Mindfulness of the world - its being OK
score:4
Mindfulness is a translation of a Buddhist term that generally means "recollection" or "remembrance". It can be used in any number of ways, for example "recollection of the Buddha", "recollection of past lives", etc. In insight meditation, it refers to one's ability to recollect or remember the present moment, as taught in the discourse on the four foundations of mindfulness.
The four foundations are
- body - recognizing and reminding oneself of bodily sensations as being simply bodily sensations
- feelings - recognizing and reminding oneself of feelings (pain, pleasure, neutral) as being simply feelings
- mind recognizing and reminding oneself of one's state of mind (scattered, focussed, etc.) as being simply a state of mind
- dhammas - recognizing and reminding oneself of various aspects of ones experience on the path to enlightenment as being simply what they are.
So, to answer your question, mindfulness is simply a tool used to focus one's attention on a specific object; what you are suggesting sounds like a conceptual object, e.g. something unrelated to the task at hand to take your mind off of the present moment. This could be called "mindfulness", in the sense that you are actively working to recollect a specific object. It would be considered a form of samatha (tranquility) meditation, since it is no longer based on ultimate (i.e. present moment) reality.
The problem with what you suggest is that it seems to likely involve aversion to the present moment, and so it is not likely to lead to true freedom from the suffering associated with aversion. For this, you will need to practice mindfulness as described above regarding the four foundations. There, it should be used to focus on the present moment and remind you that the stress you feel is merely stress - not me, not mine, not good, not bad, etc.
A Buddhist perscription for your condition would be to focus your attention on the state of being flustered, as such states are conditioned by habit and can be countered with new conditioning (i.e. objectivity) through simply recognizing them as they are. As the Buddha said, for example:
idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sarāgaṃ vā cittaṃ ‘sarāgaṃ cittan’ti pajānāti
Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu clearly knows a mind with passion thus: "a mind with passion".
-- MN 10
In my tradition, this is accomplished by noting the flustered mind, for example, as "flustered, flustered..." somewhat akin to a mantra.
Upvote:0
Does mindfulness include being "mindful" (noticing, etc.) of your world, or only sensations like the breath, walking. etc.?
This in of the 4 foundation of mindfulness at the experiential level. It is not the concept or head talk of waking, breathing, etc. If you want to look at you posture look at the outline of your body through what you sense. When walking see the change in posture through the change of the outline of the body through what you sense. You should be constantly aware of it's impermanence and changing nature of what you experience. E.g. any pain you get has a start and and end. Also at some point when you further analyse you will see it as smaller vibrations which make the large pain and they are arising and passing away.
So e.g. - being mindful of the other things that I do or do not have to do, rather than the task which is stressing me out and I haven't started yet.
The wrong type of Mindfulness is supporting to stress people out. (If you do a course at: http://dhamma.org/ this is covered in the instructions given.)
In short right mindfulness is awareness of what is going on in the framework of you body and mind (through the 4 foundations of awareness) while being constantly aware of the impermanent and changing nature (at a deeper level arising and passing) of phenomena.
All metal and physical phenomena has sensations attached. Hence being with sensations will definitely help.
I have "pronounced negative symptoms" of schizophrenia, and I badly need a way to be cognisant of tasks (like coursework) without approaching them directly and getting flustered. This may be one way.
When you are with the 4 foundations of mindfulness you are with the present moment. This way there is no room to misinterpret reality.
Also it is best that you seek a good meditation instructor who can guide you in this case. Some on you can approach and reach out when there is a issue.
More post
- 📝 Feeling of unbecoming & losing I-hood
- 📝 Are there Material Differences of Current Theravada Teachings with Pre Sectarian Buddhism?
- 📝 Ancient Indian sites, where Jataka stories are illustrated through sculpture and painting?
- 📝 How to practise SN 15.14 to attain enlightenment?
- 📝 In Mahayana Buddhism, do they expect everyone to become a Buddha? If so how can any Buddha help anyone to attain enlightenment?
- 📝 What is the Buddhist text quoted by the Hindu philosopher Yogaraja?
- 📝 Sudden arising of disgust
- 📝 Doing a wrong thing for the right reasons?
- 📝 Life With Death
- 📝 How to prolong post meditation emotions, feelings and thoughts?
- 📝 When were the earliest Buddhist writings created
- 📝 "grasping a sign", "fixed view", and suffering
- 📝 Teachings from Buddhas other than Gautama
- 📝 How to cure music influence on mind?
- 📝 Is begging for alms acceptable for lay persons?
- 📝 Does dreams make sense?
- 📝 In which sutta does the Buddha discuss his attitudes toward his audience either understanding or not understanding his teaching?
- 📝 Is the Tathagata 'special'?
- 📝 What does 'awareness of the flow' mean
- 📝 In visualisation meditations, I don’t know “where” to look
- 📝 Is shellfish aquaculture considered a wrong livelihood?
- 📝 Where is the Buddha quoted as saying do not believe anything I say until you can prove it by yourself?
- 📝 Buddha verifying his enlightenment
- 📝 Can Generosity be Poison?
- 📝 What is a Buddhist ceremony or service called, and what day of the week is it likely to be?
- 📝 Was buddha aware of future or future way of living?
- 📝 Why are exceptionally tall statues of the Buddha and Guanyin built?
- 📝 What kind of mistakes can a new meditator in his/her early 20's avoid?
- 📝 Supposing mahayana nirvana is permanent does it have substance?
- 📝 What is the water filter of Koṇāgamana?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Mindfulness of the world - its being OK
- 📝 Can a human being reside both in this world and Nirvana at the same time?
- 📝 Is mindfulness for quick enlightenment being exaggerated in the Sutta MN10?
- 📝 What are the differences between vipassana and mindfulness meditation?
- 📝 What is the next meditation type after Mindfulness of Breathing meditation?
- 📝 Can the noble eightfold path be followed in its entirety by a lay follower?
- 📝 What are the scientifically proven benefits of mindfulness meditation?
- 📝 How can I build up to being able to get into the full lotus position?
- 📝 Is mindfulness the path or the goal?
- 📝 Mindfulness when on the train, underground and bus
- 📝 What's the origin of 108 being a sacred number?
- 📝 What will be the situation of the world when every beings will attain Nirvana?
- 📝 What is the difference between concentration and mindfulness practice ?
- 📝 What are the steps in Mindfulness of Breathing meditation?
- 📝 How did this material world come into existence if the ultimate reality is voidness?
- 📝 How does a monk cope with all the bad things happening in the world if the only thing monks do is sitting and meditating?
- 📝 What are the physiological effects of mindfulness based meditation?
- 📝 Living worried about the future and reaching mindfulness
- 📝 What are the consequences of the 14th Dalai Lama being the last one?
- 📝 Zen's concern with "reality" vs. being in the present
- 📝 Which sutta is it in which Sariputta asks his disciples .. friend if someone asks, is the world eternal
- 📝 The formless jhanas in this world
- 📝 The needs of the same human being may differ at different stages of life. Can there be one Dharma for all stages?
- 📝 Is everything about the world the 6 sense objects
- 📝 Anesthesia, being knocked out, unconsciousness...what does the Buddha have to say about it?
- 📝 If a Buddha exists then can a private buddha arise or exist somewhere in the same world system without having learned from the current Buddha?
- 📝 Are some of the supernormal powers a direct contradiction to old age, sickness, and death being unavoidable?
- 📝 If Buddha is able to predict the future of other sentient beings how can freewill be possible as its very nature is that of unpredictability?
- 📝 If I am not the skandhas, then what entity/group of entities am I being responsible for by being a good person?
- 📝 Is the path considered or viewed as being selfish?