GAINING PERSPECTIVE OF YOUR MIND

When I talk about, practice or teach mindfulness it is from a Buddhist rather than western perspective. All my training has been in Nepal and Thailand from Buddhist teachers. My training in mindfulness meditation is Vipassana thru my teacher S. N. Goenka.

Why? Because western mindfulness has taken “mindfulness” and stripped all the Buddhist philosophy from which it comes so that they could commercialize it. I remember my daughter telling me when I returned to Lexington Ky after living in Australia, Nepal and Thailand for fifteen years, “Dad, you can’t talk about Buddhism if you are going to start your counseling and coaching practice here. People will not come to you. Lexington is in the bible belt and people will not accept Buddhist teachings.” It didn’t go down well at the time when I said you are expressing one of the three fundamental causes of suffering… Clinging, Aversion and Ignorance. Ignorance being the greatest cause of suffering. You and most people in western society and particularly U S society have been conditioned to believe that Buddhism attacks Christianity and any other religion. Buddhist, even though classified as a religion, is secular. To me it is a philosophy of living based on understanding and mastering the mind. The ability to intentionally be in the moment, to focus and concentrate without being diverted from your intention by distractions always present and presented to the mind through the senses. My practice has been and is about UNLOCKING-AWAKENING-DEVELOPING POTENTIAL through the practice of Vipassana (Mindfulness) is it pure form. A large part of this is helping other remove ignorance which opens their doors to learning. And after starting my practice here eight years ago I have clients of all religions and of no religion. I have not embraced the western approach to mindfulness because I believe it sustains ignorance rather than eradicate it and open minds to full potential.

The western approach to mindfulness fails to communicate and teach that even though there are benefits to “mindfulness” meditation the western approach is a mere part of the process of freeing the mind to be able to gain insights and understanding into the deep causes of suffering. It is the combination of the whole as taught through Buddhist Philosophy, not just meditation, that we find and can eradicate the causes of suffering.

So, in discussing “Gaining Perspective of YOUR Mind” I believe it is important to develop some understanding to how this fits into the “whole” of mindfulness.

Mindfulness is one of the most basic practices of Buddhism. It is part of the eight-fold path and is one of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. And it's currently trendy. Many people with no interest in the rest of Buddhism have taken up mindfulness meditation, and some psychologists have adopted mindfulness techniques as a therapeutic practice even though their study is limited and practice may be limited to non-existent. Meaning, they have a shallow theoretical understanding but little to no experiential understanding. Why is this important, because mindfulness in its true form is experiential. Experience only comes through practice and application of knowledge. One cannot be a teacher of or a practitioner of without personal practice on a daily basis.

Although it's associated with meditation, the Buddha taught his followers to practice mindfulness all the time. Mindfulness can help us perceive the illusory nature of things and break the bonds of self-clinging.

Mindfulness in the Buddhist sense goes beyond just paying attention to things. It is a pure awareness free of judgments and concepts and self-reference. Genuine mindfulness takes discipline, and the Buddha advised working with four foundations to train oneself to be mindful.

Where Does the Mind Fit In the Foundations of Mindfulness

The four foundations are frames of reference, usually taken up one at a time. In this way, the student begins with a simple mindfulness of breath and progresses to mindfulness of everything. These four foundations are often taught in the context of meditation, but if your daily practice is chanting, that can work, too.

Mindfulness of Body- The first foundation is mindfulness of body. This is an awareness of the body as body; something experienced as breath and flesh and bone. It is not "my" body. It is not a form you are inhabiting. There is just body.

Most introductory mindfulness exercises focus on the breath. This is experiencing breath and being breath. It is not thinking about the breath or coming up with ideas about breath.

As the ability to maintain awareness gets stronger, the practitioner becomes aware of the whole body. In some schools of Buddhism, this exercise might include an awareness of aging and mortality.

Mindfulness of Feelings- The second foundation is mindfulness of feelings, both bodily sensations and emotions. In meditation, one learns to just observe emotions and sensations come and go, without judgments and without identifying with them. In other words, it is not "my" feelings, and feelings do not define who you are. There are just feelings.

Sometimes this can be uncomfortable. What can come up might surprise us. Humans have an amazing capacity to ignore our own anxieties and anger and even pain, sometimes. But ignoring sensations we don't like is unhealthy. As we learn to observe and fully acknowledge our feelings, we also see how feelings dissipate.

Mindfulness of Mind- The third foundation is mindfulness of mind or consciousness. The "mind" in this foundation is called citta. This is a different mind from the one that thinks thoughts or makes judgments. Citta is more like consciousness or awareness.

Citta is sometimes translated "heart-mind," because it has an emotive quality. It is a consciousness or awareness that is not made up of ideas.

Another way of thinking of this foundation is "mindfulness of mental states." Like sensations or emotions, our states of mind come and go. Sometimes we are sleepy; sometimes we are restless. We learn to observe our mental states dispassionately, without judgment or opinion. As they come and go, we clearly understand how insubstantial they are.

Mindfulness of Dharma (phenomena)- The fourth foundation is mindfulness of dharma. Here we open ourselves to the whole world, or at least the world that we experience.

Dharma is a Sanskrit word that can be defined in many ways. You can think of it as "natural law" or "the way things are." Dharma can refer to the doctrines of the Buddha. And, as I prefer, dharma can refer to phenomena as manifestations of reality.

This foundation is sometimes called "mindfulness of mental objects." That's because all of the myriad things around us exist for us as mental objects. They are what they are because that's how we recognize them.

In this foundation, we practice awareness of the inter-existence of all things. We are aware that they are temporary, without self-essence, and conditioned by everything else. This takes us to the doctrine of Dependent Origination, which is the way everything inter-exists.

Gaining Perspective of YOUR Mind

Let’s begin by clarifying what we mean by the word, “mind.” Our minds are non-physical forms that identify, react, label, and experience the world around us. You could also say that our minds hold our consciousness. Our minds can be peaceful, positive, and even tumultuous places depending on the mental states we hold. Our minds guide our actions, which ultimately guide the outcomes of our lives, so it’s important that we take the time to tune into our minds.

The first step is to observe our minds and see what’s happening there. Think of it as a mental google satellite view; looking down at the forest from above rather than standing in the middle of the forest. The next step is to acknowledge the mental state we are in, our perspective, paying special attention to avoid labeling that state of mind as bad or good. Once we see and accept our mental states while knowing they are temporary and not ultimate or eternal truths, their power over us dissipates. 

We can experience countless mental states within a short period of time: contentment, greed, anger, joy, excitement, dissatisfaction, and more. It’s fascinating to watch the movies that play in our minds. Usually we see every genre all within a day. Through Vipassana meditation we gain awareness of these movies or mental states. Rather than zoning out or grasping on to them, we can learn to relax and observe our mental states, almost like we are watching a movie. And like movies, mental states change and eventually end. We understand that our mental state held within our mind is not the state we will always be in, nor is it who we are. We can sit back and let the stories pass by, knowing that our current mental state will not define us forever.

Take some quiet time and observe your mind from the perspective of a person viewing a movie as your mind "projects' it. Remember that the view projected by your mind is a;ways based on past experiences because this is all the mind knows. It has no ability to know the present moment nor the future. The past is done, gone, a snapshot of a point in time. The present moment is anew unique point in time but it can be influenced and painted as a picture based on your past experience. But this will not be reality of the current moment. What mental states tend to find you? It’s okay and normal to find yourself in unpleasant mental states from time to time. It might be helpful to give yourself reminders that you’re not defined by your mental states. Repeat: “I am not my mental state, I am not my mental state, I am not my mental state…”

Through Vipassana and gaining awareness of our mental states, we can learn to be at ease in any mental state by be intentionally present in the current moment without judgement (prejudice) and maintain focus on our intention without being pulled away by distractions. This can lead us to being more present in our lives, interactions, and relationships. Who doesn’t want that?!

Here Are Seven Simple Steps to Observing Your Mind

1. Close Your Eyes- It’s important to remove external distractions so you can truly become aware of what is happening inside. 
2. Take Five Deep Breaths- Breathing allows you to become grounded and gain clarity.
3. Notice Your Thoughts- What thoughts come in and what thoughts go out?
4. Observe Your Brain Chatter- Notice the frequency, rhythm, and pattern of your thoughts.
5. Let Go of Self-Identification: Thoughts come and thoughts go. Imagine that your thoughts are like leaves falling onto a moving river. How are you identifying with your thoughts and allowing them to impact your sense of self and well-being?
6. Take Five More Deep Breaths- Trust me, it won’t hurt.
7. Notice That You Are Still Not Your Thoughts! 

If you would like to get more information on UNLOCKING-AWAKENING-DEVELOPING YOUR POTENTIAL you may contact me a