Wise Ways To Happiness

Mindfulness as a Master Skill–Part II, Sensory Clarity

Posted by George Shears | Filed under Mindfulness Basics

In Part I of this three-part series, I focused on concentration power as the first component of Basic Mindfulness.  In this second installment, my aim is to elucidate sensory clarity as the second element in this tripartite skill set.

In introducing his breakthrough discovery of mindfulness over 25 centuries ago, the Buddha presented it in relation to what he called “the three marks of existence”—namely (in the Pali language he spoke),  Anicca, Dukkha, and Anatta.  As most commonly translated, their English equivalents are:  Impermanence, Suffering (or Unsatisfactoriness), and No Self.  He posited that the entire physical and phenomenological world is marked by these three basic characteristics.

Impermanence refers to the fact that the entire universe is in a constant state of flux and that there are, therefore, no permanent “things” to be found anywhere.  This view, incidentally, is remarkably in harmony with the findings of modern physics.

Suffering or Unsatisfactoriness means that, due to the fact of Impermanence, nothing in the physical or psychological realms can bring lasting satisfaction.

No Self denotes that all phenomena in the universe—including, very importantly, human beings– are completely devoid of a permanent self.

Given the very strong self-identification of most Westerners, No Self is by far the most difficult of the Buddha’s “three marks” to understand fully and to accept.  As a means of easing this difficulty, the venerable Vietnamese Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh, has pointed out that every apparent “self” is comprised entirely of “non-self elements.”

For example, a tree consists completely of non-tree elements (such as minerals from the soil, carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, water, etc.).  In the same way, individual humans are likewise made up entirely of non-human elements.

To further underscore this basic truth, he also encourages us poetically to recognize that “If the flower is on her way to become a piece of garbage, the garbage can be on her way to becoming a flower.”

In the traditional application of mindfulness as a means of spiritual development, one of its primary benefits is to help people recognize experientially the reality of No Self.  As Shinzen Young, master teacher of Basic Mindfulness, likes to say, developing sensory clarity results in getting free from “the web of limited identity.”

In the following short video, “Untangle and be Free,” he describes this process in some detail.

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Related posts

• The Truth of No-Self--A Key to Realizing True Happiness
• Mindfulness as a Powerful Way to Reduce Suffering and Increase Fulfillment
• Mindfulness--An Introduction by Shinzen Young
• Mindfulness as a "Higher Power" in Recovery from Addiction
• Wise Words on Mindfulness from Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn

Tagged : anatta, annica, concentration power, dukkha, impermanence, master skill, mindfulness, no self, pali, sensory clarity, suffering, thich nhat hanh, three marks of existence, unsatisfactoriness

Comments (3) | June 29th, 2010