Mind and Materiality Separated
I’ve been doing Theravada Buddhist meditation for 10 years. It has continually developed and deepened although the practice remains basically the same: focus on a main object of meditation. When the mind wanders, gently bring it back to the main object. There are, of course, many levels or layers to this which keeps the process fresh enough to persist. One thing that has helped me in the last year are the zoom question and answer sessions with the Thai Forest monk Ajahn Suchart Abhijato. In my exchanges with him he told me over and over to keep the attention at the nose tip. I heeded his advice and the practice has developed further. Ajahn Chaiya, an accomplished Burmese monk in Las Vegas, has supported my practice for 10 years since I visited his monastery and approached him as a teacher. He listens mostly and helps on the level of mind.
One morning recently, around 3:30AM I woke up and commenced on mindfulness of breathing at the nose tip. I kept training the mind to stay right there, with mindfulness intercepting quickly when the mind wandered. There’s a trick to this. Over the years I’ve learned to keep a lighter focus which allows the knowing feature of the mind to come to the forefront.
On this morning, after persisting in the practice with strong mindfulness, the mind separated from the material form. It was experienced like a vapor wisp slipping out of the body. It was light as if floating. There was a sense of freedom, coolness, a beautiful contentment and airy-ness. Thinking and doing were absent and knowing was all there was. The body was known even though it was off by itself. It was beautiful too and perfectly empty and still.
I thought I had experienced the separation of mind and matter already but this was on a wholly different level. Existing as “knowing” and knowing that this is what transmigrates (or not).
This is where mindfulness of breathing can take you. I described this to Ajahn Suchart in the zoom meeting this morning. He assured me that I didn’t fabricate the experience and he encouraged me to continue being mindful and not lose touch with this awareness.
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Interesting experience!
What is the rule/method for knowing (self-knowing) if the experience is fabricated or not?
And since the experience occurred involuntary instead of happening by your plan/method, how are you to not lose touch with it?
Do you plan to inform readers of inselfyoga.com, if you can maintain this awareness, or if you find that you are unable to do so?
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I don’t know if there’s a rule for knowing what is fabricated. I’ll post the zoom link when it gets uploaded on YouTube, usually in a couple of days, and you can hear directly our conversation.
Technically I’ve already lost touch but there is increased emptiness where the mind is not thinking. At those times, contentment and a mild bliss may arise.
Do I plan to inform readers if this awareness is maintained? I feel it’s more like cracking something open. The morning I experienced that, I was pretty happy all day in a subdued way. I had a definite sense that the awareness can be cultivated whereas with some experiences I’ve felt it’s a one time event or insight, this one felt like it was to be developed. I am not making any claim to enlightenment, if that’s what you’re implying. Also, I’m not accountable to the Forum but I post what I think is helpful and am willing to clarify what I present.
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Here is the link to the English question and answer session with Ajahn Suchart Abhijato. I spoke to him 1 hour and 36 minutes into the zoom.
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The Buddhist view about the self was mentioned by the second person after you, at about 1 hour 51 minutes. It is interesting how he declared that the mind observes itself, and that "I" and "me" are formulated and goes out of existence.
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Yes. The knowing mind observes the mind. It’s a process. It’s fully comprehended when one gets direct experience of it.
In the Mahamudra and Dzogen tradition the mind is said to be an indivisible union of emptiness and cognizance. It’s something to be experienced.
If you hold fast to the idea of a permanent self with form, this will probably never make sense. Having the Right View in Buddhism is essential to progress to stream entry(sotapanna) and beyond.
