--- In [email protected], mike brown <uerusuboyo@...> wrote:
>
> Mayka,
>
> We just have to be careful with mindfulness - it's very much a double-edged
> sword in that it can be the catalyst for awakening to reality, but it can
> also
> make us think we've 'got it' when in fact it's nothing but our ego taking a
> very
> subtle rest. Also, we need to get past the way we think of mindfulness. In
> the
> beginning we tend to find ourselves consciously employing it at specific
> times.
> "Right, I've done the tidying up, taken a shower and washed the dishes.
> Now I'm
> going to take the dog out and really focus on what I'm doing, feel the wind
> on
> my face, not zone out and follow any thoughts and really be here" All well
> and
> good. But what we've also done there, by definition, is to
> separate ourselves
> between not being mindfull and being mindful which in turn also reinforces
> the
> sense of separateness from our intrinsic awareness of Budhha. In simple
> terms, there is an awareness that is unborn and undying right now whichin
> Vedanta is expressed as 'I Am'. That awareness is right there with you when
> you're washing the dishes and putting out the rubbish and is there prior to
> just
> when you think, "Now I'm going to practice mindfulness" and it's there when
> you
> stop being mindful.
>
> Mike
Hi Mike. I hope you are as well as can be. IMO, what Buddhist mindfulness and
Vedantic Self-Inquiry have in common is that they both rely on not being
submerged in phenomena. You are quite right that the Unborn awareness of 'I Am'
is always present, but just as most people are not mindful of phenomena
arising, so are most people not aware of their own Being-ness (to use the term
from the Angulimala Sutra), because they are lost in phenomena. So yes, "This
mind is the Buddha." But one is not generally aware of this while one is
screaming at some (perceivedly) rude bloke who cut one off from one's exit off
the motorway. The same sort of attentiveness required to practice mindfulness
is also required to be aware of I Amness. In the one case you are attentive to
phenomena arising and in the other case you are attentive to the fact that you
are attentive. I presume that you have read the Kashmir Shaivite work entitled
The Vijnana Bhairava Tantra?
Steve
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