Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening

by Joseph Goldstein

we are usually observing things from a distance and so not seeing their composite nature.

When there is perception without mindfulness, which is our usual way of being in the world, we recognize just the surface appearance of things; we have not entered deeply into the experience and do not see its impermanent, insubstantial nature. We can see this tendency to solidify our view of the world through superficial perceptions and concepts

We create concepts of place and then take them to be real.

Let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of the present, and cross over to the farther shore of existence. With the mind wholly liberated, you shall come no more to birth and death.4

“the occasionals,” because they are sometimes present and sometimes not. They include such factors as initial and sustained application of mind, decision, energy, rapture, and “desire to do.”

motivating factor that urges us to perform an action.

Bringing an actively engaged interest to what is happening can help us free ourselves from their grip.

how often a mood or emotion is triggered by a particular thought.

Intention itself is ethically neutral.

this basic cognizing activity does not change in different circumstances. Although it is colored by different mental factors, when we recognize the bare knowing nature of consciousness, we see that it manifests in just the same way regardless of what is arising.

A man with good sight would inspect it, ponder it, and carefully investigate it, and it would appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in a magical illusion? So too, bhikkhus, whatever kind of consciousness there is, whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near: a bhikkhu inspect it, ponders it, and carefully investigates it, and it would appear to him to be void, hollow, insubstantial. For what substance could there be in consciousness?”

This insight into the pairwise progression of knowing and object is the first deep, experiential understanding of anattā, or selflessness.

“Here one knows, ‘such is material form, such its arising, such its passing away; such is feeling . . . perception . . . volitions . . . consciousness, such its arising, such its passing away.’”

Abandon here means abandoning the sense of ownership, of identifying with the aggregates as being “I” or “mine.”

Consider how all the wholesome and unwholesome actions we do, with their respective karmic consequences, originate at one of the sense doors.

often less entranced by the actual object and more attached to the energy of wanting.

What a vulture might see as a delectable meal, we would see as very unappetizing rotting flesh; same object, different perceptions.

“Things are seen through the lenses of our desires, prejudices, and resentments and are transformed accordingly.”

I was involved in a highly charged organizational conflict. It seemed so obvious to me that I was seeing the situation clearly. Of course, those with opposing views thought the same thing. Communications were getting very heated, with feelings of anger and defensiveness running high. At a certain point, feeling my own suffering and that of others, I stepped back and asked myself a question that proved very freeing: Why do others feel the way they do? How are they perceiving the situation? As soon as I was no longer caught in attachment to my own perception of things, I became less caught in judging and blaming, and it became much easier to understand other people’s strong feelings.

I had been sitting for some time, and my mind started getting seduced by a very enjoyable but somewhat unwholesome fantasy. I was mindful enough to know that it was happening and to know that it was unwholesome, but even noting it wasn’t enough for me to abandon the grasping and simply let the fantasy dissolve into the flow of empty phenomena.

the king asks by how many of the factors of enlightenment does one actually awaken. Nagasena replies that awakening is by means of just one, this factor of investigation of dhammas.

takes honesty and openness to cultivate this factor of investigation in our lives, to see clearly the different motivations that arise in the course of a day.

Are they coming from a mind state of lovingkindness, of self-reference, or of anger and ill will? It’s important not to bring reactive judgments to these discernments, or if we do, to be aware of them. We are practicing in order to see things as they are and to make wise decisions based on that understanding.

defilement of conceit,

Instead of getting lost in and acting out habitual patterns of suffering, in times of emotional turbulence, we can first investigate what is actually going on—that is, the nature of the emotion itself — and then see how we are relating to that emotion. Are we claiming it as being “I” or “mine”?

when we practice, wisdom grows; and when we don’t practice, it wanes. It is precisely the factor of energy that keeps us on a trajectory of awakening, where no skillful dhammas are lost.

he replied that he wanted to face and test his mind in extreme circumstances.

we don’t often challenge ourselves to extend our limits, to really see what is possible, especially when doing so is uncomfortable or difficult.

What is effort? When is it balanced? When is it counterproductive?

driven by the forces of our own karma, our wholesome and unwholesome actions, we wander through all the realms of experience, from the lowest to the highest, and back again,

On the conceptual level, sukha belongs to the second aggregate of feelings—namely, pleasant ones—while pīti belongs to the fourth aggregate of mental formations.

rapture associated with sense pleasures and unworldly rapture born from seclusion and renunciation.

So on the one hand, we need to cultivate rapture and all the other factors of awakening; on the other hand, we need to know how to work with them skillfully so we don’t become attached to these pleasant meditative experiences, or we need to learn how to recognize the attachment itself. Here is where we need to bring right understanding and investigative wisdom into play. We understand that all these states are impermanent and selfless, that they don’t belong to anyone. They are all conditioned by various causes and simply arise expressing their own nature. This wise understanding points us in the right direction at this very critical juncture in practice. This stage of insight is called “understanding what is the path and what is not.”

Are we relating to them with wrong view: “This is mine; it has arisen in me”? Are we relating to them with conceit: “This is who I am”? Or are we relating through craving: “I like this. I want it to continue”?

By the merit of generosity and the other paramitas (perfections), may my heart and mind be purified of all defilements and may I quickly attain liberation for the welfare and benefit of all beings.”

reflecting that these beings have been people who possessed those good qualities that brought them rebirth in the deva worlds, and that these same qualities are in all of us.

The strength and energy of our commitment to the precepts bring a feeling of joy and confidence.

Repeatedly reminding ourselves to relax, to calm the formations of body and mind, actually brings about a letting go, a settling back into a more tranquil state, free of wanting, of getting.

Rushing is a kind of energetic excitability that doesn’t allow for the ease and composure of a tranquil mind.

the mental factor of one-pointedness and the meditative states of concentration.

A strong one-pointedness directed to changing objects moment after moment leads to momentary concentration, the second type of samādhi.

contemplation of a single object,

The fourth development of concentration leads to the ending and uprooting of the defilements, the culmination of the path, by remaining focused on the arising and falling away of all the aggregates. This is concentration in the service of wisdom.

These insight practices of seeing the rise and fall of all phenomena can be done either with strong momentary concentration (vipassanā) or by using the meditative absorption (jhāna) as the basis for deeper investigation.

As we develop the art of concentration, we each need to find for ourselves the right balance of investigation, tranquility, and method.

effortless awareness.”

In insight practice, on the other hand, where we use momentary concentration to investigate changing objects, there is a different attitude of mind with regard to thoughts.

The first way we experience the cool, restful quality of equanimity is in the peace and balance it brings to our daily lives. Each of us is touched by what are called “the eight worldly vicissitudes.”

anything can happen anytime.

Many of us may have the aspiration to die as consciously as possible, to be aware—and interested—in the whole process of leaving this life for whatever might happen next. But will we actually be able to maintain that state of awareness during such a momentous process?