When we practice, we begin to notice stimulus and response within the system much more clearly. The Buddha said that, for every stimulus, you will experience an immediate feeling tone, or vedana, or response. The three feeling tones are: Pleasant, Unpleasant, and Neutral (or Boring).
One place I see this clearly in my own practice is when sitting. A thought will arise of something I've been longing for, and the experience is sweet. There is an immediate Pleasant feeling tone. I often use donuts as an example, but I'm actually not even a huge donut fan, I just happen to work by a great donut shop, and the smells of the treats waft in through windows when we are practicing. When we sit, we smell donuts, and there is generally an immediate Pleasant feeling tone. Or, when sitting, a cramp will arise in the physical body, and there is an immediate Unpleasant feeling tone. At other times, nothing is arising, the situation is somewhat boring, but not unpleasantly so, and this, to me, is the Neutral feeling tone.
When we start to see feeling tones, we start to see how they are constantly at play, on and off the mat or cushion. When we see them, we see what follows: with things we find pleasant, there is a tendency to want to cling on, hold on, or recreate that sensation. When we smell donuts during a practice, our mind leaves and goes to find donuts, even when our bodies are still planted in practice. With things we find unpleasant, there is an almost immediate need to avoid, reject, or distract. And with neutral or boring situations, we often check out or find some way to fill the neutral-ness with something more stimulating. Look for it in your own practice and see if you agree.
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