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Becoming aware of your awareness
Most of the time, you probably don’t pay much
attention to your awareness. Yet the truth is, it’s
crucial to everything you do. When you watch
TV, study for an exam, cook a meal, drive your
car, listen to music, or talk with a friend, you’re
being aware, or paying attention. Before you
begin to meditate in a formal way, you may find
it helpful to explore your own awareness.
First, notice what it’s like to be aware. Are there
times in your life when you’re not aware of anything?
Now, complete this thought: “I am aware
of. . . .�?Do this again and again and notice
where your awareness takes you.
Do you tend to be more aware of internal or
external sensations? Do you pay more attention
to thoughts and fantasies than to your
moment-to-moment sensory experiences?
Notice whether a preoccupation with mental
activity diminishes your awareness of what’s
happening right here and now.
Next, pay attention to whether your awareness
tends to focus on a particular object or sensation
or tends to be more expansive and inclusive.
You may find that your awareness resembles a
spotlight that flows from object to object. Notice
how your awareness flows without trying to
change it.
Does it shift quickly from one thing to another,
or does it move more slowly, making contact
with each object before moving on? Experiment
with speeding up and slowing down the flow of
awareness, and notice how that feels.
You may discover that your awareness is drawn
again and again to certain kinds of objects and
events, but not to others. Where does your
awareness repeatedly wander? Which experience
does it seem to selectively avoid?
Now, experiment with gently directing your
awareness from one focus to another. When
you pay attention to sounds, you may notice that
you momentarily forget about your hands or the
discomfort in your back or knees. Try to focus
on one object of attention for as long as you
can. How long can you remain undistracted
before your mind skips to the next thing? |
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If, as the old saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single
step, then the journey of meditation begins with the cultivation of awareness,
or attention. In fact, awareness is the mental muscle that carries you along
and sustains you on your journey, not only at the start but every step of the
way. No matter which path or technique you choose, the secret of meditation
Chapter 1: What Meditation Is �?and Isn’t 19
Becoming aware of your awareness
Most of the time, you probably don’t pay much
attention to your awareness. Yet the truth is, it’s
crucial to everything you do. When you watch
TV, study for an exam, cook a meal, drive your
car, listen to music, or talk with a friend, you’re
being aware, or paying attention. Before you
begin to meditate in a formal way, you may find
it helpful to explore your own awareness.
First, notice what it’s like to be aware. Are there
times in your life when you’re not aware of anything?
Now, complete this thought: “I am aware
of. . . .�?Do this again and again and notice
where your awareness takes you.
Do you tend to be more aware of internal or
external sensations? Do you pay more attention
to thoughts and fantasies than to your
moment-to-moment sensory experiences?
Notice whether a preoccupation with mental
activity diminishes your awareness of what’s
happening right here and now.
Next, pay attention to whether your awareness
tends to focus on a particular object or sensation
or tends to be more expansive and inclusive.
You may find that your awareness resembles a
spotlight that flows from object to object. Notice
how your awareness flows without trying to
change it.
Does it shift quickly from one thing to another,
or does it move more slowly, making contact
with each object before moving on? Experiment
with speeding up and slowing down the flow of
awareness, and notice how that feels.
You may discover that your awareness is drawn
again and again to certain kinds of objects and
events, but not to others. Where does your
awareness repeatedly wander? Which experience
does it seem to selectively avoid?
Now, experiment with gently directing your
awareness from one focus to another. When
you pay attention to sounds, you may notice that
you momentarily forget about your hands or the
discomfort in your back or knees. Try to focus
on one object of attention for as long as you
can. How long can you remain undistracted
before your mind skips to the next thing?
lies in developing, focusing, and directing your awareness. (Incidentally,
attention is just slightly focused awareness, and I use the two terms more or
less interchangeably throughout this book. See the sidebar “Becoming aware
of your awareness.�? |
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To get a better sense of how awareness operates, consider another natural
metaphor: light. You may take light for granted, but unless you’ve developed
the special skills and heightened sensitivity of the blind, you can barely function
without it. (Have you ever tried to find something in a pitch-dark room?)
The same is true for awareness: You may not be aware that you’re aware, but
you need awareness to perform even the simplest tasks. |
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You can use light in a number of ways. You can create ambient lighting that
illuminates a room softly and diffusely. You can focus light into a flashlight
beam to help you find things when the room is dark. Or you can take the very
same light and concentrate it into a laser beam so powerful that it can cut
through steel or send messages to the stars. |
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Likewise, in meditation, you can use awareness in different ways. To begin
with, you can increase your powers of awareness by developing concentration
on a particular object. (For a brief list of meditation objects, see the section
“Different paths up the same mountain�?earlier in this chapter.) |
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Then, when you’ve stabilized your concentration, you can, through the practice
of receptive awareness, expand your awareness �?like ambient light �?BR>to illuminate the full range of your experience.
Next, you can concentrate even further in order to cultivate positive emotions
and mind-states. Or you can use awareness to investigate your inner
experience and contemplate the nature of existence itself.
These four �?concentration, receptive awareness, cultivation, and
contemplation �?constitute the major uses of awareness throughout the
world’s great meditative traditions. |
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