The Mahāsī Barometer
Whit Hornsberger came to the Mahāsī method during a significant period of personal transformation, seeking a meditation practice that offered both structure and depth. As he discussed in a recent podcast episode, Whit appreciates the Mahāsī method for its systematic approach to mindfulness and insight meditation, which emphasizes the meticulous observation of physical sensations, thoughts, and emotions. This method resonated with him because it encourages a direct, experiential engagement with the mind and body, fostering a deeper connection to the present moment and a clearer comprehension of the mental patterns that shape our experience.
“It takes time for the mind to be able to truly receive unpleasant experiences, that for time immemorial it has been pushing away from, with complete equanimity.”
It allowed me to use that noting in the mind as a barometer to see if I was actually noting with true mindfulness. And what I mean by that is, mindfulness being a complete detached, awareness of momentary experience. It's very difficult when there are any unpleasant phenomena, whether physical and or mental, coming up in the mind, to just note, ‘unpleasant, unpleasant,’ with complete equanimity.
For many years, I thought that I was noting with mindfulness. Just as when we speak to each other as human beings, I might say something to you, and not realize that there's a tone in the way I say it. Then the way you receive it completely changes the meaning of what I thought I was trying to say to you. Similarly, what I found very helpful with Mahāsī method was, I began to realize that even though I thought the mind was noting with true sati, true mindfulness, in other words, imbued with mettā, loving kindness; what I began to realize is that tanhā and upādāna, craving and attachment, is extremely subtle. It takes time, whether using a noting method or not, for the mind to be able to truly receive unpleasant experiences, that for time immemorial it has been pushing away from, with complete equanimity.
I finally had this ‘Aha!’ moment, where I realized I was noting but there wasn't true loving awareness - there were traces of tanhā - that allowed me to use the noting practice as this barometer where I began to see, ‘Okay, there's still attachment in that note.’ Even though it sounds in my mind that there's not, I could look closer and closer and begin to see, ‘This is not true mindfulness, yet it’s present. I'm present with what's arising, but the mind isn't completely accepting, with mettā, what is arising. That's what I found very helpful to me using that noting practice as a barometer, in terms of the tone that the noting mind may be using.