Okay,
So this is meditation on the third foundation of mindfulness.
This part of the Saffipadana Sutta is about mindfulness of the mind,
Or heart-mind,
Also known as citta.
The Buddha instructs us to direct our awareness to the ethical quality of the mind,
Namely the presence or absence of lust,
Raga,
Anger,
Dosa,
And delusion,
Mā'ā.
So as we begin,
Be aware of your breath,
And as with all the meditations,
We'll take a moment of settling in with a short body scan before we actually get into the practice of the third foundation.
So find a comfortable sitting posture,
And again,
Make sure your back is straight,
Not stiff,
And just find that spot that's comfortable for you.
Let your hands find a space that is comfortable as well.
And let your head and face,
Jaw and neck relax.
And as we sit here,
Do your own tension-relieving body scan.
Just go through your torso and your lower body in whatever way is comfortable for you,
Whatever words make sense,
And just let those tensions leave as you exhale.
As you exhale,
Be aware of your breath and aware of where you notice it.
These are the abdomen,
The nostrils,
The rise and fall of the chest or the belly.
And notice these sensations and think to yourself,
It is now like this.
This concentration with your mindfulness of breathing,
When developed in practice,
Is both peaceful and unparalleled.
It banishes at once unprofitable thoughts as soon as they arise.
We use the breath as our home base,
A place to come back to when we lose concentration or under stress or our mind wanders.
In difficult times on or off the cushion,
We can always go home to our breath.
It is always there for us.
So,
Let us close this.
Ever mindful,
We breathe in.
Ever mindful,
We breathe out.
Breathing in and out a deep breath,
No.
I am breathing in and out a deep breath.
Breathing in and out a short breath,
No.
I am breathing in and out a short breath.
Experiencing the whole breath and body,
I shall breathe in and I shall breathe out.
Calming the activity of the breath and body,
I shall breathe in and I shall breathe out.
As we sit here in this peaceful place,
In this sitting posture,
Resting on the cushion,
We understand this is the hub of our practice,
This whole body awareness.
We are simply knowing there is a body.
We can maintain this awareness through the four Satipatthamas and take it out into the world with us through our mindfulness,
Keeping the mindfulness of the body ever present or when we lose it,
Coming back to it when we notice.
Calming the activity of the breath and body,
I shall breathe in and I shall breathe out.
We contemplate the consciousness of consciousness this way.
One lives contemplating consciousness of consciousness internally,
Externally,
And internally and externally.
We live unattached and cling to nothing in the world.
Thus,
We live contemplating the consciousness of consciousness,
Having overcome desire and grief.
We are eager,
Understanding,
And mindful.
We accomplish this as one sees themselves in a mirror.
You can contemplate your image,
But that is about all you can do with your reflection.
Observe it.
That is what we are attempting to do in this practice,
To be curious about our mind states,
To feel what each one feels like in the different situations.
Let your mind relax into these ideas and just experience them without judging or grasping.
We begin with the ordinary states of mind.
Starting with lust.
We know the consciousness of lust with lust.
The consciousness of lust without lust.
We are aware of the thoughts when we contemplate lust,
When we are full of lust,
And when we contemplate lust,
When we are not lustful at all,
When we are content.
Now with hate.
We know the consciousness of hate with hate.
The consciousness of hate without hate.
We are aware of the thoughts when we contemplate hate,
When we are full of hate,
And when we contemplate hate when we are not hateful at all,
When we are full of loving kindness and compassion.
Next,
With ignorance.
We know the consciousness of ignorance with ignorance.
The consciousness of ignorance without ignorance.
We are aware of the thoughts when we contemplate ignorance,
When we are full of ignorance,
And when we contemplate ignorance when we are not ignorant at all,
When we are well-informed.
Just Moving on to greed.
We know the consciousness of greed with greed.
The consciousness of greed without greed.
We are aware of the thoughts when we contemplate greed,
When we are full of greed,
When we contemplate greed,
When we are not greedy at all,
When we are generous.
Now we move on to the higher states of mind.
These mind states are in relation to our meditation practice and the states of mind that come from continued application of these practices.
We begin.
We know the consciousness of divine love and divine love,
Which comes from practicing the heart practices and keeping them deep in our heart-mind.
The consciousness of divine love without divine love.
We are aware of the thoughts when we contemplate divine love,
When we are not feeling divine love,
And when we contemplate divine love when we are simply neutral on this experience of mind.
We continue.
The consciousness of mindfulness without mindfulness.
We are aware of the thoughts when we contemplate mindfulness,
When we are not mindful.
When we contemplate mindfulness,
When we are simply neutral on this experience of mind.
We begin.
As we continue,
We know the consciousness of concentration of concentration.
The consciousness of concentration without concentration.
We are aware of the thoughts when we contemplate concentration when we are not able to concentrate.
When we contemplate concentration when we are simply neutral on this experience of mind.
And finally,
We contemplate the consciousness of awakening of awakening.
The consciousness of awakening without awakening.
We are aware of the thoughts when we contemplate awakening when we are not woke.
And when we contemplate awakening when we are simply neutral on this experience of mind.
One lives contemplating consciousness of consciousness internally,
Externally,
And internally and externally.
We live unattached and cling to nothing in the world.
Thus,
We live contemplating the consciousness of consciousness.
Having overcome desire and grief,
We are eager,
Understanding,
And mindful.
And when you are ready,
You may sit in silence or walk and contemplate the experience and awareness of the third foundation of mindfulness.
