Lesson Three
The Buddha did not believe that we should memorize his words and take them on faith. He was a strong proponent of experience. He said that these were the things that he had found and that you should go out into your own life and practice and see what happens.
According to the Buddha, there are four postures for practicing: sitting, standing, walking, and lying down. Since I am a yogi, I consider slow posture or asana practice the same as walking practice, and I have confirmed that in my own personal study over the last several years. So, when you are ready, you can take up one of these postures for practicing, and you can practice.
What do you practice? Practice noticing. Just notice what happens in the body, the mind, the senses. It's like on an old radio dial. When you begin to practice, you are somewhere close to the radio station, but all you hear is static, then you slowly turn the knob and you still hear static but there is music, too. And then you slowly turn the knob again until there is less and less static and more and more pure, clear music. When you practice, you practice turning the knob until there is less static. And, as you continue to practice, you will lose the station again - it happened on old radios, too. You try not to get too hung up on losing the station and just go back to turning the knob. That's what you are practicing. You get more and more adept at turning the knob as you continue to practice. Closer and closer to pure, clear music.
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