A couple of years ago, before i started learning about meditation, i was interested in the concept of attention and i came up with a similar idea which is: "it is of importance paying attention to what you are paying attention". In other words paying attention to what your mind is doing in its passive mode. This came from my thoughts so it might be no so accurate... but the idea was similar.
Now i have a basic knowledge of the concepts of mindfulness and awareness, and i recognize that this is what is important. Being mindful of what you are being mindful of.*
I shared this idea with my sister 2 years ago, and she ridiculed me, like i was trying to make some mathematic concept out of attention, like the 2nd potency of attention or something like that. I was not trying to... the idea made sense on its own, but alright... i then kept it to myself. A year later i started hearing dhamma talks and i heard ideas like these many times: "pay attention to what you are paying attention (i think)", "mind seeing mind" (Bhikkhu Samahita), "mindful of mindfulness" (Thanissaro Bhikkhu). So yes it is true, useful, important and very effective.
Just this morning i heard a short dhamma talk of that topic. I think it's useful to share it so here it goes: Mindful of Mindfulness
* One can be mindful of what is the mind is doing: if it is ignorant, if it is averse, if it is with desire or the contrary, if it is without those qualities. This is actually one foundation of mindfulness. You can check the Satipatthana Sutta for the four foundations of mindfulness.
|
|
Bookmarks