Formal interactions included one pairing exercise, and two sittings with a breakaway group of eight people. There were also some informal sharings when not observing the noble silence. As usual I was amazed to discover where people’s heads were at and slightly dis-eased when trying to explain where mine was at. I find it easier to write my story than to talk it. So here goes.
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The main work of the mindbrain is to receive inputs from the sense organs and to churn these with memories (hard wired and learned) so as to tell stories that lead to action. The action is to approach things you like (eg food and sexual partners), to move away from things you do not like (eg predators and cliff edges), and to ignore the neutral stuff.
Consciousness is the tiny tip of a huge and busy iceberg of unconsciousness. The unconscious processes never ending amounts of stuff (thoughts and feelings) and sometimes spotlights particular thoughts and feelings by making them available to the conscious part of the mindbrain. This is the part that thinks serially and can hold only 7 (plus or minus 2) items at a time. Note that the unconscious circuits in the mindbrain work in parallel mode, can deal with many items at a time, and are therefore capable of multitasking.
Most brainwork is unconscious and fast and helps to ensure immediate survival. Consciousness, and especially self-consciousness, is less important than was formerly thought. But it plays a key role in channeling those thoughts and feelings that are conscious, slow and rational.
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Now for a change of image. Imagine the inside of your skull to be a room that is empty except for a table at one side. There are trap doors in the ceiling at either end of the table – one labeled in and the other labeled out. The table is your attention centre.
The unconscious pushes lumps of thought/feeling through the in door. It lands on the attention centre where it hangs around for a while and then disappears through the out door. Thoughts and feelings come and go and it seems as if the mind has a mind of its own. The ‘I’ is not in control.
Sometimes the lumps of thought/feeling are small and are not causes of concern. But sometimes the lumps are huge and hot and they expand to fill the whole room – think of anger, greed, lust etc. ‘Passion’ rules and the ‘I’ is no longer operational. This is not often an acceptable frame of mind.
The table that is the attention centre is at one side of the skull room. At the other side there is a wise old person who has the potential of bearing non-judgmental witness to the stuff that passes through the attention centre. When the witness is awake, and aware of what is going on, they can prevent passions from expanding to fill the room. Imagine a huge, hot lump of anger appearing in the attention centre: the witness can say, “Hello my little friend anger, what is troubling you today.” The anger may not go away but neither will it swamp consciousness. There will be detachment from it and thus an atmosphere of calm abiding in the skull room.
In many people the witness is asleep and the mindbrain runs on automatic pilot. The witness exists but it is covered in veils. The mirror is covered with dust. The beggar by the roadside does not realise that he is sitting on a box full of gold. The owner of the hotel is shut in the basement while the guests are rowdy in their rooms. Soon after his enlightenment the Buddha was asked what made him different from ordinary folk. He replied, “I am awake”.
There is the idea of moving from Dark to Light. The darkness is when the skull room is totally occupied with passion such that self consciousness has no role to play. You are a robot on automatic pilot.
The light switches on when the non judgemental witness wakens. There is a noticing of what is being noticed and a thinking about what is being thought. Space opens up and this leads to reduced power in the passions. Space becomes available for watering the good seeds. It becomes possible to “accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative”.
And what are the practical steps in moving from dark to light? Sit quietly and focus on the breathing. When attention drifts to other things, notice and calmly bring it back. Over and over again. You thus become aware of and awake to the workings of the mindbrain and its ‘unreal’ viewpoints.
It was dark when I was asleep
Now that I am awake there is light
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