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 jonathanseagull
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Registered: 10/28/05
Posts: 986
Last seen: 1 month, 4 days
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 Mindfulness vs. Egocentrism
#6939107 - 05/19/07 02:30 PM (5 years, 10 days ago) |
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I need some help understanding this in the correct way.
I understand mindfulness and being in the moment, etc. But I also suffer from existential anxiety. Being mindful all the time only seems to make me ruminate on the philosophical issues. I understand how it keeps you from worry about the future, or dwelling on the past, and how being in the moment helps you be prepared for whatever... all that good stuff. I get mindfulness.
But to be in the moment almost seems to me more about being "egocentric" but that's really not the word I'm looking for. Not egocentric in the sense that everything revolves around me and a preconventional psychology, but more about concentrating on the "me". To me, that seems like it could cause a roadblock.
I find that I do better when I surrender and let go of the "me". When I'm not constantly aware of my emotional feelings and physical feelings, the surroundings, what I'm hearing, etc. I enjoy that when I'm in the wilderness, and in beautiful places. But these seem to bring "me" and "I" thoughts. I feel better when I let those thoughts go, and I just "am". It stops being about me and start being about what is, which includes me, but takes me out of the center of it.
I really have gained a lot from Buddhism and what I understand through self-teaching and reading books. I picked up Pema Chodron's "When Things Fall Apart" and she keeps returning to mindfulness, and that's what sparked this.
I'm sorry if I didn't communicate my thoughts well. I hope you guys understand what I'm trying to get at and ask. Can anybody clarify and help me out with this?
In a nutshell, Mindfulness is supposedly a very good practice, but it seems to contradict expanding your consciousness and worldview into a ethno, then worldcentric state. Expanding to envelop them all, not leave the others behind. Mindfulness seems to concentrate on egocentrism.
HELP!!  
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Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show, That the dear She might take some pleasure of my pain: Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know, Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain.
Blogs I am enjoying: Reality Sandwich | Meditations - Thoughts for the Scholars of Consciousness
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Lion
Decadent Flower Magnate
Registered: 09/20/05
Posts: 7,357
Last seen: 9 hours, 47 minutes
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Mindfulness just means awareness of what is without judgement. You are not reacting to the world around you based on misconception and delusion, or at least are reacting thusly to a lesser extent than in 'closed' moments.
I know what you mean though. In moments of heightened clarity I almost feel hyper-self-conscious, because I am aware of the vibrations I am sending out by my movements, my choice of words, the tone of my voice, etc. But mindfulness as I understand it also brings about an awareness of the common nature of all beings and the silent immensity of the world's beauty, and this is something that I think is the opposite of egocentrism.
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 redgreenvines
irregular verb
Registered: 04/08/04
Posts: 13,626
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Re: Mindfulness vs. Egocentrism [Re: Lion]
#6939291 - 05/19/07 03:34 PM (5 years, 10 days ago) |
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when the hyper self conscousness kicks in is when you have to stretch and loosen up (could be as often as every 15 or 20 minutes) rub your face, shake your legs, stop taking things seriously
or
and
loosen up
gentle down
take it to a more detatched serenity,
contemplative detatchment and soft humor or joyous goofiness are a major part of residing in a light hearted clarity.
we meditate to get glimpses and to excercise a kind of mental fluidity - a looseness.
tight and loose
meditative awareness is
on the ball
and never stiff
do what you can to keep it light (hearted) light (minded) light (footed)...
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Lion
Decadent Flower Magnate
Registered: 09/20/05
Posts: 7,357
Last seen: 9 hours, 47 minutes
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Now this is advice which I should take seriously 
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SampaJasli
Stranger
Registered: 04/09/07
Posts: 1,306
Loc: ON, Canada 
Last seen: 16 days, 12 hours
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Re: Mindfulness vs. Egocentrism [Re: Lion]
#6939722 - 05/19/07 05:56 PM (5 years, 10 days ago) |
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mindfulness
means that you should lose yourself in rumination, dwelling on the past, investing in the future, and other petty thought.
just focus on your present activity, walking, studying, whatever, and be mindful of what you're doing.
If you're eating, don't be thinking about work tomorow, or that insult you received yesterday, don't even think about the next bite, just enjoy your meal and be mindful that you're eating, sitting, enjoying, if its a pleasant experience or unpleasant etc.
When you're not doing anything else, then you can meditate by being Mindful of the rising and falling of your stomach when you breathe, or of the feeling in your nose when you exhale and inhale. when your thoughts inevitably stray to other things, be mindful of it, and return to focusing on your body. when you start to feel uncomfortable, be mindful of it, and of your irritation, etc. and try and turn your attention back to the task at hand. etc etc
this is the most basic, fundamental type of meditation.
It trains you in concentration and attention, as well as training your body to sit or lie or whatever in one position for a long time.
When you master this, there are other objects of meditation. There are also countless variations of this basic meditation.
Anyways, hope that helps, pm me if you want to know more, or are interested in some literature. I'm also an amateur meditator, try to do it every day for 10-20min. my mind is still wild, uncontrolled, and full of obstacles, but you have to start somewhere.
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jonathanseagull
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Registered: 10/28/05
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Re: Mindfulness vs. Egocentrism [Re: SampaJasli]
#6940356 - 05/19/07 08:53 PM (5 years, 10 days ago) |
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I read further in the Pema Chodron book, and she non-directly clarified this issue some.
Basically, it is an self-centered thing, this mindfulness. But it is only to learn the workings of the self, so you can understand the workings of others. The reason it's not ego-centric, is because you are doing it for others, not for yourself. The more you know yourself and don't react in harmful ways, the more you help others. The more you know of how you and others work, the better you can help them to awake.
Once "something shifts" as Pema says, then you automatically don't react negatively, and automatically assume this mindfulness, to where you don't have to practice it, because you ARE it. At that point, I guess, you leave the boat behind.
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Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show, That the dear She might take some pleasure of my pain: Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know, Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain.
Blogs I am enjoying: Reality Sandwich | Meditations - Thoughts for the Scholars of Consciousness
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redgreenvines
irregular verb
Registered: 04/08/04
Posts: 13,626
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lots of boats
the ocean is cluttered with them
lovely things.
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~~~~~
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Rhizoid
carbon unit
Registered: 01/22/00
Posts: 1,596
Loc: Europe
Last seen: 9 hours, 9 minutes
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All mental exercises (like mindfulness, concentration, etc) are "egocentric" in the sense that you do these things in order to cultivate your own skills. But there is nothing contradictory about that. A person who is skillful is more useful to all people (both self and others), than the same person would be without those skills.
There can be a conflict of course if you obsess about meditation (or tripping for that matter) so much that it makes you neglect your duties toward family members or any other people that depend on you. But mindfulness helps you detect such situations, since mindfulness forces you to examine your own motives.
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