Many Rivers Books & Tea weblog

Thanks for this fascinating posting, Stuart. I want to comment on your report that King doesn't like the term "Self-Observation" because the "I"-entity can't observe itself. That's true if the "I"-entity is equivalent to the ego/android. In that case, we have the common experience of one internal voice commenting on a prior voice, or upon an experience. But if that which Observes is more than the android/ego, then King's assertion doesn't necessarily hold.

One of the advantages of the term "Self-Observation" is precisely that "Self" is not defined, and is thus problematized. In this sense, the term invites the practitioner to continually ask "Who Am I?" or "What is this Self?" Those can be very productive questions, as Tayu founder Robert Daniel Ennis (among many other spiritual teachers) has pointed out.

I have found the practice of being present to sensations in the body particularly useful lately. If I direct all of my attention to my body, there is not a lot left over for mental activity. By the time I realize I'm not in the body anymore, I've become hypnotized with some egoic narrative commenting on the experience I'm having. The content of the narrative invariably involves elements excluded by the first three characteristics you listed. So, in summary, the practice of observing sensations in the body has afforded me glimpses of the ways in which I become identified with some story about what I'm doing. For anyone who has never tried this practice, I claim that we are almost continuously hypnotized by mental activities. Even when we're being "in the now" we easily end up commenting on the experience we're having and become more interested in the implications of mental stuff than what is actually happening in that time and place.

I invite anyone to respond to what I've written.

Hey Danny, what exactly do you mean by egoic narrative commenting?

That's an important question, Jacob. I am trying to describe something that has been happening when I am making efforts to observe as described above, but something similar is happening for most of us most of the time even while not trying to meditate. To get a sense for what I'm talking about, try meditating on the flame of a candle. This is a nice way to quiet the mind. From there, notice how much your mind wanders. When you notice it has wandered, just come back to watching the flame. If you do this long enough you'll probably notice certain themes in your wandering thoughts. The themes will vary from person to person, but in general these thoughts are telling a story in which you are the main character. Something that has often happened for me is that I'll start imagining some future scenario in which I'm reporting to my teachers how wonderful my meditation experience was. All sorts of other things can happen too. The important thing is not that you read my words and understand what they say, but that you investigate for yourself what I'm talking about. You may find it interesting how difficult it really is to simply keep your attention focused on a candle, or whatever, without your thoughts stealing the show. It gets even more interesting when you start to notice patterns, or habits, of thought that you didn't even realize you were enacting. As another example, I was on a nature walk the other day making efforts to observe. Everything was very beautiful and I was very present, but before long my mind kept taking my attention away from the rocks, trees, water, my body. I started thinking about what I was doing, how beautiful it all is, how I would tell so-and-so about my great hike, how great I am for going on such a nice walk, etc. I found this interesting because it seems to me that thinking is not necessary to experience beauty, and yet the mind insists on it. Again, the claim is that rather than being present to what is happening in and around us, we are actually paying more attention to some story in our head about what is happening, which may or may not be accurate or relevant. But don't take my word for it!

Thanks, Daniel, for posting this clear description of the egoic narrative commenting process.

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