Page 83 - Dhamma Practice

and swift manner) When we sit and meditate, is our mind awake? Yes, correct? Do we need to contemplate quickly? No. But, we can feel what the characteristics of a mind that is awake are. It is not drowsy, correct? It is refreshed and clear. A mind that is awake will be bright, meaning our awareness is robust. We need to observe, we need to look at our own mind, not just contemplating the conscious phenomena. This is because if we focus solely on the conscious phenomena, we would be aware only of physical phenomena, but not the mental phenomena.
Therefore, contemplation includes experiencing the physical and mental phenomena, experiencing the physical body and the mind, and experiencing the emergence-cessation of the physical and mental phenomena. Sometimes we wonder: “How is our mind?” We can feel straight away—is it neutral, unburdened, calm, or comfortable? We just need to observe our mind to see how it is. These are the characteristics of the mind. This is the way to battle phenomena, to resolve sleepiness.
In contemplating the conscious phenomena, some practitioners are curious about when inflate-deflate ceases, with only emptiness remains—real emptiness. If it is real emptiness, then everything disappears—including the physical body that sits there. But, if the inflate-deflate disappears, but the physical body remains, we should focus on the impact point. The key thing to observe is that the mind that experiences the sitting phenomenon, does
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