The Buddha discussed the Four Abodes or Brahma-Viharas. These are blissful states of mind where we can reside and also blissful states of mind where we can practice. They are:
- Lovingkindness
- Compassion
- Joy
- Equanimity
We will study one of these a week each day for the next four weeks, starting tomorrow with Lovingkindness. I will offer practices and theory to help you to experience working within each of the Four Abodes.
Monday, March 7, 2016
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Mini-Lessons for Contemplative Practice, Lesson Seven
I've been getting wordy in these lessons. It's a pattern that I have. So short and sweet today. The Buddha discussed the Six Roots of the Mind. The mind always exists in one of these states:
Generosity or Greed
Love or Hatred
Wisdom or Delusion
It is useful to notice this and to practice the Wholesome Roots of Mind in order to invite more of them in. Remember that what the brain practices gets hard-wired. And also remember that we can always re-wire with practice.
Generosity or Greed
Love or Hatred
Wisdom or Delusion
It is useful to notice this and to practice the Wholesome Roots of Mind in order to invite more of them in. Remember that what the brain practices gets hard-wired. And also remember that we can always re-wire with practice.
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Mini-Lessons for Contemplative Practice, Lesson Six
Buddha predicted that, as we practice, we will run into The Five Hindrances. These are states of mind that will interrupt or cause us to question our practice. I have found that, now that I practice with the hindrances off the mat, I see them having their way with my life there as well. The Five Hindrances are:
- Desire, clinging, or craving
- Aversion, hatred, or anger
- Sleepiness, sloth, or torpor
- Restlessness or agitation
- Doubt
We can go back to the donut example from yesterday's mini-lesson. When we sit, and we notice we are hungry, suddenly all we can think about is what we are going to have for lunch or cook for dinner or which donut we are smelling and how long will it be until I can get out of here and buy one and eat it? This is a simple example of desire at work.
Aversion, hatred, and anger happen in my practice often when I notice that I am uncomfortable in a posture physically or when there is something uncomfortable happening in my thoughts or emotions that I would rather not examine.
Sleepiness can happen because you are overtired, of course, but at other times, it is just a very clever trick of the mind to get you to avoid looking at something that is arising in the meditation. A difficult emotion or thought will arise and you barely catch a glimmer of it and then you wake up thirty minutes later when the bell rings to release you from the session.
Restlessness, for me, also tends to begin with discomfort in the physical body, but I often notice restless mind, too. I especially fall victim to this in my own, home practice, where, when I get restless, I know that I can just go and check my phone, or answer the doorbell, or jot down a note. In a group meditation, it is much harder to give in to restlessness, and whenever we work to sit through restlessness rather than giving in, we can learn to work through it.
Doubt will arise whenever we start to question the practice or our abilities. Is this really even helping me? What am I getting out of this? Isn't there something that would be more important for me to do right now? I should really get to my to-do list, call my son's teacher, make that doctor's appointment, weed the garden, and I'd better do it RIGHT NOW instead of sitting. In this way, doubt can flow right into agitation.
It is useful to notice when these situations arise on the mat or cushion and also off of it. Can you think of a relationship where you have experienced doubt? A time at work when you experienced agitation or aversion? A beloved that you crave? Or times when you have checked out by taking a nap just to avoid digging deeper into something?
- Desire, clinging, or craving
- Aversion, hatred, or anger
- Sleepiness, sloth, or torpor
- Restlessness or agitation
- Doubt
We can go back to the donut example from yesterday's mini-lesson. When we sit, and we notice we are hungry, suddenly all we can think about is what we are going to have for lunch or cook for dinner or which donut we are smelling and how long will it be until I can get out of here and buy one and eat it? This is a simple example of desire at work.
Aversion, hatred, and anger happen in my practice often when I notice that I am uncomfortable in a posture physically or when there is something uncomfortable happening in my thoughts or emotions that I would rather not examine.
Sleepiness can happen because you are overtired, of course, but at other times, it is just a very clever trick of the mind to get you to avoid looking at something that is arising in the meditation. A difficult emotion or thought will arise and you barely catch a glimmer of it and then you wake up thirty minutes later when the bell rings to release you from the session.
Restlessness, for me, also tends to begin with discomfort in the physical body, but I often notice restless mind, too. I especially fall victim to this in my own, home practice, where, when I get restless, I know that I can just go and check my phone, or answer the doorbell, or jot down a note. In a group meditation, it is much harder to give in to restlessness, and whenever we work to sit through restlessness rather than giving in, we can learn to work through it.
Doubt will arise whenever we start to question the practice or our abilities. Is this really even helping me? What am I getting out of this? Isn't there something that would be more important for me to do right now? I should really get to my to-do list, call my son's teacher, make that doctor's appointment, weed the garden, and I'd better do it RIGHT NOW instead of sitting. In this way, doubt can flow right into agitation.
It is useful to notice when these situations arise on the mat or cushion and also off of it. Can you think of a relationship where you have experienced doubt? A time at work when you experienced agitation or aversion? A beloved that you crave? Or times when you have checked out by taking a nap just to avoid digging deeper into something?
Friday, March 4, 2016
Mini-Lessons for Contemplative Practice, Lesson Five
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.
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.
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Mini-Lessons for Contemplative Practice, Lesson Four
One of the first lessons that the Buddha taught was the body in the body. We practice residing in awareness of sensations in the body. There are two great ways to do this. One is with a body scan, which you can lead yourself through or which you can be guided through by a teacher. You visit each part of the body from toes to crown of the head, really experiencing that part with every amount of awareness that you can muster. If you are interested, you can listen to a guided body scan by Jon Kabat Zinn here: https://youtu.be/daU-xneLA0g
Another way that you can experience body in the body is through awareness of the breath in whatever posture you would like to experience. Take a posture and then tie your attention to the breathing. Whenever the mind wanders, gently and compassionately bring the mind back and place it back on the breath. The moment when you catch the mind wandering is the moment when you have really woken up. The moment you catch the mind wandering is the moment that you are really practicing.
I think it is interesting that this practice is one of the first ones taught by the Buddha. After leaving his protected, luxurious life, the first place he landed was with the yogi ascetics. I think this is one of the lessons he took with him from his time as a yogi. He taught that there were seven points of posture to be visited upon taking a meditation posture. These are to be revisited any time there is pain or discomfort during practice:
Legs
Shoulders
Back
Eyes
Hands
Tongue
Head
Sure, you can memorize Buddha's list, or you can just remember to scan your body each time you come to practice and then whenever it would be useful to help you during your practice session.
Another way that you can experience body in the body is through awareness of the breath in whatever posture you would like to experience. Take a posture and then tie your attention to the breathing. Whenever the mind wanders, gently and compassionately bring the mind back and place it back on the breath. The moment when you catch the mind wandering is the moment when you have really woken up. The moment you catch the mind wandering is the moment that you are really practicing.
I think it is interesting that this practice is one of the first ones taught by the Buddha. After leaving his protected, luxurious life, the first place he landed was with the yogi ascetics. I think this is one of the lessons he took with him from his time as a yogi. He taught that there were seven points of posture to be visited upon taking a meditation posture. These are to be revisited any time there is pain or discomfort during practice:
Legs
Shoulders
Back
Eyes
Hands
Tongue
Head
Sure, you can memorize Buddha's list, or you can just remember to scan your body each time you come to practice and then whenever it would be useful to help you during your practice session.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Mini-Lessons for Contemplative Practice, Lesson Three
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Mini-Lessons for Contemplative Practice, Lesson Two
Lesson Two
The Noble Eightfold Path as taught by the Buddha:
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
The first two are Right Wisdom, the next three are Right Mindfulness, and the last three are Right Concentration, so in some traditions, these are also known as the Three Higher Trainings.
In my practice, I work towards practicing awareness AND compassion in each of these eight arenas which I interpret thusly:
1. Compassionate lens for viewing the world
2. Compassionate and aware of my intentions in all things
3. Aware of the intentions and effects of my internal and external speech, effort to be compassionate in my internal and external speech.
4. Aware of the intentions behind and the effects of my actions, compassionate in my actions.
5. Practicing both awareness and compassion in my work.
6. Putting dedication and effort into practice. Remembering to be compassionate with myself.
7. Practicing mindfulness with dedication and compassion.
8. Remembering that whatever I put my concentration towards, that is what I am growing. The brain rewires itself toward whatever it attends to. Am I spending my days afraid and angry? The brain will grow stronger in those areas. Am I spending my days practicing peace and compassion? I will get better at those things.
The Noble Eightfold Path as taught by the Buddha:
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
The first two are Right Wisdom, the next three are Right Mindfulness, and the last three are Right Concentration, so in some traditions, these are also known as the Three Higher Trainings.
In my practice, I work towards practicing awareness AND compassion in each of these eight arenas which I interpret thusly:
1. Compassionate lens for viewing the world
2. Compassionate and aware of my intentions in all things
3. Aware of the intentions and effects of my internal and external speech, effort to be compassionate in my internal and external speech.
4. Aware of the intentions behind and the effects of my actions, compassionate in my actions.
5. Practicing both awareness and compassion in my work.
6. Putting dedication and effort into practice. Remembering to be compassionate with myself.
7. Practicing mindfulness with dedication and compassion.
8. Remembering that whatever I put my concentration towards, that is what I am growing. The brain rewires itself toward whatever it attends to. Am I spending my days afraid and angry? The brain will grow stronger in those areas. Am I spending my days practicing peace and compassion? I will get better at those things.
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