Awareness in Buddhist Meditation

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70 mind again. ‘What is felt is perceived, and there is consciousness of what is perceived’ 15 . Methodical thinking (yoniso manasikāra) by itself cannot produce the right outlook (sammā-diṭṭhi). Striving for a solution can only lead to a search for an escape. That was discovered by Siddhartha the prince, by Siddhartha the hermit, who in discarding all search for ‘self’ found the solution in ‘no-self’ (anatta) in bare attention, in direct awareness of the basic problem which caused the conflict. Just as a violet can never become a rose, but a violet can be a perfect flower in itself, so the uncertainty of a search can never give that freedom from fear with its many false ideas of discipline and concentration. Only in awareness of the motive of a search, of the image of an ideal, of the concept of self-entity, can arise that intuition which is perfect freedom from all experiments, as it is a living experience of being awake. It should not be thought that perception (saññā) is hallucination because it does not perceive the sense-object as it is in itself. If perception is sought for the purpose of acquiring knowledge of the object, it will not reach the desired goal, because the ultimates of sense-objects cannot be perceived by the sense-organs, but they can be seen in their reactions. And to see physical activity as a mental reaction is not the knowledge of physics (ñāṇa), but it is not hallucination either, as long as the reactivity of the mind is the object of perception, which is a much deeper kind of understanding (saññā), and which in its perfection can give insight (paññā) into the workings of the mind, the composition of sense-mind activity. Such clear-sightedness is not what is usually understood as clairvoyance and telepathy, the ‘divine eye’ (dibba-cakkhu). It is superintellectual, but not supernatural. It is not seeing things which are normally hidden from natural eye-sight. But it is seeing things in 15 (yaṁ vedeti taṁ sañjānāti, yaṁ sañjānāti taṁ vijānāti, Majjh. Nik. 43, Mahā Vedalla Sutta
71 a different perspective. When the normal and natural eye-sight responds to colours and shapes, one understands that this response reacts only within the few degrees of the colour-spectrum. Infrared and ultra-violet remain beyond the faculty of eye-sight, and yet they can be used in the therapeutics and photography, in X-rays and radar. But what science cannot see is the constitution of matter, not only as radio-active waves, but as energy of resistance which is solidity, of attraction which is cohesion, as molecular movement which is vibration, of movement and momentum which is friction, the elements which push and pull, and churn and burn. It is in awareness that matter is thus seen as reaction, it is in awareness that reaction is seen in the functioning of the mind-organ, the contents of thought. This clear-sightedness does not aim at penetrating matter to discover its essence, but is right mindfulness (sammā-sati) which penetrates with insight the functions of the mind, the object and purpose of thought, the reflections of memory, the projections of volition, the will to continue. This awareness (sati) is the first factor of enlightenment (sambojjhaṅga); it has its proper place in the noble eightfold path (ariyaaṭṭhaṅgika magga). It is also a force (bala) and a faculty (indriya). Awareness is mentioned as the third of the five powers (pañca-bala) which indicate a group of five forces of both temporal and spiritual character. This group of five is confidence (saddhā), energy (viriya), mindfulness (sati), concentration (samādhi) and insight (paññā); and awareness has derived its strength from all of them; and gives in return firmness to the five spiritual faculties (panc’indriya). It is the power of mindfulness which cannot be shaken even in forgetfulness (pamāda). ‘In mindfulness one minds and reminds oneself of things done and said long ago’ 16 . And this has sometimes led to think of mindfulness (sati) as memory (smṛti). But its strength lies in its action as a controlling factor, a faculty which prevents distraction, a 16 Ang. Nik. IV, 3-4
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Copyright Notice This work is licen
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4 Awareness of Perceptions . . . .
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From the publisher Henry Van Zeyst,
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10 the ‘ego’, for the maintenan
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12 insubstantiality (anatta). The l
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Awareness, the Beginning of Enlight
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3 more important than the understan
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5 continuance in impermanence, conf
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7 Awareness is not Consciousness Aw
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9 When there is no Awareness We are
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11 not come through exertion, does
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Mindfulness as Recollection However
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15 the Buddha is seen as the perfec
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17 with good conduct, for they are
Page 35 and 36: 19 understanding of the degree of d
Page 37 and 38: 21 as change in evolution. And to s
Page 39 and 40: 23 our craving for continuity, this
Page 41 and 42: 25 observation leads to a feeling o
Page 43 and 44: 27 of the eye, the flexibility of t
Page 45 and 46: 29 awareness. When consciousness ce
Page 47 and 48: 31 thing to be talked about as an a
Page 49 and 50: 33 an escape is only more conflict.
Page 51 and 52: Applications of Awareness Awareness
Page 53 and 54: 37 Here is a sensation which is con
Page 55 and 56: 39 as a soul to carry and to carry-
Page 57 and 58: 41 (saññā) ideations or mental f
Page 59 and 60: 43 an entity, free from the opposit
Page 61 and 62: 45 Attachment to rules and rites (s
Page 63 and 64: 47 is thus made an object for striv
Page 65 and 66: 49 mind, such as the five hindrance
Page 67 and 68: 51 cur, a revelation not through di
Page 69 and 70: 53 of achieving, but just melts awa
Page 71 and 72: 55 which prevent the mind to be at
Page 73 and 74: 57 bare attention, not with the int
Page 75 and 76: 59 of a search for happiness contai
Page 77 and 78: 61 ery experience is fresh, in whic
Page 79: that craves for continuance, of all
Page 82 and 83: 66 Originally, in the early suttas,
Page 84 and 85: 68 the conflict, and conflict is mi
Page 88 and 89: 72 counter-balance to delusion (moh
Page 90 and 91: 74 be able to get rid of the deprav
Page 93 and 94: Awareness in Reaction Methods How c
Page 95 and 96: 79 of, will be there. But that is n
Page 97 and 98: 81 past. Clinging to the past has f
Page 99 and 100: 83 denial or to a spiritual ideal,
Page 101 and 102: 85 When the mind is totally open an
Page 103 and 104: 87 happens to a watcher who is foun
Page 105 and 106: 89 now projected into the future as
Page 107 and 108: 91 property, who set fire to my hou
Page 109 and 110: 93 experience. When no answer is so
Page 111 and 112: 95 there is freedom to see, to unde
Page 113 and 114: 97 what it is, and not where it com
Page 115 and 116: Awareness in Meditation Stillness o
Page 117 and 118: 101 future, based on a dead memory.
Page 119 and 120: 103 neither the ‘self’, nor the
Page 121 and 122: 105 truth; becoming as ‘self’,
Page 123: 107 to become perfect. Awareness do
Page 126 and 127: 110 is the wide vista for all to se
Page 128 and 129: 112 truth in spheres where sense-pl
Page 130 and 131: 114 has no entity, no conflict can
Page 132 and 133: 116 all know what is right; and yet
Page 134 and 135: 118 true relationship, as all conta
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120 is in loving, the thought of lo
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122 loving; and that moment is alwa
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124 Compassion is frequently seen a
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126 should not be a barrier of dist
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128 is the food on which the ‘I
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130 Sympathy Sympathetic joy (mudit
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132 no preoccupation, no pettiness,
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134 not ‘mine’, but which is al
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136 through mind-control or substit
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138 am that projection, that ideal,
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About the Author Henri van Zeyst wa
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