Methods of Awakening - Attentiveness: A Primer

[Edited January 27th 2020: My downright abuse of semi-colons was despicable and inexcusable, but I think I've fixed it now. I've also removed reference to AF (Actual Freedom) as it's a distraction from the basics and something we can discuss in later posts.]

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The Beginning

Attentiveness is a commonly used word and is something that forms the bare bones of our practice, regardless of which model we use. I intend to break the word down and provide a practical description of what attentiveness “is”, and how to improve practice through really understanding what it means to be attentive. This is just my take on it based on what works, and is working for me although this may change as new information becomes available.

The Word

Attentiveness describes the act of paying attention to an object.

To be “attentive” is to be engaged in the act of paying attention.

“Attention” is defined as “the act or faculty of attending” [1], faculty being “an ability, natural or acquired, for a particular kind of action” [2]. 

Since we all have this ability naturally rather than having to acquire it - as is apparent simply by noticing that you’re sitting reading this post right now - it’s just a case of recognizing this “particular kind of action” occurring in real-time and then learning how to utilize it effectively.

Some common synonyms for the word “attentive” include: heedful, aware, alert, and, perhaps most interestingly given the context of this piece, mindfulness. In short, to be attentive is to be heedful, aware or mindful of whatever is occurring at any given moment. For the sake of clarity, I’d like to briefly analyze the word “mindfulness” too since, given what we know already about attentiveness, I posit that it is identical in operation and produces the same phenomenological results. I am trying to present this in as clear terms as possible so as to avoid any ambiguity or bias towards any one model, and am also providing these breakdowns of the words to clarify the way in which I use and understand them.

The word “mindful” is an adjective meaning “attentive, aware, or careful (usually followed by of)” [4] or “conscious or aware of something “[5][6]. We’ve already looked at “attentive” and found that it’s synonymous with words like “mindful”, “heedful”, “aware” and “alert”, all of which represent the same process: To be attentive of something; to be paying attention; to be aware.  It does not require any further analysis to demonstrate that mindfulness and attentiveness are simply labels for the same, naturally occurring ability to pay attention.

What is this “naturally occurring ability to pay attention” and how does it happen?

The Process

Attentiveness is occurring right now as I sit here writing this. As my eyes scan the screen I’m able to simultaneously notice the sound of my fingers on the keyboard, the television in the background, and the sound of traffic outside. I’m also aware of what’s going on ‘internally’ and can notice thoughts arising by themselves, the way I mentally verbalize these words as I edit this paragraph and consider whether it’s an accurate description or not; itself a reflection based on the way that I understand the words I’m using and whether or not others will understand them in the same way. All of this can be observed occurring without effort, yet the simplicity of attentiveness is what makes it difficult for some to grasp.

Attentiveness is just a matter of noticing what’s happening right now. You’re not looking for anything or trying to do anything, you’re just noticing what’s already happening at this moment. It’s an active engagement in your immediate experience; an alertness, a preparedness to openly accept whatever arises without judgement. This attentiveness includes what’s going on” internally” - by which I mean: the general feelings observed, emotional states, thoughts that present themselves, particular narratives the mind reels off; mental phenomena in general - as well as what’s going on “externally” - by which I mean: physical sensations via the five sense doors: touch, sight, sound, taste, and smell.

Attentiveness only ever happens right now, not in the future and not in the past, now. Not then. Only now. To be attentive or mindful is to be actively present; to be cognizant of what is happening at this moment in time.

So, why is it that the vast majority of people aren’t actively engaged in simply being aware, particularly when there are so many benefits to be found in doing so?

The Problem

The way our minds usually function involves a continual push-pull between past, present and future, only spending fleeting moments actually being here. When we’re not occupied with thoughts like “what am I going to do when I finish what I’m doing right now?”, we’re occupied with thoughts like “why isn’t what I’m doing right now as good as that thing I was doing before?”. We’re rarely here now, which may sound clichéd but is easy enough to verify as accurate in our own experience. We’re either fretting over what might happen in some not-occurring-right-now future, or worrying about what’s already happened in, or may occur due to, some not-occurring-right-now event in the past.

To complicate matters further, we then identify with those thoughts and narratives, consider them to be “my” thoughts, “my” stories about what’s going to happen to “me”. We have feelings about those mental phenomena which give rise to this sense of “me” in the first place and around we go again ad infinitum. All of these, relatively[7] subtle, automatic processes, that we’re not usually aware of, are part of what leads to a lack of attentiveness. The noticing of them is the first step to seeing them clearly, and once they’re seen clearly they can be let go of via further attentiveness and investigation. What’s happening now is what counts, what might happen or what’s already happened are never occurring right now so thoughts of them can be acknowledged and let go of. This is not to say that reflection on what’s gone before or planning for what may come are not necessary. Regardless of whether you’re “awakened” or “not” you still need to be able to function skillfully in the real-world.

Aside from the natural inclination of our minds towards this dynamic and dualistic process of identification, there’s also the issue of effort and of having to do something to be attentive in the first place. If we can see how being attentive, present and aware allows life to be far more pleasant and more fully experienced, then we can find ways to incorporate it in fun, interesting and engaging ways. When we can have fun while learning, we can optimize our ability to take on board information.

While attentiveness can become automatic with enough effort and practice, it requires a 'kickstart' for the mind to be able to recognize it. It seems paradoxical that something effortless should require effort to become what it already is, yet it’s one of those things that really need to be experienced to be understood fully.

The Basics

There are lots of ways you can 'kickstart' attentiveness, whether it’s using something like the I AM meditations or just noticing that you’re annoyed by something on the television, it comes down to being aware of what you’re experiencing, both “internally” and “externally” at any given moment. As far as what we’re supposed to be aware of, the list could go on for pages, but we can describe a (very) basic framework to start from and you’re then free to explore, add, amend or discard whatever helps your own practice. Essentially we’re looking at the six points of sense contact, a.k.a. “sense doors” a.k.a. the senses and what sort of information they can ‘take in’:

Eyes = Sight (Visual)

Ears = Hearing (Auditory)

Nose = Smell (Olfactory)

Tongue = Taste (Gustatory)

Skin/Muscle = Touch/Movement (Tactile/Kinesthetic)

‘Mind’ = Thought/A label for mental faculties in general.

These are our six points of sense contact, in which I’m also including the submodalities of each, e.g. with regards to sight, we can talk about light, colour and form; distinctions discernible within the experience of “seeing”. How each of the senses can be further investigated will be of more interest to us later in the discussion, but for the moment we’ll go back to basics and strip the practice to it’s bare bones.

The Details

As we’ve already seen, to be attentive is to be aware...but aware of what?

Your experience at this moment as it happens!

And how do you do that?

By noticing what’s happening!

Is it really that simple?

Yes! Simply notice that you’re already aware of at least one aspect of your current experience, whether it’s the sensation of a warm breeze against your cheek or the memory of dinner with a friend; whatever is happening in your body and/or mind is what to be aware of. Something quite cool about attentiveness is that it’s got a built-in feedback mechanism. Once you learn how to recognize it, you can quickly see when you’re no longer being attentive which immediately brings you back to where you want to be: Present, mindful, aware and cognizant of how you feel inside and out.

From your emotional state to the itch on your foot, it’s all made of the same stuff and is worthy of being investigated. With practice, you can begin to dismantle and investigate these feelings and sensations but, for the moment, I’m going to stick to the practice of attentiveness itself rather than insight.

Once you can be aware of one sensation, you can begin to expand that ‘field’ of attention to include other sensations like sounds, touch, sights, and so on. Notice how each of these “sense consciousness” happens of its own accord. They occur when an object makes contact with them and don’t require any effort on your part. It’s a fascinating thing to do, just simply noticing how your experience of the world is being constructed in real-time and how incredible the human brain and nervous system are. The ever-changing, chaotic blast of information that makes up “reality” is received, decoded, and interpreted by this organism to create this experience of the world...and “I” am not involved in any way, shape or form. Literally.

You can also look further into the various submodalities which make up the overall “object” being perceived by this implied “subject”. For example, in the instant of touch there are myriad sensations which make up the conceptual label of “touch”, so we can perceive temperature, pressure, texture/pattern, etc. (each of which can then be broken down ad absurdum if you’re so inclined.)

There is a kaleidoscopic range of sensory delight available right now, ever changing and never static, simply by paying more attention to your experience. Notice more. Look closer and see just how multi-faceted a jewel our perceptual faculty is.

In terms of what we’ll call “internal” sensations, by which I mean mental movements, thoughts, conceptualizing, and anything of a not-solely-physical-sense-based variety, the selection of what can be attended to is pretty much endless. What’s useful is not to get involved in the content. Simply notice them and see how they appear, fade and vanish by themselves to be replaced by something else. With further practice, you can also dismantle and investigate these states in the same way as you would with any other sensation. It’s all fair game, but the point is that you’re attentive to what’s happening in your immediate experience right now. Once you can be attentive effortlessly, you can practice being more attentive to even more of your experience. There is no end to how attentive you can be but it can only happen right now.

Practical Suggestions

It's possible to use a variety of techniques to improve your practice of attentiveness.

-          Thich Nhat Hanh talks about mindfully doing the dishes in one of his books; how you’re doing them just to be doing them (being attentive of being alive right now), not purely to get them done (being otherwise focused on some future event). This sort of everyday activity is ideal for practicing attentiveness, exploring the complex interplay of sensations, this “dance of creation” that is sensate experience means that there’s never any reason to be bored; there is always something to be aware of and this is where we can begin practicing properly.

-          Taking a cue from my personal favourite, the batshit mental but never dull, Aleister Crowley, choose a word, for example “I”, and try to delete it from your speech for a predefined period of time; should you transgress this self-imposed limitation, Uncle Al would have you cut yourself with a razor, however Bob Wilson suggests the less masochistic, but equally effective, biting your thumb. While this practice is aimed more at gaining control of speech, the basic technique can be used as a ‘goad’ for attentiveness. My own preference was to use an elastic band to “ping” my wrist . It’s discreet enough to be unnoticeable, but it hurts enough to get you back to being attentive.

-          G.I. Gurdjieff would have people notice their entire experience when they did things like walking through a doorway, and in fact it was this particular technique which allowed me to understand what the guy was talking about. He called it “self-observation” but the practice of it, in my experience, is phenomenologically the same as being mindful or attentive within other models.[8] Using external objects as triggers for becoming attentive is incredibly useful, they’re always available and can be changed to suit wherever you are; anything which allows you to simply remind yourself to notice your experience will work. Some examples from my own practice include: Noticing when going through doorways, setting an alarm to go off every five minutes or some other period of time, writing down the word “notice” on my notepad in work and remembering to do so each time I see it, noticing every time I check my phone...the list goes on, it all comes down to what works for you and reminds you to be attentive right now.

-          When you’re sitting on the train or bus and listening to music, notice all the different elements of the sounds you hear. Look at how you can hear all the different instrumentation, the pitch and tone of sounds, how long each lasts and how attention seems to move between each part. Feel the vibration of the air as it makes contact with the eardrum, which is very subtle but eminently discernible. Look at your emotional reaction to the sounds, how feelings and thinking can change based on, for example, the lyrics, key or tempo of the music. Don’t get involved in the content, just observe how things are at that moment and how they change. This can be applied in a similar way to things like watching movies, reading books, or engaging in any sort of entertainment whatsoever as long as it leads you to be mindful, attentive or aware of your immediate experience via the “sense doors”.

-          Be actively engaged in your experience, aware and full of wonder, enthusiastically enjoying what you’re doing. This practice is truly enjoyable in it’s beginning, middle and end..

Hopefully this brief breakdown and analysis of attentiveness will allow people to improve their practice, understand what attentiveness “is” and how it works in real terms. I’ll make it clear again that this is simply a reflection of my current understanding and is subject to change at any time, these are my attempts at describing the basics of the practice itself without reference to any particular conceptual map of the territory involved. Just real-life, phenomenological details from my own experience which may be of use to others.

- Tommy

[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/attention?s=t

[2] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faculty

[3] [Redacted because: Pointless]

[4] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mindful?s=t

[5] http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/mindful?q=mindful

[6] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mindful?s=t

[7] Relative to the everyday consciousness of those not already investigating such things.

[8] Please note, I am not trying to equate G.I. Gurdjieff’s approach with anything else, I don’t understand enough of it and my experience with it is minimal. I only mention him so as to attribute the technique to it’s inventor,  however some of the techniques he uses, and the “self-observation” thing in particular, do bear similarities to the bare-bones processes of other models.