Question of the Month
Question:
In the Dzogchen and Mahamudra traditions (of Tibetan Buddhism), is awareness the same as mind?
Answer:
That is a great question. Awareness is mind, in a way. But awareness is not superficial mind. It is not mind’s conceptualizing. It is not mental contrivance.
The term “awareness” [and “organic awareness”] means something specific. It does not mean “awareness of”, in the sense of “I am aware of a sound”. It is not dualistic. It refers—not to mind’s form or content—but to the nature of mind. Awareness is the nature, the pervasive essence, of mind’s appearances, mind’s conceptualizing and mind’s activities. It is not thought, but it pervades thought. It’s not emotion, but it pervades emotion. It’s not sense experience, but it pervades sense experience. That pervasive quality is what is meant by “organic”. Think of milk mixed into water
What is this thing—this awareness—that pervades our mental experience? Awareness is the very simple dimension of mind that knows it’s own nature. It is the dimension of mind that is wise, in and of itself. It is the aspect of mind that is barely, nakedly, purely and reflexively aware and awake. It is mind that is untouched by the storm of thoughts and emotions that blow through us every minute of every day. Awareness is Buddha-nature. It is the deep mind behind the veil of changing thoughts and emotions.
What pure awareness is exactly is not always immediately clear. At least, it was not clear to me when I was first introduced to this idea. But in one way, it’s very accessible to beginners, even more accessible than it is to some seasoned practitioners, because it is so simple and so all-pervasive. While a beginner has access to this simplicity, seasoned meditators sometimes make awareness into something complicated, or something mystical. Seasoned meditators might sometimes need to focus more than beginners on de-mystifying and un-complicating their approach to awareness.
How can we touch it, how can we know it? It is easier than we might think. You are hearing me talk right now. And you’re thinking: putting things together and figuring out. You are processing, and following your train of though about “awareness”. Or else you might not be listeinging and are thinking about something else entirely. So for a moment now, just look inwards and say: “Who is asking this thinking, who is listening? Who is feeling?” Just the bare “who”, the naked “who”, the one who is perceiving, feeling, knowing--in the very beginning, before there’s figuring out.—that’s awareness. Before there’s figuring out, before there’s putting things together, there’s a simple, pure moment of experience. This simple pure moment of experience, before conceptual overlay, is the moment of bare awareness. It is a moment of freshness. It is a moment of sudden spaciousness, even infiniteness. Catching that moment is like catching the first wave of knowing awareness.
Do you see this as I talk about it? Do you experience it? If not, give it time. Practice looking into this moment, glancing back at the watcher, and see if you can slip into a fresh state.
The practice of knowing awareness is a practice of tuning into that pure moment of experience. It is a non-dual, non-conceptual moment before there’s a conceptual overlay or figuring out. But saying “before” is also a little misleading, because—even with all the conceptual overlay—you are experiencing awareness right now. It is not something you will unearth in the future, but rather something that you realize you have had all along. It sounds simple, and it is. But it takes some time to recognize, because we’re so caught up in the trails and trains of thought and conceptuality that follow on the heels of that pure awareness. So, the moment of awareness is always happening, and conceptuality—all your thoughts, feelings, sense experience-- is flowing out from that. Therefore, to get in touch with just that luminous, non-conceptual source of everything, is also to get in touch with this pure moment, the pureness of the moment that is always happening. In other words, to know awareness involves being in this very present moment. The more in the “now” you get, the more you will experience and become familiar with awareness.
Most of the time, we are involved in “other times”: in the past or
in the future. We are caught up in being anxious about what might come,
or planning for the future. Or we are ruminating on what we did, or how
we could have done it better. We rarely fully and purely experience
what is in front of us in this very moment: the sacred present. This is
generally how we live. But, even so, I think everyone has had an
experience with the sacred present. Children are more susceptible to
slipping into a true moment of being fully present, as are people
trained in meditation. But I’m sure each of you can recall times in
your life when you felt completely at one with your present experience.
Activities and mindstates that pull you past yourself, such as yoga, exercise,
the mindstate of joy, are noted—even within the Buddhist tradition—to be activities that help
stimulate that moment of pure awareness. At those moments when you’re
totally in the moment, something happens: you lose the sense of self.
There is no “you” experiencing the “now”! And yet, there is an
experience, right? There’s a kind of experience without an experiencer.
You are not longer “aware of”: You are simply, nakedly, purely aware.
That’s what I’m gesturing at. Finding that timeless quality of the
moment moves us into touch with pure awareness.
So yes, awareness is mind. But I hesitate to say mind, because we have such a particular idea of what mind is: brain, concepts, the whole package… But here, I’m gesturing to something simpler than that, and more basic.
Previous Questions of the Month
Joy in Suffering
Question:
When joy and compassion spontaneously arise in the midst of suffering, is this simply the natural expression of awareness (the nature of mind) which becomes apparent for the moment? Or is it the function of something else?
Answer:
This is a good question. There is no better touchstone for dharma practice than suffering. It is a kind of gift, if we can distinguish the wrapping from the inner treasure. The moments of joy and compassion that arise in the midst of suffering are connected to rigpa (awareness). The extent to which they are connected to a bare, pure, non-dual wisdom--in which rigpa is reflexively aware--can only be assessed by a practitioner. As Atisha said, in meditation and in life, you are your own best witness.
In any moment of experience, there are both the expressions of mind (thoughts, emotions, perceptions, sense experiences) and--simultaneously--the nature of mind (the mind's vivid, empty, aware essence). Meditation practice is about discovering the nature of mind, authentic awareness, and then--secondly--discovering that the nature of mind pervades all the expressions of mind, your thoughts, feelings, emotions. It is inseparable from your very being, and therefore from your every experience.
If that is really known, then all joy is the natural expression of rigpa (awareness). All suffering is also the natural expression of rigpa. Every experience and every thought and every living moment is the natural expression of rigpa. If that awareness is recognized directly, there is an affective component of joy, no matter what the external conditions.
There are other reasons that a person might feel joy or compassion in the midst of suffering. You might have stumbled onto one or more of the hidden benefits of suffering. The Buddha did not teach that suffering is all bad: he taught that suffering is potentially useful for every meditator. How is suffering useful? Here I will discuss three benefits of suffering: You feel deeply, illusion is destroyed, and you develop empathy.
The First Benefit of Suffering: You Feel Deeply.
With experiences of great suffering, when the ground shifts under you, you are more of a "feeler", an "experiencer". It is hard to miss the fact that you exist, and that you are aware, when you suffer. So from that perspective, if you already have developed meditation experience over time (and often only if), the luster of awareness is brightened when you suffer or experience heightened emotion. Suffering (or any emotion) is a kind of magnifying glass that focuses and intensifies awareness. When focused rightly, the beam of awareness can burn up the emotion itself, leaving only clarity and wisdom.
The Second Benefit of Suffering: Illusion is Destroyed.
Suffering introduces us, intimately, to the nature of our own attachment. We suffer because we believe that things and people that were never permanent or even truly "there" in a solid way, are permanent and are "there". Our default mode is to be stuck in solidity and predictability. When things are going well, it is easy to miss the fact that nothing is permanent, that things are by nature illusory and transient.
When someone dies, however, we are jolted into the light. Suddenly nothing is fixed. We become aware that while things seemed constant, in fact they were constantly changing, deteriorating, dying and being born--even before we were aware of that change. We have a real, authentic encounter with the illusory and transitory nature of phenomena.
On the one hand, this encounter can produce suffering. Because we took things to be fixed, we became attached to an apparent reality, and developed expectations of a continued existence. Due to this very deep-seated attachment, we suffer a profound dissonance at the moment of separation.
But, on the other hand, there can be a joyful, even a liberating moment in this encounter. An encounter with death, or with loss, lifts the veil on our misperceptions, and we are finally shown the truth: Everything we have ever counted on is illusory, our emotion of "counting on" or attachment is also illusion-based, and even the disappearance of what we counted on is illusory.
In the moment of seeing this truth, there can be a tremendous sense of relief, and a loosening of attachment. You have the epiphany that if existence has an illusory nature, then death is equally illusory. If existence is illusory, there is nothing to expect. If death is illusory, there is nothing to fear. Whenever attachment loosens, when the bonds of expectation and fear loosen, the mind experiences well-being. It senses its own nature. It rests as its own refuge. It finds some freedom.
The Third Benefit of Suffering: You Develop Compassion
Suffering is our link to others. It would be impossible to develop compassion without suffering. Com-passion means "feeling with". To feel compassion for others, you must first know their pain intimately. Otherwise, your compassion will not be authentic: it will be lip-service to something imagined. Therefore, the more you suffer, if you use your suffering well, the greater your potential for authentic compassion.
For this reason, Atisha (the great Buddhist saint) taught that suffering should be valued, embraced, and used mindfully, when it happens to occur. When you experience suffering, consider, "Now I know what others go through" and "Now I understand how all the many people who have lost loved ones feel". Then proceed to commune with others mentally and emotionally. Turn your attention from your own pain to the act of communing. Communing is the simple act of being aware of the presence of other suffering beings, of being "with" them mentally, even if you cannot see them with your eyes. They are there, and your pain is your lifeline to them in the moment of suffering.
But you cannot stop with that. Otherwise you would just wallow in the world's pain. You must meld this process with a heartfelt love for others. Open your heart to them and let your pain be permeated by a sense of reaching out with love, with a wish that others may be free from suffering. Alternate the act of communing (the simple "holding" of the world's suffering) with the act of loving and praying (a wish that suffering may be dispelled). Pray that all suffering beings may become healed, whole and free from pain. You can use the prayer, "May myself and all others be free from suffering. May they have happiness and well-being." Say this prayer sometimes while you are grieving and communing, as an anchor for developing compassion and love.
The thing to remember is that--from the point of view of the bodhisattva path-- suffering is not a dark cloud that hangs over us, to be escaped or suppressed: it the golden cord that connects us to others. Therefore, the practice of the wise is not to run from suffering, but to instead embrace it with wisdom.