The Container of Awareness

 

This post is about the first mental exercise of Step 1. If you're struggling with this exercise, you've come to the right place for information. But before you continue reading, know that although the first mental exercise is usually called "thought-observation," in this post I'm going to refer to it as "thought-awareness" instead. Don't let this confuse you; I'm not talking about a different exercise. Observing one's thoughts is just a way of saying to be aware of them. In fact, I personally think "thought-awareness" is a better name for the exercise because it doesn't give people the wrong impression that the exercise involves observing visual images flashing before your mind's eye. The only reason I continue to call it "thought-observation" is that this is the most popular name for the exercise.

Anyhow, as anyone who is familiar with my writings knows, I consider thought-awareness to be of the utmost importance and the key to becoming proficient at VOM, which so many people seem to have trouble with. Sometimes when I discuss thought-awareness with people though, they tell me they can't become aware of their thoughts and want to know what they should do to be able to become aware of their thoughts. Let's look into this matter.

In order to understand the reason some people are unable to become aware of their thoughts, it helps to familiarize oneself with Ezra Bayda's concept of one's "container of awareness," which is discussed in his book Being Zen. To put things simply, you can't be aware of (in other words you can't "observe") something that isn't in your container of awareness. Some people have a small container of awareness that doesn't encompass very much. Other people have a large container of awareness that encompasses many things. And then there is William Mistele who has a flexible container of awareness that he can extend to encompass the aura of any being in the universe. When people aren't able to practice thought-awareness, it's possible that their container of awareness is too small and therefore doesn't encompass their thoughts.

The solution to this problem is to expand one's container of awareness. This can be done by practicing awareness exercises. One awareness exercise is mindfulness, which is just going through your daily life in a state of awareness. This is the most important awareness exercises for expanding your container of awareness. Another awareness exercise is anapanasati, which is being aware of one's breathing. In her book How to Meditate, Pema Chodron starts the reader off with breath-awareness. Then, in a later chapter, she has the reader practice thought-awareness. Thoughts are more subtle than breaths, so many people may find it easier at first to be aware of their breathing than of their thoughts. However, after a month or so of practicing breath-awareness, they may find that their container of awareness has expanded to encompass their thoughts. When that happens, they should be able to practice thought-awareness with ease. 

But the key to expanding one's container of awareness is not any particular awareness exercise, whether it is breath-awareness or body-awareness. The key is to just remain aware. When you practice remaining aware, the container of your awareness will expand. So as you go throughout your day, be aware. Be aware of your breathing. Be aware of what you are seeing, hearing, tasting, and feeling. Ezra Bayda considers this an exercise in its own right and calls it "experiencing," which I think of as an extension of the basic mindfulness exercise. All of this is described in Being Zen, which I highly recommend. 

As one final note, I should mention that when it comes to the aforementioned exercise of "experiencing," I've found William Mistele's essay on the five senses to be a very helpful source of guidance, in addition to what Bayda himself writes in Being Zen. It is through the five senses that we become aware of the world and experience it, so any spiritual practice involving the five senses can greatly help us expand the container of our awareness.