Mastery, Mind and Awareness


Based on listening and experiencing
Insight from Master Shi Heng Yi and Dandapani

Not everyone wants mastery, some are content knowing people are trying but find the effort two daunting. The desire for mastery is internal. Once you have a desire for mastery you will encounter five hindrances on the way to self-mastery. All these are internal and your own. You need to recognize them.

1.       Sensual desires – the five senses seek experiences. Good food, good music, good smell, good variety of beverages, good attractive people etc all are pleasurable experiences, one can get a feel that indulging is satisfying and hence there is no need to work towards mastery – you don’t want to move on. They can be addictive - am I addicted? You will
2.       Ill will or aversion – am I feeling negative emotion. Against an object, situation or person.
3.       Sloth or heaviness or simply laziness. It could be the heaviness of the mind and could be dullness of the mind. Any feeling that inhibits desire for action. Characterized by sleepiness, lack of motivation and energy, at times even in depression. Even heavy food can do that. Feels like a prison, have to a lifestyle that builds energetic living is counter to sloth.
4.       Restlessness, the monkey mind is restless. Unsettled mind lives in future of past. It allows no clarity.
5.       Sceptical Doubt. Is this the right path? What will others say? Can I do this? More often you will stop rather than go on. 

Removing hindrances in your journey to mastery

Just let it rain …..metaphor
1.       Recognize in what state of mind you are getting stuck
2.       Accept and acknowledge the situation or person to be the way it is or how they are.
3.       Investigate your emotional and mental state and ask questions. Why did it come up? What will be the consequences if I remain in that state? Consequences will be there, it’s just that are you conscious of it?
4.    Non-identify - I am not the body I am not the mind I am not the emotion. I can see all three.


Second, the concept is by Dandapani; it is about trying to understand awareness and mind. Imagine awareness as a ball of light and mind as a mental chamber. Mind has a vast area with different emotions and thoughts in different sections eg anger, jealousy, science, anger, sex, art, happiness, joy and so on. Awareness or the ball of light moves to any one section and lights it up, when lit you get conscious of it. You can feel all within your mind without a physical experience all based on how awareness moves, like experience in a movie hall. Every day our awareness is being guided or taken by someone or something, they take charge. Art on concentration is the art of keeping control of awareness for an extended period of time. The ball of light shifts away and we get it back, it shifts again and we get it back. The mind is not wandering, it is your awareness that is wandering.  
 and that thought or emotion rules us.

All our lives are too unique to copy someone from the past. Find your way and keep striving. 

Refs
1.       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O2JK_94g3Y&t=829s
2.       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-079YIasck

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