Mindfulness Guard of Awareness

In the Asheyana path, Calm Abiding practice is supported by one's work with the Eight Renunciations, having developed some space of mind in stepping back from bivalent perceptions.

Having worked with Calm Abiding within the context of the eighth Foundation of Mindfulness, Mindfulness of Awareness, one can begin to work with this extension to the practice, "Mindfulness Guard of Awareness."

The purpose of this Mindfulness Guard is to highlight particular qualities both conducive to progress along the path and available within the aspect of one's experience related to Mindfulness of Awareness, within and beyond the context of formal practice.

During a session of Calm Abiding, one begins to focus on the fifth Point of Practice, that of the Mind:

• • Drawing back from evaluations or judgements of what may arise in one's mind, one simply connects with the totality of one's experience.

• • If what arises within the totality of one's experience naturally and uncontrivedly draws one into attending to that object of experience--felt and sensory impressions, emotional expressions, phenomenal and noumenal expressions--one simply asks, "how is this not Timelessness-Spontaneousness?"
    
    

  • The purpose of the inquiry is not to make oneself perceive something that is not there. The purpose of the inquiry is to look directly at the totality of one's experience and to consider for oneself whether Timelessness-Spontaneousness is truly the 'signal' within perceiving the totality one's experience and whether objects drawing one into attending them--felt and sensory impressions, emotional expressions, phenomenal and noumenal expressions--can be regarded as experiential 'noise.'

• • Keep attending to the totality of experience with a light touch as is bearable. If what arises within the totality of one's experience naturally and uncontrivedly draws one into attending to that object of experience, return again to the question, "how is this not Timelessness-Spontaneousness?" Does the perceptual experience relax over time into open spaciousness? Or does the perceptual experience tighten into "for me," "against me," or "not me" ?

• If one becomes distracted or drowsy during this Mindfulness Guard of Awareness practice extension, one briefly returns to the general Calm Abiding instruction until they are ready to continue working with this Mindfulness Guard of Awareness practice extension.
  
  

Following a session of Calm Abiding, one can extend Mindfulness Guard of Awareness into daily life by:

• Bringing the Mindfulness Guard of Awareness developed during practice to the periods of one's day--waking, preparing for the day, morning, noontime, afternoon, evening, nighttime, releasing from the day, sleeping.
  
  

• Bringing the Mindfulness Guard of Awareness developed during practice to one's own activities during the day, as well as transitions between activities.
  
  

• Bringing the Mindfulness Guard of Awareness developed during practice to activities involving others during the day, as well as transitions between activities.

• When what arises within the totality of one's experience naturally and uncontrivedly draws one into attending to that object of experience--felt and sensory impressions, emotional expressions, phenomenal and noumenal expressions--one simply asks, "how is this not Timelessness-Spontaneousness?"

• If one becomes distracted or drowsy during this Mindfulness Guard of Awareness practice extension, one can return to the mindfulness and awareness of daily life until they are ready to continue working with this Mindfulness Guard of Awareness practice extension.
  
  

  • Notice if one's habits of sensory experience in daily life reflect one's Mindfulness Guard of Awareness in meditation practice--Be curious what might explain the difference between the two.
    
    

By practicing "Mindfulness Guard of Awareness," one can begin to see through direct experience how one's interpretation of what arises with the totality of one's experience can be oriented to one's own framing. One can also begin to see for oneself the possibility that the 'signal' within the 'noise' underlying the totality of one's perceptual experience can be described as Timelessness-Spontaneousness.

The fruition of Mindfulness Guard of Awareness is called Gesture of Awareness--inhabiting awareness with presence, with awareness held neither too tight nor too loose, with light attention to the totality of one's experience, recalling openness and boundlessness, fully embodied such that awareness appears stable and expansive in stillness and movement.

May these words help the boundless Asheyana practitioner to expansively extend the Gesture of Awareness, with full mindfulness. May it be of benefit.