How to Practice Mingjue Consciousness In 3 Steps
If you want to know how to practice Mingjue consciousness, first you have to understand what Mingjue is.
Mingjue (明觉) originated from Buddhist practice. It can be translated to consciousness in English. Before we talk about what Mingjue is, you shall read this story about a great Buddhist teacher and monk Nagarjuna (150 CE – 250 CE).
Nagarjuna’s Teaching About Consciousness
To Nagarjuna, an ordinary bowl or a jeweled bowl is the same. To own it or not to own it, the same. So he could accept either one without any hesitation. He could give it away also with zero seconds of doubt.
To Nagarjuna, a thief or a saint, there is no difference. A thief can become a saint the moment he decided to light the candle.
We thought that we could be non-judgmental if we decide to. But the reality is, in our whole life we never stop judging. We like to put on meaning and label them whenever we “look” at things or people.
Take that jeweled bowl, for example, everyone sees it as a treasure without having to think about it. However, the moment we name it “treasure”, we make a judgment.
What Mingjue the consciousness is
Mingjue is a state where we see things as they are. In Mingjue state, we form no concept, judgment, or idea when our six senses have in contact with anything, everything, ourselves included.
Just like what Nagarjuna saw and treated that jeweled begging bowl or that thief. To Mingjue consciousness, there’s no difference between things and there’s no difference between people.
As ordinary people, if we ever reached a state which might be closest to Mingjue, was when we were babies. When babies observe the world, they see things as they are. Babies are so pure that they don’t or can’t think of anything or anyone being beautiful or ugly, smart or dumb, peaceful or chaotic, priceless or worthless. To them, everything is the same.
When we grow up, most of the time our mind is in a gloomy state that covers by layers of discrimination. In a Mingjue state, our discrimination cloud scatters and our mental fog clears out. Now, we will be able to see what’s stored in our minds.
Mingjue consciousness practice in 3 steps
In order to reach the Mingjue state, you need to practice consciousness. In qigong, consciousness practice involves three steps.
The first step of Mingjue practice is being aware. Starting from being aware after things happened, then being aware during, and lastly being aware before things happen.
The second step is breaking the patterns. Breaking your old patterns of how your body and mind react. Whether it’s outside or inside happening, you will be able to break all the compulsiveness.
The third and final step is being still or being middle in the Confucian qigong practice. If you can be still in whatever situation inside and outside of you, you can be a free being. You will no longer be locked in any type of pattern or compulsiveness. You will be able to choose whatever options are available without any entanglement. Then you are a free being.
The awareness stage of mingjue practice
Mingjue practice is actually the most difficult in its awareness stage. Building awareness of whatever you are doing is the way. That is a qigong mindfulness practice.
Here are four pieces of practice advice for your daily life. All of them are non-meditation ways of Mingjue practice.
Practice Mingjue during talking
Are you fully aware of what you are going to talk about before you speak it out? If not, you’d better not say a word.
If you choose to talk, clearly be aware of the words that you are using. In whatever circumstances, as soon as you notice the emotion coming, good or bad, stop talking. Then start to observe inside, notice if there’s something that always triggers your emotions.
Practice mindful eating
When you eat, instead of complimenting or complaining about the taste, presentation, service, or surroundings, pay attention to how your teeth and tongue work together beautifully. Notice that the food you swallow goes through your delicate digestive system.
If you do that, you will find it impossible to talk while eating. It’s impossible to rush to the next bite or think about any unfinished job. That way, you will get healed with food qi you take in.
Practice mingjue mindful thinking
When you have thoughts, be alert and be aware of thoughts that associate with any type of emotion. Whether it’s worry, fear, anger, jealousy, or excitement. Your job is not to judge whether they are good or bad. Your job is to simply aware.
In the beginning, you will find that zillions of thoughts come and go so quickly that you don’t have a chance to be aware. That’s exactly why you need to practice this Mingjue thinking.
Practice mindful breathing
Watching your breath is also an efficient way to practice Mingjue. It will make you slow down and be present. Once you slow down, you could catch a moment to ask yourself some questions (without having to answer them). That is when your conscious awareness gets a chance to perform.
As for the meditation method of mingjue practice, there is a “Do Nothing” meditation method. During meditation, we set no goal and we have no intention. Whenever something happens: the thoughts, feelings, or emotions, don’t stop, interrupt, or judge it. Don’t deny or resist it either. Just observe. Watch them come and go, let them flow. We will provide meditation guidance in Onenergy qigong and meditation APP.
In Summary
Humans are animals of habits. To prepare yourself for the second stage of Mingjue practice of breaking your old habits, you need to be patient and persistent.
See, you have been driven by tons of unconscious living habits for years. They become your second nature. Most of the time, you don’t have any awareness of what you are doing. Therefore, you need to seize every moment to heighten your awareness alert system.
Those non-meditation ways of Mingjue practice are called daily life qigong 气功生活化. They originated from Confucian qigong practice.
Using both daily life qigong and qigong meditation practice, you will have a better chance of awakening your Mingjue consciousness.
