Flowing
Flowing is when the mind is immersed in an experience. It is akin to the “flow” state popularized by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi—a state of mind completely focused on a single task or activity. You may know such moments, perhaps while playing sports or a musical instrument or while engrossed in a conversation, listening to music, or working on a project. Some wisdom traditions regard a state of deep absorption or “single-pointed concentration” as a desired end state, while others treat it as interesting but not central. For our purposes and interest in a secular mindfulness practice, it is less relevant than the other three because of the low probability that it will be experienced, and while it tends to feel good, it is not really the point of the mindfulness practice.
Knowing
Knowing refers to a state of mind where you are aware of your attention. You literally know where your mind is. This state is readily achievable, especially at the beginning of a practice that involves, for example, intentionally placing your attention on an object, such as the breath. It doesn’t take long to appreciate that this is an elusive state, as attention is likely to wander off within a matter of seconds. Still, for some period of time and on a recurring basis throughout practice, you know where your attention is—and you know you know it. An earlier “Mindfulness 101” column setting forth Nine Principles of Attention noted in Principle 3 that “Attention can be fickle.” This brings us to the third sign, where we spend much of our time during a mindfulness practice.
Going
Going is when the mind loses track of the intended object. Notwithstanding the intention to focus on an object, the mind seems to have a mind of its own, and off it goes. Like a puppy dog asked to “stay,” attention becomes captivated by something (a sound, a smell, a memory, a thought) and literally forgets what it is doing as it gets caught up in something else. You can expect to spend a good deal of time Going when practicing mindfulness—an important reminder to help set expectations. Going is an inherently unstable state, tending either back to Knowing, if and when you realize that your mind is wandering, or on to the fourth sign. Going is also where all the action is and from which much beneficial change is realized.
Gone
Gone is being lost in thought. There is little, if any, awareness of where the mind is. It can last a few minutes or much longer. An example of Gone is when, amid practice, you unknowingly become caught up in a story, memory, fantasy, or worry. You might not realize it until you are interrupted, hear a reminder to “return to the breath” (if you are listening to a guided exercise), or a timer sounds the end of the practice. You lost track of what you were doing and fell into a non-conscious stream of thoughts and feelings.
Going vs. Gone and the Training of Attention
There is a fine line between Going and Gone. An important difference is that Going carries a much greater potential of realizing, sooner rather than later, that the mind has wandered off—of waking up out of distraction. In contrast, when you are Gone, this is much less likely. It may happen eventually because of some external stimulation or because the distracted thought stream has come to an end.
When you do a mindfulness practice such as Focused Attention, the primary objective is not to demonstrate perfectly steady attention (Sign 2: Knowing) or to have few, if any, thoughts at all (Sign 1: Flowing). Rather, when we view the practice as a training in attention or the cultivation of greater awareness, the aspiration is to become increasingly skilled at noticing when the mind wanders (Sign 3: Going). With practice, the ability to detect mind wandering improves. Importantly, (1) you notice mind wandering sooner, so you reduce instances of Gone and the associated pitfalls it entails; (2) you have an easier time bringing attention back, so it feels less like a tug of war with your mind; and (3) you develop a steadier attention.
While there is much to mine in the above, one takeaway is that the practice of mindfulness inevitably entails all these states, especially 2, 3, and 4. Perhaps it has not been lost on you that this is also the case for much of your life, on and off the cushion. What matters is not to run from any of them but to appreciate their inevitability and how regular practice can alter their prevalence.
The Sign of the Four as a Roadmap for Your Practice
If you have practiced mindfulness, you likely recognize most, if not all, of the above four signs from your own direct experience. The chart below offers a simplified (after all, we are all different) assessment of how often we might spend in each state during a period of sitting: