“Mindfulness that ‘there is a body’ is established in one to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and continuous mindfulness.” As Anālayo notes, bare knowledge here means observing objectively without getting lost in associations and reactions. It’s the simple and direct knowing of what’s present without making up stories about experience. This “seeing clearly” is, in fact, the meaning of the Pali word vipassanā, usually translated as “insight meditation.” We often miss the simplicity of bare knowledge because we look through it—or over it—for something special, or we look forward in
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