No matter what angle I
talked about in the previous eight chapters, I always linked up to the four
foundations of awareness. However, to make this chapter more relevant to
people’s immediate need, I will make this chapter as the continuation of
chapter eight where I talked about the excessive thinking which is the root
cause of all problems. Alternatively, this chapter is about how exactly we can
switch off our unwanted thoughts and feelings. This is the refuge, which does
not leave us any side effects and is recommend to us by the Buddha.
When we talk about
practising self-awareness, the majority of people are inclined to wonder why we
need to do so since we already seem to have a sense of self-awareness.
Therefore, it is very important to get this concept right before we talk about
the actual practice. We must understand that the self awareness of people who
have not yet engaged in the four foundations of awareness cannot yet be
considered as the right kind of awareness. According to the Fourth Noble Truth
or the Noble Eightfold Path, right awareness (Samma-sati) has to be initially
guided by right view or right understanding (Samma-ditthi) of the ultimate
purpose of life. In other words, we must accept the enlightenment of the Buddha
first. Without being guided by right view, the self-awareness that we have
tends to cling closely to material value, fame, status, gain and loss, etc. If
it isn’t linked with material awareness, meditation nowadays is used for
relaxation purposes which prove to be quite popular both in the West and the
East. People reach out for different types of healing which involve having
higher levels of self-awareness. Some people think that such positive practices
might have something to do with Buddhist meditation. This is precisely the
point I mentioned in chapter five. It is very important that the goal of life
is clear at least on the thinking level. If not we are risking losing our way
in the process since this whole thing is extremely complex. Doing meditation
and having a higher level of self-awareness are like sitting on a boat but
without knowing the right destination (right view or Samma-ditthi). This boat
can easily drift to anywhere in the ocean. We must know where we are going
first. That’s why I must keep on emphasising the ultimate goal of life, which
is the result of the Buddha’s enlightenment. We must be very careful.
The material-related
awareness is considered as wrong awareness (Miccha-sati) as far as the Buddha’s
teaching is concerned. The terms “wrong or false” do not necessarily mean
destructive. People whose work demands
absolute concentration e.g. surgeons, sports men & women, guards at
Buckingham palace, etc. undoubtedly have a high level of self-awareness and
their minds are fully focused. Such positive self-awareness is still considered
as false awareness or Miccha-sati. To be able to understand this chapter
clearly, let’s understand that the four foundations of awareness are the
practice which leads us to a particular purpose. That is to go beyond all
sufferings or enter Nirvana, which is the same thing as having our absolute
normality back. As for the Christian point of view, the four foundations of
awareness are the practice which helps us to throw up all the fruits from the
tree of knowledge so that we can begin to eat the fruits from the tree of life
with relish. This is also about how we can truly love God more than anything
else as well as reach eternal life while we are still living. This ultimate
goal of life is distinctively clarified in the Maha-sati-pattana-sutra, The
Buddha said:
This single path which
leads to the innocence of all lives, to go beyond all misery and suffering, to
achieve the right Dhamma, to witness Nirvana, is the four foundations of
awareness. This is the cause to one of these results - to enter Arahantship at
present, or if not, to reach anagamiship (the non-returner) from within 7 days
to within 7 years.”
People who are ready
to engage in the practice of the four foundations of awareness should at least
have faith and not doubt the
enlightenment of the Buddha. This is the most significant and supporting factor
to enable the practitioner to see and understand the Buddha’s profound wisdom.
Believers in God must not be put off by thinking that this is a Buddhist
practice and has nothing to do with them. That is because when the practice is
proceeding, I can assure everyone that the practitioner will forget not only
about their religious status but also their age, sexuality, nationality and
race. This practice is purely a scientific experiment, which involves our body
and mind, which every single human being has all the same.
The foundation of awareness is the tool for
catching the speed of thoughts.
Drifting away with
thoughts, fantasy and imagination is considered as lacking a strong sense of
self-awareness as far as Buddhism is concerned. This is our bad mental habit,
which seriously and urgently needs to be put right because this is the root of
all problems as I have said. Alternatively, I can say that the reason that we
drift away with our thoughts is because the thoughts come into our heads at a
staggering speed and we cannot catch them quickly enough to stop them.
Consequently, we drift along with them and become powerless just like dust
being trapped in a cart’s wheel. To be able to stop drifting or stop having
unwanted thoughts, we must catch the thoughts red-handed. This sounds rather
complicated. To make it more precise and right to the point, the four
foundations of awareness as a whole are the tool (means) used to catch the
staggering speed of thoughts. As a result, we can stop being carried away with
some awful fantasy and subsequently stop the destructive action.
Contemplation of the body (Kaya-nu-passana)
The first foundation
of awareness is the contemplation of bodily movements, which is the process of
calling back the fundamental self-awareness. Practitioners will learn to be
aware of their own breathing, and all the detailed movements of daily life e.g.
walking, bending, stretching, reaching and so on. The serene movements of Tai
chi are an ideal way of practising this fundamental technique of
self-awareness. By simply and directly knowing our breath or our movements
without thinking about anything is the precise practice of this first level.
Practitioners should find one or two suitable techniques and stick with them.
Some people might find that mindfulness with breathing is too structured and
tend to fall asleep, whilst some people might find sitting cross-legged too much to bear. It can be modified by
sitting on a higher chair instead of sitting cross-legged, especially for
westerners who have long legs. Walking meditation and Tai chi can be good
alternatives for those who tend to fall asleep. However, some people might
think that they can forget about being mindful after they come out of an hour
or so of structured meditation. As a matter of fact, practitioners must do
their best to be mindful all the time or whenever they can remember. This is
the secret of advancing the practice. That is to be mindful of all the detailed
movements as the day is moving on. To be mindful is to do everything with a
full mind. If we are cleaning windows, we clean them with the full mind and try
not to drift away from that immediate movement, not for too long anyway. This
is the whole idea of this exercise. This practice is most ideal for those whose
work does not demand too much use of the brain or involve deep thinking.
Housework or simple tasks that involve the hands’ movements are quite perfect
for this level of practice.
To be mindful of the
immediate moment is the direct way of giving the new habit to our minds. This
practice is tangible because practitioners know exactly what to focus on.
Although this level is classed as easy and fundamental compared to the other
three levels, nonetheless, beginners will certainly find it extremely
difficult. The main reason is that the mind will not stop drifting away from
the immediate moment. Practitioners will be faced with repeated failure. As
long as practitioners do not give up the practice, they will move up and soon
learn by themselves that those presumably repeated failures are in fact a giant
leap. If practitioners do not feel so and are on the verge of giving up, it is
important to listen to those who have more experience. What I am talking about
right now is what I have been through. Although we tend to think that we have
not made any major progress, in fact, the process of training an appropriate
habit for the mind has already begun since we took on the practice of
self-awareness. Alternatively, we are actually in the process of preparing
ourselves to be enlightened, although we hardly feel so. Compared to other
people who have never done this kind of practice, we have actually gone a long
way away from them. Practitioners
must find ways to comfort, encourage and cajole themselves to keep up with the
practice and never give up hope. It is very much like learning a new
language which fundamentally is about giving a new habit to the tongue. It is
difficult at first but when the tongue is used to the new habit of movement, it
will become easier. In the same way, when our minds are used to the new mental
habit, we will find the practice easier. How long it takes depends on how much
effort we have put into it.
Contemplation of the feelings
(Vedana-nu-passana)
Whilst the contemplation of the bodily
movements is tangible, the contemplation of the feelings becomes a bit more
subtle, refined and intangible. Provided that practitioners keep on with the
first level of practice, they will begin to notice the sensations (feelings) of
both the body and mind. Physical sensations revolve around sensing heat, cold,
softness, hardness, pain and so on. With guidance from a teacher, students will
learn to notice their physical sensations in a way they never experienced
before. An experienced teacher is a great bonus for students because the most
difficult part regarding this practice is dealing with the simplicity. We tend
to wonder what on earth we can
gain by just observing the sensations which we like to think we already know.
Consequently, such simplicity cannot capture our attention and our minds drift
to fantasy and imaginations which can offer us far more excitement. That’s why
there are always only a small number of people who can truly survive this path
to enlightenment. We must not forget that we are engaging in a mind journey
where all signposts are abstract, formless and intangible. Therefore, listening
to the guidance of an experienced teacher is very important.
However, I train my
Tai chi students to observe the tingling and buzzing sensations in their hands
and body according to what is applicable. To observe the physical sensation
requires a better skill of concentration because it is very easy to drift away.
I will normally remind the students not to drift away just for a few seconds at
a time. Ten seconds of observing any physical sensations without drifting away
is considered a great achievement for novices. They will have a good base to
develop further.
Besides, we also have
mental feelings: positive feelings, negative feelings and neutral feelings,
although this is merely a generalisation.[1]
Actually, there are so many different faces of mental feelings, some of which
are impossible to describe. Mental feelings are very individual, profound and
private and at times extremely difficult to express. Only the owner of the
feelings knows exactly what they are like. Contemplation as regards feelings is
a precise way to understand feelings objectively, not by explaining with
excessive words but by quietly and patiently observing the feelings as they
are. Therefore, if we do not try to understand our feelings by practising
self-awareness, we cannot expect others to understand us fully when we are hit
by emotional turmoil.
Observing mental feelings
To observe physical
feeling is one thing but to observe mental feeling is something rather different
and can be difficult at times. Provided that practitioners have enough
patience, they begin to experience the restless mind which constantly fidgets
and wiggles every time thought arises. The mind can only move either upwards
(positive feelings) or downwards (negative feelings). We will find out that
every time the mind twitches especially downwards, we as the owner of that
feeling will be bitten and get hurt. This is the time when we can experience
the different faces of feelings and emotion in the way that we look at them,
just as we look at wounds in our hands. Just by observing our feelings with
great patience, wisdom arises, and we subsequently find that those feelings do
not stay still for long. They actually come, stay for a while and go (being impermanent).
When we do something fun and exciting, our minds rise up with joy and
excitement and then those feelings disappear into thin air. When we meet and
talk to someone who is better off than us, we feel sad, inadequate and probably
envious. Then, these compound feelings stay with us for a while and then
disappear into thin air. Nonetheless, every time we think about those
conversations and moments, every feeling comes back and bothers us again. Not
until we earnestly look and observe in this manner, will we begin to see such
an impermanent pattern. To see all these feelings coming and going is a painful
matter. If the wounds are in our hands, we can put some antiseptic cream on
them and make the wounds better. But how can we make our mental wound better?
The answer is exactly what this level of practice is all about. As long as
practitioners have enough patience to observe the mental movements in the above
manner, this exercise can be compared to putting antiseptic cream onto our
mental wounds. Of course, practitioners do not feel so because the process is
so painful at times. Nonetheless, whoever has reached this point knows that
there is no return. This is a one way ticket to the ultimate freedom of life.
The most we can do is comfort ourselves and have faith in the Buddha and in the
teacher who is guiding us.
Whilst practitioners
are doing the second foundation of awareness, it doesn’t mean that they let go
of the first foundation completely. Practitioners soon learn that the practice
of the first foundation enables them to observe better their physical and
mental feelings. Whenever they feel a bit complacent regarding the first
foundation of awareness, they soon find themselves trapped in their own
feelings instead of looking over them as they used to do when they were fully
aware. People who engage in the practice can easily understand what I mean by
that, whilst those who have never practised might be rather puzzled. The
following comparison might help to understand what observing feelings actually means.
There are two ways to know a train.
Since feelings and
emotions exist in our life form, we cannot see them with our naked eyes. We can
only feel them. This is the tricky bit. Let’s suppose a train is the feeling or
emotion and “we” is our consciousness
or knowing nature (vinnana). People who know nothing about this practice will
experience their feelings in the same way as sitting in a train. It looks as
though we know the feelings or know exactly how we feel because we are sitting
in it. Such an experience, however, is totally different from those who learn
to observe their feelings. Observing the feelings can be compared to the person
(consciousness or vinnana) who chooses to sit on the platform of a station
instead and look at the train (feeling & emotion) coming and passing
through the station. Therefore, practitioners can see the feelings but in a
different way from
non-practitioners. We can
see that all this is very abstract and can be made clear only by witnessing the
experience. An intellectual genius will certainly find all this very difficult
to understand because this practice has nothing to do with reasoning and
thinking. Yet, this is only the beginning of the complication and difficulties,
because later on this train will turn into thoughts and run at a staggering
speed. This is not a threat to put people off but it is important to understand
the early stages clearly before we move on.
[1]
As far as the contemplation of feelings is concerned, it is necessary to talk
about both physical and mental feelings. In my opinion, I would consider
observing the mental feelings as the third level of awareness because of its
location-the mind. However, to observe the rough scale of mental feelings as
happiness and sorrow can be classed as the second foundation of self-awareness.