Awareness Introduction

 

The second essential factor and focus element for practice that is a critical catalyst for change is mindfulness or awareness. Awareness is a faculty of mind that has the ability to change everything! Cultivating and deepening it will be a major factor in the ongoing success of our efforts to transform our mind and change our life. Mind is the primary condition that affects how we experience reality, and mindfulness is the primary tool that gives us the ability to control, change and direct that in some way.

Without this awareness, we aren’t much more than animals running on instinct, passengers to base desires and uninformed biases. Being more ‘mind-full’ of what we think, feel and do puts us in the driver's seat, we become agents of our own destiny instead of victims of it. This whole focus element will address the profundity of awareness in great detail to fully understand its potential and the ramifications of it for conditioning change, growth and real freedom of mind.

 

One of the main things I remember when I was learning about the practice of mindfulness was that it gives us more choice about how we respond to our environment, to everything unfolding in our experience. We usually go about our lives acting in the conditioned, habitual ways that we have always done, rarely diverting from form. When we are aware and therefore more present, a gap is presented to us giving us the profound freedom to make real choices in our lives, fully conscious decisions.

 

Being awake in our experience and having choice about our responses, what we think, what we want to believe, how we feel has the potential to set us free. The new paradigm of calm observation and conscious choice means we can choose to act rather than react to what life serves up, we can carefully consider our situation with clarity and wisdom before acting.

 

We can also start to see a great many things, like the way we view the world, what our biases are, if we are subtly (or overtly) racist, why we don’t like some people but like others, how our preferences govern our whole lives, why we react in certain ways.

 

How does awareness do all this? Through constant, undiscriminating observation of our experience, we start to notice how we are conditioned by everything that unfolds in our mind and body. Our thoughts, ideas, beliefs, emotions and feelings all come together to create a reality for us that we’re completely immersed in with almost no conscious knowledge of the fact.

 

With awareness and especially the practice of meditation, we start to change our relationship to this experience. Rather than being a prisoner to all that input, we start to see it all as simply phenomena and not to be taken too seriously. This loosens us up in many ways, we’re not so invested in the story anymore, so our attachment to it decreases. We can sit more lightly in life and just enjoy the crazy, wonderful unfoldment of it all.

 

This is why meditation practice has a powerful role in our journey of change. Although our striving to be as mindful as possible throughout our daily life is a very valuable and essential practice, cultivating it through dedicated meditation practice which also develops insightfulness is hugely beneficial to our progress. Like undertaking an intense regime of physical exercise to become fit and improve our physical health, the mental ‘exercise’ or training of meditation affects our mental and emotional health in a myriad of ways.

 

Meditation works directly on the mind, so it benefits all areas of our psychophysical experience. As we calm our mind and mental states, we find that our whole internal ecosystem follows suit. With the whole system free of agitation and the often negative and undermining internal stimuli, our energies in all their manifestations become more harmonious and wholesome.

 

Awareness has many specific aspects and qualities that empower us to engage in life, in vastly different ways than we ever have before. They also relate to the Benefits of Meditation which is another article in the Meditation section of this website. Through cultivating mindfulness and meditating, we can greatly improve these faculties of mind and substantially improve our quality of life and state of mind.

 

Attention

Attempting to be present in our experience means we are paying attention to it. This would seem obvious, but this continuous application of mental attention to something is a faculty of mind and a training. If you’ve already started trying to be more mindful, or you’ve even meditated before, you will know how often our attention jumps from one interest to the next.

 

When we aren’t continuously directing our mind to our current object of interest, we simply forget what we were doing and our attention moves elsewhere, to the next sense desire our distracted mind wants to immerse in, so we’re ‘distracted from distraction by distraction’.

 

Practicing mindfulness is exercising the ‘muscle’ of attention and strengthens it so we can attend to what we want with greater focus and concentration, and for longer periods of time.

 

Non-conceptual/non-judgemental awareness

Both of these aspects of mindfulness are about exercising an impartial observation of phenomena and are very important aspects that have a slightly different purpose. Non-conceptual awareness particularly relates to that aspect of awareness which translates from the Pali word sati meaning ‘bare attention’. It’s the observation of the phenomena in our perceptive field without the need to conceptualise, categorise or label it and then move into thinking and ideation in relation to it.

 

It’s a curious practice because our minds are usually impelled nonstop to quantify every little bit of data input we receive. I had a curious experience once in a group meditation session where the lead instructor had removed his prosthetic leg and placed it on the floor next to him. They had put it at such an angle that when I looked at it during the meditation, I didn’t recognise what it was for about five seconds. I was caught in this strange moment, my mind was very clear because I was in a meditative state, and I could see it trying to make sense of the perception it was receiving, I couldn’t fit it into a concept that made sense.

 

This non-conceptual awareness allows us to sit with the bare input rather than switch to a conditioned and confected background of ideas, feelings and associations we might have towards a thing or experience. It’s allowing the mind to stay in the gap of pure experience, unaffected by previous ‘learnings’.

 

Non judgmental awareness is similar, but its focus relates to our constant need to qualify our experience as either good or bad, what's likeable or unpleasant, constantly assessing the quality of things to fit them into either of these categories. Staying with bare awareness releases us from our constant bias towards or away from life experiences. We can simply let things be as they are with the desire for them to be anything other than what they are. 

This practice is very useful for unhooking us from negative thinking and associations we have. It’s particularly useful in meditation when we can be very critical of our unruly mind or how unsettled we are, or ‘bad’ we are at meditating. It teaches us in a very direct way to notice things, not with a critical eye, but a curious one.

 

I had an amusing experience one morning just after waking up. I immediately began thinking anxiously about a recent point of practice that wasn’t working for me. It struck me that I was caught in negative emotions and thoughts in regards to practices that are supposed to eradicate these things!

 

At that moment, I remembered to apply bare attention to the pure experience that’s unfolding. I noted the unpleasant feelings and let go of the story that the thoughts were convincing me of. This immediately released me from the minor anxiety and to this day, in moments like this, I say to myself ‘Awareness 1st’ to remind me of the power of bare attention.

 

Non-attachment

Through the practice of mindfulness, we get to see the flow of our thoughts and feelings as we interact with the world. Along with this we notice how much of our life is a continuous tug-of-war of attachment to what we like or want, and repulsion to the opposite. Attachment, loss and the fear of loss are all painful experiences, they are the main contributor to our experience of suffering in the world.

 

As we become more mindful, we not only experience more calm and have a more relaxed attitude to life, but we naturally start to let go of our attaching to things, whether it be people, ideas, beliefs or possessions and so on. The more confidence we build in our rich inner life, the reliance we put on our ego and material identity starts to lose its relevance, and in turn we hold life more lightly.

 

Openness

Openness, open heartedness and open mindedness are all qualities that come as a result of a freer state of being conditioned by a mindful life. Due to greater interest and curiosity about our experience we’re more open to what unfolds and not habitually discriminating against certain experiences versus others. We also find that our own beliefs, opinions and views also loosen up which means we can consider and take on new information and ideas instead of rejecting it outright if it challenges our reality. 

 

Being more open exposes us to more life experiences and opportunities that in the past we may have rejected due to fear or some other bias we felt. It means we also tend to be more friendly, we’re likely to engage more with people, even complete strangers. It invites an overall desire to connect and exchange ideas and interact.

 

This openness expresses a mental state that is free of anxiety and other emotions and attitudes that are vigilantly on alert for perceived danger. It is not concerned with challenges to the ego as it accepts it on the basis that it’s all a valuable learning experience.

 

Receptivity

Much like openness, receptivity has this quality of not fearing new information or truth, so there is no barrier to reception of pure experience. Quite the contrary, we are curious and interested in what all experience has to tell us.That means we are primed to be more aware of everything, It’s as if we have our antennas up scanning the airwaves, not in a hypervigilant fearful way, but with a sense of interest and curiosity.

 

This receptive quality supports mindfulness as we become so interested in what we’re focused on or engaged in, we naturally become absorbed in it, we don’t have to fight the mind’s tendency to want to look elsewhere for stimulation.

 

There’s also a positive emotional aspect to receptivity that’s related to open heartedness in the sense that we’re in a caring state of mind when we’re receptive. We’re framing our experience from a sense of goodness and positive regard. We can’t really be receptive if we’re angry, in a bad mood or generally in a negative state of mind. If our energies and attitude caught up with egoic concerns, we aren’t present.

 

Appreciative awareness

Like receptivity, appreciative awareness brings a beautiful emotional element to the engagement with the present moment, and serves to connect us with that powerfully positive attitude and quality of gratitude.

 

This quality brings a tender joy at the wonder of being alive and experiencing the sublime beauty of life unfolding. Sometimes our bare awareness of experience can get a bit dry or cold so connecting with this highly positive quality will serve us well to keep us emotionally engaged with our mindfulness and meditation practice.

 

 

Acceptance

As relating to a positive state of mind, acceptance is the quality of being able to acknowledge the way things are instead of being in constant conflict with it, avoiding the facts or being willfully delusional because we don’t like them.

 

This is especially critical when it comes to self awareness and not denying aspects of ourselves that exist, or not willing to acknowledge the strength of negative or unhealthy feelings and thoughts. If we don't know who we are, we don’t know where we are, what our starting point is.

 

This goes for all aspects of our lives, we are prone to not accepting the state of things which only serves to leave us living in a false reality, a lie. When difficulties arise, we can feel as if the whole world is caving in on us. With acceptance, it means we are more at ease with what is happening, even if it’s unpleasant. This is especially helpful for situations that can’t be resolved easily or quickly, or at all.

 

Acceptance shouldn’t be mistaken for passive resignation either, it’s not a state of acquiescence but one of being open to the truth and not feeling victimised by it. Fully acknowledging the state of things means we can more accurately assess what’s going on and decide if change is possible, relevant or appropriate, then act affirmatively.

 

Patience

One of the great and possibly least acknowledged benefits of mindfulness practice is the cultivation of patience. Life seems to be devoid of this very positive and rigorous practice. People seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere, to get things done, to get to that point in the future where everything is going to be sorted. We seem to all be living in some other place, space or time.

 

The ability to be patient is directly conditioned by mindfulness practice. By cultivating interest in and attending to the present moment, we let go of our attachment and preoccupation with the next thing we have to do, where we have to be, or what is blocking what we want. This is a compulsivity we train into ourselves to be constantly rushing forward away from the now.

 

Patience allows us to relax and let things take their course which is about being process oriented. Letting things unfold more naturally and enjoying the process means we can savour the journey and fruition of our life’s cycles of activities, comings and goings, goals, dreams and aspirations.

 

Equanimity and compassion

The journey of mindfulness is the journey back to the self, how could it be anything else. The whole point of awareness is to be more present which ultimately means we become highly tuned into what’s unfolding in our own experience. Suddenly, our whole inner life that we just took for granted and never really consciously noticed, comes into stark relief.

 

We come into relationship with ourselves which means getting real, seeing our make up, all the good bits, and the parts we don’t like and deny. We start to see the way we think, our emotionality, how we feel, what we believe and so on. This helps us see the way in which this conglomeration of conditioning stimuli affects our actions.

 

Observing all these manifestations of self with consistent and kindly awareness brings greater acceptance and understanding. We begin to understand the root of our own suffering and in turn understand the human condition. Out of this comes a sense of compassion for oneself, and in that, a deep compassion and understanding for the suffering of all beings. We see how suffering unites us instead of making us enemies, we are treading this path together.

 

Through our experience of compassion and further awareness of unfolding life we came to a sense of equanimity towards our experience. This is defined by a deep imperturbable calm in the face of all that life presents to us. Rather than a benign indifference it is informed by boundless love that is free of any attachment.

 

The Cultivation of Positive Emotion (Metta Bhavana) meditation practice detailed on this website is particularly effective at developing compassion and equanimity and is part of a collection of meditations known as the Brahma Viharas. Metta and these associated practices are profoundly transformative and I highly recommend taking them up to support and deepen our general mindfulness training and conscious evolution of mind.

 

Beginner’s mind

The first time I heard this phrase was when I attended a one day meditation workshop many years ago. I would continue to hear it in relation to meditation practice and mindfulness in general and about its profound ability to connect us to the wonder of life.

Beginner’s mind is an attitude or state of being that we may accidentally experience when we do something new for the first time, especially if we don’t know anything about it. When we don’t hold any preconceptions or expectations, we have a genuine moment of new experience. We’re fully alive to it because we don’t know what’s coming so we get immersed in the pure wonder of it.

 

As we age and grow up, become adults, it’s as if we have less and less unique and fresh experiences because we’ve ‘done it all’. At the same time get more inured to the ones we experience all the time, the routineness of life.

 

That’s one of the reasons why we go on holiday to exotic or new locations, to find that newness we desire. What we’re really chasing is a way to engage us fully in the here and now. Where holidays and other exciting activities can create this for us, mindfulness practice addresses this drudgery of perceived sameness directly.

 

Being ‘in the moment’, experiencing reality free of concepts, expectations or assumptions, but with appreciation and kindness, receptivity, openness and non-attachment is precisely what we are trying to cultivate in the sense of the beginner’s mind experience.

 

It’s pointing to the fundamental truth that actually, every single second of our life is a new experience, we just aren’t alive to it. Beginner’s mind is a way of being, of not expecting or anticipating anything and marvelling at the wonder of it all!