Mindfulness as the Wisdom of No Escape

By Ira Rechtshaffer

Silence
The practice of ‘being’ is a very rare activity. Very few human beings in our postmodern world understand or appreciate the value of sitting attentively in silence and stillness. Mindfulness meditation is like sitting by the bank of a great stream. The stream’s strong currents carry our many memories, our rich tapestry of experiences, both painful and pleasurable, as well as our anticipation of what is yet to come.

Our job as meditators is to remain on the bank of the stream and simply observe, without becoming overly fascinated with the psychic jetsam and flotsam. If our attention gets hooked by a provocative thought or image, we immediately fall into this mind stream and become part of the swirling jetsam and flotsam.

The essence of mindfulness practice is recognizing that you have fallen into the stream. That very noticing immediately brings you back to your position on the bank as an observer. Don’t be discouraged if you find that you spend more time in the stream than on its peaceful shore. Your attention will alternate between witnessing and falling into the stream. That’s what Buddhists call the path. If you slip off the horse, you get back on.

It’s important to understand that there are not two steps, one of falling into the mind stream, and the other of getting back to the shore. When you see that you’ve fallen into the stream, that is, that you’ve become distracted or preoccupied, you’re already back on the bank of the stream as an observer. You’ve come back into presence.

One of the powers of mindfulness practice is that it brings our mind and body together in the same place so that they’re synchronized. Basic trust grows from ‘staying’ and ‘not going’ because our mind finally catches up with our body. There is a kind of magic in declaring a spot on earth and fully sitting there.

Most of the time our body is in one place and our mind is somewhere else. Our body is sitting and having a cup of coffee, while our mind is preoccupied with our day’s agenda or with our unresolved problems and concerns. Few of us realize the implications of this phenomenon. We actually lose trust in ourselves day by day when our body is in one place and our mind is somewhere else.

Don't Chain Me DownIn the usual state of mindlessness, we fully identify with our own rambling, free associative thoughts. They continually trigger a chain reaction of further thoughts, images and feelings and these make up our personal narratives. This is how we manufacture psychological realms of all sorts, which we then inhabit. It is these psychological realms that create samsara or collective neurosis. In some sense, everyone is living in their own world.

One aspect of mindfulness meditation is the practice of extending unconditional friendliness or loving kindness towards ourselves. This is what restores a sense of basic trust in ourselves again. By sitting in silence and stillness we intentionally invite openness in the midst of the frenetic speed of everyday life.

In practicing mindfulness of body we establish a foundation, a home ground. With that comes a sense of being settled. We start by assuming a good upright posture, either on a meditation cushion or in a supportive chair. We anchor our attention in our body, so that little by little, we come down from the cloud realm of discursive thinking and land in our body.

We feel our body and the movement of breath. There is an unmistakable sense of simple presence. “I am here, now”. Our breath moves in and out like the rhythmic tides of the ocean. Our heart beats and circulates blood, while the miracles of sight, sound, smell, taste and feeling all take place effortlessly. No matter what thought, image or memory arises in the space of mind, we do not identify with it. We simply sit, breathe and are present.

Instead, we align ourselves with the awareness that witnesses such mental phenomena. We identify with the mirroring aspect of mind, and not the images that appear to the mirror. In this way we begin to establish some sense of presence in spite of all the stuff going on in our mind.

Tide's Out!The cyclical movement of breath itself is the epitome of the life force that animates all living entities. ‘Letting go’ means that we can trust this natural rhythmic process without attempting to secure it. Like the rhythmic rising and falling of the oceanic tides, the circulation of inhalation and exhalation is trustworthy and beyond our need to control it. We place our attention on this natural movement and this permits us to stay more focused. We are present with posture and breath, and when something arises in our state of mind, we notice and then we let go. ‘Letting go’ must be applied uniformly even to the meditative state itself. We do not try to capture such positive moments, but touch this peaceful state of mind with awareness and then let go.

Mindfulness is a sudden flash of recognition, a complete reversal of direction bringing us instantly back to the breath. By interrupting our storylines, our compelling narratives of love and desire, hope and fear, success and the anguish of failure, we are brought back to the immediacy of this present moment. Only one thing is happening at a time. The practice of mindfulness is to be there with that precise, abrupt perception of nowness from which there is no escape. That dimensionless point of awareness is the key to our true identity.


 

Ira Rechtshaffer holds a Ph.D. in Buddhist studies and has been a Buddhist meditation practitioner for 40 years. He studied and practiced Zen Buddhism in Japan for four years and has been a practitioner of Tibetan or Vajrayana Buddhism since 1976. He has been a psychotherapist for the past 25 years, integrating spiritual vision with psychological process in an effort to return ‘soul’ to the helping relationship.

Mindfulness and Madness – money, food, sex and the sacred by Ira Rechtshaffe is published by Changemakers Books November 2015.

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Comments

  1. This is a lovely, common-sense and common-language, description of the essential practice. Blessings, and may many beings step back into their fullness through your light work.