I’ve been discovering how fascinating my mind is. Really. It’s fascinating.
I’ve looked inward from time to time. But I’ve never said: “Wow! That’s fascinating.”
My guides have made the difference. First, Sam Harris with “The Waking Up Course.” Then, Culadasa (John Yates) with “The Mind Illuminated.”
Sam told me that I’d also find it fascinating—as fascinating as the stars in the night sky and as fascinating as the details of the structure of the universe that are revealed by powerful telescopes.
That was a new idea. And correct, once I looked.
The guided tour with Sam
Each ten minute guided meditation in the Waking Up Course is a Sam Harris tour of my “field of consciousness.” We visit the now-familiar objects of consciousness—the sensations of breathing, the sounds that arise and pass away, the darkness behind closed eyes, the “cloud of sensation” that is the body, the thoughts arising and passing away.
My guide points out details that I might have missed on earlier visits. Sometimes he points to new objects.
He proposes new experiences or encourages me to repeat familiar ones more attentively. Every tour is interesting.
Sam reminds me that everything that I can experience arises in my field of consciousness. There’s no experience other than that.
Consciousness does not appear in my head. It’s the reverse. Consciousness first, head second. My head must arise in consciousness for me to have a head.
He reminds me that there is nothing that I need to do to make something arise in consciousness. Sounds appear in consciousness; I don’t make them appear. When my eyes are open visual phenomena appear in consciousness; when my eyes are closed, a dark field—not entirely black arises. I don’t make them appear.
Thoughts appear in consciousness; I don’t make them appear. I do seem to be able to change the kinds of thoughts that arise—a bit. I just decided I’d like some thoughts about sunny tropical places. Images appeared. The names of places appeared. I didn’t choose them. I just established a context.
I have partial control of my attention. I can intend that I pay attention to an object of consciousness and my attention will move there. Sometimes my attention moves without my intention. Sometimes I can’t stop paying attention to something.
All fascinating to observe.
The unguided tour, Culadasa style
I follow my daily ten-minute guided tour with an unguided tour. I started with ten minutes, and I’m now at 40. I use Culadasa’s six-step process to prepare me, and four-step process to guide me. I reread his instructions from time to time.
The six steps
Before I start the session, I take these steps:
- Motivation: I have clearly in mind why I want to be doing this
- Goal: I set a clear goal for this particular meditation session
- Expectations: I remind myself to have reasonable expectations
- Diligence: I remind myself to use the entire period to make progress toward the goal. Periodically in the session, I’ll remind myself to be diligent.
- Distractions: I look for things that might distract me and take action to prevent them. I pull the batteries out of the wireless handset in the room where I meditate; I turn my phone on DND. I make sure people know that I am personally on DND.
- Posture: I find a comfortable posture before I start.
The four steps
Once I start the meditation session, I follow these steps:
- Become aware of the present. Let go of thoughts of the past and the future
- Move attention to the body. Be aware of how it feels
- Move attention to the sensations of breathing
- Move attention to the sensations of breathing in a particular, small area
I take as much time as I need to do the four steps. If my mind becomes unsettled in one stage, I might move back to an earlier one.
Attention
The goal is “stable attention” and heightened “peripheral awareness.”
Culadasa distinguishes between these two and defines “mindfulness” as “an optimal balance between attention and awareness.”
Attention and awareness are two different ways of knowing the world. Attention singles out some small part of the field of conscious awareness to analyze and interpret it. Peripheral awareness provides the overall context for conscious experience.Stable attention Is the ability to [intentionally] direct and sustain the focus of attention, and control the scope of attention.Intentionally directed and sustained attention means spontaneous movements of attention stop.
Intention is a big deal. You can’t program the unconscious mind directly, but you can get it to reprogram itself by intention. The way you become skilled at a sport is by going through the motions, with attention and intention. Simply going through the motions is not enough.
Repeating simple tasks with a clear intention can reprogram unconscious mental processes. This can completely transform who you are as a person.
So you use intention to stabilize your intention. And at the same time, you use intention to expand your peripheral awareness. In my sessions, I will periodically remind myself of my intention: focus attention on the sensations of breathing in a narrow area while keeping my attention as wide as possible.
Peripheral awareness:
… involves a general awareness of everything our senses take in. Peripheral awareness is only minimally conceptual. It is open and inclusive, as well as holistic. That is, it’s concerned with the relationships of objects to each other and to the whole.
What can be aware of? A second ago I was aware that the Pats were playing the Chargers. I wasn’t aware of the computer I was using to watch or the room where I watched. And I wasn’t even vaguely aware that I was on a little blue planet 93 million miles from the nuclear furnace that provides us with energy in a vast universe 14.75 billion years old. Now I’m vaguely aware.
Right now I’m aware the words that I’m typing, aware of my fingers doing the typing, aware of the computer I’m using, aware of the Pats’ game streaming in the background, and so on.
The fundamental technique in TMI is to focus attention and then expand peripheral awareness.
It’s fascinating to notice that I can move my attention around; that it will sometimes move spontaneously; that many things arise and pass away in peripheral awareness; that there are many things I might become aware of; that the power of intention.
Reflection
It’s useful to meditate, and it’s helpful to reflect (or maybe meditate) on meditation.
Sometimes, when I’m meditating, I think “Wow! I’m going to have to remember that and write it down!” Sometimes I think: “Maybe I should stop meditating and write it down because I’m likely to forget.”
Then I realize that these are just thoughts arising in consciousness.
I move my attention from those intriguing thoughts to the sensations of the breath.
And spread my awareness as wide as I can.
Written with the help of StackEdit, Grammerly, Markdown Here,Blogger, and Google voice typing on Android and Chromebook, plus other stuff.
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