Notice Gone - Shinzen Young

This blog or article is loosely based on the writings of Shinzen Young titled The Power of Gone, as well as the discussion that took place in our meditation class from this morning, August 20th. Shinzen Young, a well-known meditation teacher, buddhist monk and author, frequently uses concepts from mathematics as a metaphor to illustrate the abstract concepts of meditation. As a result, his teachings tend to be popular among academics. His interest in integrating meditation with science has led to collaborations with neuroscientists at Harvard Medical School and various universities. He is working on methods to bring a secular mindfulness practice to a wider audience using revamped terminology. (wikipedia)

Although based on the ancient Buddhist practice of meditation and vipassana, it doesn't mean "Just Note Gone" meditation can't be translated into anybody's every day, normal life, whatever your spiritual persuasion, because this practice is such a positive both on and off the mat!

Shinzen Young believes there are a wide range of meditation techniques to choose from, but should he have to choose just one method to teach, he would most likely choose a meditation technique he calls "Just Note Gone".

He writes: "Most people are aware of the moment when a sensory event starts but seldom aware of the moment when it vanishes. We are instantly drawn to a new sound, or new sight, or a new body sensation but seldom notice when the previous sound, sight, or body sensation disappears."

He goes on to explain the nature of our tendency to experience the one more than the other: "This is natural, because each new arising represents what we need to deal with in the next moment. But to be aware of sensory arisings and hardly ever be aware of sensory passings creates an unbalanced view of the nature of sensory experience."

Shinzen believes we have only a finite amount of space available in our consciousness at any given moment. Therefore each arising in our consciousness somewhere causes a passing somewhere else."

Why does he feel it to be so important to notice the moment our thoughts, sounds or any particular physical sensation stops?

He illustrates the benefits of practicing "Just Note Gone" by using the example of being exposed to an extremely bad experience. Fortunately most of us don't experience this on a daily basis, but most of us can remember having experienced something so unpleasant that it seems to take over our mind. When events occur in our lives that are beyond our usual human experience, we often find the mind is no longer serene and calm. Our mind may become unsettled, restless or distressed, causing us great unhappiness. We may feel we have no choice but to disconnect, perhaps from friends or family or from society. Sometimes from our body, thoughts or our own heart. Some people may use substances or various other methods to disconnect.

Imagine you had to go through an experience like that now: Where could you imagine you would turn for safety, for comfort or for meaning? Turning towards your own body won’t help. Turning towards sight and sound won’t help. So is there anywhere you could turn to find relief?

Yes. You could concentrate intently on the fact that each sensory experience passes. In other words, you could reverse the normal habit of turning to each new arising you are experiencing, and instead turn to each new passing.

Start noticing "gone".

You will quickly notice that many different sensation experiences come and go all the time: thoughts, physical sensations, sounds, sights, feelings, emotions. And when you notice the "gone", you experience what Shinzen Young calls a "micro-ending" or micro-relief.

How do we practice this in meditation?

When we sit, and concentrate on our breath, posture, sensations, etc., whenever all or part of a sensory experience suddenly disappears note that. In other words, we remain aware of sounds, sights (if you meditate with your eyes open) feelings, thoughts, physical sensations, etc. If you're lucky enough, you will experience a sneeze wanting to start or an itch on your nose. Don't react. Just observe what happens to it. Clearly acknowledge when you notice the transition point between all of it being present and at least some of it no longer being present. Notice how it moves, and notice when it is either gone, or your concentration moves and your awareness of it has gone. If you wish, you can use a mental label to help you note. The label for any such sudden ending is “gone.”

If your mind doesn't notice when something is moving or going, don't worry about it. Just sit in awareness until you do notice. If you start worrying about the fact that nothing is ending, note each time that thought ends. At the end of that sentence in your mind is a full stop. That's a “gone.”

But what good are these “micro-ending” experiences? It would seem that if something is bad, the only ending that would mean anything would be the “macro-ending” - the ending of the bad thing itself. Can focusing on micro-endings really help much?

Yes, through practicing meditating on micro-endings, we learn to watch arising and cessation / "gone" while retaining our inner equanimity: Your ability to allow sensory experiences to come and go without push and pull. The more equanimity you have at arisings, the easier it is to notice passings. The more you detect passings, the easier it is to have equanimity at arisings. With time, the Just Note Gone technique will sensitise you to notice endings more clearly. You will become aware, eventually quite naturally, of emotions and feelings arising and passing away in the background, experiencing both without a push and pull. This creates the knowledge that not only "shall these things pass away" but they "have passed away".

Does "Noting Gone" produce any other positive effects besides a sense of relief?

Some people find that meditating on "noticing gone" creates a deep sense of restfulness. Others will experience an openness or expansiveness of the mind. Sometimes the meditation creates a hyper-awareness of the experience of arising and cessation, creating a restful awareness of 'wholeness', or even a feeling of simultaneous awareness of past and present. As Shenzin Young writes: " 'Noting Gone' can lead to a spontaneous sense of oneness with - and commitment to - all beings."

At the end of his article, Shenzin Young lists the different labels given to this sense of Gone-ness, and it's interesting to note that every major religion includes some sense of "Gone":

• Nothingness (Nihil, Nichts, Nada in Christianity, Ayn in Judaism, Shunyatā in Buddhism, Fanā’ in Islam, Xū in Daoism) • Zero (according to Jōshū Sasaki Rōshi)

• Pure Consciousness (Purusha in Yoga)

• Cessation (Cittavrittinirodha in Yoga, Nirodha in Buddhism, Cesó in St. John of the Cross)

• The Source (Ha Makom in Kabbalah, Kongen according to Jōshū Sasaki Rōshi)

• The Witness (Drashtri in Yoga)

• True Self (Ātma in Hinduism)

• No self (Anatta in Buddhism)

• The Unborn (Ajāta in Buddhism and Hinduism)

• The Undying (Amrita in Buddhism and Hinduism)

• Ground (Grund according to Meister Eckhart, Gzhi in Tibetan practice)

• True Love (Shinjitsu no ai according to Jōshū Sasaki Rōshi)