Mindfulness and Self-deliverance to Pure Presence

• Published in: Asian Studies
• Main Author: ULE, Andrej
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakulte / Ljubljana University Press, Faculty of Arts 2016
• Subjects: mindfulness; Buddhism; method; eightfold path; emptiness; compassion; čuječnost; budizem; osmeročlena pot; praznina; sočutje; sami
• Online Access: https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/as/article/view/6359; https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2016.4.2.85-94

In the contemporary (Western) literature on mindfulness many authors present it as only a mental practice, which may bring one to a more successful and effective working of the mind, as well as different kinds of mental concentration. However, at least in part of Buddhist literature mindfulness is taken as an inseparable part of the Eightfold Way, and not as a means to achieve a separate mental aim. Another important emphasis of Mahayana Buddhism is that mindfulness does not aim at something new, but instead leads our awareness towards a deeper origin, which has already been present with us. While the initial form of mindfulness clings to various methods and achievements, the higher form lies bare in the present moment, always ready to reveal itself. When we are ready to let go of all that we achieve and do, we can surrender our being to the here and now. V sodobni (zahodni) literaturi o čuječnosti mnogo avtorjev predstavlja čuječnost le kot mentalno prakso, ki naj privede do uspešnejšega in učinkovitejšega delovanja uma, pa tudi do različnih oblik koncentracije duha. Vendar je vsaj v delu budistične literature čuječnost razumljena kot neločljiv del osmeročlene poti, in ne kot metoda oz. sredstvo za doseganje nekega posebnega mentalnega cilja. Drugi pomemben poudarek predvsem v mahajanskem budizmu je v tem, da čuječnost ne meri na nekaj novega, temveč vodi do pozornosti na nekaj izvornega, ker je že vseskozi prisotno. Podana je razlika med začetno obliko čuječnosti, ki se drži raznih metod in razlik, ter višjo obliko, ki se dogaja v Zdajšnjost in presega vse, kar se da doseči ali storiti in nam odpira to, kar leži tik pred nami, če smo pripravljeni pozabiti na sami sebe in se prepustimo le biti tu in zdaj.