MINDFULLY AWARE OF THE MIND

Breathing in, I am aware of my mind. Breathing out, I am aware of my mind.

Breathing in, gladdening the mind. Breathing out, gladdening the mind.

Breathing in, concentrating the mind. Breathing out, concentrating the mind.

Breathing in, liberating the mind. Breathing out, liberating the mind.

Mindfulness of Mind

Mindfulness of mind is not referring to the thinking mind, rather, it is more like consciousness or awareness. Again, we talk about the mind as if it were a single object, but it is actually a series of particular instances of “mind in mind.” This foundation of mindfulness teaches us that consciousness arises from moment to moment, on the basis of information coming to us from the senses, as well as from internal mental states. The mind on its own cannot exist, only certain states of mind that appear, depending on internal or external conditions. When we pay close attention to the way each thought arises, and then passes away, we gain some understanding that we are not our thoughts. We learn not to attach our identity to our thoughts and we come to know “mind as it really is.”

The word we translate as “mind” is the Sanskrit word chitta, which means more than the mind as we normally think of it. In fact, some teachers have said that “mindfulness” may as well be called “heartfulness,” because chitta does indeed mean something more like “mind/heart.” When we broadened our observation to include the whole body and feelings, we saw how the body and feelings condition the mind and how, in turn, the mind conditions the body and feelings.

This part of practice, helps us to cultivate the seeds of wholesome, skilful mental formations such as love, compassion, joy, happiness, mindfulness, and the energy and willingness to overcome craving, aversion, and ignorance. It also helps us to practice full attention of the unwholesome, unskillful mental formations such as aversion, craving, ignorance, despair, forgetfulness, and pride, and transform them with the power of mindfulness.