Shinzen Young - Five Ways to Know Yourself

Mindful Awareness

Concentration Power: Staying with what is relevant.
Sensory Clarity: Brightness, high resolution, untangling.
Equanimity: Inner balance between grasping and suppressing.

Mindful Awareness = Sensory Clarity + Concentration Power + Equanimity

Summary Table: The Five Ways

Focusing strategies:

Noting:

	Thoughts & Emotions (Inwardly arising)	Physical Senses (Outwardly arising)	Restful States (Resting)	Flow States (Flowing)
See Visual	See In: Explore your mental images	See Out: Anchor yourself in external sights	See Rest: Enjoy visual rest	See Flow: Enjoy visual flow
Hear Auditory	Hear In: Explore your mental talk	Hear Out: Anchor Yourself in external sounds	Hear Rest: Enjoy auditory rest	Hear Flow: Enjoy auditory flow
Feel Somatic	Feel In: Explore your emotional body sensations	Feel Out: Explore your physical body sensations	Feel Rest: Enjoy body rest	Feel Flow: Enjoy body flow
Focus Mix	Focus In: Explore all inward activity	Focus Out: Explore all outward activity	Focus on Rest: Enjoy all types of Rest	Focus on Flow: (Sense Flow version) / (Expansion-Contraction version)
The first three rows are “drill down”, and the last is “back up”.

Nurturing Positive:

Main Themes	Secondary Themes	Modality Choices
Positive Affect	Positive Ideal	Mental Image
Positive Behavior	Positive Situation	Mental Talk
Positive Cognition	Other Positives	Emotional Body Sensation

Do Nothing.

Sensory Experience:

Three basic sensory modalities: See, Hear, Feel
Three special sensory categories: Restful states, Flow states, Positive states

Noting In a Nutshell

A rhythmic sequence of acts of noting. Each act typically consists of:

Acknowledge: Clearly acknowledge the sensory event (optionally label it).
Focus: Focus intently on that sensory event.

Labeling is designed to facilitate noting. Noting is designed to facilitate mindfulness. (To label: think or say a word or phrase that describes the sensory event.)

Labeling Modes (from What is Mindfulness?)

There is a spectrum from Stronger to Weaker labeling:

Stronger (↑): Strongly spoken $\to$ Normal spoken $\to$ Sub-vocal labels
Weaker (↓): Mental labels $\to$ No labels

Strategy & Attention Split:

Shifting: Move to stronger labeling when spaced out/caught up; move to weaker when well-focused.
General Ratio: Put 5% attention on the label and 95% on the “knowing” (sensory event).
Effort vs. Spacing Out: Effortful labeling is always preferable to being “grossly spaced out.” If you lose focus while noting without labels, immediately start mental labeling.
“Hitting the Wall”: When you are really caught up in restlessness or dullness, use strongly spoken labels, and put 25%+ attention on listening to the labels for instant feedback if the stream stops. Strong feedback helps alertness and calmness.

Common Questions on Noting

Does noting reinforce the sense of “I”? Initially, yes. Eventually, it proceeds on “autopilot” (like driving a car) and the sense of distance between noter and noted collapses.
Why note the same thing repeatedly? It’s not just “noticing”—it’s an intentional “soaking into” the event. Each act infuses clarity and equanimity, training the deep mind.
How to distinguish mental Image from mental Talk?
- Quality: Image is visual; Talk is auditory.
- Location: Image is usually forward-centered; Talk is usually further back in the head.

Equanimity

Intentionally Creating Equanimity (To the best of your ability):

Relax the Body: Maintain a continuous relaxed state as sensory experiences wash through you.
Clear the Mind: Let go of judgments; replace with appreciation, acceptance, and gentle matter-of-factness.
Notice Spontaneous Moments of Equanimity: Notice when you spontaneously drop into equanimity (most important because it trains the subconscious).

Although the above descriptions involved body sensations, the same principle holds for visual and auditory experience.

Equanimity = non-interference to inputs.
Apathy = indifference to outcomes.

Effect of Equanimity

When feelings are experienced with equanimity, they assume their proper function in nature: to motivate and direct objective behavior. Conversely, when feelings are experienced without equanimity, they often drive and distort objective behavior.

Concentration

Four common assumptions about concentration are often misunderstood:

Spatial: Concentration is not limited to a small area (like the breath). It can be expansive (e.g., focusing on the whole body at once).
Temporal: You don’t always need to hold one experience for a long time. Momentary penetrative concentration (khaṇikasamādhi) is equally valid and a defining feature of Noting.
Suppression: Selective attention is not suppression. You can spotlight a specific “dancer” without forcing the others off the stage. Distractions can come and go with equanimity.
Effort: While learning requires effort, concentration eventually becomes effortless and automatic. The goal is to elevate your base level of concentration in ordinary life.

Sensory Clarity

Sensory clarity is the ability to track your sensory experience in real-time with high resolution. It has three primary components:

Sensory Resolution / Discriminatory Power: The ability to distinguish between different sensory events and untangle them.
Sensitivity / Detection: The ability to detect subtle or faint sensory events.
Penetration: The ability to see through and look into the layers of an experience.

Vipassanā (Insight)

Clarity is the core of Vipassanā, which represents a single process involving three facets:

Untangling (Binah): Seeing the components as separate.
Penetrating (Da’at): Seeing through the surface level.
Insight/Wisdom (Chochmah): Seeing the experience in a new, transformative way.

Chapter 1: The Way of Thoughts and Emotions

1. See In: Mental Images

Continuously track visual thoughts. If none arise, enjoy visual rest.

Label: “See In” (mental image), “See Rest” (no image), “Gone” (when it drops away).

2. Hear In: Mental Talk

Similar to See In, but for mental talk.

3. Feel In: Emotional Body Sensations

Whenever your experience is emotional, it may involve body sensations. If so, focus on it.

Label: “Feel In” (emotional sensation), “Feel Rest” (emotionally peaceful body), “Gone” (when it drops away).
Note: Sensations can be vague or clear, caused or unknown.

4. Focus In: All Subjective Arisings

Let attention float between mental images, talk, and emotional body sensations. If multiple are active, choose one. If none are active, “Do Nothing.”

Standard Labels: See In (mental images), Hear In (mental talk), Feel In (emotional sensations), and Gone (moment of drop away).

Strategy: Alternating between “drilling down” and “backing up.”

Drill Down: Work individually with one sensory element (Image, Talk, or Emotional Feel).
Back Up: Work collectively, floating among all sensory elements. (Options 1-3 are “drill down”; Option 4 is “back up”.)

Chapter 2: The Way of the Physical Senses

1. See Out: Physical Sight

Focus continuously on external sights.

Label: “See Out” (each shift in sight), “Gone” (when a sight drops away), “See Rest” (defocused rest).

2. Hear Out: Physical Sound

Focus continuously on external sounds to anchor in the here-and-now (you may have an experience of merging with the sound - an exhilarating state of inside and outside becoming one).

Label: “Hear Out” (aware of sound), “Gone” (sound drops away), “Hear Rest” (no sound).

3. Feel Out: Physical Body Sensations

Focus on physical-origin body sensations (not emotional talk/images).

Label: “Feel Out” (each physical sensation), “Gone” (sensation drops away), “Feel Rest” (no sensation). Note: “Out” means physical origin, located anywhere within or upon the body.

4. Focus Out: All Objective Arisings

Broadly float between physical sights, sounds, and body sensations. If multiple are active, choose one. It doesn’t matter which.

Chapter 3: The Way of Tranquility

1. See Rest: Visual Rest

Focus on visual inactivity (darkness/brightness behind closed eyes or defocused gaze).

Label: “See Rest” (every few seconds), “Gone” (when visual rest drops away).

2. Hear Rest: Auditory Rest

Focus on the absence of sound or mental talk (listening into any of the 6 directions without sound, or white noise).

Label: “Hear Rest” (aware of silence/quiet), “Gone” (tangible drop away of rest).

3. Feel Rest: Somatic Rest

Tune into physical relaxation or emotional peace.

Label: “Feel Rest” (aware of somatic rest), “Gone” (rest drops away).
How to Find: Muscle relaxation, core breathing, absence of emotional feel.
How to Create: Posture adjustment, intentional relaxation, soothing breath.

4. Focus on Rest: All Rest States

Float between visual, auditory, and somatic rest (already present or intentionally created).

Standard Labels: See Rest (blank/defocus), Hear Rest (quiet/silence), Feel Rest (relaxation/peace), Gone (drop away).

5. Do Nothing

Let whatever happens, happen.

Core Instruction: Drop the intention to control attention whenever you notice it.
Clarification: “Dropping” is letting go in the moment, not getting rid of. If it feels involuntary/undroppable, it’s not part of free will—let it be.
Pro-tips:
- Too spacey? $\to$ Try Noting.
- Too racy? $\to$ Try Do Nothing.
Signs of Success: If it feels centering or decentering—you’re doing it right.
Note: Struggling to drop? It’s not voluntary, so no need to drop it. Struggling means you don’t need to do it.

Chapter 4: The Way of Flow

Flow is any awareness of movement or force within a sensory experience (visual, auditory, or somatic).

Stable: If it seems stable $\to$ Slow down internal clock to match its timelessness.
Flowing: Movement, change in intensity, morphing, or pushing/pulling forces $\to$ Let it fascinate and massage you. (Flow include forces of distraction/scattering or obsession/gripping.)

Approaches for Working with Flow

A. Note Sense Flow

See Flow: Visual flow (moving, morphing, fading).
Hear Flow: Auditory flow.
Feel Flow: Somatic flow.
Focus on Flow: Broadly float between all sense flow states.

B. Note Expansion-Contraction

A deeper way of working with flow as two basic “flavors”:

Expansion: Increase in intensity/size, outward pressure, or scattering force.
Contraction: Decrease in intensity/size, inward pressure, or gripping force.
Both: Simultaneous expansion and contraction (e.g., spreading while thinning).

Deep Level:

Pure Space: Effortless spreading (Expansion) or collapsing (Contraction). (If this presents itself, focus on it.)

Chapter 5: The Way of Human Goodness (Nurture Positive)

Previous chapters “deconstruct” the self to reach the Transpersonal Source. Nurture Positive “reconstructs” the self into Personal Goodness.

The Principle: Dissolving into the Source makes it easier to be a Good Person; being a Good Person makes it easier to dissolve into the Source.

Basic Instructions: The 4-Step Pattern

1. Choose a Topic (Theme)

Memorize them as A-B-C-I-S-O:

Affect (Joy, love, interest, enthusiasm, etc.)
Behavior
Cognition
Ideal
Situation
Other Positives

2. Check (Prime the Pump)

2a (Talk-Feel): Mentally repeat a word/phrase while tuning into pleasant somatic feelings.
2b (Image-Feel): Create a mental image while focusing on related pleasant somatic feelings.

3. Choose the Subjective System

Decide which feels most natural to work with:

Single: Image / Talk / Feel (Emotional Body System) only.
Dual: Image + Talk / Image + Feel / Talk + Feel.
Whole Space: All three systems at once.

4. Hold

Concentrate on the theme for a set period. Use concentration power to spread and radiate the pleasant feeling beyond your body.

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