This talk was given by Curt Fish on July 12, 2026.
Notes
Today I’d like to talk about mindfulness of mind, in Pali, cittanupassana. This has come up in the sangha a few times lately, and I wanted to explore it further. David has also come up several times recently. David wrote a wonderful essay called “Looking at Mind – Meditations on That Which Knows”.
David leads the essay with this Zen Chant:
May I respectfully remind you
Life and death are of supreme importance.
Time passes quickly
And opportunity is lost.
Awaken! Awaken! Take heed!
Do not squander your life.
That’s David. It was important to him that we do this NOW! He expressed this many times, in many ways. Don’t wait, it may be too late!
David used this text to teach a class on the subject. I’d like to share some of his thoughts, and what I’ve taken from them.
First, a particular interchange from the class: David’s example of mind as the ground from which all experience comes. I shared that I saw mind as a filter, he saw it as much more essential than that.
In the Upaddha Sutta, Ananda says, “This is half of the holy life, lord: admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie.”
The Buddha replies, “Don’t say that, Ananda. Don’t say that. Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life. When a monk has admirable people as friends, companions, & comrades, he can be expected to develop & pursue the noble eightfold path.”
Looking at mind, we need to start with the postures of the mind. This is covered in mindfulness of mind, third in the four foundations of mindfulness. This is similar to working with the 5 Hindrances. These postures are different from the deeper, background part of mind that simply knows. Bare attention. What lies under the hindrances.
When we work with the hindrances, we focus on “What is the direct experience of the hindrance?”
- Of course, it’s always good to look for direct experience is in the body. Is there tension? Is the bodily posture open or closed?
- Note any feeling tone, any sense of leaning toward with a sense of urgency or leaning away, pushing away, trying to escape?
- Also note the thoughts that arise. If the thoughts come as words, what do those words tell you about the mind state
- Noticing the particular sensations, feelings or thoughts that recur can be most instructive.
- It is also important to note how the intentions and actions these mind states produce seek to define a self
Here are a few examples of working with the hindrances, skillfully and unskillfully:
Greed (Mind with Greed) Me first!!
Hatred (Mind with Hatred) – Arguments with Rose E., realizing that tomorrow neither of us will care about the problem tomorrow, knowing that these arguments don’t last. They are impermanent. As we pay attention to the characteristics of these situations, we can begin to see all
Anger and golf, one time hearing myself curse and another time not
Restlessness and Worry (Scattered mind, this one with a side of fear)
Talk about the experience of overstimulation. At work, many messages were coming in. I find myself opening a message, feeling unsure of how to handle, then just moving on to another. I keep moving from one thing to the next, never solving anything. The mind seeks comfort in completing something.
These are why we go to the cushion, to strengthen and build our ability to be mindful more and more frequently. Learn the bodily sensations and thoughts that arise from the mind states. This is the work of our practice, training the mind to recognize the instability and bring bare attention to the experience of the mind states.
As mentioned earlier, underlying the postures of the mind is that which knows. It’s also possible to be aware of that awareness, as well. As David explained it, it involves probing the experience of the arisen mind state seeking its true nature. Keep probing until the futility of the search becomes apparent, and the answer presents itself wordlessly.
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