The Six Points

At each stage of development, there is some sort of center or focus or key reference point for personal effort or intentional attentional deployment. As Kabat-Zinn's definition points out, the reference at the stage of mindful appreciation is present-moment, nonjudgmental, on-purpose attention. That purpose, directly or indirectly involves appreciating life. As we move up the scale to the stage of Clarity, we are moving more beyond appreciation and into straight balance, clarity, and bliss. While bliss results directly from mindfulness meditation, it is more closely linked to meditative periods at the stage of mindful appreciation. By the time we're moving into Clarity, the bliss and inspiration it fits with are less "caused by" the formal meditation and more simply indicative of living well--more "spontaneously" arising.

So how does one's key reference point for progress or actualization change? Mindfulness never loses its value, but a reapportionment of attentional deployment is called for--a growth or a shift. I believe that shift is towards balance for its own sake rather than nonreactive mindfulness more for the sake of greater appreciation and diminished suffering. We're looking to act as an inspired self at this point rather than holding onto a feeling and/or ideal of some idealized self. In other words, rather than noticing repression and reactivity and choosing nonreactivity (which is different from non-action or passivity), we find that the value of repression and reactivity drops off when it is possible to be balanced and unconfined. If we try to move into Clarity without mindfulness practice and appreciation, it's possible to feel less confined, but we'll remain less mature; we'll be more self-spoiled and freewheeling than free.

Let me describe balance at this point, then. Balance is referenced to three continuums, each with two poles. You can think of an x axis and a y access crossed by a z axis, making our imaginary grid 3D. The center is an imaginary point in the same way that we speak of a physical "center" of gravity. The center is always there, but it is always shifting. Even the act of thinking shifts molecules within our minds that shift that centerpoint of gravity. So there is, one sense, no single point on our physical bodies that is the center (like--my nose is here and always in a similar relation to my ears), but there also is a predictable center (at least in geometrical space) which depends on how gravity works.

One of the axes is like left to right. Between (in a metaphysical way) tamas and rajas is sattva. If we're neither too aggressive nor too lazy, we're sattvic. There is a certain equilibrium and proportion. This will also be experienced in relation to other people around us as sometimes being too dominant or too passive. All three positions--one-up, one-down, and as equals--are called for in different situations.

Another axis is like forward to backward lean. This is like trying to go too fast or too slow concerning psychological development. Although this has aspects that feel like tamas and rajas, rather than that sort of aggressive to passive quality, this has more to do with a sense of speed. Again, just as there is a time for different positions, there is a time and place for different speeds.

And then lastly, we decide how subtle or obvious our actions should be. This is like an up/down axis. At some points, transcendental or blissful sorts of actions are fitting, but at other times, play or hard work or study is called for.

Without mindfulness practice, it will be difficult to maintain, perhaps even to recognize, psychological balance. This is why consistency in mindfulness as well as appreciation is important. If we don't come to know our own vasanas, habits, or gross-level psyche, it will always be in the driver's seat whether we ignore/deny that fact or not. Just as mindfulness practice is a cultural technology and not naturally occurring as practice, this sort of psychological balance is not the same as physical homeostasis and cannot happen without awareness that it is possible as well as the preparation, intention, and consistency that is called for.

At the stage of mindful appreciation, we are noticing and being nonreactive to (vigilant against) our very own personality disordering, emotional reactivity, and personal limitations. (Emotional reactivity actually keeps us from being emotionally spontaneous, so I am not speaking against emotions here.) This vigilant practice both highlights and supports awareness of the moments when we're being appreciative. At the next stage, there is a shift from the important reference point of mindfulness practice as a vigilant practice to balance or clarity as a simpler thing in and of itself. Rather than doing the work of taking off our clothes, it is more like enjoying the fact of nakedness and a slight breeze or warm sun on our skin. The mindfulness is connected to the bliss and balance and clarity, while the balance and bliss and clarity stand forth due to the mindful appreciation.