How Much Mindfulness Is Enough?

How much mindfulness is enough? Is moment-to-moment attention (the classical definition of secular mindfulness) just a suggestion for when we decide to give it a try? Or does it mean, moment-to-moment attention all day long? I'm not saying we can do it (or I can do it), but I think it might mean "all day long." It's a big aspiration. But then again, it's a feedback loop.

Transcript

Hey everyone,

It's Judy Cohen and this is Wake Up Call 344.

Welcome.

I'm getting a signal that my internet is unstable,

So put up a hand if you can't hear me at any point.

We just finished Intensive 1 of MLTT 2022,

And it's a group of especially grounded and connected humans,

And the depth of practice really shines through.

I was talking with someone about the cohort and they asked me about mindfulness and depth of practice,

And they wanted to know if we're saying,

Pay attention all the time,

You know,

They were curious about whether that's what we're saying,

Whether that's what I'm doing.

And I don't do that.

I'm not mindful every moment.

I'd like to be,

But it's an aspiration.

I was going to say it's an inspiration.

It's an inspiration and an aspiration.

And I don't know if I know anyone who is.

I've heard teachers talk about the practice of paying attention moment to moment and really pretty much doing that all of their lives,

But it does lift up this question of how much practice is enough,

How much mindfulness is enough.

And the next chapter of the Dhammapada,

Which is chapter 21,

Is called miscellaneous,

Which doesn't sound like it's relevant to the question,

But it turns out that I think it is.

The chapter starts by saying,

If by giving up a lesser happiness,

One could experience greater happiness,

A wise person would renounce the lesser to behold with greater,

Makes sense.

And then it says those who seek their own happiness by causing suffering for others are entangled with hostility.

From hostility,

They are not set free.

The toxins multiply for the insolent and negligent who reject what they should do and do instead what they should not.

But the toxins come to an end for those who are mindful and alert,

Who are constantly well engaged with mindfulness,

Who don't resort to what they should not do,

But persist in what they should do.

So this question,

How much mindfulness is enough,

I think that's where chapter 21 is pointing.

And after a couple of verses of warning about what happens when we're not mindful,

The next set of verses is a refrain,

And it essentially goes on about how much mindfulness is enough.

And the refrain starts with these words,

Always wide awake are the disciples of Godama.

And Godama is the Buddha's given name,

So,

But to make this chapter a little more accessible for myself and maybe for everyone,

I think about it as,

I think about it as always wide awake are the practitioners of mindfulness.

And then it goes through what are called the three jewels of mindfulness,

Buddha,

Dharma,

Sangha.

And again,

To make this more accessible,

Buddha,

You know,

That's really just a symbol for the teacher and it's the teacher we study with,

Whoever that is.

Maybe we study with a number of teachers.

And it's also the teacher within.

And then Dharma is just the teachings of mindfulness.

The teachings themselves.

And then Sangha,

The community,

This community,

Any community you might be practicing with.

So it goes through those three jewels and it says,

Always wide awake are the practitioners of mindfulness who constantly day and night are mindful of the Buddha,

Dharma,

Sangha,

Or the teacher,

The teachings and the community.

So it seems like the Dhammapada is saying that enough mindfulness is being always wide awake constantly day and night to our teachers,

To the teachings,

To our communities,

Practicing with our communities,

Also seeing how we can support our communities.

And translating this into the law might look like always wide awake constantly day and night,

Not as in pulling on nighters,

But as in always being aware of pulling on nighters,

But it could be about being awake to whoever has something important to offer,

Whatever is being offered that might have relevance or importance,

And also our firms,

Our organizations,

And our communities.

Then the refrain in chapter 21 continues.

It says that a mindfulness practitioner should also always be awake constantly day and night,

Mindful of the body.

And mindfulness of the body is the first foundation of mindfulness.

The teachings say that through mindfulness of the body,

We can understand the impersonal,

Impermanent,

And yet interconnected nature of life and come to the end of suffering.

And so imagine what could happen if we included that practice alongside the practice of law,

You know,

A lot might change.

It does sound to me like the invitation is to pay attention pretty much constantly,

You know,

Always,

Day and night.

So that's the invitation of the practice.

And I think it's not just a catchy phrase,

You know,

Moment to moment awareness,

Present moment awareness,

The ways that mindfulness has been defined to the secular world.

It's not like when we think of it,

Then we tune in.

You know,

Mindfulness is really this invitation to be present all the time,

To consider our intentions,

To bring wisdom and compassion to each moment intentionally.

So to the question,

How much practice is enough,

I think we might be looking at there's no such thing as enough,

Meaning enough would be all the time,

Moment to moment,

Every moment.

Moment.

The refrain covers two more practices.

It also says we should be always wide awake,

Constantly day and night,

Delighting in harmlessness and delighting in our practice.

And I really love these two invitations or instructions.

You know,

It raises the question,

Can we delight in practicing law harmlessly?

And what would that look like?

Now,

Would it be as simple as being more courteous and kind,

Or would it be a lot more complicated than that?

Given the adversary system.

His Holiness,

The Dalai Lama says the practice is all about kindness.

He says,

Be kind whenever possible.

And it's always possible.

So what would change in the profession if we practiced harmlessness constantly,

Or just translating it,

If we were kind all of the time.

And then what about always wide awake,

Delighting in the practice?

You know,

There's a kind of feedback loop that maybe you've noticed.

As we practice being always wide awake,

Constantly day and night,

Or mostly wide awake as much as we can day and night,

And we practice with kindness and with harmlessness and we feel connected and it feels good.

And then we feel less alone.

Maybe we feel a little virtue,

Virtuous.

And to me,

All of this comes together in feeling a lot happier.

And that feedback that I get in my body of like,

Oh,

Now I'm feeling happier or from other people that they are happier to be around me.

It makes me want to practice more.

And so it creates this feedback loop and then the loop continues.

Maybe you could call it from a neuroscience perspective,

The mirror neurons flashing,

Yeah.

And so that's why I come back to my cushion day after day.

And I think this is what the teachers mean when they say the onward leading nature of mindfulness.

It is delightful and it makes it easy to take delight in the practice.

Okay,

So let's sit.

Finding a comfortable posture that is also supportive to your body,

To the practice,

To being awake this morning or this afternoon or this evening,

Wherever you are on this beautiful earth.

And feeling the ground beneath you,

Whether it's right beneath your feet or your sit bones or your back,

Or whether it's several stories down.

And then feeling the body breathing,

The breath as it flows in and out of the body.

Nothing to do,

Nowhere to be,

But right here,

Right now.

Checking in with the wisdom inside of you,

The teacher inside of you.

Maybe a simplest,

Whatever brought you to your cushion today.

Knowing that the practice would support you.

And the teachings.

Maybe there was a line in today's talk that resonated.

Maybe you've heard something in the last day or week or month that you're sitting with that's supporting you.

I try to remember,

Be kind whenever possible.

It's always possible.

And connecting to or mindful of this Sangha,

This community,

Any other communities that you practice with.

Practice meditation with also practice law with.

Maybe mindful of this body wide awake and mindful of the body.

How is your body today?

Can you attend to whatever is happening in the body with kindness?

And then taking delight in harmlessness.

Maybe considering time in the last day or week or month when you chose harmlessness out in the world or in a relationship.

And maybe choosing harmlessness is choosing love.

So sometime when you had that choice and made the choice.

And then last but not least,

Being awake to the delight in practicing.

So the practice can really bring us joy and happiness.

Thank you everyone for joining me on the wake up call today for joining each other.

I hope you have a beautiful day.

Take care.

Stay safe out there.

I'll see you next week.