Mindfulness Session #5: Open awareness & Presence
Also called “choiceless awareness” – it is being receptive to whatever unfolds in each moment. “This requires very strong calmness and attentiveness, qualities that are best cultivated, as we have seen, by choosing one object, most commonly the breath, and working with it over a period of months and even years.” Gradually we’ve been widening the focus of our attention to more and more “objects”: feel of the breath, posture, muscle tension, stillness, tickles, sounds, breezes … Gradually, our “observer-self” becomes able to hold everything inside and outside of ourselves in awareness, yet remain calm, clear and appropriate.
Theory is like browsing through cookbooks; practice is like preparing a meal – only one of these is useful when hungry.
Also called “choiceless awareness” – it is being receptive to whatever unfolds in each moment. “This requires very strong calmness and attentiveness, qualities that are best cultivated, as we have seen, by choosing one object, most commonly the breath, and working with it over a period of months and even years.” Gradually we’ve been widening the focus of our attention to more and more “objects”: feel of the breath, posture, muscle tension, stillness, tickles, sounds, breezes … Gradually, our “observer-self” becomes able to hold everything inside and outside of ourselves in awareness, yet remain calm, clear and appropriate.
Theory is like browsing through cookbooks; practice is like preparing a meal – only one of these is useful when hungry.
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