Sunday, March 20, 2005

Bare attention makes mindfulness possible.

Here's a passage from Rob Nairn's Tranquil Mind* on the value of bare attention:

After a while you discover that bare attention is simply attending to all that occurs in relation to the senses - seeing, hearing, thinking and so on, acknowledging and letting go. If you persist in this practice you will find that it checks the flow of uncontrolled thought without your having to make an effort to do so, and without suppression. Of course, this effect will not be evident immediately, because we all have deep-rooted habits of allowing the mind to be rather wild and undisciplined, so you have to persist for a while before the mind begins to settle. Bare attention makes mindfulness possible.

*Copies of Tranquil Mind are available at the Center.

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