Public Comment

Mindfulness can have many meanings and many methods. It varies uniquely for each person. And it can be impeded by many things; issues with the brain can impede or otherwise affect attempts at mindfulness. Yet, some kinds of mindfulness can supersede an impediment in the brain. It seems to me as though a genuinely attained person is not limited by brain issues, by brain capacity, or by what the brain can or can't do. 

Recent scientific theory guesses that human consciousness could be electromagnetic. This is an element that doctors don't understand. And, really, there is more that brain scientists don't know compared to what they know. We have not closed the book of understanding the origin of consciousness. 

If a doctor says you have brain damage and you're not capable of much, it says more about the doctor than it says about you: the thinking of the doctor is limited. 

If someone is seeking attainment and they have an issue with their brain, the form and appearances of the mindfulness could look different than the classic Zen Buddhism. In Zen, you sit with back straight and usually with legs folded, and this is an aid to reaching an elevated state, sometimes termed; "Samadhi." Yet if you have an issue with your body and/or mind that prevents that kind of practice, other methods can be used. 

The Zen community is usually the most tolerant you can find. Yet there are some Zen practitioners who haven't evolved past the hurdle of attaining a good understanding of people with mental and physical disabilities. The editorial staff members at Lion's Roar, a commercial Buddhist magazine which is prominent and well-known, adhere to the stereotype that neurodivergent people are incapable of Buddhist attainment. I find clear evidence of this badly mistaken thinking in the contributor's guidelines of the magazine. 

Yet, another Buddhist magazine, "Mindfulness Bell," has published two of my articles. And I have sent them a few items that, due to my "inappropriate attention" or lack of information, should have offended them. But they persistently remained open to dealing with me. There is quite a contrast there. Mindfulness Bell was founded by Thich Nhat Hanh, apparently one of the most conscious and dedicated of human beings in human history. 

It seems to me that my mental condition and the medications to treat it, in fact do make it a lot harder to practice mindfulness. In my history I've found some ways to get around the limits to my brain. Yet at other times in my life, I have regressed and have mentally lost ground. It seems to me that some of this back and forth is caused by karma. Even while the periodic backward progress often appears to hbe caused by random external events, it fits a pattern. When I come close to a sustained elevated state, invariably something happens to me that stops my progress and often reverses it. I believe this is because I have to pay back the karma while at the level at which I generated it. This, while it is very daunting, is possible to do. 

I have incessantly strived to have a better and better working mind. I have learned some things that people are not expected to know. I have a toolbox of methods that work for me, some of the time, to make me feel better and gain better clarity. I'm not going to share them in this essay. 

I wrote a book a while back about mindfulness, but I decided to take it off the market because of deficiencies of that book. Additionally, it was barely if at all selling. In the future, if I am around a long time, I will probably try again to write a book entailing what a person can do with their mind. 

I am self-taught at mindfulness. But I have followed existing theory of Buddhism, not the ritual aspects, not lighting incense, chanting, or any of that. I'm talking of the very basic concepts of Gautama Buddha: Suffering is caused by clinging. 

Since all things must ultimately pass, must change, and/or must end, you will create suffering for yourself if you hang onto everything. Yet there is another side to it, wherein this idea is not always the best idea to apply to a situation. 

Sometimes you should get into the ring, you must grab onto something you're after, and you should fight for it, tooth-and-nail, regardless of whether it makes you suffer. That's part of what people must do, and that's an area in which mindfulness might not apply. 

Yet mindfulness can teach you a lot of things. There are two sides to this coin, and we need both. Learning about Zen can be of help, even if you do not want to go to a temple and do Buddhist practices. The reading is good for informational purposes. It can point you in a good direction. Any new mindfulness book by me is a long way off. 

Jack Bragen thinks, lives, and writes in the East Bay Area of the SF Bay.