The Twilight Of Bare Cognizance and a Description of 'What' Responsive Naturing Consists Of
The Only Question That I Have Left Unanswered, Until Now, Is What Naturing Actually Consists Of? And More Importantly, How Can We Know This?
👈 || UNSAYING | NATURING | TRADITION | MEDITATION | DISCUSSIONS | BACK MATTER || 👉
The Foreword to Tranquillity’s Secret begins with my assertion that: An untrained mind is incapable of knowing itself — so how can it truly know anything at all? It is important to remind the reader of this, because this newsletter is going to introduce something that I have not as yet ventured into, and what I am going to say will very likely be mischaracterized by many readers as just another “armchair speculation” of a philosopher who thinks his ideas are necessarily true because, well, they are founded upon reason. Such a characterization is usually countered with the extant view of science that only empirical evidence — that is, experience — can give us the truth.
I consider myself to be a contemplative scientist. This is a third way. Yes, I use reason and experience as evidence supporting what I say, but these just support, they do not prove that what I say is more veridical than armchair speculation, or conscious experience. Besides, I do most of my reflection while on long walks in the forests that surround my home, not while I am sitting on a cushion — and I don’t have an armchair.
So what does a contemplative scientist do? In my case, I have engaged in a traditional meditation practice for 65 years, as of this writing — and I continue to do so. A “traditional meditation practice” is not about mindfulness. That would be like going to visit a friend and considering the visit accomplished once you knock on their door. Mindfulness is that preliminary; but something that all meditators have to develop. A traditional practice begins to flourish once that preliminary stage is behind you. It’s like sharpening a tool before using it. Presumably, you are sharpening the tool so that it will perform better when you actually use it, not just to have a shiny tool to show others.
The important point about meditating is that it is focused on training your mind. What I mean by this is not just that I have the ability to pay attention, rather than being distracted by every this or that which arises while I am meditating; but that I can turn my attention off. This means that my attention can be like a spotlight when I want it to be, and other times like the diffuse, barely visible glow of the twilight of sunrise that greets me during my early morning meditation. This is, of course, manifested in all of us when, in the course of the day, we barely notice so many things — and people — whether through familiarity, or disinterest. So why the need to train your mind? For the same reason that athletes train their body’s abilities to achieve a maximum of those abilities. A meditator is an athlete of the mind.
Why would anyone want to do this? Because it becomes evident that so much of what we call our mind happens only in response to our attention. Thoughts being the most obvious phenomenon. If you are not paying them any attention, the duration of their stay shortens, and their incidence attenuates, and over time, can stop for long periods of time. It is in that twilight of bare cognizance of the absence of so much of the mental chatter that otherwise consumes our days, that certain insights arise spontaneously, forever changing one’s understanding. This is why a trained mind is so important, and crucial in the case of what I will be saying now.