The Key to Meditation is Awareness
By Tergar Community Team • 6 min read
Ordinarily, when we talk about “the mind,” we’re referring to memory, perception, thoughts, feelings, and so on. But in the meditative tradition, these describe mere mental events. Clouds move in the sky, but clouds are not the sky. Awareness is the sky, in which the clouds of mental events come and go. Awareness is simply knowing. You know that at this moment you are reading these words. You know what your senses of sound, smell, touch, taste, and sight are picking up. You know your own perceptions. That itself is awareness. Regardless of the state you’re in — cheerful or depressed, distracted by the thrill of first love or the annoyance of an ingrown toenail, frightened or serene — awareness is present.
Right now, raise one hand slightly. Does your hand feel warm? Cool? Numb? Painful? Knowing what your hand feels like is awareness. Is there no particular sensation there at all? Knowing that, too, is awareness. Now put your hand down. Do you know that you just put your hand down? If so, any guesses as to what is at play? Yup! Awareness! Do you get it yet? If you get it, that is awareness. If you think you don’t get it yet . . . and you know that you think you don’t get it yet . . . that’s awareness!
Awareness is not the same as the inner monologue — you know, that constant stream of thoughts, opinions, beliefs, and images yammering away up there 24/7. It’s not the same thing as the conceptual mind, either, though we use concepts, thoughts, and emotions to describe our experiences to ourselves. For instance, let’s say you pass someone who is walking a puppy on a leash. First your mind identifies it, categorizes it: puppy. Immediately, your mind is off to the races. “Ooh, adorable puppy. I must pet it,” or, “Oh no, I’m afraid of dogs. I hope it doesn’t come any closer.” The mind is going all over the place. Yet in the bigger picture, awareness transcends all of those perceptions, responses, and imaginings.
“Whatever we experience, as long as we’re aware of what’s going on, is meditation.”
– Mingyur Rinpoche –
Right this second, what you are experiencing is knowing (unless you are unconscious. Are you unconscious? No? Congratulations, you have awareness!). And within this awareness are love, compassion, and wisdom. They’re all there together. And this is the truth of who you are.
In this video, Mingyur Rinpoche discusses how awareness is central to meditation. He elaborates on how the recognition of awareness is the very foundation for one’s meditation practice.
If you enjoyed reading our articles, please join our mailing list and we’ll send you our news and latest pieces.
Learn meditation under the skillful guidance of world-renowned teacher Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche at your own pace.
Tergar Meditation Community supports individuals, practice groups, and meditation communities around the world in learning to live with awareness, compassion, and wisdom. Grounded in the Tibetan Buddhist lineage of our guiding teacher, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, our online and in-person programs are accessible to people of all cultures and faiths, and support a lifelong path toward the application of these principles in everyday life.
As we know, personal relationships can get stuck in an unhealthy pattern. Someone raises their voice in anger at you, and even though you don’t want to, you react by lashing out with cruel words. Of course, you want to change this reaction. To do this, you need to rely on the basic practices of awareness, love and compassion, and wisdom.
Unfortunately, in our ignorance, we don’t always act on these desires to be happy and free from suffering in a skillful way. When we’re confronted with things that scare us or rattle our cages, we immediately react with aversion,
Is formal meditation—sitting quietly in an upright posture for a dedicated amount of time—the type of meditation you should prioritize? And if so, for how long at a time? And how many times to meditate a day? Or is it more important to learn how to meditate anytime, anywhere, in any circumstance?
If you enjoyed reading our articles, please join our mailing list and we’ll send you our news and latest pieces.
2025© Tergar International. The Tergar logo is a registered service mark of Tergar international.
