In Part 1 of this series I offered an overview of “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness,” which is the 22nd Sutta from the Long Discourses of the Buddha. One does not need to be a Buddhist to benefit from this Sutta. The basic practices can easily be adapted to any form of belief whether one is a Christian, an atheist, a Muslim, a capitalist, a Jew or whether one is not sure what to believe.

In Part 2 of this series I will focus on the 1st of “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness,” which is mindfulness of the body. Most introductions to Buddhist meditation focus in mindfulness of breathing, which is one aspect of the body. It is unfortunate that these general introductions do not explain that mindfulness of breathing is but one aspect of the mindfulness of the body, and that mindfulness of the body is only one of “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness.” I believe, a more complete introduction of all four of the foundations, and grounding that introduction more clearly in the context of the 22nd Sutta so that people actually read this Sutta, would be helpful. I believe this is especially the case for those students who favor a comprehensive orientation when studying a particular form of meditation.

Mindfulness of the breath can be a bit too hard for many to follow because their mind is too active. Having a mantra they can repeat over and over again is helpful to them as the mantra or sacred phrase gives the language centers of the mind something to do. What is possible is to link the repetition of the mantra to the inbreath and the outbreath. After a few weeks or months (or years) when the mind begins to calm it is possible to drop the mantra as the mind will be disciplined and focused enough to focus on the wordless awareness of the breath. Or you can keep going with the mantra. Whatever decisions you make in this regard, it is very useful that you also be more and more aware of the finer aspects of the breath and the sensations in the body that arise and pass as you breathe in and out.

While it may seem to be picky, different Buddhist teachers focus on the breath as it enters the nostrils, or the breath in that point of the abdomen where you feel the rising and falling of the abdomen most clearly as you breath in and out.

Either point of focus is fine. Whether you use the breath alone or the breath with a mantra is also fine. The general idea is to pick one aspect of the breath as a narrow focus as one of the ways to cultivate a more moment-to-moment awareness of the body.

If the breath is short and fast, let it be short and fast. If the breath becomes slow and refined, let it be slow and refined. What is important is to just be as aware of the inbreath and the outbreath as you can be.

If you wish to progress a bit more quickly there is another trick you can use. When the mind wanders, which for most of us happens pretty often, take the time to notice if you tense up. See if you have any feeling that you have “screwed up” because you can’t do something as simple as follow the breath for a few minutes. If you have tensed up or judged yourself in any way, then offer yourself a gentle gift of compassion and non-judgement before you return to the breath. See if you can “let go” of the tension a bit more. If you can’t you can’t, but if you can be at least be open to learning how to “let go” that will be good enough.

One of the primary benefits of this practice is to observe how tense the body may be.

Another way to practice mindfulness of the body is to expand the circle of awareness from the breath to do what is called a “body scan.”  With this scan of the body you are moving the attention to observe all the different sensations of the body you can feel. Whether you are sitting cross legged on a cushion of in a chair, turn your attention to every sensation of the hands and legs that you can. You can do this either in a random way of moving the awareness around the body, or you can systematically scan, in detail, every nook and cranny of the body beginining with the toes, all the way up the ankle, calf, knees, thigh, hips, fingers, hands, lower and upper arm, elbow, shoulders, spine lower and upper back, neck, jaw, face, eyes, ears, base of skull, and crown of head .

Whether you focus just on one point of the sensations of the breath in the nostrils, or scan every detail of the body you will be making progress. You will begin to see there is a lot more happening in the body than you were aware of. You will already, in a basic way, be expanding the circle of awareness and consciousness.

You will begin to see that the breath and the body are always with you. Whether in formal meditation practice or in general mindfulness during the work day, the breath and the body are always present. This awareness of the body will be a help to “remember to remember” to be in the moment you are living now. As simple as it may sound, as common a cliche as “being in the moment” has come to be, actually being disciplined to be in the moment more often and to be aware of what is happening in the moment will prove to be of enormous benefit. Over the course of this series, these benefits will be presented in greater and greater detail. Over the course of this series you will see that “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness,” will help you see more and more of what is happening in “real time.”

The awareness of the breath in particular, and the awareness of the body in general is a good place to begin.

I will offer more thoughts on the mindfulnes of the breath and the body in the next part of this series.

Suffice it to say that one general goal is to really see where the body is tense, and where the muscles are tight and sore. Observe these places and experience without judgement. It is enough to begin to see how amazingly intricate the “City of the Body,” is. Over time you will begin to see it is unbelievably intricate and subtle.

It is enough to patiently and compassionately see where you are tense and where you are calm. Over time you can learn to de-stress the body and the mind.

Where is there illness? Where is there health and well-being? These are other important aspects of the body to explore with greater acceptance, calm, and awareness as you seek to tend to the needs of the body more and more skillfully.

Peace,

Will Raymond  

For a brief background note, “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness” is the 22nd Sutta (discourse) from “The Long Discourses of the Buddha.” The original language these discourses were written in is Pali. “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness” is a translation of the Pali term the Satipatthana Sutta. The Long Discourses of the Buddha is a translation of the Pali Phrase the Digha Nikaya. Pail is a simplified version of Sanskrit and it is the language used in the writing of the original Buddhist texts.

Wisdom Publications offer a volume of “The Long Discourses of the Buddha,” translated by Maurice Walshe. This translation is considered by many senior scholars and teachers to be the best English translation to date of these important Buddhist texts.

One way to think of these Four Foundations is to view them as a separate ways to study four different aspects of the mind/body continuum: sensations, feelings, general State of mind, and specific thoughts and desires.

The Satipatthana Sutta is the most systematic exposition of mindfulness training in the Buddhist suttas. It is one of the most important suttas in the Pali Canon. It is a seminal text of Theravada Buddhism, which is better known in the west as Vipassana Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism is the oldest form of Buddhism we know about. It is the primary tradition that Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, & Bhante Gunaratana were trained in.

Another way to think of this work is that it offers four different ways to further develop mindfulness and insight in both formal silent meditation practice and in the active hours of life.

The first foundation is to be mindful of the sensations of the body.

The second foundation is to be mindful of the feelings, although the Theravada Buddhists are not using the term feelings in quite the same way we do in modern times. I will expand on these comments later in this series. For now it is enough to be aware they are referring to one of three very basic mood tones. Is the basic mood tone satisfying, unsatisfying, or neutral?

The third foundation is to be mindful of the states of mind. Is the state of mind relaxed and open, or tense and constricted? Is the state of mind clouded and hazy, or clear or lucid? There are a number of other basic descriptive terms referenced in the Sutta.

The fourth way is to be mindful of mind-objects. This term mind objects refers to different perceptions, thoughts, urges, or hungers of the mind. These mind objects might be the presence or absence of one of the five hindrances, or one of the ten fetters. Other categories are the presence or absence of one of the seven factors of enlightenment, or the six aggregates.  One of the benefits of a careful study of this Sutta is that it is necssary to gain a better definition and understanding of these different terms, all of which are central to Buddhist practice, as one seeks to apply the teachings of this Sutta.

There are many important nuances and aspects to each of these four fields of study as one seeks to apply these skills during times of formal meditation and in the active hours of one’s life. Over the next few weeks, I will offer what I hope are useful comments on each of these four aspects of the mind/body continuum.

What is helpful is these practices can be adapted to your meditation practice whether you practice is a God Centered Path, an atheist path, or a practice centered in “not sure what to believe,” path. Although I can also add that many orthodox Theravada Buddhists would not agree with my views on this point as they are committed atheists. All I can say about this is to offer a suggestion that you be just as wary of Orthodox Theravada Buddhists as you would with anyone who thinks their form of Orthodoxy is the “Only Way.”  Over the next few decades and generations, the limitations and narrowness of each of the world’s orthodox traditions will become more and more apparent. What we need to be careful of is to not get so carried away with reform that we miss the irreplaceable value of the various ancient orthodox traditions of the world. But neither should be be blind to the simple fact that orthodox Buddhists might be just as mistaken about some aspects of their teachings as Orthodox Jews, Christians, Muslims, Scientists, Atheists, or Hindus.

In closing, I think a careful study of the Satipatthana Sutta, is a great way to understand how Theravada Buddhists think and talk about sensations of the body, core emotional mood tones, states of mind, and the various thoughts and appetites generated by the mind and body.

As I have looked into various commentaries on this Sutta, I feel I am gaining a far better understanding of both basic and advanced applications of Theravada Buddhist practice.

As I have become more familiar with how to apply the teachings in this Sutta, I continue to be impressed at the depth and sophistication of this ancient work.

Peace,

Will Raymond

It is my impression that most people who teach meditation skip some very important steps when they talk to students about unconditional love or forgiving those who have harmed them.

It seems to me that most teachers either in their talks or books launch too quickly into their views on the value of unconditional love and the practice of offering compassion to all who live. What I feel is more helpful is to take the time to talk to people about whatever levels of anger, or aggressive urges, or thoughts of revenge they may be experiencing. Take the time to find out about the situations in their past or present which they are struggling to deal with. To the best of your ability find ways to acknowledge that their feelings are either completely reasonable or at least understandable. Don’t try to launch right away into some discussion about how they need to “pray for their enemies” or ” to offer love and compassion” to their antagonists during silent meditation.  I am not saying these are not good and proper suggestions. What I am saying is that part of what is happening when people are hurt, angry, and confused is that they need someone to listen to them and to see things the way they are seeing them. Over time as people feel supported and acknowledged it will be far more possible for them to engage the work of diminishing serious resentments through talk therapy, silent meditation, prayer and the like.

The real danger is that if a person is told to let go of their anger before they are able to do so, this attempt will likely lead to only greater levels of frustration. Many will feel they are being told that there is something wrong with their feelings or that they should just let the person they are angry with  “get away with it.” The conflict between what they are feeling is in direct contrast to the moral and spiritual messages they are being given. This conflict can be quite trying. Some may try to repress the anger or rage they are feeling because they think they “should” do so.  This will only add stress to their psyche and can create a pressure cooker experience within the person where sooner or later they will lash out with even greater anger or aggression than before.

All of these suggestions are offered with the assumption that a student realizes the need to develop better coping skills with difficult people and situations and is moving in the direction of learning how to love and forgive more freely. It is just that helping them get to the point where they can offer love and compassion to all who live requires, in my opinion, more patience that is commonly used and a series of preparatory steps that are commonly skipped.

What I feel is most practical and helpful is to ask a student to make a list of the people they love and with whom they have little or no conflict. Helping a person offer love and good wishes during meditation to those people they love or at least like is an excellent way to help them begin what might be a long process. This very simple practice will allow a person to think about ways they can improve the quality of the love, respect, and friendship they offer to those they care about the most.

As a person learns to improve the love, respect and friendship they offer to those they care about, the experiences that arise from these efforts will generate sufficient momentum that will allow them to begin to widen the circle of people they offer love and best wishes to during their meditation. Slowly, patiently as you work with them, and walk with them, and be someone who is a “safe person” for them, they can then learn to forgive people who are harder to forgive.

The goal is to offer unconditional love and forgiveness to all who live and this is an essential skill to be willing to learn if one wishes to reach the deepest experiences of peace in meditation. It is just that it is important to help people move towards this goal gradually, and at a realistic pace given the feelings that may be active within them at present.

Peace

Will Raymond  will@meditationpractice.com

The practice of silently offering unconditional to all who live is an established practice in many traditions of meditation. I believe it is described in greatest detail in the Buddhist Vipassana practice of Metta which is the first of the Bramavihara practices.

Before relaying the details of that practice I want to offer a note of caution that I highlight in the chapter on Affirmation in my book the Simple Path of Holiness. That cautionary note is this: don’t try to force yourself to forgive those people with whom you are angry and resentful. The day will come when you will want and need to learn how to forgive and offer love to those people who by all ordinary reckoning deserve neither love or forgiveness. But that day does not have to be today or tomorrow. It is enough that you focus on learning how to offer love and best wishes to those people you love and care about the most.

It is enough to basically know who you do not wish to forgive and those people towards whom you may harbor powerful resentments. Hate them for as long as you feel it to be necessary. Just do what you can to make sure you do not act on any aggressive urges unless a situation develops where violence is the only way to defend yourself or others from imminent attack.

As you learn to improve the quality and clarity of love to those you love and to those who you like and those whom you only moderately dislike, you will develop insight and skill.

As you learn whatever is the next level of non-violent conflict resolution skills for you to learn, you will develop additional insight and skill.

These insights and skills will allow you to find creative ways to work to soften the resentments or harsh feelings towards those people you now call “despicable”.

What I have been taught, and someone reminded me again recently, when you start your practice of silently offering unconditional love and forgiveness make sure you spend good quality time offer these wishes towards yourself. A greater degree of forgiveness of self, or affirmation of self, will go along way to allowing your mind and body to relax into the deeper states of peace that are possbile with practice.

Spend a few minutes, or half and hour, or more, with the following prayers:

May I be happy, May I be well.

May I learn to forgive myself for the foolish choices I have made that hurt me or others.

You can then proceed to those you wish to pray for:

May they be happy. May they be well.

May they come to know the joy, health and prosperity that all men and women seek for their life and for their family and community.

After a while let go of the words and simple see if you can feel yourself simply offering a silent gift of compassion and best wishes to those you are closest to an then to wider and wider circles of people you know.

Over time you will be able to make some breakthroughs and dissolve the resentments you hold towards others, even those you may feel are truly evil.

As more people learn the gift of offering love to all who live, the world will change.

If enough people take seriously the responsibility of this silent practice, we as a species  may be able to significantly mitigate the terrible catastrophies we are hurtling towards as a result of unbridled anger, fear, harsh judgement, insipid selfishness, and run-a-way technology.

Sit quietly alone or with others. Silently offer the best quality love and forgiveness you have towards your own life and to as wide a circle of people as you possibly can.

When you can make the breakthrough to offer love to all who live and all how ever have lived, and all who ever will live.

This is a Prayer for a Burning Planet.

Will

I studied meditation with a variety of Catholic and Buddhist teachers. Catholic Centering Prayer and Buddhist Vipassana meditation are the forms of meditation I studied the most.To a lessor extent I am familiar with Hindu, Greek Orthodox, and Sufi traditions as well. I have also known quite a few people in various recovery or 12 step programs who had strong views on spirituality.

Most of the teachers and lay people who had developed their views on spirituality had at least one trait in common. They tended, not so surprisingly, to believe that their beliefs were correct and they were not interested much one way or the other in my doubts or questions.

For example those following traditional or Orthodox Christianity would invariably say that the suffering and violence of the world was not God’s fault. When faced with the inevitable question, “How could an all powerful, all seeing, all knowing God allow the violence, suffering and natural disasters in the world?” They would say, ” God created the world and humanity perfectly. Humans defied God’s will and law out of sin and rebellious disobedience. It is this sin and rebellion that caused the fall of man and ushered in evil, violence, suffering, disease and the rest.

Indeed this view permeates all of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim views on this most important question, ” What is the relationship between divine love and power and human suffering?”

When I consistently voice my concerns that this core teaching never made any sense to me, most would add something like, ” God has a plan for every life, we often cannot see what that plan is?”  So I thought if a woman is raped and murdered this is somehow part of God’s plan for her life?

What I never felt happened regardless of who I was speaking to is this: my views, my questions, my doubts, were not important or somehow missed the point. In short if I did not agree with them the fault was with me not in their teachings.

What I learned from these countless experiences is this. Find out what are the most important doubts and unanswered questions a person who is studying meditation may have. Help them to articulate their doubts and questions more clearly and to refine their questions.

Assuming that a person is asking their questions not as some intellectual game or some way or avoiding any real searching, help them to honor their doubts and give them ways to explore how they can find answers they are looking for.

Honor your doubts and unanswered questions. They are among the most important resouces you have to work with.

The same goes for your truths. Honor your truths with the integrity with which you live your life.

By honoring the truths you have found and the doubts and unasnwered questions you have, this is a powerful set of tools that will help you find the way forward to whatever is the next level of understanding and peace that is available to you.

What is important in all of this, is to resist the temptation to try to control the answers people will come to in their search. Rather, the work as a meditation teachers is to help people search for truth, in ways that are true for them.

It is to support this approach to teaching meditation that I wrote, “The Simple Path of Holiness.”

Will Raymond  will@meditationpractice.com

In the old style of meditation the teacher says: “This is what we believe. If you think carefully about these matters you will come to believe as we do. This is our sacred book, and most important commentaries on truth and liberation. Read these books carefully and you too will come to understand that our sacred books are true.”

In the new style of meditation the teacher begins by asking questions: “What do you believe?” Are there any beliefs about whether God exists or not that you are completely sure are true? If so what are those beliefs? How do you know they are true?”

“If there are no beliefs that you are sure are true, are there any spiritual, philosophical, or ethical beliefs you feel may be true, which you are willing to explore further? If so what beliefs about spirituality, atheism, or ethics are you willing to explore more carefully to see if they are true for you?

In the new style of meditation the teacher is seeking to help the student find out what is their vision of life, truth, love, and ethics by asking some very basic questions:

1) “Do you believe God exists, or do you believe there is no God, or are you really not sure one way or the other?

2) “In such matters what are your most important doubts and unanswered questions?”

3) “What is the center of your moral compass?”

4) “What changes do you wish to make in your life?”

5) “From where can you find the inner strength needed to make the changes in your life that you have been unable to make so far?

Depending how the student answers these question, will determine what manner of meditation practice is best suited for them. For meditation can be of great benefit to those who believe in God, those who do not, and those who are not sure what to believe.

It needs to be added that for this approach to meditation to work, the student must freely choose to embrace high standards of sincerity, honesty, open-mindedness, and personal integrity in their search and in their dealings with all other people. Assuming a person freely embraces these high standards and demonstrates an ongoing commitment to them, they are a good candidate for meditation practice. If a person has no interest in such a commitment then there probably is no need for them to spend much time thinking about meditation one way or the other.

The teacher’s responsibility is to have a wide range of knowledge of many different meditation practices and beliefs so they can help the student find the style and resources that work best for them.

Peace,
Will

First Installment 2-7-13

Jomo decided he wanted to study meditation. So he went to speak with one of the monks who lived in a hut in the hills above the village fields.

Upon reaching one of the elders he asked, “Please sir, would you be kind enough to give me some instruction in the basics of meditation?”

The Elder replied: “Jomo I have not known your family well, but I know you are already familiar with the basics of meditation.  The first step is to set aside a place in your home that is your place to meditate.  If you want, you can decorate this area with some painting or statue that evokes for you a quiet and reflective mood. Then sit quietly either cross legged or in a chair with your back up right in silence and stillness for 20 or 30 minutes at the beginning of the day and in the early evening.

The Elder continued, “Many of the monks and nuns prefer to use a sacred word that they repeat over and over again as they seek to quiet the mind. Others prefer to use the breath as it passes in and out of the nose. In either case,when the mind wanders very gently bring your attention back to the breath of sacred word. What is most important is to bring the attention back to the breath without any condemnation or self-reproach.

These are the basics of sitting practice. But there is something else I suggest.

Please find 6 buckets in your father’s barn and bring them up here to the hills and stay in one of the empty huts for a day or two when you have the time to do so.

In the first bucket place every teaching of spirituality that you are sure is completely true.

In the second bucket place every teaching of spirituality that you are not sure is true but which you think may be true and which you are willing to study further.

In the third bucket place whatever you feel are your most important doubts and unanswered questions about spirituality or philosophy.

In the fourth bucket place every teaching of spirituality you have said you believe but which upon closer scrutiny you realize you either do not really understand or feel it may not actually be true.

In the fifth bucket place every teaching you really do not understand at all and cannot see any way to ever find out if it is true or false.

In the sixth bucket place every teaching which you feel is just plain wrong even if many other people tell you forcefully that it is true.

Once you have sorted these different teachings out and placed them in the different buckets this is what I suggest that you do. Spend as much time as you wish reflecting on the teachings or doubts in the first three buckets. Then take the other three buckets and empty them out and set them aside. You can always fill them again later if you feel it is important to do so.

With that the Elder smiled and Jomo did as well for he understood clearly what the Elder had said.

Taking the time to understand what beliefs you are sure are true and what are your most significant unanswered questions is an important discernment to make as you begin serious studies and meditation practice.

For the beliefs we hold to be most true shape the nature and tone of our approach to silent meditation.