Being Awake

~ By Ajahn Jayasāro ~

Meditation is the cultivation of wakefulness. It begins with us learning how to be awake to our meditation object, moment by moment. As it progresses we learn to be awake to the whole of our body and mind. We observe, for example, how the posture of the body and its aches and pains affect the mind. We observe the various ways in which mental agitation and its absence affect the body. We observe how a sound can trigger a memory, how a memory can trigger an emotion, and how an emotion can plunge us into a whole inner world that, for its duration, seems very real. We observe the craving for distraction and, if we persevere, the simple joy of non-distraction. We begin to sense the path to inner freedom. As we gradually assimilate all this raw data about the nature of our body and mind, we find changes occurring naturally in our values and behaviour. There is, certainly, a role for faith and theory in our lives as Buddhists. But what is fundamental, believe, is this intense curiosity about our life, and this commitment, each moment of the day, to being awake.

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"Food for the Heart", a series of Dhamma teachings handwritten weekly is posted on the Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives page with Ajahn's kind permission.

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For other teachings by Ven. Ajahn Jayasāro, please visit the Panyaprateep Foundation website.