[Gem]

Originally Posted by naturesflow

I am reading this a few times pondering what a universal mindful practice might entail for all beings as one host.

Well, we probably prefer thinking on individual levels, but I wanted to go under my thought, your thought, and all which is particular to me or you, and go toward the common aspects of our awareness and attention, and although I call these my awareness my attention, I also know other people have this precise same quality.

I guess for me I have developed a deeper awareness within me that all life is precious, so often I consider life around me in my practice of choice. I feel like now with this open in me, my choices can't revert back to just doing things on a whim, without careful consideration. I am finding in this way, it takes a more mindful deeper dedication to work through the whole picture that I cant help but notice now.

Excellent, for this careful observation of the mind's thinking processes, and all that senses perceive is instrumental mindfulness. Then we might translate subsequent consideration of it as 'contemplation', I suppose, to 'mull over' carefully, as it were. Still realising that one is in knowing, and aware of the unfolding of said processes.

Some people looking into my space, will say, why do you mull over everything, turn over every stone, examine it and then decide things. Once upon a time I didn't. I did things more hastily, more spontaneous without much forward thinking. The me I am now considers everything, mainly because I have opened everything in me to consider through a bigger view of myself and life as one source.

For me, as I look into your space, I see my space, because of that quality which transcends individual personalities that make us unique to that universal quality we have in common. I keep in mind my subject of the thread as the fundamental basis for what we call 'mindfulness', and that is a tricky subject because we don't know what it is apart from its immediate presence, and it's necessary to know mindfulness from the point if its origin, which means we don't start sometime soon, later, but bring the attention here right now - which is to say, not so much to bring it here, but recognise where the attention actually is, which is of course, here now. If we see this 'knowing of the attention', we may be the one in knowing.

I have to be as that one even to speak of such a thing, and a reader who doesn't follow introspectively to notice what I'm referring to, but rather is figuring it out with intellect, can't possibly comprehend the implications, so you see, it only by being mindful in this way that mindfulness is 'known', and there is no other way of learning it. The example is, one can not 'figure out' where the attention exists; only immediately recognise it.

Because the attention is really here we can look into this aspect of truthfulness where by it is impossible to return the attention, and if ardent about what is true, attention is immediately recognisible as being in this moment's immediacy.

It's not an effort of so much work, because where the attention exists is completely obvious at a glance. Hence this practice of a meditation object and the effort to hold it in place is a surface aspect, and the mind wanders off, then you return it, but under that is a simple fact - this is where the attention exists. This isn't for me or you, but it's true of all, and hence I call it 'fundamental'.

So we may examine this surface aspect, as the determination is made, I will focus on breath starting... now... yes the breath is present and doubtless and there is absolute certainty that this is the case. But what exactly is this breath in the experience. It isn't visible so the eye is unaware. It might have a smell to it, but to smell isn't how we know there is breath moving, it's usually quite light and soundless, so we only really know in any continuity it because it is felt as sensation in the body. This now becomes the feel level, which is primal to all the senses, because all senses work through the nervous system, which is the sense of sensations. Hence I say the feel level is most primal to experience.

Do we follow this, the investigation I make this account of? Because it is the only way to understand me, the only way I understand you, to 'turn the stone' as you put it, and discover the truth, that doubtlessness and certainty I am referring to as 'the knowing'.

If we do follow with this introspective way of listening, rather than me being an external voice that knows a bunch of stuff you can learn, we may notice how this mode of introspection is 'finding out' - and we know things in that sense of certainty because we observe in the immediate moment - and there it's nature is revealed.

Now I spoke too long and possibly wasted breath, but my hope is that a reader will get a sense of 'what it is', this attention, and how use it for real lived discovery.

I realized when others ask me about the why I do this, as part of my awareness, I will often open the space I am moving through as a whole in my response, they in their asking, then realize that when your more open to the whole of yourself, nothing is left out outside of yourself. It just moves hand in hand. They then realize why going through the deeper realizations of self leads you to a more mindful practice of living in the world.

I think there is the aspect of loving kindness and compassion that leads me more so now. I don't wish any ill will towards any life around me. That all life deserves to be here and be happy.