Los dos modos mentales, absorto y mindful, y por qué son importantes

Today we'll talk about one of those elements that we've mentioned isn't in the yoga model of mind, and we'll address it because I think it's fundamental to understanding Buddhist practice from a slightly different perspective. What we'll be discussing are the ways in which the mind functions. That is, we'll assume that the same mind—which is already a significant assumption—functions in different ways at different times. The most obvious example [music] would be when we sleep. Logically, in deep sleep, the mind functions in a certain way, which is different from how it functions during dreaming. We can discuss this later, but perhaps even more interesting is that during the day we alternate between two modes of functioning in our waking state that are remarkably different, and knowing them, understanding them, being able to perceive them, and adapting to them has great spiritual value, in my opinion. These modes of functioning weren't in the model. We can also associate these forms or modes of functioning of the mind with the bardos, as they speak of the bardos in Tibet. The bardo is literally an intermediate state, as they call it. And it's accepted that just as there's a bardo that occurs between death and rebirth, they don't find it strange to speak of a bardo while we sleep or while awake. Thus, it's quite closely associated with modes of mind functioning. Hinduism, especially in the Labaitedanta, also deals extensively with the three modes they see of mind functioning, right? Waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. The difference here is that we're going to focus on waking and try to explain why we think there are two clearly differentiated modes of functioning. We'll call these two modes of functioning, for lack of a better term, the reactive or absorbed or unconscious mode, which already begins to give us a clue as to what it is, and the conscious or mindful mode. We'll even see how this relates to a new concept emerging in the non-spiritual sciences of the mind, which is metacognition, and which is intrinsically related to these modes of functioning. And finally, we'll briefly touch on the crucial role of attention in spiritual practices, both in relation to all of this and to the spiritual practices themselves. Well, very briefly, the reactive, absorbed, or unconscious mode is the waking mental mode in which we function absorbed, whether in our thoughts or in any other phenomenal occurrence. This phenomenal occurrence, typically thought, absorbs us; we get stuck there, we're in a kind of subtle dream while fully awake, while actually doing other things. It's not uncommon, and I always use the same example, to be thinking about anything but driving while we're driving. Which, by the way, also gives us a very clear idea of ​​the extent to which thought directs action—which is that it doesn't direct it at all. But anyway, we can discuss that in another video, because the truth is, it's another one of the big mistakes that's often mentioned without any real observation of what happens to us with a complete lack of Vipassana awareness. Because with even a little Vipassana awareness, you'll see that thought doesn't direct action at all. Not in the present moment. It's more about how it influences the future. Thus, we have the reactive or unconscious mode in which we get lost in a phenomenal content. The mode is the same whether, for example, we're watching a movie, totally immersed in it, and its characteristics are equivalent. Or if you're a music lover, if you're totally immersed in the music, or any other kind of absorption while awake, we become absorbed in some phenomenal content. Our conscious mind gets hooked on it. It's usually due to attachment, that is, because we're interested in that, that phenomenal content; we're so focused on it that we lose sight of the world around us. Some people have even told me, "Sometimes I'm so preoccupied with work, thinking about work, that I don't even know how I got from home to the office to that point, right?" In that state of absorption, we also lose a certain sense of self. When we see the other state, we'll talk about presence, and we'll talk about presence in that state because in this one it's absent. This is the quintessential Sansaric state, and therefore it's the state to be avoided—in quotes, because it can't be completely avoided during spiritual practice.