Mindfulness And Metaphysics 02 - A Talk And Commentary

A twelve-minute talk introducing the metaphysical philosophy of idealism, followed by a breath-based mindfulness meditation commentary. Recorded live with just minor editing. Background sounds include some birdsong.

Transcript

So,

The branch of philosophy that I'm interested in is metaphysics.

Metaphysics is the philosophy of the nature of reality.

So,

What reality is,

What's its fundamental nature.

So,

Science explores what nature does,

What reality does.

It investigates and predicts and copies the behavior of reality.

But philosophy and metaphysics,

So physics looks at behavior,

Metaphysics looks at the nature of reality.

And there are two main choices if you want to try and understand and reduce everything of reality to one stuff,

One thing.

You can choose matter or mind,

Physicality or consciousness.

They are your two main options.

And it may seem most obvious to choose matter because surely there's nothing more obvious than the fact that there's a physical world out there that I can touch and experience.

But actually there is something more fundamental,

More obvious and more immediate than that.

And that is the fact that we are conscious,

That we are having an experience.

And if we weren't having an experience,

We'd have no knowledge whatsoever of a possible physical world out there.

So actually,

The most obvious starting point is with the one thing,

The only thing we can know for sure,

And that is that we're conscious,

That we are conscious.

So an idealist philosopher as opposed to a materialist philosopher chooses that as their starting point and their starting assumption that everything can be explained by and reduced to consciousness.

And one of the reasons for doing that is because it's the only thing we know for sure.

It's the most skeptical position to have is that I know that I'm conscious,

But I don't know for sure anything else.

So actually I don't know for sure there's an external world out there.

We could be in the matrix,

We could be having a very vivid lucid dream.

We're having experience of a world out there,

But it's just that,

It's an experience of that world.

Even under materialism you can't directly know,

You can't directly experience this assumed world of matter that's out there,

That's outside of consciousness.

So that's the starting point for the idealist is to explain everything in terms of consciousness and the idea of just one consciousness.

There's just one thing and that thing is consciousness.

So then the idealist has to explain why we're all separate,

Why we've all got separate bits of consciousness.

The materialist problem is how on earth can they explain how consciousness,

This inner subjective experience that you're having right now,

How can that arise from matter,

From inanimate matter?

That's the hard problem of consciousness and as yet there is no answer to that.

So the idealist problem,

If you like,

Is to say how can we're separate?

There is a process in nature that we know about called disassociation.

So people can have what used to be called multiple personality disorder,

So we know that that can happen,

That one consciousness can split into many different consciousnesses,

Different personalities.

So the idea is that that process that we already know does happen in nature,

Happened to the one consciousness and we are all,

If you like,

Fragments of that one consciousness.

So we have an experience of a separate identity but fundamentally we all come from the same one consciousness.

So I thought I'd do a little thought experiment on that and then we'd do a mindfulness commentary.

So if you imagine you are in a perfect ideal flotation tank,

So there's absolute darkness,

You can't see anything at all.

There's absolute silence,

So you can't hear anything at all.

And we'll assume there's no smell and no taste of anything.

And then you're floating in a perfect temperature of water,

Body temperature,

So you're not touching anything other than the water.

You can't feel anything because there's no difference in temperature.

So we're assuming we can't see,

Hear,

Taste,

Smell or touch anything.

So all our senses,

All our sensory inputs are gone.

So what's left?

So we still have the mind.

So let's also imagine that we experience complete amnesia while we're in this ideal flotation tank.

So we have no memories whatsoever of anything before this present moment that we're in right now.

So what's left?

So maybe we could create thoughts.

So it's maybe arguable whether we would create any thoughts if we had no history whatsoever and no sensory input.

But just to cover that option,

Let's assume we're in a nice meditative experience where our mind's nice and clear and empty and we're not creating thoughts.

So what's left?

So what I would say is left is that sense of awareness of being yourself,

Of being conscious,

That one thing that we know for sure that we are conscious,

We are having a conscious experience.

So if we remove all the content of that experience,

We're just left with the experiencer,

With that pure awareness.

So then the final part of the thought experiment is if we're all in our flotation tanks,

We're all having that same experience of amnesia and not creating any thoughts,

How could you differentiate between us all?

And the argument is that there is nothing you could use to differentiate each person's experience because all the things that could differentiate us,

Different sensory inputs,

Different histories,

Different thoughts,

We've got rid of all of those.

So when there is just pure awareness,

Just pure subjective experience,

Just the experiencer,

Just consciousness,

Without experience,

Without being conscious of anything,

Just being pure consciousness,

There is literally no difference.

So the argument is there is just one experience possible,

There's literally just one experience of being pure awareness of consciousness.

And so in that sense,

Fundamentally,

We are all one,

We are just one consciousness.

And then through this process of disassociation,

We end up with different experiences and we think of ourselves as separate selves.

But what lies behind all those different experiences is the one self,

The one experience of consciousness.

So we'll move on to the mindfulness commentary.

And the reason that these things are connected in my mind,

At least,

Is that what I'm working on is developing a theoretical framework for my mindfulness practice.

Because,

As I mentioned yesterday,

I think mindfulness is Buddhism without the Buddhism.

So they took the basic practice of mindfulness meditation from Buddhist practice,

Stripped all the religious and all the theory and all the ritual of Buddhism,

And just presented it as a completely non-religious,

Non-spiritual practice.

But I found I was still having the same experiences that I would have if I was meditating within a spiritual context.

So I thought it would be useful to have a context,

A background to my experiences,

To better assimilate them and understand them.

But I like the idea of it being not a religious and not explicitly spiritual framework.

So that's where the philosophy comes in.

And just one other point,

Actually,

That I thought to mention just before we started was that with that choice,

I was saying at the start,

You have the choice of idealism or materialism.

Do I assume everything's basically physical or mental?

So if I assume everything's physical,

Then when I practice mindfulness,

What's the context within which I'm doing that practice?

I'm just a body,

I'm just a brain,

And I'm just doing a physical practice to temporarily change the wavelength of my brain waves.

And that will create some experience.

But if I do mindfulness within the context of idealism,

Then I'm getting in touch with the essential nature of reality.

I'm developing,

Experiencing and practicing this pure awareness.

And under idealism,

That is the foundation of the self and the foundation of the world,

The foundation of everything.

And it's the thing that connects us all.

So it gives,

For me,

A more profound and meaningful context for that very simple practice of awareness.

OK,

So let's move on to the practice of awareness and the mindfulness practice.

I'm wondering exactly what it is that Ali loves,

But perhaps we'll find out later.

OK,

So the mindfulness practice I've been doing lately has been breath-centered.

And I'm going to continue with that because I'm finding that really useful.

So the invitation is to take in a deeper,

Longer and slower in-breath,

So a conscious in-breath.

And just allow it to gradually lengthen,

Gradually deepen.

Don't have to fill your lungs completely to begin with.

And I'd recommend beginning the in-breath with the diaphragm,

So a belly breath,

So feeling your stomach rise,

And then just breathing in as much as is comfortable,

And just having that intention to maybe gradually increase the amount you breathe in.

I find this really useful because the more I breathe in,

The more oxygen I take into the body,

The more alive,

The more present the body becomes.

So it feels a lot easier to be present with the body when it is generating its own presence in a way through that aliveness through the breath.

And within this idealist philosophy,

There is just one thing,

Consciousness.

There isn't mind and matter.

There is just mind.

There is just consciousness.

So your body isn't a separate physical thing.

Your body is just what your consciousness looks like and feels like.

So as we become aware of the body,

We're becoming aware of ourselves.

And as we feel the body become more alive with the breath,

We can feel the body being a living conscious thing,

So consciousness and the body coming together.

Okay,

So if you want to begin that in-breath,

I'll do the commentary for about 20-25 minutes,

So we'll go past the half hour for this session because I talked a bit longer than I was planning.

I usually only plan to talk for two minutes,

But then sometimes once I start it,

It goes a bit longer.

So if you take a deeper than normal in-breath to begin,

And for the out-breath,

I'd recommend always just releasing,

Letting go of the out-breath,

So like a big sigh.

So at the end of the in-breath,

Just releasing,

Letting go of the out-breath,

Not holding onto it,

But also not pushing it out.

You can breathe through your nose or mouth for the in-breath and the out-breath,

Just whichever you find most comfortable.

And you can have your eyes open or closed at any point during the meditation.

You can be standing,

Sitting or lying down.

So as we start this breath off,

I'd also recommend having a right brain type of attention on the breath,

Rather than a left brain attention.

And by that,

I mean the left brain,

The way it attends to things is by focusing,

By abstracting,

By narrowing its attention,

By analysing,

Categorising,

Creating a monologue to describe what it's attending to in language.

But the right brain uses attention in the sense of having a very open awareness,

Looking at the whole picture,

Of opening,

Opening up,

Not narrowing down,

Of attending to the actuality of what's happening,

Rather than a theoretical or abstract version.

So in practice for the breath,

The invitation is to really feel the breath in the body.

So we don't need to think about the breath,

Really feel it in the body,

Particularly as you breathe in.

And as you're aware of the breath in the body,

Keeping that awareness nice and open,

So you're still connected to the whole picture,

The whole environment,

The space around you.

So just inviting the breath to be at the centre or the foreground of your open awareness.

So aware of the breath by feeling the breath in your body,

The physical sensations of the breath in the body,

And being aware of the context of the breath,

The space around you,

Your environment around you.

So we're not focusing on the breath and we don't need to think about the breath,

Experience the breath as part of the overall experience at this moment.

So gradually lengthening,

Deepening,

Slowing the in-breath just as much as is comfortable.

And perhaps feeling it's not just the breath filling your body,

But your awareness,

Your consciousness also.

And the aliveness of the body,

The living presence of the body,

The body radiating its presence.

And again using that right brain attention,

Being aware of the whole body rather than the left brain would be,

Focusing on one part of the body or another,

Getting a sense of how your whole body feels,

And the space around the body,

The context of your body.

And feeling how your body is part of the environment around you,

Fully present and alive in the context of this moment.

Always simply releasing,

Letting go of the out-breath.

So each time we breathe in,

It's a nice reminder of our intention to be aware of the out-breath.

So each time we breathe in,

It's a nice reminder of our intention to become fully present with the body,

Bringing our consciousness and our awareness together with the living presence of the body.

And each time we release and allow the out-breath to flow freely,

A reminder or intention to just allow everything within this present moment just to flow and be as it is moment by moment.

As we allow everything to flow,

That includes our own thoughts and feelings,

So everything that's happening in the mind,

Just using that open awareness and that sense of just allowing everything to happen within our open awareness,

Just as it is.

So allowing the thoughts to pass through the mind,

Just as we can also just allow the sounds we can hear to just pass through the environment,

The space around us.

So keeping that awareness nice and open,

Maybe listening out to the most distant sounds you can.

It's a good way,

I find,

Of feeling my awareness to be really broad,

Open and wide,

Feeling those distant sounds also just happening somewhere within the space of my awareness.

Another one,

Please.

Getting a sense that my awareness is the silence between and behind all the sounds that I can hear.

My awareness is the empty space within which everything is happening,

Everything exists.

All limits exist within my awareness,

My awareness itself is unlimited.

All change or passage of time happens within my awareness,

My awareness itself is timeless,

Eternal.

No sense of division and separation happens within my awareness,

My awareness itself is one and undivided and unified.

And all movement happens within my awareness,

My awareness itself is completely still.

My experience of my pure awareness is identical to your experience of your pure awareness.

The experiences are many and varied,

The experiencer is one.

Some silence,

Many different sounds,

One stillness,

Many different movements,

Or an empty space,

Many different things existing within that space.

As we become more aware of our own awareness,

More conscious of our own consciousness,

We are experiencing the most fundamental aspect of ourselves,

Of the world and of reality,

The one thing we can know for sure,

That we are aware,

Experiencing conscious beings.

And I'm experiencing not just my own fundamental nature,

But that fundamental nature is one and the same for every one of us.

I simply hold all my particular experiences of this moment lightly and gently within this one open awareness.

So may God today bless this happiness and this consciousness.

So let's spend a few more moments really allowing yourself to become fully present with that nice full deep in-breath.

And allowing everything to just flow by as we release and allow the out-breath to flow out the body.

So just allowing your breath to gradually and naturally return to a regular breath.

Notice how you're feeling in mind and body.

Maybe set an intention to breathe more consciously during the day,

Taking a few deeper conscious in-breaths to bring you into the body,

Into the present moment,

To engage that right brain attention of being with the whole picture,

The actuality of the moment,

The living,

Breathing body.

Taking a set of abstract conceptual thought.

Okay thank you all very much for joining me for that session,

I hope you found it useful.

Reviews

Metaphysics is definetly scientific topic of topics as it keeps you wanting to hear more and more! I appreciate listening to Stephen‘s talk as there is so much more to be revealed. This branch of ‘philosophy’ is complex and appears to be speculative with physicists and the like?🤔.
The meditation helped me to feel energised and calm. Being in the present by using the full breathing technique helped my thoughts and emotions to flow and feel liberated. The meditation practise and the talk was awesome 👌🏻 Thank you, Stephen 🙏🏻🙌❤️✨