Insight Meditation | IIL Stream

 

Mindfulness has hit the mainstream. You might want it because it promises enhanced performance, stress relief, better health, healthier relationships and more.

 

If you want to become more mindful, start by understanding what that means, why you want it, and what you need to do to get it. Also, be aware of what you might be faced with.

 

Mindfulness meditation is taught by people with varying degrees of personal experience, knowledge of the practice, motivation, and teaching skills.

 

Different understands abound. For example, someone at a yoga and meditation center in Chicago explained "Being mindful is simply focusing your mind only on the one thing that you are doing. In meditation that might be just concentrating on your breathing. Or in the case of a walking meditation, just feeling each step and not letting your mind start to worry about your emails,.... "

 

This describes concentration and leaves out the fundamental difference between concentration and mindfulness. 

 

Concentration holds the mind to an object like the breath. Mindfulness meditation is being purposefully aware of whatever occurs, including worrying, fantasizing and all the other things that arise in our minds and around us.

 

Given the wide range of current interest in using enhanced mindfulness to improve performance, reduce stress and reach a fuller understanding of self and others, misleading information leads people astray.

 

The effective teacher differentiates between mindfulness and mindfulness meditation and goes on to explain that mindfulness meditation is practiced progressively.

 

It begins with concentration on breath or some other object. Once there is sufficient, concentration, mindfulness meditation opens to the awareness of anything that might arise in or around the practitioner -- thoughts, sounds, feelings, sights, physical sensations, mental states and concepts -- seeing each as something that can be objectively observed as it arises, exist and change or pass away. As the practice progresses, awareness is heightened and the practitioner integrates mindful awareness into every moment. 

 

Concentration meditation is a wonderful practice for stress relief and more. But, it is not mindfulness meditation.

 

To further confuse things, distinctions are being made between Eastern and Western perspectives. To me, having been trained in the Eastern traditions, practicing for over forty years in the West, and teaching the application of mindfulness in daily life, the distinctions seem contrived and ill informed.

 

Robert Feldbauer, in a recent article[1], summarized: "the Eastern perspective of Mindfulness can be described as enhanced attention, while the Western perspective can be viewed as distinction making." His conclusion is based on the writings of Western mindfulness experts.

 

I think the Western experts misunderstand the purpose of enhanced mindfulness. In the East and in the West, its purpose is to enable distinction making. "Right" decisions come from the ability to objectively distinguish among choices and to recognize the things that get in the way.

 

How can one make distinctions without enhanced attention?

 

Robert refers to Ellen Langer who is credited for developing the current Western perspective of Mindfulness. "Rather than the focus on internal awareness and meditation, this perspective focuses on switching one's thinking from a 'mindless' state to one which actively engaged noticing new things. An example of thinking mindlessly is making poor decisions due to mental traps."

 

The core teachings of Eastern mindfulness training include attention to mental states, concepts and thoughts as objects of mindfulness. It is by training the mind through meditation that one becomes able to tell when he or she is thinking mindlessly. With mindfulness, whether in a business, the Army or in a monastery, there is an active engagement in new things. Ultimately, anything that arises is a new thing.

 

Western thinking thrives on distinction making. Whether or not that helps one to achieve enhanced mindfulness and the other benefits of mindfulness meditation, is an open question.

 

Whatever differences in perspective there may be, it is not about East vs. West. In the East, just as in the West, mindfulness may be cultivated to make better decisions, gain power, relieve pain and suffering or to reach enlightenment.

 

Mindfulness meditation, as described in Buddhist texts and by recent Westerners like Kabbot-Zinn, Dan Goleman and Joseph Goldstein, who have studied and practiced for decades, is a method for becoming increasingly aware of everything that is occurring internally and externally.

 

In one direction mindfulness means being aware of and skillful in making decisions. In the other direction mindfulness is the awareness before judgement and action kick in.

 

One way or another the end seems the same, to clearly perceive what is going on in the moment and apply good judgement to make sure behavior or performance is optimal. In other words to be consciously aware.

 

The Buddhist based view sees mindfulness as one part in an approach to cut through conditioned thinking and behavior. The other parts are understanding, intention and skillful action, these are informed by study and mindfulness and motivate one to do something to switch from mindlessness to mindfulness.

 

The intentions of an assassin, a monk, a business person and a mother are different. Mindfulness though, is the same and is useful to all.

 

Clearly distinguish decision making, wisdom, values, intentions and goals from the simple moment to moment awareness, without judgement, that mindfulness is. In this way you will have more clarity about what you are doing and why. That will help you see if you are achieving you goals.

 

Cultivate mindfulness through meditation to be able to decide rather than react. As you do that you will increasingly find yourself in a quiet, peaceful state that is the perfect platform for action. Action stemming from clarity replaces re-activity. Add in some compassion, kindness and equanimity and you have something special.

 

Be ready to experience things as they are. You will cultivate a witnessing aspect of mind that becomes increasingly subtle. You will be confronted by both the positive, negative and neutral. You will face much of what you have tried to avoid. You will learn acceptance of all of it and then you will be able to decide and act without being driven by hidden beliefs and urges.

 

It doesn't matter what continent you are on or what culture you are influenced by, mindfulness is mindfulness. Your intentions and beliefs do matter. They set the stage for the display of mindfulness in action.