Watching The Ocean Of The Mind

We can consider our being as a vast ocean, and our self-awareness is largely preoccupied with the surface of that ocean. Things periodically surface into that awareness, but its depths are unfathomable. In this practice when something surfaces a feeling, a thought, a memory, an emotion, a hope, a fear we ask where did you come from, where do you reside, and where do you go?

Transcript

Welcome to week 10 of the Art and Science of Human Flourishing course. This is module 4, Wisdom. The topic for this week is identity. This contemplative practice is entitled, Watching the Ocean of the Mind, Coming, Staying, Going, And Career Practice. One would think that the one thing in this world we know most intimately and thoroughly is our own self. Yet the truth is we know so little of ourselves. Most of the body's processes go so far beyond the thin surface of our self-awareness. And while some are capable of being held in awareness, Like the rate of our breathing, The sensation in our leg, The manner in which we perform, A physical action normally done automatically, Most is beyond our awareness permanently, Like the division of a cell, The movement of neural energy across synapses, The actions of our immune system. The same is true of our mind, Our motivations, Our assumptions, Our emotions. We hardly know why we do what we do, Why we think what we think, Why we feel what we feel. These are profound depths in that so much is unconscious, The vast complexity and scope of our interdependence, Cultures, Institutions, Languages, Discourses, And social relationships. Why are we who we are? Why do we think what we think? Why do we feel what we feel? Why do we sense what we sense? And why do we care about things and not these things? We can consider our being, Physical, Emotional, Cognitive, Spiritual, Social, As a profoundly deep and vast ocean and our self-awareness is largely preoccupied with the surface of that ocean. Things periodically surface into that awareness, But its depths are unfathomable. What surfaces doesn't mean it abruptly came up out of nowhere or from outside. It just means that we far exceed our scope of self-awareness. As things surfacing into awareness, We at times accept them without a question or elaboration as just how things are. While in other contexts we create stories into a comfortable narrative that gives ourselves and worlds a consistency that is questionable at best, A clarity that when investigated is murky at best. This is the background for this deceptively simple practice that carefully monitors the surface of our ocean being and when something surfaces, A feeling, A thought, A memory, An emotion, A hope, A fear, And as simple questions as it emerges, You ask, Where did you come from? As it persists, For how long it persists, You ask, Where do you exist? And when it subsides back below the surface, You ask, Where did you depart to? The practice thus conjoins mindfulness with inquiry as you watch your mind without passion or judgment, But you're adding and questioning those observations. So we will now begin by finding a comfortable seated position with your back upright but not stiff. Your face is soft, You can close your eyes or gaze slightly downward. Soften your shoulders, Soften your hands, And bring attention now to your breath, Just noticing. Let your attention anchor itself on the in-breath and the out-breath. You know, In this practice, The main practice is just to be. Just be with a quiet mind and a still body, But with your mind open. And as you be, Without any expectations, Just allow whatever wants to surface to surface. It may be a memory, A thought, A hope, A desire, A random association, Or a bodily sensation or something else. It could be something distasteful or enticing or just neutral. But however it might ordinarily make you feel today, Just let it arise. Be present and depart on its own time. Hold it in your awareness without judgment or desire. And when something first arises in your field of awareness, Whatever it is, In your mind ask it, Where did you come from? Then as it persists, Ask, Where do you exist? And finally, When it subsides, Ask, Where did you depart to? It's that simple. Just ask the questions and sit with the ripples it causes. The point is not to do an extended conceptual analysis, Digging into your memories or deep seated emotional circumplexes or the details of your current situation. This is not about detailed psychological inquiry, But rather it is a larger contemplative questioning of the nature of your very mind, The nature of awareness and your own being. Just ask the questions one by one as you trace the emergence, Endurance, And vanishing of something in your awareness to one surfacing event to another. And sit with the ripples on the surface of your mind. You can begin sitting quietly and peacefully. When something arises, Asking, Where did you come from? As it stays for a while, Ask, Where do you exist? And finally, When it subsides, Ask, Where did you depart to? You can now begin. Is this clear? . . . . . . . . .