Rather than being swept up into what you think should be happening, you can learn the skill of being present for what is.
Daniel J. Siegel, page 57
Hmm! I love it when things I am pondering at the deepest level correlate with things I am reading or learning from others. It is like validation for what I am realizing and that is why certain teachings resonate with me...they validate what is coming up from inside. That is pretty cool.
It is like Michael Singer is right there with every new realization that emerges from within me, in a way that is almost uncanny. And now, lo and behold, I had a similar experience when I was reading Aware by Daniel Siegel. This morning all three things (Singer's teaching, Siegel's teachings, and my own realizations) came together in another one of those "aha!" moments.
I was hard on Seigel. Though it is true that I wish he would give more credit to the specific "wisdom traditions" he is loosely addressing in his book, and though I see the Wheel as just a fancy rewording of the Buddha's teachings on mindfulness and nothing new at all, there were some things that made me go "Oh yeah!" as I read. He does seem to be able to teach about awareness in a way that resonates with me. I do love the "scientific approach" to it. I love that he is able to give the ancient wisdom some scientific validation. I love that he is approaching consciousness as a psychiatrist, an academic (he is a professor at UCLA) and as a scientist (he is involved in research and work in the field of neurobiology). And I think if I didn't already have a basic understanding of awareness and consciousness that I gained from the wisdom traditions, and if I didn't have as much reverence as I do for the original teachings, I probably would appreciate this book and its writing so much more.
For those coming to understand awareness for the first time, and for those associating the traditional wisdom of "spirituality" with woo-woo, however,...this book could be very useful! It could eliminate the biases that can block people from understanding and practicing mindfulness. Maybe that is why he refrains from specifically giving credit to the traditions he is getting his information from? He wants to eliminate the barrier of bias that comes with preconceived ideas and assumptions? It is challenging, I imagine, for a physician, an academic and a scientist to talk about the non-material without losing credit in their professional community.
Regardless, some of the things I read in the last few days correlated serendiptously with what Singer was sharing in his recent podcasts and with the meditation realizations I had of seeing myself as "This human!"
I have been practicing mindfulness and meditation for decades, though I only became a mindfulness and meditation teacher a few years ago. Though I respect the ancient wisdom traditions immensely, "this human", when it decided it wanted certification, had to take a course that was taught by psychology professors. Why? It needed that credibility , that scientific validity because there is still a bit of bias left within it, a barrier against the woo-woo.
As Seigle writes about the methodology of mindfulness training and the benefits of a well trained mind in one's daily life, I realize he is right on the mark. I have been practicing exactly the way he encourages the reader to practice. These steps were taught to me by many Buddhist teachers. They are, in fact, the means by which the Buddha taught his disciples: Begin with putting attention on the breath, then on sensory input, then on inner body sensations, then on mental formations: thoughts, feelings, images etc, and then add an element of compassionate thought for others, self, all beings (loving kindness meditation/ Tonglen). Then in my yogic teachings I have been taught to expand this intention of compassion into a sankalpa. Yoga also taught me to expand my focus to that which exists beyond all these formations (Seigel refers to it as bending the needle of attention back toward the hub) by asking "Who am I? Who is this being that is objectively observing all these things?" etc
This methodology is not new and these teachings are not his invention, but he does word it in a way that gives it credibility and sustenance. And I love that a scientist, an academic, a psychiatrist that studies and treats the neurobiology of the brain is taking mind out of the encapsulation of skull in the individual! So he has my attention.
Who we are is bigger than the body and broader than the brain. page 82
I also love how he describes all the phenomena we encounter inside and outside these bodies as "energy and information flow." Singer does the same in his own words
So the other day I seperated the Witness, the Objective Observer, the Self from the human living out a drama of "little me" in my mindfulness practice. I found myself in the Seat of Self watching this human sense, feel, think, and have compassion.
Singer suggests that our spiritual practice, which is more about what happens off the cushion than it is about what happens on it, is all about learning to stay in the Seat of Self without getting pulled away from it. He tells us we are too often distracted and pulled out of the seat or we willingly leave/close to follow the dramas of a "little me" when it asks for our attention.
Seigel teaches the same. He says this "spoke" of attention, when it is focused on the rim stuff, keeps us from the Self in the hub. He tells us this spoke can be pulled involuntarily by Life or we can learn to consciously move it from one thing on the rim to another. The rim just pertains to that which houses the formations or skandhas we often get lost in: sensory input, bodily sensations, mental activities and our relationships to other beings and the world. And of course, I am realizing this directly as I examine my own mind as it reacts and responds to Life both when I am on the cushion and mostly when I am off it.
Will continue to correlate and expand as I read more.
All is well.
Daniel Sieger ( 2018) Aware. tarcherperigree.
Michael A. Singer/ Temple of the Universe ( June 10, 2024) Rising Above Likes and Dislikes. https://tou.org/talks/
No comments:
Post a Comment