Awareness in Buddhist Meditation

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without motive and without goal, there is the ending of conflict in
the cessation of becoming, of thought, memory, of ideal.
And so, awareness in Buddhist meditation has no method, no
motive. It is not concentration of thought on a chosen object, but
mindfulness which is contemplation. The object of such contemplation
is not chosen, but observed without selection. And what is
observed is not a physical object such as a dead body, but the mental
reaction to seeing, to coming face to face with death. Likewise,
thoughts of the past, are the lingering memories, associated with
selected events. Such selection is obviously based on valuation, and
is therefore conditioned in its outlook and purpose. Awareness is
then not an attentive concentration on those thoughts of the past,
but is an observation of mindfulness, seeing the fact, the cause, the
purpose of such selection now. It is the choice of that selection that
can be seen the present tendency of the mind, seeking its strength
in memories, filling its void with thoughts of ‘self’, escaping the fear
of being ‘no-self’. Thoughts about the future are the projected ideals
with which the mind tries to stabilize and continue its activity.
It is therefore not the objective ideal which is to be observed, but
the actual conditions which make the mind project its thoughts in
expectations, in ideals, in desires for continuance and security. And
so, the ‘search’ itself, that is, the actual process of searching, is now
the object of awareness.
Contemplation thus is the actual awareness of the present state
of mind, whether that is seen as lofty or lowly. It is in concentration
on an ideal that unworthy thoughts are pushed aside and
a more noble thought is introduced to fix the mind and purify its
activity. But that thought which is introduced in concentration is
also an ideal with a goal of purity and perfection. In doing so, the
mind avoids dealing with actual problem of the moment, which is a
thought seen as imperfect, distracted, impure, selfish, full of craving
and clinging. But mindfulness, which is an observation of the actual
state of the imperfect mind, will be aware of a tendency or a desire