Post by donq on Aug 28, 2023 15:36:26 GMT
In the past 40 years, I've seen a lot of development in (Buddhist) mindfulness. There was a time when many people thought that mindfulness was the same as meditation. Some even called it "mindfulness meditation". Suffice to say that they are not the same. It's clearly stated that there is the right mindfulness AND the right meditation. Not the same.
I won't bother you about those details. Let's get to the point here.
This is an example from somewhere:
"We do not choose simply to attend to something while neglecting everything else, for our attention may be divided among two or more streams of thought or courses of action. Such divided attention is familiar in everyday experiences and may be illustrated by what happens in a conversation between two people. They may appear to be taking turns, one talking while the other listens; a little reflection tells us that much more is taking place. Person A while listening to Person B, is simultaneously planning his reply, and even while replying, he may monitor how well he is doing by watching the facial expression of Person B, perhaps changing the direction of his argument if he appears to be unconvincing. At the same time, he may be telling himself that the conversation has continued long enough, and some way should be found to end it."
At first glance, it seems Person A was aware (hence mindfulness) of all those in his mind: his planning, watching and weighing the situation, deciding to end it, etc.
But did he?
Let me give you another example from Pierre Janet's case of Irene (Janet 1919/25, 663):
"Irene, who, in her somnambulist state, repeatedly rehearsed the death of her mother, which she had experienced under trying circumstances. In her normal condition, she not only forgot what she had dramatized in her somnambulism, but she forgot the events themselves. 'I know very well my mother is dead.' She is reported to have said, 'since I have been told so several times, since I see her no more, and since I am in mourning; but I really feel astonished at it. When did she die?...'"
I could not help but think of Wigner's friend (from Eugene Wigner's thought experiment in theoretical quantum physics). To make a long story short, it describes the states of two people: one conducts an experiment, and the other observes that first person.
Back to our spirituality, this is the role of mindfulness. We need Wigner's friend (or mindfulness) to observe what's really going on in our minds. In the case of Person A above, at least, "Wigner's friend" will tell him (make him realize) that he is planning to those things and even end the conversation. And in the case of Irene, he will tell her that her mother was really dead and when she died.
