The aim is not only to understand the correlation between brain structures and meditation experience but also to identify the key aspects of practice. Even a superficial look at the way meditation is being taught shows that there is a large amount of superfluous theory, ritual, and many misunderstandings.

 

By Angel Roberto Puente

It’s evident now that the new frontier of what is called mindfulness is being established by science.

The Dalai Lama has said, “At the heart of these meditation practices lie two key techniques: refinement of attention and its sustained application on the one hand, and the regulation and transformation of emotions on the other. In both of these cases, I feel, there might be great potential for collaborative research between the Buddhist contemplative tradition and neuroscience.” Other traditions have also established research connections.

The aim is not only to understand the correlation between brain structures and meditation experience but also to identify the key aspects of practice. Even a superficial look at the way meditation is being taught shows that there is a large amount of superfluous theory, ritual and many misunderstandings.

The word “mindfulness” doesn’t convey the practical aspect of the original Pali word: Sati.

Sati indicates remembrance. As an aspect of right concentration, it tells us to remember to return to practice. It’s the first thing we learn: when we realize we are distracted, that we are not following the breath, we remember to come back to it. In his presentation of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, “Bikkhu Anālayo highlights that Sati isn’t merely passive awareness but encompasses a sense of “memory” or “recollection.”

This implies bringing awareness back to the present moment, especially when the mind wanders.” (A good intention to memorize is: Sati-Remember to Breathe!)

Another repeated misconception, although it contradicts Buddha’s teaching, is that enlightenment is something that we have to search for, or even worse, create. If we start with the right view, that there is no enlightenment, just simple recognition, progress is much faster.

Our true nature is based on our biology. We already have everything we need to be happy. Practice uncovers this truth and shows us how we sabotage our natural functioning.

As we progress, we have insights: recognition of what already is. These can cause quite an impression, and the common sales pitch misleads people into believing that everything is then solved. So many practitioners are disappointed to see that this is not true. These are openings that help to break away from fixed ideas that privilege living from inside our heads: from ideas and images. Eventually, the whole belief system is dismantled.

The astonishing fact is that what we “see” in these instances is happening all the time! What changes is the fixation on a particular stage of the process.

Professor John D. Dunne, a distinguished professor of contemplative humanities at the University of Wisconsin, recently gave a conference at Princeton University about the interface of Buddhism and cognitive science. These conferences are part of a network of universities that include Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard, among others. The conference was about Reflexivity, Luminosity, and Cessative Sidetracks.

Cessation, in Sanskrit: nirodha, is a term used to denote the ending or cessation of suffering and its causes, primarily craving and attachment. The generic English term “enlightenment” is used to cover the many names with which this event is named in the various traditions. The interpretation and importance given to this event also vary.

There are degrees to the depth of the recognition and to the ability of its applications to daily life. There is a tendency to overestimate its effect. (See Guru Viking’s Ep280: I Renounce My Attainments—Delson Armstrong, where Delson Armstrong, spiritual teacher, meditation virtuoso, and author of A Mind Without Craving, renounces all his previous claims to spiritual attainment.” )

To anyone interested in these topics, I would insist they follow the references I provide and reach their own conclusions. I believe that really understanding the workings of a practice that will probably be lifelong will not only cut useless effort, but it will also guarantee success. With that in mind, I give my understanding of the information given at the conference.

Professor Dunne provided a broad picture of the path that cessations take through the four domains of conceptuality (i.e., thoughts), sense perceptions (i.e., the six active consciousnesses), phenomenality (i.e., luminosity) and physiology (e.g., respiration).

The direction is from shallow to deep: Thoughts~Senses~Luminosity~Physiology.

This view aligns with the traditions; the recognition of mental silence tends to be the first insight. Complete non-conceptuality is achieved in the luminosity stage, described as: “I experienced awareness itself, not in the sense that I was experiencing awareness. There was no me, there was no observer, awareness itself was always already aware.” Beyond that is the state of physiologic cessation (nirodha-samapati) in which there is a suspension or suppression of bodily functions that is debated as useful or useless by some traditions. ( e.g. Yogic (yada-samadhi), suspended animation)

There is also the basic manner in which mental perceptions are presented in consciousness (attention): contact with the perception (any object), recognition (non-conceptual acceptance of the presence of the object), and then the descriptive (conceptualization of the object). This is the scientifically researched proof that the non-conceptual is our natural state and is functioning all the time.

This model is also consistent with the Buddhist theory of dependent origination in which name and form are at the base of cognition.

Great masters, following Buddha, have always told us that we have everything we need to be Buddhas. The master I follow, Bankei, would say, “Abide in the Unborn.” Which is to say, remain in the initial non-conceptual recognition of objects. Let the mind produce the secondary conceptualization naturally and avoid spinning into unnecessary thinking.

The sequence referred to by Professor Dunne explains the Unborn in scientific language. It also corroborates the words of Buddha, “In the seen there is only the seen.”

Letting this play out in every instance of our lives and committing to its practice is the easy way to the end of suffering.

Careful! I’m not saying the lazy way. You can have the most amazing insights. LSD, psilocybin, mescaline and ayahuasca users have plenty of those. But paraphrasing Benjamin Franklin, “what you have is nirvana, if you can keep it.” And there is the crux—you can’t keep your insights without practice. Not any practice. It has to be the kind of practice that reaches to the marrow, that changes the physiology.

Keep that in mind.

 

Photo: Pixabay

Editor: Dana Gornall

 

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