What is Mindfulness and why it can change the way you approach life from today
The more we remember to be aware, the more we nourish the wisdom that allows us to dissolve stress and suffering .
Mindfulness (pronounced main(d)fulnes in Spanish) which means “full attention” or “full awareness” is defined as a psychological process in which we bring our attention to things that are happening in the present moment without making judgments and that can be developed through meditation. It is the generalized explanation, but when you understand its parts, it can transform your life.
Mindfulness is derived from sati, a significant element of Buddhist traditions, and encompasses “remembering the present reality” where the true nature of phenomena can be seen, without interfering. This sounds a bit complex, but thanks to the natural and clear explanation of the Buddhist monk Sayadaw u Tejaniya, who teaches meditation in Yangon, Myanmar or Burma, I will try to explain it in such a way that, at the end of this reading, you will have the tools to put it into practice and advance on your inner path, if you so wish.
Mindfulness is, in fact, one of the 5 spiritual faculties. It doesn't matter if you are walking, standing, sitting or lying down, if you remember to be aware, you are meditating and you are cultivating the positive qualities of the mind.
By beginning to raise awareness, we allow all mental states to emerge, especially the quality of wisdom . When awareness and wisdom work together, we gain confidence and are motivated to continue exploring those regions of our mind from which suffering subtly arises.
Normally, the objects that we can easily become aware of would be sensations, thoughts, perceptions and emotions. That is the first step, but they are not the most important thing. What interests us is realizing that our mind is experiencing them. Something like putting ourselves behind the scenes and observing through a small hole how our mind reacts to what it experiences.
Objective = wisdom
Our purpose is to become aware of how our mind is perceiving life because wisdom is the quality of the mind that understands the true nature of reality. It is what guides us in trying to understand and eradicate from our mind the three unhealthy roots: desire, aversion and false illusion that make us suffer and get stressed.
As individuals, we do not know how to deal with these unhealthy roots, but the practice of wisdom, through awareness, can help us overcome them. We must give it a chance.
Meditation doesn't just happen on a cushion or in a specific room. In fact, it's so important that we should do it every time we "remember" to do it, here are the tools.
The five spiritual faculties
It is the nature of the mind that every moment of our life arises and passes, and every moment leaves a legacy, so it is important to cultivate healthy forms of the mind such as patience , perseverance , joy and impartiality so that this is the legacy that is transmitted.
These forms are like aids in case you are going through a difficult moment in which reflection is difficult. If we keep in mind patience, perseverance, joy and impartiality , awareness or mindfulness arises almost automatically. Don't forget them!
Once we learn to become aware of ourselves with wisdom, all the healthy qualities of the mind will arise naturally. Cultivating these healthy and positive qualities of the mind is the goal of meditation; it is these qualities that are worked on in meditation and not the “I.”
Five of these positive qualities of the mind, also called “spiritual faculties,” are considered especially important to cultivate through meditation (the fifth is the most important because wisdom dissolves suffering). When in balance, the first four faculties help develop wisdom.
The five spiritual faculties are:
- Confidence (faith in practice)
- Energy (perseverance or continuous effort)
- Mindfulness (remembering to be aware, awareness)
- Mental stability (calm, stillness)
- Wisdom (understanding the nature of reality)
Thinking nice. Choose the positive side
When meditation is well developed, these five faculties function in a virtuous circle that strengthens the healthy qualities of the mind again and again. Thus, confidence in the practice sustains constant effort , which in turn strengthens the awareness that in a calm state allows a glimpse of wisdom . A glimpse of wisdom gives us the confidence to continue, and the cycle continues.
It is advisable to go for the positive side because the qualities of our mind can be positive or negative at any time and they will be strengthened as you allow them to settle and prevail in your mind. It is advisable to carefully practice what makes the mind positive because if it is not positive, it will be negative.
By becoming aware of practicing in this way, we remove space from the vicious circle of anxiety or desire, aversion and false illusion or confusion, replacing it with a new cycle of natural, clear and wise awareness.
Now let's get to work!
See, it's not difficult. Sayadaw U Tejaniya also explains how the three pillars of meditation practice work so as not to fail in the attempt: right effort , right view and right attitude .
Right effort refers to being persistent in reminding yourself to become aware.
Simple awareness is not hard work. When you wash your face with water, do you need to concentrate? No. So as long as you are aware that something is happening in your being, you are being aware and that is enough and okay. It can be any of the perceptions through the 6 senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching or thinking.
According to Buddhism, thinking is considered the sixth sense of perception since each time a sense “perceives” (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind) it encounters the object of perception (sight, sound, aroma, touch, taste, thought) and a moment of awareness is experienced in which the object of perception is identified or recognized.
As you see, awareness is not difficult, just be aware of what you are being aware of .
However, when reflecting or meditating, it is important not to overdo it by concentrating too much on something or creating a pleasurable state of mind. The former is tiring and the latter instigates the desire to want more.
Calm the mind : Whenever we try hard to experience something pleasurable or avoid something unpleasant, we get tired. A mind that is meditating must be a healthy mind, and in a healthy mind the qualities of confidence, energy, mindfulness, calmness and wisdom work to eradicate desire, aversion and delusion, at least at some level.
However, sometimes the effort is made roughly and at such times one or more of the unhealthy roots of the mind appear, causing the effort to become misguided.
When desire, aversion or delusion arise and motivate practice, we overdo it. If we want to experience a certain way, we are desiring and trying too hard. If we are dissatisfied with something, aversion arises which we try to avoid or discard. Concentrating too much makes us tired and is the result of desire or abhorrence or ignorance of the practice. We must calm down, for there must be continuous effort, but not extreme effort.
Keep your mind calm and interested: accept, examine and study what is happening and do not interfere. Do not try to make something undesirable go away or stop. Do not try to create preferred experiences.
Allow the mind to do its work. We are behind the scenes, allowing the mind to recognize, become aware of, reflect on the practice and take an interest. We are just witnessing and allowing the mind to work.
Key! : The right effort is to constantly remind ourselves to be aware. It is easy to be aware if we have our six senses to remind us: sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste and thought. To do this, we can ask ourselves at any time: What do I hear? What do I see? What am I thinking about? That is meditation .
Conserve your energy to be mindful all day long : It is important to try to maintain the intention to remain mindful for as long as you can, whether or not the mindfulness is continuous. This is where another characteristic of right effort comes into play: perseverance.
Perseverance is not a forced effort, but rather an inner determination to endure the little bit of energy that is needed at each moment and determine/verify that one is aware enough to continue.
At first, mindfulness comes and goes, but we try to persevere. When we remember, we return. We forget, we remember, we return. We need to activate our awareness in all postures: standing, walking, sitting or lying down.
Beware of unhealthy roots of the mind: the automatic liking or disliking of things in consciousness tends to govern most of our daily actions. It is the habit of our minds. It is not surprising that this habit arises during our reflection and tries to steal the spotlight.
The unhealthy roots of the mind are sometimes not easily identified. Our list of “likes” and “dislikes” is well rooted in our personality. And we will only draw on the healthy qualities when we realize that the likes and dislikes are controlling our life and we can no longer bear them.
Therefore, we must maintain an interest in our mind and learn about it continuously. Likewise, by studying the mind we learn to recognize when the subtle forms of “desire,” “aversion,” “delusion” and all their kin manifest themselves, while stepping back and observing their true nature.
Right view: understanding that the mind is independent in nature, not the “I” or the “me.”
The mind is not a self. It is not your own, it is not personal. There is no one there. Right view is trained to know the nature of the mind, simply.
Right view needs to be present in the mind even before awareness because if there is awareness without right view, we will become entangled in craving, aversion and confusion.
If we think of the body or mind as a “self,” desire, aversion and confusion will arise .
If we think we are having a good time, we will start to root ourselves for it or try to get more of it = desire .
If we feel that we are going through a difficult time, we will begin to repudiate it, reject it, eliminate it = aversion .
If the mind is scattered and longing for things or busy rationalizing and defending a desire or aversion = confusion .
By practicing mindfulness with right view, we come into intimate contact with life. There we begin to understand what it is to live life as a human being. There we will understand that right view cannot be achieved through the ego or the sense of “I.” Instead, with a calm and clear mind we observe each experience as it is so that its own nature, which does not belong to us, is revealed.
When you are engaged in a meditation or reflection practice, remember to be aware of two events that are occurring at that moment : the things that are being considered and the mind that is considering those things. Both events form a complete experience that manifests itself moment by moment.
The mind is what knows and we call “things” what is known or considered by the mind. Things can include any of the five sense perceptions such as sights, sounds, tastes, touches, smells and thoughts which are the things of the mind and which usually manifest themselves in the form of images or words.
Things appear spontaneously and the mind “knows” them, but we don’t have to alter them in any way and they are as they are. What we can do in the present moment is work with the knowing mind. We can make sure that the mind has the right view and acts in the right way. Through mindfulness, we can take these qualities of the mind to experience the present.
Investigating your thinking
When we meditate, do we think it is good to have many thoughts in our mind? Or do we think it is better to have few or none?
If we believe that it is better to have few or no thoughts, we are resisting the action of thinking when thoughts arise in the mind.
Thinking is natural. Can we stop nature or avoid it? It is impossible. We can only perceive that thinking is natural. That is correct view.
You have to be able to recognize when your mind is thinking, but not get caught up in what is being thought. There is no need to get caught up in the story your thoughts are telling you. There is no need to automatically believe that the story that is running through your mind is true.
If you often give yourself the opportunity to notice what your mind is thinking, you will reach the point where you recognize the mind as such. You will no longer be lost in your thoughts, for there is a difference between being lost in your thoughts, which is the mind wandering, and being aware of what you are thinking while you are thinking.
Use all your senses to develop wisdom
By reflecting, we can use all six senses to develop mindfulness, calmness, and wisdom. People who do not take time to meditate or reflect also have all six senses, but they use them to establish desires, aversions, and apathy toward them.
Whatever you discover through your experience at that moment, recognize it for what it is and continue to perceive without trying to change the experience.
Whatever we are doing throughout the day, whether it is sitting, walking, standing, we are trying to know. We are trying to become aware of what is going on in our body and in our mind.
You don't have to be in the lotus position with your eyes closed to reflect or meditate.
Remember that seeing is one of the senses that allows us to become aware. The mind's normal tendency is to think about what we see (the window, the computer, the television). But seeing as such is something else, and that is what we are learning.
When we see, we recognize that the action of seeing is happening, as long as our eyes are open. Before we open the door, we look at its handle, we look at something before we touch it, before we act.
Since seeing and thinking have similar characteristics or natures, it is good to differentiate between what is being thought and focus on what is doing the thinking. You want to observe and learn about the process of seeing, mainly in terms of liking, hating and ignoring.
The right attitude : accepting the experience as it comes.
This is the ideal setting for the mind to meditate. A mind that is free from compulsive likes and dislikes is able to clearly see things as they are.
The right attitude allows you to accept, acknowledge and observe what is happening, whether pleasant or unpleasant, in a calm and conscious way.
But it is not enough to be aware. For awareness or mindfulness to be strengthened, the right attitude is needed, that is, an observant mind free from unhealthy roots.
Stay calm and interested. Accept, examine and study what is happening without interfering. Whether what is going through the mind is good or bad is irrelevant. With the right attitude, you learn from every experience and you will be able to notice how the mind judges good and bad, and then the reactions that accompany these judgments.
You don't need to find an object to concentrate on, such as breathing, or empty your mind of thoughts, or focus on an image or an emotion. This is about becoming aware of the mind that is pondering or meditating by cultivating the wholesome qualities of the mind.
Get the full experience:
The goal is to understand the thoughts, feelings and sensations that surround an emotion and how the mind behaves with or without the three unhealthy roots.
The next level is awareness or mindfulness. You can start by noticing your breathing, for example. Then you can add sensations in your belly, in your chest. Later you will notice the feelings that arise from being aware of these things that are happening in your body.
Eventually, even the attitude behind this awareness. Once you can see the whole experience, you will realize that all these things interact with each other to create a more or less stressed mind. This is understanding; this is wisdom. So allow the mind to expand.
Allow what is happening, to happen:
By waiting and observing with awareness or mindfulness and intelligence, you will see that these experiences are happening according to their nature. Let whatever happens happen. There is no need to be happy or unhappy during the experience and there is no need to like or dislike it. Be happy that there is knowledge and awareness, for that is healthy in itself.
At this point you may feel overwhelmed with all of this information to consider as you reflect or meditate. But all of these suggestions serve a purpose, which is to give you the understanding so that you can reflect with the right attitude.
Putting all this information together allows the mind to understand how physical and mental processes interact. At this level, information becomes knowledge.
Wisdom uses this knowledge about the interaction of physical and mental processes in skillful ways to influence life events in positive ways. The mind does everything by itself. It is not the “I” that meditates, it is the mind.
Meditation is the work of the mind. We simply assist it by paying attention to our experiences with the right attitude and in order to learn about the mechanisms of the three unwholesome roots that wisdom will eventually dissolve.
From the text Relax & be Aware , by Sayadaw U Tejaniya; Edited by Doug McGill (Shambala 2019)