Mindfulness

Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. Mindfulness Meditation is a practice of being fully and attentively present in the moment. Some think this must be done seated on the floor, which is silly. One can be standing (limited by fatigue), or lying down (sleepiness may set in), though a seated position may be best for extended (more than a few minutes) sessions. There are reports of negative reactions to mindfulness meditation, especially with group meditation.

If you meditate for 20 minutes a day for 2 or 3 months, most likely you will only feel its calming, expansive effects during or right after meditation.

As you continue for 12 months, 2 years, 5 years, maybe sometimes naturally falling into longer periods of silence, your ‘identity’ shifts from thinking you are the noise in your mind - all it’s plans, judgments, desires, moods, etc. - to…”What’s that watching all that noise, but isn’t another thought itself? Just the Witness? Just Awareness?”

Mindfulness and anatta really come to the same when one becomes mindful of being nothing. Anatta is to mindfulness as melody is to rhythm. Mindful observation of anything does not require one who is mindful. All it requires is the mere faculty of knowing. Meditation should not stop when one overcomes illusion. You may think you’re meditating to attain enlightenment, but you’re meditating because enlightenment has already claimed you. Mindfulness is a prerequisite of anatta. In my case, sitting in my garage (the only quiet place), I was sitting, mindful of the feeling of self. Every time "I" would experience something (any quality at all, even space), I would view that objectively, from the vantage point of nowhere (perception does not require one who perceives). Then something happened: I became freshly (but still objectively) aware of my heart. Strong bliss happened. It has yet to stop.

Stilling the mind does not lead to enlightenment. You are really unbound and actionless, self-illuminating and spotless already. The cause of your bondage is that you are still resorting to stilling the mind. We believe we’re meditating to attain a special state, and this is our barrier. The true meaning of meditation is simply…Being. Everything is a state of mind except enlightenment. Everyone who meditates long enough can experience the silent mind, but this does not mean he/she is enlightened. Meditation, though, can be a wonderful adventure. Waiting for the bus can be a similar adventure. The path to greater awareness leads through your heart, which is the only “real stuff”. ‘Enlightenment’ is not an event, practice or attainment that happens in time to and ‘individual. Enlightenment is realization of the illusion of separate individual. When identification is consciously dissolved within the absolute consciousness, life remains.

You cannot “reach” enlightenment, anymore than a fish can “reach” water. You are already in enlightement, already swimming in it now. ‘Spiritual Awakening’ and ‘Enlightenment’ are just human-ego concepts.

Ramana Maharshi; "There is neither creation nor destruction, neither destint nor free will; neither path nore acheivement; This is the final truth. Brahma Satyam Jagot Mithya - sankrit for "Brahman alone is real; the world is an appearance; ego-body-senses are illusory. Avadhuta Gita: I have no birth, no death, and do duties; I've never done anything, either good or bad. I'm purely Brahman, beyond all qualities; How could either bondage or liberation exist for me?

The egoistic “self,” also known as the identification with this body or mind, cannot destroy itself. Cannot get rid of itself. The mere trying - all ‘seeking,’ practicing and ‘becoming’ - can only, by their very nature, reinforce the illusion that there is a ‘separate someone,’ separate from Being, who has anywhere to go or anything to attain.

There is no such thing as the ego. The ego doesn’t exist. It’s just a concept, a label, assigned to what “we” think are “our” individual choices and actions, when in fact there really isn’t any “we,” and “we” are not the Doer. There is only the One Self. Or if you prefer, Being, Consciousness, pure Awareness, the Emptiness, God. It doesn’t matter - all those are just conceptual labels, too, just like ‘ego. We all should feel delighted that we have this magnificent chance to be the eyes of the sublime Universe through which it observes itself. It is only your mind that has you convinced of the illusion that you are not already in enlightenment (which is your natural state). Our true nature is consciousness; all-embracing emptiness; the silence of the heart. - Ramana Maharshi

About Ramana Maharshi. Here is an interesting story of the death of Ramana Maharshi's father. Absolutely normal life. Not disturbed with the drama of illusory story of individual anymore..

Any form of meditation that allows you to detach and dis-identify from the constant barrage of thoughts, and just be aware of your primal Existence, of Being, of Silence, is applicable - using a mantra, focusing on breath, or Witnessing/Allowing (doing nothing at all) meditation is recommended.

Go back to that state of pure being, where the ‘I am’ is still in its purity before it got contaminated with ‘I am this’ or ‘I am that.’ Your burden is of false self-identifications—abandon them all. Profound peace will follow. Enlightenment is the realization that happiness is independent of conditions. Self-realization is what happens when it occurs to you to be happy.

Suffering happens only when the mind does not want to experience what it experiences. In awareness suffering doesn’t happen. Without denial, rejection, refusal, suffering doesn’t happen. In awareness, every experience is. No experiences are refused nor rejected.

Our true nature is happiness. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.

- Ramana Maharshi

The key to enlightenment is attention. To discern and abide in the ever-present Reality is the true attainment. All other attainments are like powers enjoyed in a dream. Sri Ramana Maharshi, Reality in Forty Verses, Verse 35.

Enlightenment is about knowing who we are. When you disidentify with the “I” that thinks and worries, you are free. To do so, turn your attention to the Consciousness in which “I” seems to appear. This is the Self.

When the “non-dual” understanding is truly established in daily living you do not even wonder about those things. Its absolutely natural for Self-realized being to be fully absorbed in the pure knowing. He is pure knowing, he is the “I”. He is absolutely independently in peace with or without objects. He is absolutely self content. The “I” is all there is. He is the whole… - Ramana Maharshi

The views above are not original with Ramana Maharshi. Such is explained clearly in the Ashtavakra Gita.

Just be not is my favorite approach to overcoming illusion. The self is a disruptive, false, and, as such, unnecessary metaphor for the process of awareness and knowing: when we awaken to knowing, we realize that all that goes on in us is a flow of “thoughts without a thinker.”

Awareness of that from which all things flow is everyday awareness expanded to include that. We are not the victims of life, we are life itself. One energy colored in million ways.

“This “me” that I’m trying to tame, or make more peaceful, or more enlightened, is nothing more than a random collection of thoughts & experiences floating by, that don’t actually belong to a “me” – there is no separate location or me here – they’re just the One Reality being Itself. No need for me to work at “getting out of the way;” who would get out of the way of what? What is needed isn’t effort, but attention.

There is really only one who isn't enlightened: This is the one who seems to show up, the instant we think there's a problem.

When you're not, you're everything! I most often notice bliss when I am not, which equates to silence.

Truth can never be found in any elaboration. Truth is always prior to any elaboration or add-on. It can’t be conveyed in words because it’s prior to words. It can’t be known by experience because it’s prior to experience. Every elaboration only breaks the stillness in which alone the truth is known. This is what it means to “look within.”

There are no levels of attainment. Illusion is not overcome gradually, though insights that may be dependent on this will occur over time. Possible insights:

1. First you see yourself as okay, and the world as deprived (in need of fixing). That’s the separated state.

2. Then you see the world as okay, and yourself as deprived (in need of fixing). That’s seeking.

3. Then you see both the world and yourself as deprived. You see pain and suffering in you and you see ignorance in other people. That’s self-realization/awakening. In the deeper stages it manifests as compassion, but it’s still not the end.

4. Ultimately, you see both the world and yourself as perfect in their imperfection. That’s enlightenment.

Overcoming illusion may be a shock or may trouble one temporarily, depending on one prior beliefs. It is also useful to note that habits of mind change only gradually, and unevenly. Those who have overcome illusion are not outwardly perfect, in fact, such people may irritate and even be addicted.

The first illusion to drop away is the notion of selfhood which (slowly in my case) ceases to dominate the psyche (accompanied by less mental chatter). Once selfhood truly disappears for even a second (most likely while doing a boring or simple task), the grip of illusion has been loosed: welcome home!. The notion of no-self then occurs while doing slightly more complicated tasks, or while mentally listening to a well known bit of music. Once you passed the threshold, there is no more ‘you’ to worry about losing jobs/every thing or gaining wealth or wisdom or any thing [these are all things of the world that you leave behind the threshold together with any ideas/concepts/belief you had about anything, including who/what you are. Those who have overcome illusion do not judge everything they experience. They do not judge. For such people there are no judgments. There is no good and no bad, no right and no wrong. Everything just is.

Most people get stuck in the non-dual awakening. They have no idea at that point that there’s more. many of the spiritual awakenings and “enlightenments” are actually an escape from one’s trauma — not different from how alcohol and drugs and work and other addictions are used to escape trauma.  as long as you have the mind awakening — the non-dual awakening — you are in dissociation, not integration. It’s a hard awakening to wake up from. Whenever enlightenment is spoken of as no-mind, no-self, losing mind, transcending mind, getting rid of mind, or ego, or self - that is the ego talking, not enlightenment. It is the mind talking, not enlightenment. It is the self talking, not enlightenment.

Some people reach a certain awakening and call it ‘the end’. Usually because “there is no one here anymore” yada yada. This is fine. Unfortunate for them, though.

When the real awakening of the heart occurs, it is seen that there is no hierarchy - everything is the ultimate. Everything then appears equal, for everything is equally The Divine. Everything (everyONE) deserves love.

Volition is best not considered as causal: Anatta happens due to a modification of attention such as fascination. These moments of clarity may appear to increase in number and duration.

Everything that is alive regards itself as a "self" with consciousness. The definition of a person is where you look from. All of these views are correct. “We think we are bodies having consciousness. The reverse is actually the truth. We are consciousness having bodies.” said Sri Nisargadatta.

“I” is the eternal here and now. There is only the divine, whose light shines as the absence we call “the present.”

It’s like a hole in the fabric of nothing, but it’s not evil at all. It’s infinitely self-giving and infinitely retiring; it never even appears.

Then, in sort of a resulting cascade, one sees less of separate individual selves (souls) walking around. Now one can really see that there is no such thing as an unenlightened individual (corollary: the real, deep-down you is the entire universe). Blame, guilt, purpose, and karma no longer make sense. Right versus wrong, and the right-left fight over morality are seen with clear-headed dispassion.  Pain loses it’s sting (the sage no longer identifies with his suffering), death is no longer scary , and it is only now. There is eternal nothingness (not eternity) with momentary self and without self.

Everything is constantly so amazing in the midst of anatta. I mean, all this stuff! All this animation, all this life! It's such a trip to be watching life go on, watching meditation happen, even watching gasps due to sudden temperature change in the shower (autistic sensory issues).

Much ado, particularly in Eastern spirituality, is made of "non-attachment". Devotees invoke "neti, neti" (not this, not this!). Usually implied is attachment of mind to concepts. It is true that preoccupation with concepts tends to obscure that which is Real. But it is the mind's nature to latch onto concepts - so let it latch onto anatta. Mindfully watch this happen, knowing that mind is not self. Meditation with closed eyes is simply to sit (or lay...) with eyes closed. Do not suppress thoughts. Do nothing: do not even breathe or suppress breath. Ramana Maharshi's suggestion to "first: find out who it is who meditates" is accomplished with the perspective of anatta. Meditation with eyes open is simply to be, again while doing nothing else.

Pursuing the notion of diving into self (as suggested by Ramana Maharshi), "I" was, for years not "doing it" mindfully: not watching the diving. That is perhaps the most sure-fire way of coming to understand "this is it": there is, after all, no phenomena to be found as a result of diving into self. All "phenomena" is "what is". This diving is, after all, secondary to quietness of mind, achievable via anatta.

Some proclaim self as witness (observer). Is it? Who is watching the witness? The witness is appearing, or being, on the screen of non-beingness. It is from there, beyond the reach of concepts, that we know being witness, that we perceive the prior sense of self.

Ego is not the enemy, because in reality, there is no such thing as ego. Ego is a phantom. The false sense of a psychological self is as much a part of Creation as the unified sense of No-Self, and each has their place. We say, “The ego is an illusion.” It is, but technically it's a self-delusion.

A fun little approach is to, immediately upon laying down, say to oneself “this is it”. Knowing that after that final imaginary “t” sound, there is only awareness which is it. “It”, of course, is that awareness without an object of which mystics speak. The memory of this may be recalled as not having been produced by any sort of volition. All action and thought and story telling rests in that awareness. Arrive at the other shore by knowing that this (anything that is perceived) is not self.

I have found bliss to be different than most think. I experience bliss as a thickening of the air, as though I am swimming is a sea of divine love/oneness with all (I am atheist). Sometimes, though, this spills over into a more overt high, similar to the experience of cannabis. Bliss can co-exist with any emotion, though negative emotions tend to get washed over with bliss, so they never last long. I am most likely to experience bliss when I am aware of anatta. Tony Parsons has often spoke of presence. Bliss can meld into presence. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Some believe that keys to insight are more likely, or at least possible, to be found in ancient texts, the more ancient the better. Truth was the same then as now, but communication was tedious at best. What texts survive are those preserved by the powerful. Nondual teachers have no need of power or of proselytizing. What videos we have of the modern sage Ramana Maharshi are grainy and taken as though he was uninterested. And he wrote almost nothing. Contrast that with the crystal video revealings of Tony Parsons. Only now do we enjoy a surfeit of illuminated text and video. But books and videos can only take on so far.

Many teachers labelled spiritual will claim that gains somewhere are inevitably balanced by losses elsewhere, sometimes called the zero-sum game. A valid reason for stating such is that there is no one (no individual souls) to enjoy gains or suffer setbacks. The enlightened perspective is that nothing is wrong. Nothing is broken. Enlightenment does not fix the mind’s problems, instead it makes it clear that there are no problems. Getting back to consensus reality: This concept is pernicious, and basically not true, no matter where it is found, be it politics or new-age mysticism. I mean, why not that most (bodies who believe they are souls) "people" agree that now is better than what we agree was 10 years ago - 20 years ago. Maintaining our charade as separate beings: go forth and do great and wonderful things!

Don't drink alcohol. Be real. Make the most of your brief time in the sun. Be an optimistic nihilist. Avoid money as a prime motivation. Finally, have fun: enjoy the seasonal celebrations.

“Life is… not about counting the losses and the lost expectations, but rather swimming, with as much grace as can be mustered, in the joy of all of it,” Leisa Hammett