Cultivating Introspection Through Mindfulness Of Breathing

In the traditional teachings on śamatha, or practices for cultivating concentration, "introspection" is defined as a mental function that repeatedly checks on the current state of our body and mind, therefore guarding us from distraction and mental afflictions. In this mindfulness of breathing meditation narrated by CEB co-founder Alan Wallace, introspection is actively cultivated, therefore helping us strengthen our attentional stability in general. Please note that more than half of this meditation is silent, allowing for the application of the instructions.

Transcript

Let's begin,

As always,

By settling the body,

Speech,

And mind in their natural states,

As we've done before.

And once again focus the attention on the rise and fall of the abdomen,

These sensations correlated with the breath in that area,

Noting the duration of each in- and out-breath,

And to the best of your ability maintaining an ongoing flow of mindfulness,

Engaged attention throughout the entire course of the in-breath,

The out-breath,

Relaxing with each out-breath and arousing your attention with each in-breath.

This ongoing flow of engaged attentiveness we call mindfulness,

A flow of non-forgetfulness,

A continuity of engaged attention upon a chosen object without forgetfulness.

This is the primary faculty that we use to develop the attention,

Stability,

Vividness.

But there's another faculty of awareness that is also crucial,

Plays a vital role in the practice of Samatha.

This I will call introspection,

Maybe also called metacognition,

Or even meta-attention.

And this is our ability to monitor,

In this case,

The quality of attention,

Recognizing as swiftly as possible whether the attention has fallen into laxity or dullness,

Whether it's succumbed to or been carried away by excitation or agitation,

Distraction.

So the faculty of introspection is not attending to sensations of the breath,

Which are the object of mindfulness.

Introspection is attending to the meditative process,

Recognizing swiftly when attentional imbalances set in.

At any time during the session,

Should you find that your mind has been carried away,

You've got caught up in thoughts,

Distractions out into other sense fields,

Note this with your faculty of introspection.

Immediately release this distracting thought or object of the mind by relaxing,

Letting go,

And immediately returning your awareness to the sensations of the rise and fall of the abdomen.

So in response to excitation,

Relax more deeply,

Let go of the distracting object that's got you caught up,

Release your grasping onto that,

And return immediately,

Gently,

To the object of mindfulness.

If at any time you find with introspection that your attention is losing its edge,

You're falling into laxity or dullness,

As soon as you note this,

Freshly arouse your attention,

Especially with the inhalation.

Pay closer attention.

Take a fresh interest in the practice.

Let's continue practicing in silence.

Reviews

Very clear and helpful instructions on how to pay attention and use the breath. Thank you 🙏🙏

grateful for the simple and eloquent explanations of mindfulness, attention, introspection, and sāmatha as a culmination of the fundamental practices.

this meditation has the perfect amount of guidance for deep self-listening. thank you so much for this quintessential meditation track.

Minimal instructions. Calm and clear mind afterwards.