work with these four factors in the order they are presented. The first field of mindfulness is the body, and for good reason. 

Next: Mindfulness of the body