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Bare attention vs Self
Craig_NZ
New
in Mindfulness
Here's my bit of confusion.
When practicing bare attention, that almost always relates to my self's thinking, movement, sights, etc.. i.e. ...related to self. And that activity, for all ,would seem to constitute 90% of the day. Yet that seems to be in direct conflict with my attempt to become more Self-Less.
How can I practice bare attention without the refocusing on Self??
Many thanks,
Craig
0
Comments
Hello, welcome.
Return to a more bare attention. If you need to focus. Focus or return to the breath.
What has bare attention? The self. You are confused by the self? Who is not, hence we refocus on the bare and not the bear chasing us, which is always running away with what we should also be doing ...
https://consciousmovements.com/only-breath/
The ego in a sense is just one's focus of conscious attention ....so bare attention would mean less ego ie, less focus on conscious attention...In other words 'awareness' just doing its thing....Thus have I heard that awareness does not need a self to function it can function quite well on its own...
This I find is a good reminder of what's what and what's not...
I think @lobster's breath of fresh air covers it...
BTW... Kia Ora @Craig_NZ
You’ve established awareness of these activities. The refocusing on self is one of them. Awareness of it doesn’t conflict with the practice. Its development is pivotal to that of discernment. Discernment requires awareness.
I find the concept of “bare attention” a practical one. The essay, Food for Awakening, may help put it into a broader context.
Most everything we 'see' is our thought or a sense impression. Is there something else?
Couldn't we have bare attention of whatever is there?
in seeing there is seeing in feeling there is feeling in thoughts there are thoughts
??✔️
Like Nirvana?
Iz masterplan!
It is Resting in Being. For most of us bare attention or naked awareness, requires training (meditation) attention and focus.
An easy question does not mean an easy or instant answer. That is the path. For most of us here that is Buddhism.
Close your eyes and pay attention to all experiences that arise - sounds, smells, touch, pain, itch WITHOUT comment. Stay grounded on the body without getting pulled away by thoughts.
They are all of the nature to arise and pass away. Ownerless.
Finally turn attention to thoughts and see that they too are of the same nature.
Many thanks to all of you.
Craig NZ
Turn your attention to ALL ,,, not just to what is going on inside of you, but to external things as well. How other beings see to be feeling, the quality of light coming in through your window, etc. Instead of focusing on yourself.
As far as "self" ... don't worry about it right now. Someone asked our teacher (a Tibetan Geshe & monk) if it was true our "self" was not real. He replied .... "try slamming a car door on your hand and THEN say it's not real".
This is the paradox ... that self exists and doesn't exist. And this paradox is not conquered with thought ... understanding dawns slowly over the decades of your Practice.
By dropping this idea that "I need to get rid of self" because that idea, is itself, a self referencing idea. When there is a sound there is just the hearing of the sound and that's it. When you take some idea like "that's self so I need to get rid of it" and put that idea on top of the sound, that very activity, is itself, refocusing on self. So to not refocus on the self, you stop putting ideas on top of the sound.
Furthermore, you don't actually need to "attempt to become more self-less" anyway. True selflessness is simply a consequence of waking up, not the other way around. For example, this false idea of self is like a dream or illusion. You don't need to get rid of a dream in order to wake up. The dream goes away by itself because you wake up. So all you need to attempt to do is wake up and everything else takes care of itself.
What would "experience" be like if you only had raw sense data and zero mental interpretations?
Well said seeker242. Your statement has a resolution that makes so much practical sense. We can work ourselves into so many twisted conundrums trying to find explicit meaning. When the answer is right there. And Snakeskin, Food for Awakening was very illuminating thanks for that link. I'm new here, but I am already finding so much helpful insight, so very glad I joined.
Ron/Rojeho
Buddhism is not about "becoming".
Buddhism is about "being".
And yes, most of the time we are NOT "being" .. we are running here and there distracted by thoughts, emotions, desires, aversions, the past, the future.
This is why they call it Practice. We practice "being" and relaxing into whatever that is.
Here in the West we are very goal-oriented .. we tend to put everything into the context of becoming, or reaching a goal.
Buddhism is process-oriented, not goal-oriented.