the path of mindful awareness — part 1
an overview of the path
As human beings, we find ourselves in a peculiar existence. Unlike animals — as far as we know — we have an immense capacity for self-awareness. We can reflect on our body and on our mind, and are even aware of our own self-awareness. That is, we do not simply experience the world, as all living beings do, but we can become aware of our experience of it.
The path of mindful awareness takes us into a direct experience of life and mind. Not many walk this path, but it is nevertheless well travelled — passed down from our ancestors through lineages of guru-disciple relationships. The essence and destination of the path are beyond language and concepts, yet we need language and concepts to share in our lived experiences. In this way, each lineage — depending on shared experiences through culture and society — forms their own story of what the path is and how to walk it, but ultimately the essence and destination are unchanged.
One of these lineages, the Buddhist tradition passed down from Buddha Shakyamuni, has formulated this path of mindful awareness into three higher trainings:
- Śīla (Ethics, virtue, moral discipline)
- Samādhi (Concentration, meditation, mental balance)
- Prajñā (Wisdom)
The entire Buddhist literature is contained in these three higher trainings.
In this five-part series, I will provide a brief commentary — as more of an introduction than a lengthy exposition — on the three higher trainings in the Buddhist tradition. I will, however, use different labels for them that I like to use when introducing these concepts to a non-Buddhist audience:
- Mindful Living
- Mindful Attention
- Mindful Knowing
Mindful Living entails carefully attending to our day-to-day life and all the behaviors and thoughts we engage in. This process brings awareness to how our behaviors and thoughts cause us to feel certain ways and have an impact on those around us. As we become more aware of these causal relationships, we will desire to change our life in a way that is more conducive to the health and well-being of ourself and others. This process of change is not at all easy.
Mindful Attention entails cultivating our faculty of attention — or mindfulness. This cultivation is most effectively done through meditation practices that single-pointedly focus the mind. Through this process, the power of our mindfulness strengthens and our mind becomes more pliant and malleable. This, then, makes the endeavor to change our behaviors and thoughts much easier. And as we start to change our behaviors and thoughts, our mind will naturally become still and clear, allowing us to develop effortless mindfulness.
Mindful Knowing entails reflection and investigation into the nature of life and mind. This reflection and investigation is to be done in our day-to-day life, but also in meditation where we can penetrate more deeply into the nature of our own mind. To do so, however, requires a focused and clear mind. This process of reflection and investigation brings about clear understanding, greater wisdom, and eliminates confusion. This clear understanding and wisdom will then make clear the causal relationships that our behaviors and thoughts have on ourself and others — which brings more certainty and self-confidence to the choices we have to make in this messy chaotic world.
Without these three higher trainings, our self-awareness can feel like a trap in which we are aware of our own experience of life, yet are powerless to transform our experience— hence the phrase “ignorance is bliss”. Together, these three higher trainings will bring you to a direct experience of life and the nature of your mind. The path of mindful awareness is a pragmatic and transformative one — as you start on this path you will realize that, in fact, “wisdom is bliss”.
The path of mindful awareness is less about the destination and more about a process of gradually becoming aware and in tune with your body, mind, environment, and society. How far you want to go is up to you. A few steps on the path can provide immense benefit to your health and well-being. But, it should be noted that going further onto this path is a considerable undertaking in which you will be confronted with uncomfortable, painful, and troubling experiences contained in your psyche and your past. Ultimately, the result is one of release and freedom from those experiences but the process itself requires careful guidance and appropriate knowledge on how to work through it all. As such, if you have painful or traumatic experiences in your life it is highly advised that you undergo this journey both with a therapist and qualified mindfulness, meditation, or spiritual teacher. The approach that is needed on this path is one of balance, joyful effort, acceptance, intelligence, love, and compassion.
None of us are an island unto ourself. We rely on one another. This is not a path anyone walks alone. We are all struggling together in our peculiar existence as human beings and we all walk this path of mindful awareness together. I, myself, am not very far along this path. This series of posts, and my blog as a whole, is a way to reach my hand out to others and show them that there is a path and to invite them to walk it with me—I cannot do this without you. Join me and let’s see where this takes us.
Stay tuned for future posts on this series:
Part 2 will cover the topic of Mindful Living.
Part 3 will cover the topic of Mindful Attention.
Part 4 will cover the topic of Mindful Knowing.
Part 5 will conclude the series.
