The Way of Awareness
October 30, 2025 Yoshiharu Nakagawa
This chapter argues that contemplative practices such as yoga, vipassanā, Zen meditation, and Tai chi are central to holistic education, proposing that awareness (mindfulness) is a primary path of self-cultivation rather than merely a wellness technique. It explores awareness as a distinctive state of consciousness, drawing on thinkers including Charles T. Tart, Arthur J. Deikman, and Aldous Huxley, and advocates for somatic education methods such as Sensory Awareness and the Feldenkrais Method. The chapter examines Buddhist meditations (mindfulness, vipassanā, zazen), G. I. Gurdjieff's theory of awakening consciousness, and nondual awareness as described in the Upaniṣad, Yoga Sūtra, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, and transpersonal psychology.