Observing-self & Mindstream

We have been discussing the importance of metacognition (a.k.a. mindful awareness) as the foundation of psychological flexibility and affect regulation for some time. However, many of us find it quite challenging to maintain the headspace required for the observation of one’s mental processes and emotional reactions without overidentification. It is fair to say that knowing and being able to practice mindful awareness consistently in daily life are two different things. Until this way of living becomes our second nature, we would need a couple of mental strategies to reserve a space for psychological flexibility in addition to daily meditation as we navigate through complex, stress-ridden lives. While daily meditation naturally promotes the awareness of awareness, incorporating conceptual models illustrated here may further support our efforts to cultivate mindful awareness.

In a way, the aim of mindfulness practice is finding a seat in the realm of non-judgmental, non-identifying observation of internal experience. As we settle in the seat of detached, pure observation, we develop psychological stability to discern that our awareness of bubbling thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations is like an overseer, independent of the experience, and can remain neutral. We come to realize that awareness itself is imperturbable by nature and the essence of our being is the awareness and not our thoughts. This realization allows us to respond to the whirlwind of life events skillfully and have the readiness to make room for discomfort and setbacks to be genuinely kind to ourselves.

Here is another way to explain how mindful awareness promotes psychological space & flexibility.  When stressed out, many of us find it nearly impossible to stop the racing thoughts or break away from ruminative preoccupations.  The first thing we need to realize is that “the mind has a mind of its own” as Jon Kabat-Zinn pointed out and that we have little or no control over the endlessly bubbling thoughts.  In fact, as we discussed previously, the human brain is biologically adapted to generate a deluge of countless ideas to entertain a very long list of what-if scenarios and continuously seek discernible patterns as an “anticipation machine.” It is important to remember that our thoughts are, for the most part, independently occurring, incidental, transient mental events that play out in the field of consciousness, and not unlike a series of natural phenomena. Instead of trying to swim through the mindstream, which is a sure way to exhaust ourselves and eventually drown, we fly over the river and selectively engage with relevant or useful thoughts while dismissing other unhelpful thoughts matter-of-factly without triggering emotional reactions.  While we may never be able to stem the deluge of thoughts, we do have control over how and when we engage with bubbling and floating thoughts. This is one way of conserving the finite amount of mental energy available to us each day (ref. Conservation of Mental Energy).

If you prefer, you could think of yourself as an air traffic controller working in a control tower of a major hub, overseeing and regulating the endless flow of flights (thoughts, emotions, sensations) coming and going while keeping an eye on the shifting weather or life events. Mindstream (citta-saṃtāna) in Buddhist Psychology is an equivalent of what William James (1842 – 1910; the father of American Psychology) described as “stream of consciousness” in his 1890 publication, The Principles of Psychology, although the term was originally introduced by a Scottish philosopher, Alexander Bain in 1855, who founded the very first academic journal of psychology, Mind, in 1876.

From Philosophy of Mind

In addition to the above two conceptual models, those endowed with philosophically oriented minds might be interested in contemplating the following ontological definitions to appreciate the benefit of elevating one’s awareness from the level of sentience to that of sapience.  While not all thoughts are propositions, virtually all mental events that involve evaluative or interpretative judgment are inherently propositional and naturally implicate our subjective attitudes toward them.  Here we need to remind ourselves that our thoughts or mental formations (Sanskrit: saṃskāra) are more or less incidental manifestations of a complex interplay of numerous factors (Sanskrit: bīja), many of which are either outside of our control or unknowable to us.

Having a thought that it might rain and believing that it is going to rain may share the same mental object or proposition, but are distinguished by different shades of propositional attitudes.  In an ontological sense, mindfulness practice is about expanding the capacity to observe one’s propositional attitude as one of many possibilities by cultivating the transcendent perspective of sapience with a balanced direction of fit.  One could argue that metacognition is what separates sapient beings from merely sentient beings. True wisdom (emotional intelligence) is evidenced when the neural muscle of metacognition is flexed in a skillful manner with the awareness of awareness.

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