A shift in the quality of our attention, and in what we pay attention to, is at the heart of mindfulness practice. In part one of this post, I cleared up three misconceptions that could prevent someone beginning a mindfulness meditation practice from getting a sustainable start. This post will briefly review those misconceptions, then  extend our discussion by focusing on the importance of developing the capacity for nonjudgmental attention in mindfulness practice.

The first misconception I talked about in the early post is the idea that mindfulness meditation is a practice aimed at making blissful states of mind. This is not so.  We are not trying to directly change the contents of our mind states with practice.

Yet, I hasten to add that eventually, if we establish a consistent mindfulness practice, our lives will improve. However, we do not manufacture that improvement by manipulating our states of mind. Furthermore, the good things that come into our lives through mindfulness arise because we shift two things. What we give our attention to, and the quality of the attention we pay to things.

A shift in the quality of our attention, and in what we pay attention to, is the heart of mindfulness practice.

The Mind Is Very Wild, Pay Attention

The mind is very wild. The human experience is full of unpredictability and paradox, joys and sorrows, successes and failures. We can’t escape any of these experiences in the vast terrain of our existence. It is part of what makes life grand—and it is also why our minds take us on such a crazy ride. If we can train ourselves through meditation to be more open and more accepting toward the wild arc of our experience, if we can lean into the difficulties of life and the ride of our minds, we can become more settled and relaxed amid whatever life brings us. ~Pema Chodron

The second misconception is that being mindful is somehow turning away from life.  This is not at all true. Mindfulness is not a practice that encourages us to flee life.  It does not ask us to find ways to block out the unpleasantness of life. As Pema Chodron emphasized in the quote above, life is a parade of surprise and change.  Mindfulness practice increases our capacity to embrace surprise and to skillfully and gracefully dance with life’s changes, even when the change is unpleasant.

We Are Tuning In, Getting Real

In this training we open to all of life! We refuse to shut down our hearts. Rather, we pay attention to whatever is happening with a growing sense of friendliness based on the quality of nonjudgemental awareness that we discover in our mindfulness practice.

Mindfulness and calming meditation are mutually supporting techniques that aim to help us make immediate, continuous, nonjudgemental contact with life, just as it is now.  That means making contact with the unvarnished ups and downs and pains and joys of life, just as they are now.  We are not looking to flee from life; we are tuning in, getting real.

Lastly, in part one I aimed to help readers understand that they’re not “doing it wrong” when the mind wanders during meditation. When the mind wanders, that is simply part of the meditation. It’s okay.  No big deal.  Realizing that the mind has wandered is actually an important and valuable moment in meditation.

Discovering the Experience of Open, Unbiased Attention

When the mind wanders in meditation, that’s an opportunity to see that we can gently let go of this wandering mind.  We can let go without getting down on ourselves. With time and consistent practice, this letting go can and does smooth out the mental furrows and the emotional ruts that the wandering mind tends to get stuck in. What’s more, with our strengthening ability to consistently pay attention, we’re more able to pay open unbiased attention to what’s happening now.  As our capacity to do this grows, we begin to see that our habitual patterns of mind tend to be full of pain and suffering.  This motivates us to give more time to mindfulness practice so we can more easily let go of these habitual patterns of thought.

The “Object of Meditation”

So, in mindfulness meditation, we choose an object to settle our attention on for a set time–say three minutes. The object of meditation can be anything that stands out as here and now.  One might choose a physical object like a marble or a Buddha statute.  Or one might rest attention on a flower with a gentle and relaxed gaze. One might just as well decide to rest one’s attention on the feeling of in-and-out breathing, or on what it feels like to sit in an upright, relaxed, and dignified posture.  Any here-and-now sensations in the body or visible object will do.

This Awareness is Open, Nonjudgmental and Non-evaluative Awareness

The quality of attention we bring to the object of meditation is not tense. It does not have a fiery focused quality to it.  This awareness is relaxed, easeful, yet awake and interested.  In addition, our attention or awareness of the object of meditation notices any judgments or evaluations, or stories “added” to the object by our thinking process.

For example, I decide that my computer’s mouse is my object of meditation.  As I rest my gaze with the mouse, my visual awareness simply notices or “registers” a colored patch of a certain shape on the desk top.  If thoughts or evaluations like “ugly” or “old” or ‘needs cleaning” arise in my mind, I simply notice these judgments and evaluations.  I do not follow them, don’t get pulled into them.  Awareness sees that there is a difference between what is appearing in my visual field, and the story my wandering mind wants to tell about what is appearing.  That is, I don’t give the story my wandering mind wants to tell any fuel for the telling.

We Can Meet Things Just As They Are

Most of us are habitually involved with the the drama-filled, nonstop narration that seems to loop endlessly through the wandering mind.  This is because awareness is a kind of fuel. Attention is a source of energy in the mind and in life.  We begin to discover this through first hand experience in our mindfulness meditation.

When I give attention to my worries, they grow more persistent and fierce.  When I habitually pay attention to regrettable memories, I grow sullen and agitated.  And when I habitually pay attention to these worrying pathways in my brain, they become deep furrows.  Hence, it becomes difficult to re-sculpt the geography of my mind so it tends toward more peace and joy. On the other hand, when the habit to engage with life through relaxed open awareness is strengthened through practice, I can more easily meet things just as they are. I can meet life openly, rather than from a place of reaction colored by habitual defensiveness.

There is much much more to say about awareness in mindfulness practice, of course. I’ve link to a podcast by Sharon Salzberg below.  In this podcast, Sharon adds detail to what I’ve written about here.  She also answers the question,

How can we gather this fractured energy and return to our natural state of mindful awareness?

I’m sure you’ll find her talk illuminating. It’s quiet good. Here’s the link: sharonsalzberg.com/metta-hour-podcast-episode-12-concentration-insight/

Here’s a link to part one of this post: sweepingheartzen.org/meditation-gently-let-go/

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I hope you have a wonderful week!