Right Mindfulness
Right Mindfulness
The seventh step of the eightfold path is “Right or Upright Mindfulness.” Remember “right,” has nothing to do with good or bad but with purity and impurity.
What is purity and impurity?
If you look into pure water, what do you see? The pure water is clear, full of light and contains no contaminants. If you look into impure water, what do you see? Filth, contaminants, darkness. It is the same for our mind, heart and body.
Mindfulness helps us become aware of the contaminants in our minds, hearts and bodies. Mindfulness helps us purify ourselves. It helps us become aware of our impurities. Mindfulness is to be conscious, to be aware of what we are doing. It is to actively utilize our consciousness from moment to moment so that we’re aware of everything that we’re doing in each moment and the type of mindfulness we’re seeking relates to all the steps. Mindfulness with the way we view things, with our intentions, with our speech, with our actions, our livelihood and all our efforts.
While working to apply each step every day we discover that we need upright ways of being in order to suffer less. To suffer less we first need to see the causes of our suffering, the contaminants in our minds and hearts, and in order to see them we need right mindfulness.
So, what are the contaminants in our minds, and hearts?
The psychological contaminants are what we call the “ego,” the seven deadly sins, vices. The seven vices were known before they became part of the catholic doctrine. In Sanskrit we have the word “Samskara,” which literally means “that which has been put together” and “that which puts together.” This word is used in both Hinduism and Buddhism and refers to something very important. Samskara refers to things we create in the mind; this relates to impressions we take in, and the consequences of the untransformed impressions. Samskaras relate to our perception, to our physical senses, and to the way we interpret impressions and so do the seven vices (pride, anger, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, sloth).
“Skandha” is another word that relates to the seven deadly vices and refers to psychological aggregates. Buddha Shakyamuni used this word to define five aggregates that every person has. Skandhas are different types of psychological aggregates. We get the word aggregate from aggregation which means “pieces, components of different objects or things that are put together in one collection.” The Buddha teaches us that we create a false sense of self through them and that there is no real “I,” or “Self,” in them. When we feel pride, we think, “this is me, what I feel is me.” But is it?
The first Skandha is,
1. Rupa: Form
Rupa is a Sanskrit word which means form. Form relates to the physical body, and our physical experiences give us a sense of self. Our physical experiences cause us to become identified with the physical body. Physically we experience pleasure and pain and become very identified with them. If we are mindful of our daily activities, we may discover how we avoid pain at all costs and that we crave things that make us feel good. The things we crave physically usually relate to some form of pleasure; something that our senses really like. We crave things through our physical senses. For instance, our sense of smell is triggered and physically what’s triggered craves what we smell, why is this? Are we mindful of this, are we paying attention to the causes and effects of physical existence?
We also care a great deal about being attractive, or how others perceive us physically. Be mindful of how much of your life you’ve spent trying to attract or impress others physically. How much time have we spent staring in the mirror? How much energy do we spend trying to impress those around us with our body? How much energy do we spend trying to look like someone else that we envy? Are we mindful of how we behave physically when around someone we see that we are attracted to?
Rumi stated,
“Half of life is lost in charming others. The other half is lost in going through anxieties caused by others. Leave this play. You have played enough.”
If we retrospect our lives, we may find this quote to be very true for us. Charming others relates to many different aspects, but physically we spend a great deal of energy trying to charm others with our physic. Some of us may have been in a relationship with someone who wanted us to look like someone else, someone that they have seen on tv and found attractive. We also compete to be the best physically in sports, and many other areas of our lives. We compete to be more attractive than our friends so that hopefully we get the one we desire. There are many examples. We put forth many efforts to feed the desires of the physical body. Some of these physical desires include unhealthy eating habits. Many people eat fast food, and genetically modified foods that are profoundly unhealthy for us. Unhealthy food that has been modified contains little to no nutritional value. These types of food, especially fast food imbalance our health which has many negative effects on our physical body. But recently, people have become more aware of the importance of their physical health. Eating organic food has become popular now days and why is that? People have become more aware of the effects of unhealthy food, such as, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Most of us have had an experience with someone in our lives who suffers from a chronic disease. So, we can say, in some ways, health has become a little bit more popular because of fear.
We also find people who have a lot of physical vanity. We see it on tv, and we experience it in our own personal lives. We experience people who are attached to the way they look so much that their primary concern in life is their physical appearance. Many of us want to be envied, and adored, we want to feel superior or special. This sense of self leads to profound suffering and is rooted in pride and vanity and when their body begins to degenerate, they search for ways to keep their youthfulness. It is very popular to find people spending a great deal of money on surgeries, cosmetics, Botox, and pills. Why is this? Because our sense of self is rooted in vanity, envy, pride, lust, and in extreme identification with the physical body. No matter what we do our physical body will not last forever, we are born, we live, grow old and die. Therefore, the physical body that we possess is not going to be around forever and will perish. Our physical body is a vehicle full of very important components, and we should take care of them, but our true Self is not our physical body and we need to experience this.
Ask yourself, “if my physical body is my real self, what happens to it when I die?” Where has my sense of “I, Self” gone?”
To decompose, back to the earth, right?” Therefore, our true Self is not the body. The physical body is valuable, and we should take good care of it. Our physicality needs proper nourishment and there are many beautiful ways that we can consciously express ourselves through our physical vehicle here in the physical world. We can express ourselves physically in a mindful way that brings about beauty, generosity, and love.
What are some ways that you can physically bring beauty into the world?
Take some time to meditate on this question when you have time. This is something that should be simple but isn’t for most of us and that’s ok. But let’s be mindful of what keeps us from being able to do so.
With each step of the eightfold path, we are learning to purify ourselves so that our physical actions bring beauty into the world.
“Since the body is the instrument of the mind, we must purify our bodies.” - M, The Lord God of Truth Within
It is important to have a healthy body, our overall physical health affects us on many levels, especially psychologically. That being said, most people are very identified with the physical body, and this has led people into believing the physical world is the reality. Many people believe in only what they can perceive through their physical senses. Those of us who are familiar with atoms, find that we cannot find an atom physically, without a special instrument. We also cannot see the living cells and molecules in someone’s body just by looking at them. We also cannot see someone’s thoughts. Many people have experienced apparitions, supernatural phenomena, out of body experiences, does this mean that they are wrong or that what they experienced wasn’t real? There are many things that we cannot perceive with our physical senses, does this mean that they are not real? Many people do not understand nor want to. In most instances this is due to us being bottled up beliefs, fears, ideas, and preconceived notions.
The second Skandha is,
2. Vedana: Sensation
Vedana is the second aggregate and in English, Vedana is translated as ‘sensation.’ Sensations are vibrations of energy, for example, we sense things because we have a physical body (Rupa). The impressions we receive are transformed by our nervous system and thus becoming what we sense. We experience many things while being in a physical body and we form attachments to the sensations we receive through the sense of taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing.
Krishna stated,
“While dwelling on the objects of the senses, you develop attachment to them.” - 2.62, Bhagavad Gita
Attachments that we develop physically lead one to a false sense of self. If we were to ask ourselves right here and now what our sense of self is, we may discover that most likely it would relate to our physicality, to what we perceive through the five physical senses and this may be because we have never experienced anything beyond the physical sensory world, therefore, we struggle to comprehend anything that extends beyond the realm of the senses, and this causes our understanding to be quite limited. Most of humanity does not know that when they are dreaming, they are experiencing another realm, another dimension, another world, but we all must work with what we’ve experienced, what we understand right?
Krishna stated,
“You may renounce external pleasures but still desire to enjoy them. Such desires cease only when you taste a higher reality.” - 2.59, Bhagavad Gita
If we’ve never tasted a higher reality, then it’s very difficult for us to understand anything beyond what we’ve experienced. What we mostly experience are sensations of pride, anger, greed, laziness, and lust and these keep us weighed down and keep us from experiencing higher levels of consciousness. When we feel any of these psychological aggregates, be mindful of what caused you to feel that way, what triggered it? Were you around someone that was behaving a certain way? Did you see something on tv? Did you read something on the internet? Was it a memory? Was it a sensation? Reflecting in this way will help us come to understand that our physical senses trigger what we have within ourselves, psychologically speaking, but at their core, they are just physical sensations that come and go, they are not concrete and change from moment to moment. For instance: I smell food, now my gluttony is triggered and causes me to think, “I’m hungry,” but now my vanity says, “don’t eat, you’ll get fat,” so my mind battles with indecision, “I’ll just eat a little bit,” but if in those moments, I self-observe, being mindful, I discover that I’m not really hungry at all, it was my sense of smell that triggered my gluttony, then, that sensation was gone and replaced by vanity, the ego of vanity gave me a new sense of self, that cares only about its physical appearance (Rupa), and throughout this whole process, self-awareness, mindfulness, has helped me keep from acting on any of these egos. By being mindful, I consciously understand that my body is not really in need of food. From a mindful observation we come to comprehend that sensations come and go, but it is not my physical senses that compel me, but my egoic unconscious reactions to them. When we are not mindful, an egotistical impulse can masquerade as a need, and we may eat not from necessity, but from having not observed the cause of the impulse. The fault lies not in our senses, but in our lack of mindfulness.
When we are not mindful, we become subject to the fluctuations of the senses, allowing each sensation and reaction to move us like the wind moves a leaf. In such a state, what we take to be the self is not a true and abiding essence, but shifting constellation of psychological aggregates-habits, and desires-continually shaped by conditioning, attachment, and ego. We mistake these passing formations for who we are, when in truth they reveal how little of our being is governed by conscious awareness. To live without mindfulness is therefore to be carried by the forces that condition us, rather than to awaken to that which can observe them without being defined by them.
Krishna stated,
“The senses are so strong that they can carry away the mind even of a wise person striving to subdue them. One who restrains the senses and whose thoughts are focused on me is secure in wisdom.” - 2.60-61, Bhagavad Gita
In order to subdue them we need to put forth super efforts, mindfulness, and to center ourselves in our higher power (Self-Remembering). From day to day, we allow our senses to hypnotize us, and the example we discussed relating to the sense of smell shows that. We receive an impression through our sense of smell and become hypnotized by the sensation, and our consciousness goes to sleep; we allow our sense of smell to entrance us, but as we sincerely live the steps of the Eightfold Path, we gradually become more mindful and discerning of these aggregates-seeing more clearly how they arise, how they condition us, and how they influence our sense of self. With this growing awareness, we begin to recognize that we are not merely the sensations that we receive and impulses that arise within us. We develop the clarity to observe these formations without being so easily governed by them, and in doing so, we gradually loosen their hold over us.
The aggregate sensation relates to our form, our physical body; vibrations and sensations that we feel physically. When we become identified with the aggregate of sensation our consciousness goes to sleep, and we are no longer mindful of ourselves. Being identified with our physicality causes us to become addicted to pleasurable sensations and causes us to avoid unpleasant one’s. We imbalance ourselves in this way. Being identified with the physical body may also cause us to believe that what we perceive with the physical senses is all there is. Being identified with physical sensations can cause us to say things like, “I only believe in it if I can see it.” And really that’s quite understandable, but is it the truth? If we study the scientific structure of our bodies, we discover that we are made up of different components, such as organs, cells, molecules and atoms. The body has levels of organization that build on each other. Our organs are composed of cells, the cells make up tissues, tissues make up organs. Beyond the cells we have molecules, and molecules make up the cells. Beyond the molecules we have atoms and molecules are made up of one or more atoms.
In our recent history we have witnessed what happens when we split an atom. When we split an atom a catastrophic amount of energy is released. If atoms are full of energy, then this means that our body is not only physical matter but is also made up of unfathomable amounts of energy. On average, the human body is made up of roughly 7 Octillion atoms. Let that sink in for a moment. And if the human body contains an unimaginable number of individual pieces, consider what that tells us about the complexity and interconnectedness of everything else in creation.
Einstein stated,
“Energy can only be changed from one form to another; everything is energy and that is all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want, and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.”
Physical sensations are vibrating impressions that we receive through our senses, they are frequencies that we are in-tune with that pass through our physical body, and they help us perceive the physical world. These types of frequencies are exterior vibrations and impressions that we receive through our senses that are transmitted and transformed. Let’s explain this in another way. Our physical body which is the aggregate called ‘Rupa’ receives sensations which is called the aggregate ‘Vedana,’ for example, we see someone attractive, instantly our senses receive sensations and our nervous system translates them, we feel certain ways and we begin to think certain ways and then we begin to act in certain ways, but what is causing us to feel, think and act? These are things that we should be mindful of. Become aware of how these aggregates affect you.
Many of us have deep questions about the universe, God, why we’re here, what is our purpose, but many of us depend on these first two aggregates to give us the answers. Rupa (physical form) and Vedana (sensations) will not help us come to know that which is truth, that which is reality. Physical senses and physical sensations help us perceive things physically, but they are not reliable, nor will they help us “taste a higher reality.” Have you ever looked at someone and assumed something about them but later you found out that you were wrong. For example, your physical body received an impression through your sense of sight, what you saw gave you a sensation and then you began to translate the sensation. Feelings and thoughts emerge, and most of them related to your personality, your prejudices and preconceived notions that led you to false assumptions. In this way we can come to comprehend that physical senses and sensations are not completely reliable and can lead us into making mistakes. Another example is when we see someone who dresses a certain way and we don’t approve of it, if we are not aware of ourselves, we impulsively translate the sensation of what we see with our own prejudices, with our own extreme views of likes and dislikes. Let’s say the person is homeless and the sensation gets translated by our anger or sadness or disgust. If we feel that way, do we know why, do we take the time to understand more of what we’ve seen and felt? Most of the time we jump to conclusions. Most of us try to avoid looking at homeless people or someone who dresses in a way that we don’t like.
Another example is our addiction to sensations. We seek out things that make us feel good, regardless of the cost, while often ignoring their causes and consequences. For instance, are we mindful of why we ate what we had for dinner last night or why we watched tv, or why we relapsed or continue to use intoxicants? Probably not, and why is that? One reason is that we have not comprehended the causes and effects. If we seek to become less addicted to sensations, then we need to pay attention to ourselves. It helps to become aware of what sensations we’re addicted to. When you crave something become aware of yourself, pay attention, be mindful of the way you react to things that you perceive with your physical senses. Strive to be aware of the sensations that you receive. It’s important for us to pay attention to ourselves so that we become aware of things that we are addicted to. Take note of your addictions, be aware of of what your body craves and pay attention to how you feel when you’re not giving your body what it desires; be mindful of what happens when stop giving your body what it craves. Be mindful of how you engage with your senses, for what we repeatedly allow ourselves to indulge in can gradually shape our desires and response. Strive to observe your senses without becoming ruled by them and ask yourself what has gained influence over your attention, and ultimately, your will.
Another example of why sensations are not always reliable sources of information can be found in something as simple as entering a house where someone is cooking. You may catch a familiar aroma and immediately assume that they are making spaghetti, only to walk into the kitchen and discover that it is actually lasagna. It is a simple example, but it illustrates an important fact: our interpretations of what we perceive can be mistaken. The same principle applies to what we see and how we understand the world around us. A group of people can observe the very same thing and yet interpret it in completely different ways. How often have we feared something, only to discover later that there was never any real reason to be afraid? Our senses give us impressions, but those impressions do not always tell us the truth. Therefore, we should not regard our sensations as infallible sources of knowledge. We should examine and sometimes question them before we allow them to determine what we believe or how we respond.
We will not find the reality of the universe or the meaning of our existence through the aggregates of Rupa and Vedana. Instead, we can learn to use them mindfully. When we understand the causes and effects of our addictions to sensations, we begin to comprehend that sensations come and go, and that they are unpredictable and impermanent. Addiction to sensations not only relates to intoxicants, be mindful of what your body craves, be mindful of any other sensations you seek out. We also don’t want certain sensations to end. When we experience something pleasurable, we often wish for the sensation to last forever. The desire for more can gradually become a form of psychological slavery. The more we pursue pleasurable sensations, the more dependent we can become on the things that produce them. Those who control large industries understand this very well. They know that we are drawn to certain foods, clothing, entertainment, alcohol, travel, money, gambling, and even political ideas. They also understand our fears, insecurities, and desires, and they often use the knowledge to influence our choices and keep us seeking more. What begins as a simple desire for pleasure can become a cycle in which our desires begin to control us rather than the other way around.
So be mindful of the sensations to which you have become attached. Observe how they can captivate your attention and gradually make you a servant to your physical desires. Addiction can cloud our judgment, and what feels pleasurable or familiar is not necessarily what is true, good or beneficial. We may convince ourselves that our desires and addictions are good for us simply because they satisfy us in the moment. But what happens when we discover that what we have been pursuing is slowly destroying us? What happens when we realize that our addictions are not only harming us, but also hurting the people around us? Hopefully we feel an inner urgency for change. This is why it’s important to learn to examine our desires rather than blindly obey them, and question whether what we crave is truly leading us toward freedom or quietly making us its servant.
When we are more aware of ourselves, we begin to study our lives, and the study of oneself leads towards self-discovery and self-discovery helps with knowing ourselves better, and knowing ourselves better leads to self-knowledge. This type of psychological work helps us become aware of the fact that we’ve been transforming sensations most of our lives in a way that has led to psychological slavery, addictions, attachments and vices. Many of our addictions arise from not observing ourselves deeply. Instead of understanding and transforming our sensations, we allow them to shape our desires and ultimately govern our actions.
Ask yourself: Can I trust the sensations to which I am attached? Do they lead me toward truth and understanding, or do they simply feed my desires? What have they caused, and what consequences have resulted from allowing them to guide me?
Our physical body and its five basic senses can reveal only what belongs to the physical world. What we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell gives us valuable information, but it does not reveal the whole reality. What we perceive through our physical senses is only a small portion of what exists. Have you ever sensed that something was present around you, only to search for it and find nothing with your physical senses? You may have felt that something was there, even though you could neither see it, hear it, nor touch it. Experiences such as these invite us to question whether the physical senses are the only means by which we perceive reality. Perhaps the five senses are not the entirety of our capacity for perception but merely instruments for experiencing the physical realm. The higher dimensions of reality require forms of awareness that extend beyond what the physical senses alone can provide. To mistake the limits of our senses for the limits of reality is to assume that what we cannot perceive does not exist.
So, strive to cultivate mindful awareness of all that you see, smell, taste, hear, and touch. Observe not only your sensations, but also their causes and their effects.
The third Skandha is,
3. Samjna: Perception
The third aggregate is perception. The common definition of perception is to process sensory information. Perception is a way of understanding or interpreting something. Perception is the recognition of what has been sensed. The second aggregate, Vedana, sensation, is the energy of sensation itself, and the third aggregate, perception, is our reaction to the sensation. If we like the sensation, we usually perceive it as pleasant, if we dislike it, then we perceive the sensation as unpleasant.
Back to the example of seeing a homeless person. In this area, we see many individuals experiencing homelessness struggle with fentanyl use, which can lead some people to assume that all homeless individuals use fentanyl. In this way, our perceptions can become narrowed, causing us to view homelessness through a single, oversimplified lens. When we are not mindful, we can unconsciously allow what we see to trigger sensations in our bodies, which then move through our nervous system. Those sensations can quickly become judgments, and assumptions. Before we are even aware of it, our internal actions begin to shape our perception, and we may end up seeing the person through the lens of our own conditioned responses rather than simply seeing them as a living breathing person. This type of reaction happens without conscious awareness. It is very mechanical, there is no mindfulness, no self-awareness, no self-observation. Without mindfulness, we can easily jump to conclusions when seeing a homeless person. Because we’ve become accustomed to seeing many people experiencing homelessness struggling with fentanyl addiction, we may begin to assume that every homeless person must use it. This can distort our perception and lead one to view people experiencing homelessness not as individuals, but merely as a nuisance. Not all homeless people use fentanyl.
Our perception, for example, can become filtered, conditioned, by pride, anger and prejudice when seeing something we dislike. When we are conditioned by these psychological filters, we lack self-awareness, we lose sight of the person behind our perceptions, and this causes one to lack empathy, paying no mind to the fact that they too are living and breathing, just like us, and in a profound state of suffering.
Samjna is perception without thought, it is a very reactionary and mechanical type of perception. This type of perception is rooted in our personality, and our personality was developed during our childhood and on throughout our lives. Some of us may have been influenced by family and friends that have prejudices, and we learned to feel, think and act like them. I know many people who have deep prejudices against foreigners, and I ask them, “do you understand those who you do not like, do you know what it’s like to be them, do you know their true story?” Their reaction to the question is usually a frustrated one and rooted in ignorance. An example of ignorance is when we refuse to see what is before us. When we ignore facts, perspectives, or truths that do not align with our existing understanding, we narrow the lens through which we perceive reality. What we fail to acknowledge becomes part of the reality we fail to comprehend. In this sense, ignorance is a limitation of perception-a state in which the mind mistakes a fragment of truth for the whole. The narrower our willingness to see, the smaller the world we are capable of understanding. We only see part of the picture and usually what we see is very distorted.
During our childhood many of us were not taught how to be mindful and because we were not taught to observe and pay attention to ourselves, we lived our lives mostly stuck in this level of perception. For instance, have you ever seen a riot, or been amongst a crowed of people who claim they are peacefully protesting but truly are not? Have you ever observed someone standing and giving a speech who is very frustrated and angry? If so, did you feel the energy around you? Did you pay attention to how you received and reacted to the sensations from someone’s angry speech? Perhaps not, and what happens when they say, “let’s march on so and so or such and such?” “Let’s let them have it,” “they deserve it?” The same thing with someone who has been raised to hate homeless people right? Without mindfulness, we do not truly see; we merely perceive through the machinery of our conditioning. What we perceive mechanically, we respond to mechanically, and from this unconscious cycle, suffering emerges.
How can we keep ourselves from perceiving mechanically?
By being alert, watchful, mindful of how we receive sensations and how we want to react to them. When someone says something, be mindful of the impression it leaves on you and the reaction it brings up. Pause, notice it, and then choose how you want to respond. If we pay attention to the sensations we feel and how we want to react to them, we will have a much better opportunity to not get caught up in a mechanical way of perceiving impressions.
For instance, if you go to a rally or a large gathering of angry and sad people, pay attention to yourself, be mindful. Most of the people who go to a specific political rally have similar views and similar personality types. Most of them are upset about the same things and most of them are only perceiving things through their anger, pride, envy, and hatred. Nothing in our world will get better by being hateful. Hatred will only make things worse. Hateful perception profoundly limits our ability to understand and comprehend the facts.
This level of perception limits us to a mechanical way of being. When we don’t consciously engage with our perception through self-awareness and mindfulness, we become impulsive. When we simply go with the flow without questioning what we’re feeling or why we’re feeling it, our perception becomes mechanical. We react automatically rather than observing, understanding, and consciously choosing how we want to respond. We follow the crowed mechanically, we follow our instincts mechanically, we react to what we feel without paying attention to the causes and consequences, and without any regard for ourselves and others. We only care about what we feel and want, and we act on it without conscious awareness, without observing and knowing the facts.
Many of us think we have found our identity, our true sense of self through this level of perception, for instance, it’s common to hear things like, “Everyone has anger and pride, and I too have anger and pride so this must be how it is and who I am.” “I have anger and pride; therefore, my anger and pride are me.” This sense of self is understandable, but mistaken, and you can experience this for yourself when you experience the essence unbottled from the ego during Samadhi.
There are many levels of perception, just like there are different levels of understanding and comprehension. Our level of perception is limited because we allow it to be controlled by our ego. Our addiction to sensations keeps us in a low level of perception. It is difficult for us to understand ourselves, each other, and the world we live in because we cannot see past our desires. This type of perception is unreliable, its foundation is made of sand, illusion and fantasy. When we perceive in this way, there is no center of gravity, no conscious connection to our spirit. Our foundation cannot be truly solid if it is built upon shifting sands of our feelings, desires and perceptions. If what we desire, feel, and perceive can change from one moment to the next, then our sense of reality must rest upon something deeper—something that remains steady beyond the fluctuations of the mind and emotions. We are like leaves floating in the wind; in one moment we like how we feel and the next we don’t. For example, “We liked so and so until they told us something our ego didn’t like.” “Now they are our enemy.” We change at the flip of a switch, and our switch is easily flipped.
The fourth Skandha is,
4. Samskara: Mental Formations
The fourth aggregate is Samskara. Samskaras relate to the seven deadly vices, greed, sloth, lust, pride, anger, envy, gluttony. Our perceptions of sensory experience are shaped and interpreted through the lens of our Samskaras—the impressions and conditioning carried within us. What we perceive through the senses is not experienced in isolation; it is interpreted through the samskaras within us, which shape the way we understand and respond to what we encounter.
Let’s go back to the example of someone experiencing homelessness. When we see someone who is homeless, we often react in a certain way. Why is that? What causes us to feel or respond the way we do? We may carry many samskaras—such as pride, prejudice, anger, and fear—that influence the way we respond when we see someone experiencing homelessness. During our upbringing, we may have been taught, directly or indirectly, to look down on people who are homeless. We may take pride in being financially secure or having a strong work ethic and believe that our circumstances are simply the result of how hard we have worked. We may also love our city or town and feel that homelessness makes our community look less safe or less beautiful. There can be many factors behind our reactions. Because of our own experiences, beliefs, and what we’ve formed in our minds and hearts, we may focus on what we see rather than asking what brought this person to where they are. We may overlook or be unaware of the many causes of homelessness, including economic hardship, trauma, substance abuse, disability, and mental health challenges. Most importantly, we can forget that the person in front of us is human—a person who is alive, who has experienced suffering, and who deserves empathy and compassion. When we allow our assumptions and judgements to take over, we may stop seeing the person and see only the condition they are in. Perhaps the first step is simply to pause, question our reaction, and remember the humanity of the person standing before us. Our pride and anger blind us and are the root cause of our lack of empathy and compassion. Each of us has a story, be mindful of your own.
I’ll give a personal example: the other day I went to my favorite place for tea, it’s downtown and close to the university district and it was graduation day so there were a lot of people. It was packed and there were no parking spaces available close by, so I had to park further away. I parked in an area where I’ve seen many people experiencing homelessness, but when I arrived there were none. Later when I came back to where I had parked, my senses took in the impression of a woman bent over near my vehicle, and instantly the sensation I felt began to be translated by my Samskaras. My first instinct was that she was under the influence of fentanyl because I have had many experiences with people under the influence of this drug and they are at times bent over swaying from side to side. So, my initial instinctual impulse led me to believe she was under the influence, and this was a very mechanical process based on instinct and memory. As I continued to look at her, I felt other sensations such as sadness, but as I was investigating, I noticed that she was holding a large bottle of water, and in that moment, I called myself to vigilance, opened myself up to the guidance of my Being and decided to pay closer attention to myself, her, and my surroundings. After assessing the situation, I made the conscious decision to ask her if she was, ok. But before I asked her if she was ok, I noticed my fear didn’t want me to, my fear wanted me to get in my vehicle and ignore everything and drive away. The feeling of fear was triggered by a memory, I’ve had a similar experience before, I’ve experienced others getting upset with me when initiating conversation. So, I was mindful of my fear, faced it, and decided to ask her if she was ok, she replied, “I’m trying to get this spider out of my water,” I said, “ok,” and got in my vehicle. After I got in my vehicle she came over to my window, instantly my senses were hit with multiple impressions of her; she looked unhealthy, but she did not look like she was on narcotics or was on them at the moment and she looked a little sad. I lowered my window to see what she needed, but again before I did, my instincts and memories of past experiences led me to believe that she was going to do something irrational, but she didn’t, she simply asked if I had any change. Instantly, the impression I received got perceived and translated by my samskaras. My initial instinct, was that she might be asking for money to buy drugs, but I comprehended that I could be wrong, and I told her, “I don’t give money, I’m sorry,” she then was sad and stated, “but I’m hungry and haven’t eaten anything for a while.” In that moment, her emotion of sadness struck me, I felt compassion and told her, “I would be happy to purchase some food for you.” She then asked if I would meet her at a store nearby? When I met her there, she was very thankful and happy. I also got to learn some of her story.
The whole experience helped me better understand an aspect of homelessness and it also helped me comprehend and eliminate some fear. She had a story, and it was one of extreme suffering. This experience helped me become aware of many of my Samskaras; she gave me a mirror that helped me see myself, my psychological aggregates. Without my Being, my Higher Power and mindfulness I would not have been aware of myself or anything and would have got in my vehicle and drove away. That being said, I don’t recommend going out specifically looking for homeless people to help, as you could potentially put yourself in a dangerous situation. But if you happen to come across someone who needs help, open yourself to the guidance of your Innermost Being (Higher Power), and be mindful.
Samskaras are what we in Gnosis call egos, psychological aggregates or mental formations. We have many of them in our minds, and their basic names are what we call the seven deadly sins(vices). Each one has its own desires, and its own cravings. Our cravings and aversions are rooted in them and our sense self. What we consider to be our identity is caught up in them. We feel pride and we think that’s who we are, “I feel it so it must be who I am.” We think it’s normal to behave in destructive ways. We feel the sensations of our samskaras, and we think “that is who we are.” Have you ever noticed when you feel anger it eventually goes away? Anger subsides and doesn’t last forever. That is because there is no real self in something that is impermanent. Religious pride for example can cause people to believe blindly, believing they found the true and only way. It can cause people to think that they are better than others and that everyone else’s religion is false. For example, many of us are very identified with our beliefs, we feel our beliefs are who we are, “my beliefs are me.” Blind belief can create a false sense of self—a foundation built on sand, rooted in samskaras, that blind us, that cloud our perception and ultimately lead to many forms of suffering.
Jesus said:
“They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into a ditch.” – Matthew 15:14
One only needs to investigate the history of religious fanatics to discover this. If we find ourselves becoming fanatical, investigate yourself, be mindful, pay attention, and seek to understand the causes and effects. It’s important to understand that our samskaras cannot understand nor comprehend sacred texts such as the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, or the Quran.
What happens when we understand the world through the lens of our pride, anger, selfishness, greed, lust and envy? Suffering, right? We and others suffer.
Many religious teachers interpret and teach spiritual doctrines through the lens of their own psychological conditioning. As a result, their sermons may reflect not only the teachings themselves, but also their fears, prejudices, attachments, assumptions, and personal beliefs. Most people who teach from religious texts have never experienced what they are teaching. But we all are doing what we feel is our best. Strive to learn from those who live a path of integrity and when we feel motivated to help someone, we should ask ourselves, is it truly coming from a place of love, compassion, generosity and helpfulness?
If we are not mindful, we allow ourselves to be easily blinded by our samskaras; when we allow our anger to dominate our hearts and minds that is all we perceive. When we are lustful, all we see and feel are our sexual desires. What happens when we believe we know the truth and teach it to others without having directly experienced it for ourselves? Something to reflect on!
Something else that’s important for us to become aware of is that each of our Samskaras have their own will, this means that psychologically, each one of us is a multiplicity; we possess multiple contradictory wills that change from one moment to another. For instance, we desire a certain food and then we don’t, today we feel like exercising and tomorrow we feel like laying around doing nothing, a friend was fun to visit today and tomorrow they bore us or annoy us, we want to make amends for something and then all the sudden we don’t, we’re happy and then we’re not. Our thoughts and emotions constantly change like the wind. This is because we have multiple parts of our consciousness bottled up in multiple desires, attachments, and addictions. If we pay attention, learn to be mindful, we may find this to be true. If we observe ourselves, we find that the multiple contradictory wills of our samskaras change from one moment to the next, how we feel in this moment, will pass away and eventually be replaced by another emotion, thought, impulse or desire. Our duty, then, is to develop the mindfulness to recognize these influences within ourselves—to see how they shape our thoughts, perceptions, and understanding—and to work consciously toward transforming them. This is Right Mindfulness.
The fifth Skandha is,
5. Vijnana: Consciousness
Consciousness is the fifth aggregate. The consciousness has many levels, just like perception. The consciousness gives us the ability to be mindful, to pay attention, to have awareness and to perceive. Many of us allow our consciousness to become passive, choosing to check out and live on autopilot rather than remain fully present. This happens because part of our consciousness imprisoned in the ego of laziness, which keeps us attached to comfort, unconscious habits, and resists the effort of awakening. Every samskara, every ego feeds off the energy of our consciousness. We have bottled up our consciousness within our multiplicity, and we continue to give our precious power away moment to moment. Every time we use the power of our will and the power of our consciousness to perform a wrong action, we give precious energy to our psychological aggregates or we create more. For example: when we experience the effects of a certain narcotic for the first time, we enslave our consciousness, part of our essence gets trapped in that vice and thus creates a new form of addiction which enslaves part of us to the will of that aggregate, and the more we feed it the more powerful it becomes and powerful vices are difficult to overcome.
So, we can say we have ensnared part of our consciousness in addiction. Our addiction to egotistical sensations creates a false sense of self, leading us to identify with our desires, and conditioned experiences as though they define who we truly are, rather than recognizing the deeper nature of our consciousness. We tell ourselves, “I’m an addict, oh well, that’s who I am,” or “drugs are my life, I cannot live without them.”
Exercise:
Let’s observe inward for a moment, close your eyes, and imagine something you could not live without and I’m not just talking about narcotics and alcohol; anything that you are addicted to and attached to. Take note of what they are, observe them. Once we are aware of them and see what they are doing to our lives we can work to eliminate them.
When people think of the consciousness, they think of having the ability to be cognitive or physically awake, but the consciousness is far beyond that. Just because we are awake cognitively, meaning our eyes are open and we’re not physically sleeping, doesn’t mean that we are in a true conscious and mindful state of being. Do you remember when you first sat down in the chair you’re in, do you remember what you ate yesterday, or what your last thought was? If we can’t recall those events, it’s because we haven’t been conscious of what we’ve been doing. We are not consciously living our lives from moment to moment. We are living mechanically. For example, the last time you washed dishes were you mindfully washing them or were you thinking about something else? Where was your mind while washing them? Wherever you directed your attention, right? If we are thinking about vacation while washing the dishes, then where are we in that moment, and who’s behind the wheel while washing the dishes? If we’re not mindful then where is our mind? If we are not conscious, where is our consciousness being directed? In most instances, we are daydreaming and our physical body is mechanically washing the dishes. How many times have you cut yourself or dropped a dish because of not fully paying attention to what you’re doing while washing the dishes? How about when we’re angry, where is our consciousness, where is our mindfulness, asleep right? Trapped in anger and anger has taken over the wheel, in charge of our thoughts, our feelings and our actions. What does this mean? This means we are not in charge, our anger is, and the ego of anger is behind the wheel. When we are angry, or prideful, or greedy, or envious, or lazy, our samskaras have taken over our psyche, our consciousness and thus we are asleep at the wheel. When we are not conscious, when we are not mindful, our samskaras take over our experiences with matter and energy. When our physical body receives sensations our samskaras take over, using the power of the consciousness that is trapped within them, and they use the power of the personality to interact with the world. For instance, we see something we like, and instantly we covet it, we want it, but are we aware of why? Do we really need it? Are we aware of what’s happening to us? What part of us wants it and why? Is it our greed, envy, vanity or lust?
The average person has 97% of their consciousness trapped in ego, samskara, and only 3% has not been modified or conditioned. The consequence of having almost all our consciousness trapped in attachment and vice makes it very challenging for us to be mindful of ourselves. Most people don’t want to try and even less know or comprehend that most of their consciousness is enslaved to there samskaras. We struggle from moment to moment because our consciousness is trapped in vice, craving and egotistical desire. When we experience this fact, we become aware of the prison that we have built for our consciousness. Look back on your life, where have you spent most of your energy, what activities in life have you pursued, what type of thoughts and emotions have you experienced from day to day, what have you been giving your power to?
How long does the satisfaction from gambling last?
How long does the satisfaction from pride last?
How long does the satisfaction from drugs and alcohol last?
How long does the satisfaction from lustful desire last?
Is there truly any satisfaction to be found in any of these that doesn’t ultimately cause suffering?
All sensational satisfaction is temporary—what happens when the sensation you feel wears off? Do you desire more? What happens when your desires are not met? When our egotistical desires are not fulfilled, we experience, unhappiness, anxiety, fear, depression, mood swings, etc. It has been common for a long time now to hear people say, “do what you can now before you get old,” or “do what thou wilt.” Have you ever mindfully observed people who make those statements and maybe we said it at some point during our lives, but what eventually happens? Sooner or later our bodies, hearts and minds are spent and exhausted. We use up all the energy of our body, heart and mind. We catastrophically imbalance all our centers (Sexual, Instinct, Motor, Emotion, Intellect). We should be mindful of the consequences.
What are the consequences of annihilating ourselves physically and psychologically?
There are many examples where we find people at the end of their lives who have exhausted the energy of their bodies, their hearts and their minds. Do we find them in a state of happiness, and good health? Do they have a good memory?
At some point, the effects of living life on the edge, and chasing endlessly after sensations causes extreme suffering. The objective of each step of the “eightfold path” is to be mindful of the causes and consequences of our suffering and work to change them. When we thoroughly investigate ourselves, we experience what we have within psychologically and we come to comprehend that every action, whether internal or external has consequences; each action crystalizes something within and what we create psychologically becomes part of us.
So, let’s try to comprehend, what we’ve brought into being psychologically, and what it might reveal about us.
The sense of self we’ve created is an accumulation of physical experiences that has helped form, shape, strengthen and crystalize what we call the personality. The personality we’ve formed is founded upon theories, beliefs, ideas, concepts, prejudices, physical world experiences, and addiction. Most of our lives we have taken in what others have taught us, impressions, things we’ve seen, heard, and experienced and most of them helped shape the way we think, feel, and act.
For instance, growing up, I came to understand masculinity as something measured by physical strength, sexual conquest, and financial success—ideas that shaped the sense of self I would eventually construct. I was taught that I needed to be angry, prideful, greedy and very lustful. Eventually, I learned that this way of being caused suffering. When I meditated on my childhood, I observed the causes and the effects and came to comprehend how this led me to many mistaken actions that led to an abundance of addictive behaviors, and many other forms of suffering.
What happens when we realize that the very foundation of who we believed ourselves to be was built upon vanity, pride, greed, anger, lust, and fear? Eventually the foundation cannot hold forever. Eventually, it cracks, crumbles, and falls away—revealing that beneath all these forces, beneath every mask and defense, there was always fear. Our personality has become an idol that we worship. We worship the self we have constructed, believing it to be who we truly are. Yet when our foundation is built on illusion, it is like building upon sand: sand is not solid, it moves, it shifts, and changes. Eventually what we thought was solid begins to crumble. A foundation built in this way is imbalanced and put together with ego. Our foundation of pride withers away when facing a purely humble person. Our foundation of anger falls apart when someone shows us compassion. Someone who is angry calms down with a loving touch, a hug or a kind gesture. Even if the signs of anger continue to surface, eventually the emotion itself will lose its foundation and crumble away. Any foundation built upon a false sense of self will eventually crumble and fall. Sooner or later, we begin to question the way we’ve been living and our beliefs. Many of us reach what feels like rock bottom—I know I have. But rock bottom doesn’t have to be the end; perhaps it is the moment we discover that what collapsed was never a solid foundation to begin with and what we felt was solid was not built with conscious mindfulness and a deeply rooted ethical way of being.
The Buddha Shakyamuni taught us that “we need to contemplate our minds, being fully aware and mindful while seeking to understand our thoughts, emotions, and impulses.” Renouncing impure ways of being.
Ask yourself, what are some impure ways of being that you would like to change?
Mindfulness is the basis of psychological and spiritual understanding. Mindfulness is to utilize the consciousness in the right way. The three percent of consciousness that is free and not conditioned and trapped in ego is what connects us and unifies us with our true self. When we are mindful, we are paying attention to what is happening within us, but in order to be mindful we must learn how to utilize and direct our free consciousness in an upright manner. Without mindfulness, we remain trapped in an unconscious way of being, continually building upon and defending a false sense of self—the very foundation that will ultimately crumble. Our true Self is not attached to vice or is blinded by any psychological conditioning. Our true Self does not crumble when tested by the trials of everyday life. What crumbles are the identities and illusions we have mistaken for ourselves. What remains above them is something deeper—strong, pure, and untouched by the impermanence of the world.
Jesus said,
“And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” – Matthew 7:25
The Eightfold Path helps us find a remedy to suffering and bring it to an end. We all have the ability to balance ourselves and overcome suffering. We all have the ability to build a solid foundation, but it requires the proper use of our energies. Mindfulness is to direct the light of the consciousness to reveal the shadows of our ignorance, our unethical conduct, giving us the ability to see the limits of egotistical perception, and thus develop mental stability.
Samael Aun Weor stated,
“The mind and the individual consciousness are only good for mortifying our lives.” - Profound Meditation
Here we are referring to the mind that has been shaped and conditioned by our life experiences—the consciousness that so often perceives reality through the veil of ego. Our psychological conditioning leads us into suffering, even when our intentions are good. We may sincerely wish to change, to become more compassionate, more awake, more whole. Yet intention alone does not transform us. We can stand at threshold of a new year and promise ourselves and believe that tomorrow we will finally become who we want to be. And yet, if we remain unconscious of the forces that shape our perception, we may find on year later that nothing within us truly changed. The ego can even turn the longing for transformation into another story about itself. True transformation begins somewhere deeper—with super efforts. When consciousness becomes aware of its own conditioning, the veil begins to thin, and something within us that was never conditioned begins to reveal itself. Real change, real transformation, takes experiential knowledge; gnosis, direct experience of the causes and effects of ourselves and of our suffering. We can believe forever that we will change but the facts show us otherwise. Many people want to overcome their addictions to food, pornography, gambling, intoxicants, social media, adultery, anger, greed, etc., etc., and never do. We must act, we need to study ourselves, take note of what is unethical, what causes suffering and put each of the steps of the eightfold path to use in our daily lives. People do not change because they ignore the causes, they feel the effects when they hurt, or when they hurt someone, but they don’t change anything about themselves because they ignore the root issues.
In order to live by any of these steps we need upright mindfulness. We cannot view, intend, speak, act, live, and put forth the right kind of efforts if we are not mindful. Our psychological unconsciousness causes suffering, and it is important that we change this. Before we perform any action, we should be mindful of the causes and consequences. Where is the motivation coming from and what will happen? We want to directly experience the truth about ourselves so that we can understand the truth about anything else. Striving to be mindful, applying mindfulness to every moment, will be one of the greatest challenges we have yet experienced. This is because we have conditioned our consciousness to be on autopilot, we are used to letting our ego take the wheel. Right now, our minds are complicated, our minds are in chaos, we are angry one moment and sad the next, frustrated, unhappy, then happy, constantly craving and averting, swinging from one extreme to the next, and when we try to pay attention to ourselves, we feel a great deal of resistance. When we feel resistance, do we give up or do we keep putting forth the effort to be mindful?
We keep putting forth the effort, right? We pay attention, ‘what keeps us from being vigilant? What puts our consciousness to sleep?’ Take note!
When we are mindful, we are conscious, observant, aware, paying attention and one area of our lives we can put this into practice is when someone is speaking to us. When someone is speaking to you, notice how easily your consciousness slips into autopilot—how the mind wanders, becomes absorbed in its own thoughts, and suddenly you are no longer listening. The words are still being spoken, but you are no longer present to receive them. When our consciousness goes to sleep, we no longer perceive the conversation. Instead, we unconsciously begin perceiving the movements of our own mind—drifting through memories, thoughts, fantasies, and inner reactions. The other person is speaking, yet our awareness has withdrawn from the present moment. This happens easily because much of our consciousness is conditioned and entangled within the ego. We become absorbed in the mind and mistake its activity for our own awareness. But by working with our free consciousness—learning to observe without becoming lost in thought—we gradually strengthen our capacity for mindfulness. We begin to reclaim our attention, remain present, and experience the conversation as it is, rather than through the unconscious projections of the mind. Mindfulness is the moment you recognize the drifting and gently return your awareness to what is being said. Keep bringing your awareness back to the conversation and be aware of what is pulling it away. Strive to be more aware and more present of each moment.
The Buddha stated,
“What is right mindfulness? Here a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body, ardent, fully aware and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating feelings as feelings, ardent … He abides contemplating mental objects as mental objects, ardent, fully aware and mindful. This is called right mindfulness.” – The Buddha Shakyamuni, Sathipatthana Sutra
A bhikkhu is someone that’s ardent and devoted to mindfulness, to meditation and is working to renounce worldly possessions, pleasures, attachments, living a life of simplicity, chastity, purity and is in pursuit of awakening. Bhikkhu is translated to, “one who lives by alms.”
Let’s ask ourselves, what type of alms do we wish to live by? What is it that we wish to receive? Attachment to physical sensations or conscious knowledge of reality and psychological freedom?
Bhikkhus are part of a Sangha, a community of likeminded individuals who live mindfully by the eightfold path, who live to better themselves, and sacrifice themselves for the greater good of humanity. We are only beginners, we are not bhikkhus yet. They have renounced much more than we have. We can also state that they are initiates of gnosis and seek to know themselves.
If we aspire to know ourselves, we first need to understand that we are psychologically asleep, and that we have created an abundance of animal elements that exist within us. We need direct, experiential knowledge of what we have created within ourselves and of the forces that have come to govern our psyche. The kingdom of our consciousness has been invaded by our ego which has caused the separation from our true self, the reality, the spirit, our true nature. Now we must fight with the power of mindfulness and reclaim what belongs to the spirit. Mindfulness is the power by which we withdraw our consciousness from mechanical movements of the ego and return it to the present moment. In doing so, we begin to strengthen our awareness and take back what truly belongs to the Innermost Being. When we put an end to unethical conduct and the abuse of our sacred energies—when we no longer misuse our bodies, hearts, and minds—we begin to reclaim our power and take back control of ourselves. As we free ourselves from our unconscious patterns, we begin to discover who we truly are and as we come to know our true nature, we move closer to the essence of our Being, fusing with the radiant force of love.
We’ll end this presentation with a great quote by Manly P Hall,
“This life is not merely what it seems to be. Hidden from our eyes by the cloak of materiality is a wonderful world which only the eyes of the soul can see. The stony walls of conventionalized thought and commercialized ideas shut from the view life’s noble path. But as the ages pass, some see the greatness of the Divine Plan and comprehend the glorious destiny of the human soul. Sorrow, suffering, and loneliness are the great builders of character. People never become truly great until their heart is broken. That is the supreme test. Those who are deepened and broadened by their experiences rise triumphant from the ruins of their dreams and pass on to fuller destiny.” – Manly P Hall, The Way of The Lonely Ones
Stay mindful my friends and please continue thy journey!
