Changing Dharmas
Consider the seemingly innocuous question: “What is mindfulness?” Probably you heard a definition at some point. This quality is a step in the Eightfold Path, a spiritual faculty, a factor of awakening, and the subject of three major discourses that give classic instructions for Theravada practice (the Satipatthana Sutta [MN 10], the Ānāpānasati Sutta [MN 118], and the Kāyagatāsati Sutta [MN 119]). But nowhere in the Buddhist texts is mindfulness precisely defined.
Perhaps this is an example of what could be called deliberate vagueness. The Buddha does not give us the easy solution of a clean definition to use as a “checkbox” for whether we are doing our practice correctly. Instead, we must develop and hone our own sensitivity to the quality of mindfulness, based on our own direct experience. I have heard practitioners of 40+ years say that they still are not quite sure what mindfulness is.
For me, mindfulness has changed over the years. This is perfectly natural given that it is a step of the path, and the path is “to be developed.” By definition, things change as they develop. At first, mindfulness meant creating an observer, separate from experience, in order to disentangle from the conglomeration of mindstates that shape my experience. This also creates a small gap in which there is a chance to choose an action rather than just follow along with habitual reactivity. Nearly all mindfulness teachers will use a description like this to guide people at the beginning of their practice.
But fairly quickly, mindfulness became a quality that was not distinct from the totality of experience, but rather brought clarity to it, like opening a dirty window in order to suddenly see the outside more clearly. Mindfulness brought me closer, rather than creating a gap.
As practice continues to unfold, we may observe that mindfulness is not a single thing, but displays different facets at different times. The 16 steps of mindfulness of breathing (from MN 118) include instructions to “know” the breath (specifically, its length); to “train” the mind in a broad range of sensitivities, which always point toward letting go of some aspect of experience; and to “contemplate” various themes that relate to profound insight. Mindfulness fulfills all these aspects – simple knowing, a tool for refining and training the mind, and the ability to inject wisdom into our interaction with experience. One lesson of the teaching in MN 118 is that the breath is a powerful medium for developing these various aspects of mindfulness such that it can bear fruit in liberation.
I would say at this point in my practice that I know without doubt that mindfulness is essential to liberation, and mindfulness is far more than just paying attention. It is a beautiful quality of mind that develops with the application of several key conditions: reverence or respect for it, faith in its transformative power, and basic nitty-gritty practice in the moment.
The same sort of reflection can be done for other key qualities. Compassion, for instance. Most likely, we began our practice of compassion with a somewhat entangled form of this heart quality. With practice, it purifies, refines, and unfolds into something quite different. How has that journey been for you?
Ethical conduct is also an interesting one to examine. We have all been taught various ethical principles and may have chosen to live our life based on the five lay precepts. But ethics is part of the path – we are asked to work with it and let it change as the path develops. Ethics shifts, deepens, and purifies like any other path factor. Using abstract principles becomes limiting at some point – even harmful – compared to using a more circumstantial and experiential basis for ethics.
We are likely familiar with the experience of finding that some actions that we used to consider ethical become unethical as we practice more deeply. For instance, I used to think it was OK to substitute unwholesome thoughts for unwholesome actions, such as mentally criticizing someone instead of saying critical words. This was likely a good strategy at first in that it reduces harm from saying those words. But it is still harmful to my own mind, and eventually I refined my understanding sufficiently to choose an even less harmful solution when judgmental intentions arise.
It might be surprising to consider that there are also actions that used to be unethical, but become ethical as we walk the path. Consider: Are there actions that are ethical for a master surgeon but are unethical for a medical intern? Definitely. The non-harm that characterizes ethical conduct is related to competence. I have worked with a spiritual healer who influences the subtle energies that connect the body and mind. You can be sure I got a feel for both her competence and her values before allowing her to work with me. I decided that her skill and integrity make her work ethical, like that of a master surgeon. Do you have a skill that has made certain actions ethical now that would have been unethical previously?
It is interesting to consider that ethical conduct in the spiritual realm might simply be actions that further our path. Killing, stealing, and lying are not going to further our path in nearly all cases. But it can become much more refined than that. Hence, ethics changes along the path.
There is nothing fixed in the whole universe, including the very mental qualities we are developing through meditation practice. It is not simply a matter of amassing more and more of something that exists in a static way. It is more like the growth and flowering of something ever-changing – the continual transformation that is life. Perhaps this will help you not to get stuck as the path continues to evolve for you.
Consider the seemingly innocuous question: “What is mindfulness?” Probably you heard a definition at some point. This quality is a step in the Eightfold Path, a spiritual faculty, a factor of awakening, and the subject of three major discourses that give classic instructions for Theravada practice (the Satipatthana Sutta [MN 10], the Ānāpānasati Sutta [MN 118], and the Kāyagatāsati Sutta [MN 119]). But nowhere in the Buddhist texts is mindfulness precisely defined.
Perhaps this is an example of what could be called deliberate vagueness. The Buddha does not give us the easy solution of a clean definition to use as a “checkbox” for whether we are doing our practice correctly. Instead, we must develop and hone our own sensitivity to the quality of mindfulness, based on our own direct experience. I have heard practitioners of 40+ years say that they still are not quite sure what mindfulness is.
For me, mindfulness has changed over the years. This is perfectly natural given that it is a step of the path, and the path is “to be developed.” By definition, things change as they develop. At first, mindfulness meant creating an observer, separate from experience, in order to disentangle from the conglomeration of mindstates that shape my experience. This also creates a small gap in which there is a chance to choose an action rather than just follow along with habitual reactivity. Nearly all mindfulness teachers will use a description like this to guide people at the beginning of their practice.
But fairly quickly, mindfulness became a quality that was not distinct from the totality of experience, but rather brought clarity to it, like opening a dirty window in order to suddenly see the outside more clearly. Mindfulness brought me closer, rather than creating a gap.
As practice continues to unfold, we may observe that mindfulness is not a single thing, but displays different facets at different times. The 16 steps of mindfulness of breathing (from MN 118) include instructions to “know” the breath (specifically, its length); to “train” the mind in a broad range of sensitivities, which always point toward letting go of some aspect of experience; and to “contemplate” various themes that relate to profound insight. Mindfulness fulfills all these aspects – simple knowing, a tool for refining and training the mind, and the ability to inject wisdom into our interaction with experience. One lesson of the teaching in MN 118 is that the breath is a powerful medium for developing these various aspects of mindfulness such that it can bear fruit in liberation.
I would say at this point in my practice that I know without doubt that mindfulness is essential to liberation, and mindfulness is far more than just paying attention. It is a beautiful quality of mind that develops with the application of several key conditions: reverence or respect for it, faith in its transformative power, and basic nitty-gritty practice in the moment.
The same sort of reflection can be done for other key qualities. Compassion, for instance. Most likely, we began our practice of compassion with a somewhat entangled form of this heart quality. With practice, it purifies, refines, and unfolds into something quite different. How has that journey been for you?
Ethical conduct is also an interesting one to examine. We have all been taught various ethical principles and may have chosen to live our life based on the five lay precepts. But ethics is part of the path – we are asked to work with it and let it change as the path develops. Ethics shifts, deepens, and purifies like any other path factor. Using abstract principles becomes limiting at some point – even harmful – compared to using a more circumstantial and experiential basis for ethics.
We are likely familiar with the experience of finding that some actions that we used to consider ethical become unethical as we practice more deeply. For instance, I used to think it was OK to substitute unwholesome thoughts for unwholesome actions, such as mentally criticizing someone instead of saying critical words. This was likely a good strategy at first in that it reduces harm from saying those words. But it is still harmful to my own mind, and eventually I refined my understanding sufficiently to choose an even less harmful solution when judgmental intentions arise.
It might be surprising to consider that there are also actions that used to be unethical, but become ethical as we walk the path. Consider: Are there actions that are ethical for a master surgeon but are unethical for a medical intern? Definitely. The non-harm that characterizes ethical conduct is related to competence. I have worked with a spiritual healer who influences the subtle energies that connect the body and mind. You can be sure I got a feel for both her competence and her values before allowing her to work with me. I decided that her skill and integrity make her work ethical, like that of a master surgeon. Do you have a skill that has made certain actions ethical now that would have been unethical previously?
It is interesting to consider that ethical conduct in the spiritual realm might simply be actions that further our path. Killing, stealing, and lying are not going to further our path in nearly all cases. But it can become much more refined than that. Hence, ethics changes along the path.
There is nothing fixed in the whole universe, including the very mental qualities we are developing through meditation practice. It is not simply a matter of amassing more and more of something that exists in a static way. It is more like the growth and flowering of something ever-changing – the continual transformation that is life. Perhaps this will help you not to get stuck as the path continues to evolve for you.
