Awareness

Be aware of your body: its sensations and the simple fact of it. Aware of the existence of thoughts as they arise and dissipate. Aware of sounds and sights. Aware that for the past minute you were lost in thought, not paying attention at all.

Whatever is presenting itself to your awareness right now, attend to that.

At first, you may become aware that your mind is extraordinarily busy, constantly engaged in thought and reaction. And you might begin to see that all this mental activity often doesn't serve you very well. Occasionally it is focused and helpful. Often it is random and pointless. Frequently it is obtrusive or destructive. But the point here is not to judge it, just to be aware of it. Because more than anything, it is unnoticed.

You will probably become increasingly aware that there are significant gaps in your awareness. I don’t mean that there is some sound or something you are not hearing. Of course there is. No one can be aware of everything all the time. You’d go crazy. What I mean is, there are long stretches when you are not aware of anything. You have checked out. Your mind is lost in thought, and you are not even aware of your own thoughts. You did not notice when you checked out. You return to awareness at some point and realize that for a long time you were not really here. Your mind was rattling on as if on auto-pilot.

As you go on, you will find that this is the state most of us are in most of the time. We are not paying attention. We are not paying attention to others. Others are not paying attention to us. We are disconnected from the sensations in our bodies. We are blind to the beauty around us and deaf to the sounds of life. We are lost in thought.

Thought is a product of the past. It is the accumulation of experience and memory through which we filter and categorize everything we encounter, constantly turning everything that is new into something old and familiar. Because thought belongs always to the past, when we are lost in thought we are lost in the past, and cheating ourselves of the present. And the present is the only place that we have any actual existence, so by being lost in thought, we are cheating ourselves of life. By identifying only with our thoughts, we are functioning from something less than the full range of our being.

You will see this for yourself.

Meditation does not have to be confined to a special time and place. It is easier in a quiet place dedicated to meditation, because there is less stimulation. Less to be aware of. No one triggering our fight-flight reactions. No one flattering our egos or insulting our beliefs, or placing unrealistic demands on us. There is less noise to filter out, so we can think somewhat clearly and pay attention to our own bodies and minds. We can open our senses and practice being aware and present.

But as awareness increases, we must carry it out into the rest of our lives. If nothing else, we will soon see how unaware we normally are. How often the people around us are unaware. How our whole society is built on unawareness, on slavish, unconscious response to the stimulation of our appetites and prejudices, on ignorance and self-deception. We do not need to be told this. We can see it when we become aware of our own inattention.

But for now, start simply. Sit comfortably. There is no right way or wrong way to sit. Sit in a way that is comfortable, so you do not have to shift around a lot, but not so relaxed that you will fall asleep.

Take some time simply to be aware of the belly, how it rises and falls with each breath. Be aware of all the sensations of the belly as it rises and falls. It rises. It falls. It grumbles as it digests lunch. The grumble embarrasses you.

Be aware of thoughts as they arise. Be aware of how a thought arises, and you get swept away by it, to the point where you are no longer aware at all. You are lost in thought. Notice how you did not catch the moment when you got lost in thought, just as you don't notice the moment when you fall asleep.

Be aware of how the attention wanders. How the belly rises and falls through it all. You do not have to judge. You do not have to control. You do not have to say "yes" to this and "no" to that. Just pay attention. Be aware. Nothing more. Nothing less. And see what happens.