Awareness Is Continuous; Attention Determines Its Content

Every moment, countless phenomena are occurring within our bodies. Periodic oxygen exchange at the cell membrane, bladder accumulating urine progressively, lungs collapsing and expanding rhythmically, etc. 

There is no awareness of any of these functions or the sensations associated with them until one becomes attentive to them. These may be too subtle for many who have not sharpened their attention through regular practice. 

Leave aside the subtle phenomena of our body; one is not aware of even the grosser phenomena like breathing in and out, until one focuses on the act of breathing.

If there is no awareness of these subtle or gross phenomena of our bodies at times, does that mean that we have no awareness during those periods? Definitely not, we are continuously aware of outside phenomena or our mental phenomena like thoughts, perceptions, and imaginations. Actually, there is no lapse in our awareness of things. There is no gap in awareness.

What about sleep? In the dream state, we have the awareness of the dream content. And in the deep sleep, we still have the awareness of the absence of the contents of the mind, but there is no absence of the awareness. How do we know? Because we have the remnants of the satisfying feeling of deep sleep after we wake up.

So we are continuously aware of something or the other without any gap. And from time to time, we switch our awareness. If there is a pain in the knee, you become unaware of it by diverting your attention to something else, let’s say a TV show. 

Similarly, if there is a painful negative ruminative thought that brings anxiety, you become unaware of it by engaging in cooking your favourite food, which is a way to divert attention.

Attention is a mechanism by which the content of awareness is switched from one object to another. And it is switched either by a conscious effort or unconsciously by the movement of a pleasant or unpleasant thought, sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch.

The unconscious switching seems to be the predominant mode of operation for most of us, primarily driven by pleasantness or unpleasantness associated with the phenomena.

Conscious switching, on the other hand, is the mastery of one’s volition or the will to be aware of the phenomena that are required and beneficial. It is the ability to stop the awareness of a certain phenomenon and divert to another at will. 

How Awareness Deepens: Level Stickiness and Level Gliding

One fascinating characteristic of awareness is that once it settles upon an object, it naturally begins to penetrate deeper and deeper into it, revealing successive layers of information. Whether exploring the external world or the imagination, awareness has an inherent tendency to zoom in.

This is how science reveals deeper and deeper truths, and even fiction gets richer and richer with imagination.

The same mechanism operates when the attention is hooked onto something, some thought or some emotion. Layer after layer of information unfolds, and engagement deepens in it.

When the awareness enters a layer, it sticks and glides through deeper details just like a drop of water glides down a straw effortlessly. This, I call as level stickiness and the movement of awareness down the levels as level gliding.

Let’s take an example, if one goes through a breakup, then the person enters into deeper and deeper awareness of their own negative imaginations. Each layer brings more agony and suffering.

Similarly, if one is hooked on researching a subject. They get into a stream of thoughts that take their awareness into deeper and deeper details. As they move deeper, they find it intellectually pleasant. 

An untrained mind is easily hooked onto pleasantness or unpleasantness(avoidance) because of high level-stickiness and usually helplessly undergoes level-gliding, as a result of which a majority of the human population is going through mental health problems, addictions, and physical health deterioration related to lifestyle.

Even if someone gets deeper into a subject for research or inquiry without having control over their volition, then they risk the chances of getting insane or becoming a public nuisance.

Mindfulness: Dissolving Stickiness and Recovering Freedom

From ancient times, humans have been taught to control their attention through a variety of practices. Meditation and Mindfulness practices are highly effective even today.

When one practices mindfulness, they can witness how their awareness gets stuck easily at a certain level and begins to glide through. The moment this flash of realisation happens, level stickiness dissolves, and your awareness shifts up to a broader level.

The remarkable feature of having a broader level awareness, when you have not zoomed into deeper layers, is that you experience a sense of freedom, calmness, and equanimity. That is why you feel relaxed when you are watching the vast ocean without deepening your awareness of any particular object.

Learning to recognise level stickiness as it arises is therefore a practical technique for reducing stress and anxiety. Although awareness may repeatedly become caught due to deeply ingrained habits, each moment of mindful recognition weakens the tendency to stick.

With persistent practice, the grip of level stickiness gradually diminishes. Awareness becomes increasingly flexible, allowing one to engage deeply when beneficial and disengage effortlessly when necessary. This growing freedom is one of the central fruits of mindfulness.