Dearest Friends,

Thank you for your presences and your participation in our gathering today.

In today’s session, we began our exploration of the different kinds of “filters” that alter our perceptions of reality. Today’s focus was on sensory gating—the automatic neurological process that our brains engage in to screen out irrelevant, redundant or repetitive sensory information (e.g., lighting fluctuations, traffic sounds, ambient scents, etc.). Sensory gating protects us from being cognitively overwhelmed by the constant stream of sensory input we receive so that we can focus on the inputs that matter.

Of course, like many adaptive mechanisms, sensory gating has tradeoffs. For one thing, it can cause us to miss important cues in ways that lead to mishaps, mistakes or misunderstandings (e.g., failing to notice the edginess in a colleague’s voice in an interaction and inadvertently adding to their ire). For another thing, it can lead us to overlook the subtle sensory details that constitute so much of the beauty of everyday life (e.g., failing to hear the pitter-patter of raindrops hitting a windowpane).

In both cases, mindfulness training can be an antidote. For example, the Buddhist practice of indriya-samvara (sense restraint) can be used to train our ability to observe sensory inputs to a heightened degree. The capacity to reintegrate what’s usually filtered out of awareness is probably what’s being referred to in one of the most famous anecdotes told about the Bengali vipassanā meditation teacher Anagarika Shri Munindra. When Munindra-ji (as he was affectionately known) was asked by a student why he meditated, his response was: “So I will see the tiny purple flowers by the side of the road as I walk to town each day.”

SUGGESTED PRACTICE:

Sit quietly and attend to your breath with your gaze lowered or your eyes closed. After a minute or so, attend to the loudest sounds around you. Listen to these as if you’ve never heard them before. Notice their pitch, their volume, their duration, their texture, their location and their resonance. Then gradually shift your attention to softer, subtler and more subdued sounds. Again, listen to these as if you’ve never heard them before. Observe their pitch, their volume, their duration, their texture, their location and their resonance. Before you end the practice, notice what it feels like to listen to sounds newly, with whole-hearted receptivity. If it feels nourishing, carry this sense with you into your day.

RECOMMENDED POEM:

Daron Larson’s Recognition

REFLECTION PROMPTS:

1. Where in your life has the tendency to miss subtle sensory cues led you to miss out on something important or something wondrous?
2. In what areas of your life could you benefit from pausing to notice sensory objects more (e.g., gazing at the faces of dear ones, listening to beloved voices, savoring flavors, noticing textures, etc.)?
3. How might cultivating a higher degree of sensory awareness reduce mishaps, mistakes or misunderstandings in your life, or, conversely, heighten your sense of awe and wonder at the most ordinary things?