(First Published 1 May 14)
Today 29th April 28, 2014 is the 98th day of my mother’s passing. I have been doing a phowa practice, daily, of about 1 hour, a practice to guide her consciousness in the afterlife. It is said that the clairvoyance of a person in the afterlife, in the stage (bardo) known as the becoming, is seven times clearer than in life.
As much as I used to talk to her about the dhamma when she was alive, I do so more now, since her passing. Sometimes these sessions become very engaged like today, when, unprompted, the mind streams thoughts, which I usually transmit to her through my mind, and sometimes through speech. Today was speech, which I was able to record. It is one of those days when I was ready with my recorder that only involved pressing a button. Usually, I am not able to recall most of what I see, and these remain lost in memory. Here it is, transcribed in full with a little bit of editing.
Yes, mindfulness of the mind, it is more difficult than being mindful of the senses.
How do you become mindful of the mind?
You can use neither body nor speech.
To become mindful of the mind you have to use the mind.
How do we use the mind?
We have to think of guarding the mind, the entrance to the mind, the mind door.
We cannot see, hear, touch, taste or smell our mind, but only experience its affective nature (pleasant or painful) and when that happens it is usually too late. If we are already at that point, of experiencing feelings, the best way, after that, that is after we feel, is to see the mind by renouncing the pleasant feelings that arise, through the experience of yielding and unyielding to pleasant feelings.
We can watch the mind and see the mind as we submit to and give way to the force of attraction that is caused by the object that tempts, one that would reveal our interest or zest (piti), and intent towards the object, of a desire to act (yielding - chanda), one that appear to and has the nature of yielding, yielding to the object (kamachanda).
We can also watch the mind and see the mind’s interest (piti) in the object by looking at its attractive (assada) and unattractive qualities (adinava).
We can watch the mind, when it exerts a mental force of unyielding, a force diametrically opposed to the yielding, exerted on the object [a combination of mental factors (cetasika) that include chanda (kattukamyata chanda) the mere desire to do, (dhammaccanda) righteous wish, right effort, and (viriya) energy or will and (piti) interest in the object].
In this way we can watch the mind.
How do we see the mind?
A way to see the mind when we watch the mind is to see the images (signs) (Note-1) that arise in the mind as they arise. The way we can do that is to see the mind like we see our face in the mirror. We use the reflective nature of the mind to reflect the image we see in mind.
How do we see the images?
When we see the mind the way we can see the images is to see the signs of images.
We cannot see, hear, touch, taste or smell our mind, but only experience its affective nature (pleasant or painful) and when that happens it is usually too late. If we are already at that point, of experiencing feelings, the best way, after that, that is after we feel, is to see the mind by renouncing the pleasant feelings that arise, through the experience of yielding and unyielding to pleasant feelings.
We can watch the mind and see the mind as we submit to and give way to the force of attraction that is caused by the object that tempts, one that would reveal our interest or zest (piti), and intent towards the object, of a desire to act (yielding - chanda), one that appear to and has the nature of yielding, yielding to the object (kamachanda).
We can also watch the mind and see the mind’s interest (piti) in the object by looking at its attractive (assada) and unattractive qualities (adinava).
We can watch the mind, when it exerts a mental force of unyielding, a force diametrically opposed to the yielding, exerted on the object [a combination of mental factors (cetasika) that include chanda (kattukamyata chanda) the mere desire to do, (dhammaccanda) righteous wish, right effort, and (viriya) energy or will and (piti) interest in the object].
In this way we can watch the mind.
How do we see the mind?
A way to see the mind when we watch the mind is to see the images (signs) (Note-1) that arise in the mind as they arise. The way we can do that is to see the mind like we see our face in the mirror. We use the reflective nature of the mind to reflect the image we see in mind.
How do we see the images?
When we see the mind the way we can see the images is to see the signs of images.
The way we can see the signs or images is to see their distinctive marks (Note-2).
The way we can see their distinctive marks are to see their arising.
The way we can see the rising of the distinctive marks is to see their falling.
The way we can see the falling of the distinctive marks is to see its reflection.
The way we can see the reflection of the falling distinctive marks is to see the reflection of the reflective nature of the mind, its mirror image, in the mirror of mindfulness.
The way to see the reflective nature of the mind is to rest the mind on the mirror image, with calm and concentration, as would a tiger crouch in wait for its prey, undeterred, to enter the mind-door.
If we imagine, we are looking at a puddle of water, it doesn't matter how muddy the water is, so long as we can use that water to reflect the image. If the water is very clear and clean, then the image is clear, if the water is dirty then the image is not clear. But still we can see an image. So all hope is not lost for us, that is, to see the reflection of the mind, we do not have to purify it first. If we had to do so first, then there would be no hope for any of us, as we cannot get to that place unless we are in that place.
Now what affects the reflection of the images are the ripples created in the puddle by disturbances. The ripples that are created in the mind are the disturbances that occur from hindrances (Note-3). The very word hindrance conveys it is an obstacle. Alright, so we have obstacles.
Obstacles to create a ripple must show itself, its affective quality. What is its affective quality? Its affective qualities are shown by feelings. Feelings represent the ripples. What are these feelings? They are pleasant feelings with the quality of piti (interest in the object), or painful feelings with the quality of aversion (dosa), together with restlessness (uddacca). That is what creates the ripple.
When you create the ripple you cannot see the image. The reflectivity is destroyed.
And then of course there is the other aspect of it. To see an image there must be a certain amount of radiance. There is no radiance when there is no light, when the mind is in darkness.
If we imagine, we are looking at a puddle of water, it doesn't matter how muddy the water is, so long as we can use that water to reflect the image. If the water is very clear and clean, then the image is clear, if the water is dirty then the image is not clear. But still we can see an image. So all hope is not lost for us, that is, to see the reflection of the mind, we do not have to purify it first. If we had to do so first, then there would be no hope for any of us, as we cannot get to that place unless we are in that place.
Now what affects the reflection of the images are the ripples created in the puddle by disturbances. The ripples that are created in the mind are the disturbances that occur from hindrances (Note-3). The very word hindrance conveys it is an obstacle. Alright, so we have obstacles.
Obstacles to create a ripple must show itself, its affective quality. What is its affective quality? Its affective qualities are shown by feelings. Feelings represent the ripples. What are these feelings? They are pleasant feelings with the quality of piti (interest in the object), or painful feelings with the quality of aversion (dosa), together with restlessness (uddacca). That is what creates the ripple.
When you create the ripple you cannot see the image. The reflectivity is destroyed.
And then of course there is the other aspect of it. To see an image there must be a certain amount of radiance. There is no radiance when there is no light, when the mind is in darkness.
When the mind is in darkness you cannot see the reflection. The mind is in darkness when it is covered. The mind is covered when we close its door. That is when we put a screen between the reflection and our self. So here, when you look at the closures you will find that they are in fact images, countering images, superimposed on the reflective images. These counter images are the coverings. In the Pali its is called avarana (obstacles or covers).
Avarana has the meaning of a covering, covering of what was uncovered before and so has the tense of the present, the present life. When these coverings transcend lifetimes and come from the past they come to us in a state in which they are already covered from us in the present. These are known as fetters (samyojana). (Note-4)
The natural nature of the mind is its radiance, intrinsic radiance, its ability to reflect. If you cover it, then it loses its ability to reflect the image back to you. If it is completely open it is the pristine, primordial, the very nature of pure consciousness.
So what are these coverings? If you examine it, you can easily categorize it. You can put them into four categories, one that is sensually tempting. The second is that of anger, hatred, aversion. The third, one that is none of the two, but also a cover, in the sense that you can look but you cannot see the image. The fourth is where you can neither look nor see the image.
Both the third and fourth are neutral in feeling. One arises from our mind’s inability to reflect anything - vacant-ness, out of sloth or sluggishness. The other arises from the mind’s inability function due to restlessness, the shaky and unsettled mind (sheer delusion), where both the reflection and the coverings whatever they may be, are shaky.
You will notice that in the first two cases attachment and aversion there may have been a certain amount of disturbance in the reflective nature of the mind itself, but the coverings were more or less steady so you were able to grasp the image easily.
But in the third case we talked about, in the case of sheer delusion, the reflective nature is in movement, in agitation, and the covering is in agitation, and you will have several coverings that go up and down like a screen of a stage or the toy, the revolving toy, that revolves incessantly. These are the four natures.
Then, there is a process outside of this descriptive process - one that we can only experience in the state of nibbana (nirvana). This is our mind’s ability to reflect its intrinsic radiance, nibbana (nirvana) radiance.
The nibbana (nirvana) nature is the pure nature of the mind, its pure radiance. Anything that comes in between, this radiance and the object, the image is a distraction.
So we have this nature of the mind which we can use to see the distractions. When we talk about distractions what will be apparent to you is that everything acts as a distraction - nivarana hindrance is an avarana cover – nivarana and avarana, two aspect of the same thing -an obstacle (Note-5). Interesting!
And, everything we do (always conceptually) covers the mind-door, covers our mental vision, covers the ability of our radiant mind. If we do it with mindfulness then we can see what we do, without being distracted by some other thought. If we do some kind of activity that require our mind's motor skills such as walking or physically navigating ourselves we can do it blindly or with mindfulness. But here again if we do it with mindfulness, using the mind, seeing the mind, using the mind to see the mind, we use the reflective mind for a different aspect of mind, the active aspect of mind, the kriya mind rather than the discerning aspect of the reflective mind. Then the function becomes a cover for the discerning mind. In other words what I mean by that is that we are able to use the functional mind to envelop the reflective mind, a distraction.
So here is where work becomes the distraction, work becomes a cover. And here we make use of the distraction, and hindrances that arise from the distraction, to cover the hindrances that give us suffering from the first distraction. So when we live life we live a distraction, distracted from the intrinsic radiance of mind and distracted from distractions. This is the mind that I had when I coined, a few years ago, the term: “Life is a distraction except for those who can concentrate on nothing”.
Concentrating on nothing is the concentration on the radiance, the reflective nature, the awareness nature, the luminous nature, and the intrinsic nature of mind – an open mind without covers.
Avarana has the meaning of a covering, covering of what was uncovered before and so has the tense of the present, the present life. When these coverings transcend lifetimes and come from the past they come to us in a state in which they are already covered from us in the present. These are known as fetters (samyojana). (Note-4)
The natural nature of the mind is its radiance, intrinsic radiance, its ability to reflect. If you cover it, then it loses its ability to reflect the image back to you. If it is completely open it is the pristine, primordial, the very nature of pure consciousness.
So what are these coverings? If you examine it, you can easily categorize it. You can put them into four categories, one that is sensually tempting. The second is that of anger, hatred, aversion. The third, one that is none of the two, but also a cover, in the sense that you can look but you cannot see the image. The fourth is where you can neither look nor see the image.
Both the third and fourth are neutral in feeling. One arises from our mind’s inability to reflect anything - vacant-ness, out of sloth or sluggishness. The other arises from the mind’s inability function due to restlessness, the shaky and unsettled mind (sheer delusion), where both the reflection and the coverings whatever they may be, are shaky.
You will notice that in the first two cases attachment and aversion there may have been a certain amount of disturbance in the reflective nature of the mind itself, but the coverings were more or less steady so you were able to grasp the image easily.
But in the third case we talked about, in the case of sheer delusion, the reflective nature is in movement, in agitation, and the covering is in agitation, and you will have several coverings that go up and down like a screen of a stage or the toy, the revolving toy, that revolves incessantly. These are the four natures.
Then, there is a process outside of this descriptive process - one that we can only experience in the state of nibbana (nirvana). This is our mind’s ability to reflect its intrinsic radiance, nibbana (nirvana) radiance.
The nibbana (nirvana) nature is the pure nature of the mind, its pure radiance. Anything that comes in between, this radiance and the object, the image is a distraction.
So we have this nature of the mind which we can use to see the distractions. When we talk about distractions what will be apparent to you is that everything acts as a distraction - nivarana hindrance is an avarana cover – nivarana and avarana, two aspect of the same thing -an obstacle (Note-5). Interesting!
And, everything we do (always conceptually) covers the mind-door, covers our mental vision, covers the ability of our radiant mind. If we do it with mindfulness then we can see what we do, without being distracted by some other thought. If we do some kind of activity that require our mind's motor skills such as walking or physically navigating ourselves we can do it blindly or with mindfulness. But here again if we do it with mindfulness, using the mind, seeing the mind, using the mind to see the mind, we use the reflective mind for a different aspect of mind, the active aspect of mind, the kriya mind rather than the discerning aspect of the reflective mind. Then the function becomes a cover for the discerning mind. In other words what I mean by that is that we are able to use the functional mind to envelop the reflective mind, a distraction.
We have one problem but we do something else, doing a job for instance, bringing-up children, spending time with our children is a welcome distraction, especially from the stress of work. Here one distraction becomes a cover for another distraction
So here is where work becomes the distraction, work becomes a cover. And here we make use of the distraction, and hindrances that arise from the distraction, to cover the hindrances that give us suffering from the first distraction. So when we live life we live a distraction, distracted from the intrinsic radiance of mind and distracted from distractions. This is the mind that I had when I coined, a few years ago, the term: “Life is a distraction except for those who can concentrate on nothing”.
Concentrating on nothing is the concentration on the radiance, the reflective nature, the awareness nature, the luminous nature, and the intrinsic nature of mind – an open mind without covers.
We can see this, glimpse of it at least, in meditations such as in kasina meditation in concentration meditation (samatha bhavana). If you take the mandala of mind (kasina mandala) [Note: kasina = wholeness, mandala is the circle before us (a hypnotic circle], something I have explained in a different place, the totality of mind, whole of mind, the mind that we see as wholeness, the object or sign that arises would begin to disappear when our own wholeness merges with the greater wholeness before us, when we, progressively, over the various levels of absorption (jhana) lose discriminatory awareness, when hindrances/covers begin to disappear, when subject and object loses its differential nature.
This is the nothingness, the emptiness. The term emptiness is very interesting and we can look it up in my blog (Note-6). This wholeness, the emptiness is a different medium, out of the realm of the conceptual mind medium.
Mindfulness is presence. Presence is in the now. Now is not before or after. Now is neither retrospection in a past nor speculation in a future. Now is always past in the future, and so a future is always before in the now and both are always before in the past. The future is not present but an illusion of the present as is the past in the present. To be mindful and present in the now is to see the thought before the thought, the sound before the sound, the image before the image, the taste before the taste, the smell before the smell and the sensation before the sensation.
Note-1 Sign or Image
Excerpt from "Distracting Thoughts - Five Ways for Their Removal"
What is a sign? A sign (nimitta) is an object, an image, a mark, a target, a cause or a condition.
When we perceive we assign names, we appellate, which gives rise to images in reality, when we create our truth about its reality based on our knowledge, experiences, imagination, invention.
Note-2 Distinctive Mark
Mindfulness is presence. Presence is in the now. Now is not before or after. Now is neither retrospection in a past nor speculation in a future. Now is always past in the future, and so a future is always before in the now and both are always before in the past. The future is not present but an illusion of the present as is the past in the present. To be mindful and present in the now is to see the thought before the thought, the sound before the sound, the image before the image, the taste before the taste, the smell before the smell and the sensation before the sensation.
Note-1 Sign or Image
Excerpt from "Distracting Thoughts - Five Ways for Their Removal"
What is a sign? A sign (nimitta) is an object, an image, a mark, a target, a cause or a condition.
A sign in the context of a distracting mind would be a mental object that arises from the mind door.There are, as we know, six objects that arise through the six sense doors. Every sign that arises from the five sense doors end up in the mind door and becomes a mental object unless we let go at the point of contact, such as for example by just seeing or just hearing.
There are 3 pairs of signs that one can see if one is mindful:
(1) Universal and Particular
- Universal (generic) (the whole) (aquila) = e.g. House
- Particular (using the discriminating mind) (a compination of parts) = e.g. a House of brick, wood, nails , etc
- Unity = e.g. A House (designation)
- Diversity = e.g. a particular House (a different type of house)
(3) Formation and Disintegration
- Formation = e.g. a House maybe being built
- Disintegration = e.g. a House is also disintegrating when it is being built such as by weathering, etc
Excerpt from "Delusion of Restlessness" Paragraph 25 : When cognition takes place, perception picks out the objects distinctive mark, that is recognized from one that has been given previously and in memory, grasps the identity of the distinctive mark and attaches to it the name previously given, the previous one. These are two series of thought processes – one of picking out distinctive mark and the other of grasping its identity. If the distinctive mark is clear and not obscured or distracted by other thoughts then grasping will function well and result in good memory. If we have attention then our perception will be clear.
Note-3 Hindrances (nivarana)
Hindrances (nivarana) - a hindrance to achieving nibbana, or for that matter to concentration, one that we will discover in meditation. Hindrances are mental states that prevent wholesome states from arising and which do not allow arisen wholesome states to endure. Hindrances overwhelm awareness and weakens discernment.They are the 8 mental factors (cetasika) of sensual desire (kamachanda), ill will (patigaha), sloth (thina) and torpor (middha),restlessness (uddaccha) and worry (kukucca), doubt (vicikicca) and ignorance.
Note-4 Fetters (samyojana)
...Five obstacles, hindrances that overwhelm awareness and weaken discernment.....Sensual desire, Ill will... Sloth and drowsiness... Restlessness and anxiety...
…he has not abandoned these five obstacles, hindrances that overwhelm awareness and weaken discernment, when he is without strength and weak in discernment it is impossible for him
to understand what is for his own benefit,
to understand what is for the benefit of others,
to understand what is for the benefit of both,
to realize a superior human state, a truly noble distinction in knowledge and vision
..just as it would for river, flowing down from the mountains, that wouldn't go far, or swiftly, or carry all things in it, if it is opened up in to channels leading away in both sides in the middle, when the current in the middle of the river becomes dispersed, diffused, and dissipated....
When he has abandoned these five obstacles, hindrances that overwhelm awareness and weaken discernment it would be possible just as it is for a river, that has closed channels that lead it away would be undispersed, undiffused, and undissipated...
Note-6 Emptiness (sunyata)
Sunyata can be found in the posting Tetralemma.
Hindrances (nivarana) - a hindrance to achieving nibbana, or for that matter to concentration, one that we will discover in meditation. Hindrances are mental states that prevent wholesome states from arising and which do not allow arisen wholesome states to endure. Hindrances overwhelm awareness and weakens discernment.They are the 8 mental factors (cetasika) of sensual desire (kamachanda), ill will (patigaha), sloth (thina) and torpor (middha),restlessness (uddaccha) and worry (kukucca), doubt (vicikicca) and ignorance.
Fetters (samyojana) in Theravada teachings (samyojana), mentioned both in the sutta pitaka and the abhidhamma pitaka, are unwholesome mental states that bind us to samsaric existence. As mentioned in the abhidhamma pitaka there are the 10 mental factors (cetasikas) of greed (in two modes: greed of sensual lust, greed for attachment to existence or for becoming), aversion, conceit, wrong views (ditthi) [in two modes: (1) adherence to rites and observances (silabatha paramasa) and (2) doubt (vicci kicca)], envy, avarice, and ignorance.
Fetters are that which span across life times, hindrances are that which are ephemeral in nature, transitory obstacles.
Note-5 Obstacles/Covers (avarana)
Avarana Sutta (Anguttara Nikaya)...Five obstacles, hindrances that overwhelm awareness and weaken discernment.....Sensual desire, Ill will... Sloth and drowsiness... Restlessness and anxiety...
…he has not abandoned these five obstacles, hindrances that overwhelm awareness and weaken discernment, when he is without strength and weak in discernment it is impossible for him
to understand what is for his own benefit,
to understand what is for the benefit of others,
to understand what is for the benefit of both,
to realize a superior human state, a truly noble distinction in knowledge and vision
..just as it would for river, flowing down from the mountains, that wouldn't go far, or swiftly, or carry all things in it, if it is opened up in to channels leading away in both sides in the middle, when the current in the middle of the river becomes dispersed, diffused, and dissipated....
When he has abandoned these five obstacles, hindrances that overwhelm awareness and weaken discernment it would be possible just as it is for a river, that has closed channels that lead it away would be undispersed, undiffused, and undissipated...
Sunyata can be found in the posting Tetralemma.
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