Mindfulness is the most popular idea in all Buddhist traditions among Westerners. It is what (almost) everybody teaches, to be aware and mindful. This is also popular among non-Buddhists. Just be in the present, they say. And yes, mindfulness is a central Buddhist teaching, we find it in the noble eightfold path and of the 37 factors of enlightenment mindfulness is 8 of those. But we shouldn't forget the other parts of the path. Mindfulness in itself is quite useless if our purpose is to be free from suffering since one can just go on with one's life as before including all the habits and attachments. There is also the view that mindfulness means a peaceful mind without thoughts, to just be (in the present) without doing anything. That kind of mindless mindfulness separates one from everyday life and it can be like a happy vacation. Unfortunately, that state is just as impermanent as any other, so grasping it is another source of pain and trouble.
If we look at the classical mindfulness practice in Buddhism it isn't just about being in the present but being mindful of body, feelings, thoughts and mind. It is also more than just recognising them but seeing how all of them are impermanent, suffering and selfless. What makes a bodhisattva is not simply mindfulness but being aware of emptiness and the suffering of beings. The true meaning of Zen is not "be in the present" but seeing directly that the mind is originally empty and aware, pure and functioning.
Within the Buddhist context then mindfulness is not really about being in the present rather than seeing how past, present and future relate to each other and not being attached to them, seeing how time itself and all appearances are nothing more than names and ideas. Because there are only names and ideas it becomes evident how even mindfulness is another concept we are trying to pursue and conceive a personality within that frame. Letting go of our thoughts and emotions is where we can use mindfulness efficiently to attain liberation.
The Agendas of Mindfulness by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
ReplyDeleteThis inspired the post: mindful - living with awareness and compassion
ReplyDeleteYeah, there is another one I've already shown you, I think: Get Some HeadSpace. I don't think the problem is where you see it -- and, as usual :), I miss compassion, mindful communication and the gradual path to equanimity from your post. (The article by Thanissaro Bhikkhu is about this gradual path: letting go of thought and ideas through examining them.)
ReplyDeleteAll that you're missing are actually there in the awareness of suffering of others and the functioning of buddha-mind. This is the inseparability of the two truths, the middle way. The gradual path is covered in the noble eightfold path and the 37 factors. An important difference between the sudden and gradual understanding is whether buddha-mind is already perfect or one has to work through the double accumulation of wisdom and merit. OTOH, sudden and gradual are only different perspectives of the same path.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I just can't see how one actually does it in their everyday life, what these 'big words' mean. I know I keep asking this - and buddho-bullshit :) like 'the two paths are the same' does not answer it for me. I also have a feeling that 'it's a mere idea' can be said not only of 'mindfulness' but also of 'letting go', 'buddha-mind' etc.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe I think that this method of 'letting everything go for they are mere names & ideas' is good for the worrying type of people so that they put down their worries about 'following the path, doing it right etc.', but for the ones who have a laid back attitude about already it seems to me just the reinforcement of 'sloth & torpor'.
It is like the skandhas with and without clinging. Just because there is no clinging doesn't mean the skandhas don't function, in fact, they work very well. Same could be said about the six senses. The difficulty is to see how this is not a concept to hold on but the very lack of conceptual attachment.
ReplyDeleteThe skandhas without clinging is being Enlightened, isn't it? So how do you achieve this without the notion of achieving, skandhas, clinging etc.? Can you give me some texts on the practical side of this (even if it is the 'practice of non-practice')?
ReplyDeleteNot sure what practical text you want (meditation method or the point of sudden practice?), here's a quote from Bankei: "But when you conclusively realize the Unborn Buddha Mind, you don't distress yourself over the sufferings of illness: you clearly distinguish illness as illness, suffering as suffering. This is because the Buddha Mind, being originally unborn, has nothing to do with joy or suffering, the reason being that that which is unborn transcends thought. It's when thoughts arise that you experience suffering and joy. The Buddha Mind doesn't attach to illness, it remains in the Unborn just as it is, so it doesn't create suffering. ... Since the Buddha Mind is endowed with a marvelously illuminating dynamic function, not only illness but everything there is can be clearly recognized and distinguished. That's why, when you're faced with the sufferings of illness, if you simply don't get involved with them or attach to them, there's nothing you won't be able to endure. So just go with the illness, and, if you're in pain, go ahead and groan! But, whether you're sick or you're not, always abide in the Unborn Buddha Mind. However, you ought to realize that when, in response to the sufferings of illness, you become involved with thoughts, in addition to your illness, you suffer from changing the Buddha mind for thoughts. That which is originally without thought is the Unborn Buddha Mind. Failing to realize the unborn [nature] of the Buddha Mind, you suffer and exchange it for thoughts."
ReplyDeleteLosing Our Religion (Interview with Robert Sharf in Tricycle, 2007)
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, prof. Sharf always has some insightful to say. His "Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism" is quite an eye opener.
ReplyDeleteElliot Cohen: From the Bodhi Tree, to the Analyst's Couch, then into the MRI Scanner: The Psychologisation of Buddhism (found by Astus, highly appreciated by me :))
ReplyDeleteMindfulness’ “truthiness” problem: Sam Harris, science and the truth about Buddhist tradition
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