When mindfulness is weak, it is literally the case that we are not making full use of our senses. As a result metaphorically (and perhaps also literally), we bump into or trip over things because we cannot perceive them. Everyone naturally has a degree of mindfulness but the amount varies considerably from person to person. If mindfulness were confined to vision, it would be as if some people walk around in the light with their eyes open while others try to walk in various states of relative darkness.
The nuance of the Buddha’s teaching is that it’s not a lack of concentration that’s the problem but more a problem of perception. To continue with the analogy, the problem of how to move around in darkness cannot be solved by focusing or concentrating on walking. To solve the problem, there must be some heightened perception of one or more senses, e.g., by turning on the light, opening one’s eyes or reaching out somehow to feel one’s way around.
The key to the Buddha’s teaching is understanding the subtle difference between on the one hand, focusing or concentrating on something and, on the other hand, deliberately becoming aware of what is happening. The latter is a much lighter, more direct and easy going approach. It gives rise to a different and less conventional kind of concentration which is referred to as momentary concentration, i.e., the continuum of changing awareness along with changes in the environment.
The value of coming to a meditation retreat and learning from experienced teachers is that in doing so, students are able to obtain an authentic instruction in how to develop mindfulness inline with the Buddha’s teaching. As noted above, this teaching while elegant is nuanced. While it may be tempting to assume that no instruction is required to learn insight meditation, that would under estimate the subtle nature of the method that is required to achieve results. Fortunately, the Buddha also passed down a method to assess whether meditation students are applying mindfulness in the correct fashion or not. When you join us at the Buddhaviapssana Meditation Centre, we will introduce you to this method so that you can learn how to increase mindfulness in your everyday life.