bare attention

mindfulness recap

welcome back to mindfulness. in the previous section on the what, why, and how of mindfulness, we learned that mindfulness is a state or experience. we also learned that we don’t need to cultivate it, because we already have the ability, and it is already happening. right now. we do, however, need to learn to bring it into awareness, or bring our interior into awareness. and the practice means that we’re increasing our capacity to be mindful. anyone who has developed the capacity will tell you that it has expanded their understanding, and maturing, deeply.

mindfulness intro

• a state, not doing or thinking
• with practice, it develops into stable focus and expanded awareness
• we don't cultivate it — we cultivate acquaintance with it (bring it into every aspect of our life).

bare attention

• expanding our understanding and experience of mindfulness
• non-judgmental attitude
• being with experience
• four foundations or spheres of mindfulness.

we are now going to look more deeply into the states of attention and awareness that are present during mindfulness, and their qualities. and once we have a sense of the state itself, we will look more deeply at what we attend to — in other words, the different objects of mindfulness.

"awareness that arises" is a state

there are many definitions for mindfulness, but the one mostly used in the general public might be how Jon Kabatt-Zinn defines it.

mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, nonjudgmentally.

Jon-Kabat Zinn

so, the state of mindfulness arises naturally, when our attention is purposefully focused on what is currently happening (field of awareness), and we’re able to engage with it non-judgmentally (state of attention).

Kabatt-Zin describes mindfulness as an “awareness that arises,” when the conditions of attending, and being aware of such, are maintained. this means mindfulness is a visceral or knowable state, which we can recognize and learn to maintain.

so, then what is a state? it is the quality of consciousness. you already know-experience the three major states of sleeping, dreaming, and being awake. each of those have different qualities, but like all states, they can be directly recognized, without the need to refer to thought. i know what sleeping feels like, even if i’m not aware of it. i can also think about it, but then it is no longer an experience, which is what a state is.

similarly, the emotional states may be familiar to you. and, again, although all these states have different qualities, they have in common their visceral quality and pervasive feeling tone. they “color” consciousness, and that color has a recognizable feeling (emotional or sensate) quality. typically, we do not even think of emotions as states, although they are naturally occurring. the feeling tone of an emotion is deeply influenced by whether we desire to have the experience or not.

and although all of that is already happening in my awareness, i may not be aware of such. i’m on autopilot, and although i speak and gesture, and feel a lot of things, i’m oblivious to this. the awareness quality can be dull and unaware, or clear and pervasively observant.

three experiential states
awake • dreaming • sleep

emotional states
sadness • grief • ecstacy
depression • joy • anger

physical states
illness • health • comatose

you may remember circle diagram above from the previous section. reflect for a moment on the three words depicted: “object,” “attentive,” and “awareness.” what would each of those be in your current awareness? what are you paying attention to, and why? what is the quality of attention like?

qualities of attentive awareness

in our everyday experiences, we may be aware that many things attract us (“i must have it”), while others repel us (“it is wrong, and here’s the reason”). it is right here that mindfulness can have its deepest effect on our maturation. the qualities of the attentive focus are:

• maintaining the focus, and
• maintaining a nonjudgmental attitude to what is present.

that is not easy, so, we start small. from practicing this nonjudgmental attention (“i may not like this, but it is here, so how can i attend to it?”), two powerful capacities begin to develop:

firstly, we become less reactive and more able to keep our attention on its focus, so that we can take in more information. and because we’re open-hearted to the experience, we want to know and learn about it, even when it is difficult.

secondly, we develop the capacity to “be with” strong emotion, mindfully. as we learn to bring mindfulness to our own intense emotions, we find that we can hold much more than we previously believed. where we imagined something horrible, we simply find a feeling.

the qualities of the awareness are:

• its engagement with reality (curiosity),
• an expanded sense of awareness (spaciousness),
• and an ongoing awareness of the content of awareness (experienced as awareness of awareness).

awareness, which slowly becomes clearer (as mind stabilizes) and more inclusive (including more and more fields of information), is the source of insight.

“insight cannot be taught”

insight cannot be taught or learned, but the consciousness that gives rise to insight can be developed. trying to teach insight without transforming consciousness is like trying to create apples without growing apple trees.

Robert Kegan

in the Buddhist teachings “attentive” would be called “shamatha,” which means “abiding with.” this “being with” is open and inviting: thought and interpretation are not there to label things as “good” or “bad.” the “awareness” aspect is called “vipassana,” which means “insight": consciousness is clear, and i see without interpretation (nonjudgmentally). the full practice is then known as “shamatha-vipassana”, or “attentive awareness”.

as Kegan points out, we cannot produce insight without growing our capacity to attend and be aware.

bare attention

good, now how do i attend or be aware without interpretation or judgment? when we examine our typical daily mind, we notice that there are many fragmented ideas, many places where we simply do not have enough information to form conclusions. there are many half-true stories which we repeat to myself in the form of beliefs, fantasies, idealizations, daydreams, etc. once we know the mind more deeply, we may even be aware of the cognitive distortions and the psychological defenses we typically utilize. most of that is interpretation or judgment.

bare attention, on the other hand, is the capacity to disidentify from all the thoughts and ideas and look into raw sensory experience (including thought as a process) as a non-attached witness. a witness observes the experiences of this moment, including thought, from a bit of distance. it is aware of what is happening from moment to moment. strong emotion and thought distortions are noted, but not followed up or fixated on. and it keeps coming back to the object of practice, again and again.

attention or mindfulness is kept to a bare registering of the facts observed, without reacting to them by deed, speech or mental comment, which may be one of self-reference (like, dislike, etc.), judgment or reflection. if during the time, short or long, given to the practice of bare attention, any such comments arise in one's mind, they themselves are made objects of bare attention, and are neither repudiated nor pursued, but are dismissed, after a brief mental note has been made of them.

Nyanaponika Thera

pay precise attention, moment by moment, to exactly what you are experiencing, right now, separating out your reactions from the raw sensory events.

Mark Epstein

how is it different from thinking?

thinking follows or engages with the thought (identifies with it). bare attention sees the thought as a thought, and moves onto the next moment’s experience, which is already so different from the previous. thought judges, reviews, plans, worries, associates, imagines... bare attention differentiates thoughts, examines them, deconstructs them to the raw experience, and is open to the next moment’s experience, not being led away by the thought. as the practitioner maintains the bare awareness, they also begin to develop capacity in what is included in awareness.

four foundations of mindfulness

the mind is “bare” in attention, but there is still awareness. this awareness comes alive when the mind is no longer involved in thinking. in the discourse on the four foundations of mindfulness, the Buddha made clear what we can include in awareness — these original four foundations are:

• mindfulness of body
• mindfulness of feeling tone
• mindfulness of mental states, and
• mindfulness of phenomena.

this is a lifelong journey, and slowly becomes our very lifestyle. mind finally knows peace, as much as it knows thought.

in the awareness wheel, Dan Siegel gives us clear descriptions in modern language that stays true to the original teachings.

we typically start with the breath as the object, but gradually include the senses (mindfulness of body).

when we can hold the mind stably with the senses, we include feeling tone. these can be bodily sensations or emotions. just like thought, emotion will be deconstructed to the basic underlying tone (sadness, anger, peacefulness, etc). this feeling tone then becomes another object for bare attention.

later, we include mental reasoning, and notice our interpretations and defenses.

finally, we expand this bare attention into the field of awareness around ourselves.

you cannot do it "wrong"

right now, become aware of what is happening in your thoughts and your interior self-talk. you don’t need to judge it — just become aware of it. just feel what the state of the mind is like now. it may be full of thought, bored, planning, or thinking about other things you associate with. all good, we just want to see and know. you cannot do it “wrong.” but you can remain unaware.

now bring the attention to your breathing cycle. notice the inhale and the exhale — the drop and rise in the belly, and the warm-and-cool air exchange at the nose or mouth. just stay with the breathing cycle.

maintaining your hold on the sensations of breathing, notice what the mental environment feels or sounds like. observe how, if you keep the attention on the breath, it is easier to notice when thought or inner talk start, and to see how you begin to follow them.

or maybe you’re just painfully aware of a torrent of thoughts. both those outcomes are good. again, we just want to know, and learn to see more clearly.

in the first outcome you register or feel how the anchor that the object (breathing) provides for the mind leads to a slowing down of thought. as it is part of your experience, it is not only understood, but also fully known and felt (embodied).

in the second, seemingly negative outcome, you may not recognize that, as awareness grows you will become aware of many painful things you do to yourself, by thinking, fretting, ruminating, and escalating emotions. we want to see. and we want to know. if what we see is not acceptable to us, that also gives us a lot of information. and it means we’re still judgmental there.

• right now, what is happening in your thoughts?
• "right" and "wrong" are jugments, and you can just let them go, coming back to the breath.
• bring attention to the breathing cycle, coming to know the sensations associated with breathing.
• maintaining attention on the breath, expand into your mental content — your inner talk.
• thoughts will come up — notice them and expand again into the sensations of breathing, and your inner talk.
• find your way and do the practice — you will start noticing more.

summarized

bare attention is the attention that sees through content (my story) into process (factual experience). it notices the quality of attention, and recognizes what is arising in awareness, without choice. it notices changing mental activity without reaction. when it notices reaction, this itself becomes the object of bare attention.

this attention is gradually expanded into four spheres of experience. the five senses, feeling-sense tone, mental activity, and interconnection. when this can be managed (in the beginning, usually only in formal practice), we gradually bring it into our everyday life, stretching our capacity to stay mindful in different kinds of situations. this is the very skillful means which Buddhism speaks of, and the purpose of our practice.

regulating effect of mindfulness

the regulating effect of mindfulness is the precursor to understanding our thoughts and emotions more fully and deeply. this is the task of insight, and the more quietly awareness examines itself, the greater the clarity of insight.

by seeing again and again the shape of the emotion, its effect, and how it develops, we slowly become able to intervene in the moment, and change our habitual or personality patterns. (we go more deeply into self-regulation in the emotional intelligence programs.)

• bare attention, when it becomes stronger, regulates the mind through recognizing thought, belief, and emotion.
• these various confused strands of information are named (not elaborated) sooner upon arising.
• we come to recognize thought and emotional forms sooner, and become familiar with how to deal with them.
• upon noticing the process, we simply name it subverbally — "lustful", "pleasant", "anger", "sadness", etc.
• if you've lost your focus, simply return attention to the object (breath).
• if the state of mindfulness is still present, we simply look deeper into the feeling, becoming curious about how it works.
• all the while maintaining our attention on the object.

developing bare attention

the most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently. the ground of not causing harm is mindfulness, a sense of clear seeing with respect and compassion for what it is we see. it's a lifetime's journey to relate honestly to the immediacy of our experience and to respect ourselves enough not to judge it.

Pema Chödrön

the practice of mindfulness leads to stabilized focus (attentiveness), as well as increased clarity and comprehension (awareness). the stable mind is sensitive, and open to all sources of information. it is not looking through the lens of interpretation, idealization, and identification. it simply “sees” what is happening within and without itself and has the capacity to learn from itself and the situation (healthy adjustment). as our attentive stability increases, we become aware of the awareness aspect. we’re able to hold more information in focus, and yet stay expanded to the whole field of sense information surrounding us.

• applied, without the need to mention it, during your usual daily activities.
• everywhere is a good place and most situations provide ample opportunity.
• meditative practice with gradual deepening.

we develop this stability and insight through in–the–moment application and meditative practice, which takes the same practice into different forms of deepening. once you’ve explored and practiced mindfulness for a while, refer to our meditation section.

if you would only switch on the light of awareness and observe yourself and everything around you throughout the day, if you would see yourself reflected in a looking glass, that is, accurately, clearly, exactly as it is without the slightest distortion or addition, and if you observed this reflection without any judgment or condemnation, you would experience all sorts of marvelous changes coming about in you. only you will not be in control of these changes, or be able to plan them in advance, or decide how and when they are to take place. it is this nonjudgmental awareness alone that heals and changes and makes one grow. but in its own way and at its own time.

Anthony de Mello

additional mindfulness practices can be found in the related content section below.

thank you for joining us, and when you’re ready to explore more, we’ll be here.

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