In my previous post, “What is Mindfulness? (Part I)”, I offered an exercise in paying attention to the symbol + , in order to introduce the idea of Mindfulness. In this article I would like to consider this Mindfulness process further to hopefully provide further clarification as to what it is, and what it is not.
All animals. even newborn infants, can “pay attention”. In addition to constant scanning of their environment, sudden noises or certain movements will reactively generate curiosity or alert responses such that the animal’s or infant’s attention is immediately drawn to such events. Typically the animal or infant only “notices” such events for a very brief period of time before their attention re-directs somewhere else. This type of response is automatic and essentially “hard wired” into the organism.
A process more complex than briefly noticing, or “momentary awareness”, occurs when attention is sustained for an extended period of time, perhaps for 20-30 seconds, rather than 1-2 seconds, and typically can only happen as our brains mature and develop.
The capacity to engage in “intentional focussing” or “extended concentration” is an even more complex attentional task. I am not talking here about the type of attentional demand required to watch television or read a book. That is actually relatively simple (though almost impossible for some). Rather I am referring specifically to the particualr type of sustained attentional activity required, for example, in maintaining extended awareness on the symbol +, or perhaps one’s breath, and not getting lost in one’s thoughts, (or at least being able to notice your mind wandering and returning to the intended area of focus.)
Such a task is more complex because in order to accomplish it successfully, one has to be able to do two very unique things.
First, in order to actually maintain focus on the symbol, one has to also be able to “notice” other experiences described as “intrusions”. These “intrusions” refer not only to external events such as sounds for example, but also to those types of experiences we would describe as internally generated states such as one’s heartbeat, or perhaps physical discomforts. But much more importantly as a source of intrusion or distraction, internal experiences would also includes those events we would normally describe as being created by one’s own mind, such as thoughts, memories, and even emotional states. In other words, in order to focus on the symbol as an “object” of awareness, one also has to have a well developed capacity to be aware of one’s “subjective” experiences.
And secondly, one has to not only notice these various types of “intrusions”, but one has to be able to override the almost unconscious tendency to get distracted by these intrusions. In other words, one hs to learn how to “wake” oneself up precisely as one is falling asleep.
For those who developed the practice of “one pointed concentration” and can easily notice these various “distractions” and not get carried away by them, these complexities might seem rather simple. In my experience however, most people completely overestimate their capacity to do this. Indeed, many people will struggle with such a task for a variety of reasons making it almost impossible for them to complete the focussing exercise properly.
But, you may ask quite sensibly, since this all sounds like fairly standard requirements for the practice of meditation, what does it have to do with Mindfulness? And why is any of this important anyway?
My answer to the first question first requires an unfairly brief description of meditation. Clearly there are many different kinds of meditation practices: some are designed to help us relax while others are meant to produce altered states of consciousness. But one feature common to many meditation techniques is that just as with the symbol exercise, you are explicitly requested to maintain awareness on a particular “object” of attention (often your breathing), notice the arrival of the “intrusions”, and then “let them go” and return to your breathing.
But this direction to notice and then exclude or “let go” of those experiences identified as “distractions”, or “hindrances” completely bypasses the one critical step, which in my opinion, one absolutely must take in order to properly utilize the practice of Mindfulness. And I would describe that step by saying that one of the core and defining features of Mindfulness (as I would utlize it) is that it serves as the vehicle by which we come to learn about and more deeply understand the nature of our subjective experiences, typically the very experiences being excluded in meditation.
Mindfulness, as I describe it, offers a way of learning about “mind”; a vehicle by which we become aware of as many of our experiences as possible to begin to learn about the nature of “our self”, and about our relationships with others and the world in which we live.
By my definition, if you learned nothing about yourself in the process of focussing on the symbol, (or in your practice of meditation) it means you were unable to profit from the process of being Mindful. This distinction may seem confusing or perhaps trivial. But to me it is precisely this failure to see or understand this difference that explains why it is that most people cannot see this doorway in order to to go through it.
So in the symbol exercise, or in a meditation practice where you were able to notice the “intrusions”, and were able to return your focus to the symbol, then good for you. But you weren’t being Mindful, at least not the way I use it or teach it.
As for the second question, “Why is this important”, it is because Mindfulness, as I practice and teach it, offers a particular way of “knowing” that is completely different from our traditional way of knowing and learning things. It is because it is so different, that it is also so hard to grasp without practice. I will discuss this particular way of Knowing in an upcoming article called, “Mindfulness, A Way Of Knowing”.