Working With Our Senses.
sights and sounds are not the enemy, we can use them to become enlightened to the Dhamma….
Our senses can teach us a lot, they are the doors to the mind. We either leave them open and let everything wander inside or we guard them, even closing them to protect ourselves when necessary.
“When our senses are stimulated, we become agitated and the senses become our antagonists. They antagonize us because we are still foolish and don’t have the wisdom to deal with them. In reality they are our teachers, but, because of our ignorance, we don’t see it that way.” — Ajahn Chah.
How can we use our senses to our advantage instead of being continually disturbed by things that we see and hear? Objects and impressions are being presented to our mind all the time. This is why we close our eyes in most meditation practices in order to block out visual stimuli but we still hear sounds going on around us — the wind, a dog bark, road noise, people talking. So many sounds which we wouldn’t normally focus on when we are doing our busy work but, as soon as we sit down in meditation, we hear it all.
We like to feel that nature’s doing it all on purpose but, of course, it’s not. This is just the way it is, not much we can do to change it but, we can train ourselves to focus only on our mind and let everything else be. Then, after a while, we don’t hear the sounds anymore, or if we do, they don’t disturb us.
We are constantly subject to overstimulation of our senses and, without using wisdom, we believe that these sights, sounds, smells and feelings are truly tormenting us. When we gain some wisdom however we understand that they actually lead us to insight and clear understanding. This is when we can begin to use them to our advantage and our senses help us become enlightened to the Dhamma.
When we are able to see this clearly and avoid being controlled by the six things which the Buddha tells us gratify our desire — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch and mind-objects — we will no longer find ourselves falling into suffering.
You might like to begin by remembering this short practice regularly throughout the day and also take it with you into seated meditation for longer contemplation:
- Know your mind and senses well, know how your thoughts and sense impressions come and go
- See them as impermanent, unstable and transitory — they are all just passing through
- Don’t cling or try to hold on to them, let them go, releasing the mind to experience the freedom which comes from not attaching labels, ie. like and dislike, related to happiness and suffering
- Remain with equanimity at the centre of your mind, simply watching how it responds to various stimuli, being alert and, when it tries to grasp at something, take swift action to really stop it right there
May this teaching lead you to happiness; may it help you grow in truth. May you be freed from the suffering of birth and death.
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