Satipatthana 4 - Observing The Body In The Body

You Good afternoon dear Thay,

Dear Sangha Welcome everyone After the last two weeks where we looked specifically at sati mindfulness or smrti in Sanskrit same word and then dukkha not just suffering but often translated as such We're gonna come back to the early part of the Satipatthana Sutta Some of you have been here consistently some of you come in and out some of you are probably here for the first time Our first time in a while so no worries Someone emailed today saying this is a class.

I'm not sure what this is well You know we're working.

We're meandering through a sutra through a discourse of the Buddha Taking our time,

And I am trying to set things up so that You don't have to have any pressure.

You can just drop in as it works for you but if at any point there is any Confusion or like where are we what are we doing?

Always welcome to ask questions or To send me questions,

And I have put up on a new page on my malinabandi.

Com website all the past recordings because what used to be the Dharmapathways podcast is no more so It took me some time,

But I just put them on a web page,

So that's where they'll be in future Weeks,

And it was linked in the email just in case anyone wants to know that So with that the Satipa Tana Sutra that we're looking at is often translated as the four establishments of mindfulness or the Foundations of mindfulness it's one of the most famous discourses of the Buddha and in it teaches there's a very complete teaching on on basic practice and full awakening practice,

So we're we're playing with it and We had looked the very beginning of the sutra a few weeks ago in different translations to remind ourselves that this is all coming through translation of language of time of cultures There's just a lot happening so to hold some spaciousness with the specific words So I wanted to this week look at the next little bit and Wonder if someone would be willing to read this aloud For us I put the words in the chat Carolyn thank you and just for those who are new bhikkhus is the Pali word for monk Basically,

So it's but it can mean practitioners also so when you hear bhikkhu or you read it let let us hear practitioner Carolyn What are the four establishments of mindfulness?

One bhikkhus a practitioner remains established in the observation of the body Sorry a Practitioner remains established in the observation of the body in the body diligent with clear understanding mindful Having abandoned every craving and every distaste for this life Two E Sorry,

I have to throw in she also they Remain established in the observation of the feelings in the feelings diligent with clear understanding mindful Having abandoned every craving and every distaste for this life Three Yeshe they Remain established in the observation of the mind in the mind diligent with clear understanding mindful Having abandoned every craving and every distaste for this month for this life For Yeshe they remains established in the observation of the objects of the mind In the objects of the mind Diligent with clear understanding mindful having abandoned every craving and every distaste for his life This came out of Jitnahan's awakening of the heart transformation and healing Thank you Thank you Oh You you So for those who may be newer to reading the discourses of the Buddha I I you might be noticing.

Oh,

I'm probably sure everyone's were noticing but it might be unfamiliar There's tends to be a lot of repetition Partly because the suttas are passed down orally.

They're still passed down orally in some places I met a monk who one of his teacher had memorized the entire polycanon like this meant a A foot and a half or two feet of books that because he started when he was six He lived until his 90s So there are still some traditions around the world where Oral transmission is happening where memorization of all the suttas is happening And so repetition makes it a lot easier to remember these long teachings is one of the explanations so in our Current age and especially for people who are used to reading things in writing we tend to glaze over the repetitions so if it happens Know that it's very common,

But also know that it's an invitation Okay,

Okay Try again.

See what happens if I just invite a little more curiosity into the repetition and one Phrase that we're gonna hear a lot is Is Observation of the body in the body The feelings in the feelings the mind in the mind mind objects and mind objects And that's what I wanted us to give attention to today Because it sounds really simple or it might sound like a typo Wait a minute why bother why bother with that was the big deal and it's actually beautifully important So before we go into even you know what's meant by body Feelings mind and mind objects.

What's this mind in the mind body in the body?

And In my own way I was attempting to bring us in that direction in our guided meditation of this Experiencing body sensations from within the sensations because often the mind's eye the the witnessing consciousness,

However,

You'd like to call it Can stay on the surface I Know I've had it happen and I've met a lot of people when they're instructed to notice breathing They actually spend years visualizing breathing so like visualizing the nose or Kind of yet in out know that it's happening,

But it stays on this somewhat intellectual level and there's actually a distance from being inside the experience of just really resting dwelling from within The tingling the coolness the The movement Does that make sense to folks I'm seeing some nods if it doesn't make sense to anyone please like A gesture or say something.

Can you can you repeat that?

I just Thank you,

No worries So this the body in the body the feelings in the feelings mind in the mind as I understand it and as I've been taught is is an invitation to really Drop a layer or a bunch of layers deeper and make sure that we are Not conceptualizing our experience.

There we go.

That's I think an important Because it's very easy to bring this conceptualization of you know,

Maybe we've seen anatomical drawings of lungs in in health class in high school an anatomy book right and so someone might say pay attention to your breathing and we might just visualize the drawing of a lung and Kind of have some vague connection to oh,

That's probably what's happening.

I'm opening closing but that's very different from tuning into The actual sort of the stretch Of the muscles between the rib cage and the skin on the chest expanding with the inhalation.

That's that's very Primal it's direct.

It's not conceptual But the tricky thing is that it's so easy to think we are in the experience but still staying on a conceptual level because I Mean we learn through concepts,

Right?

It's not that there's anything wrong with concepts But if our meditation stays at a conceptual level then we're meeting concepts of reality as opposed to reality It's very hard to get a clear picture and and and come to any wisdom of this moments experience if we're thinking about our breathing as opposed to experiencing breathing and It's not only about physical sensations,

But that does tend to be a huge realm of where much of The raw experience of the moment happens on a on a somatic level on a non conceptual sort of raw push pull Tightened soften cold hot pulse numbness level So we're gonna be start the Buddha started by teaching about aware of the body in the body first because it's so important and Not always easy and yet so foundational once we can do that it gives a Platform a foundation to then Have already trained in some non conceptual more direct experiencing of Whatever is happening that then we're going to continue to apply with things like thought patterns that the mind objects That can be pretty conceptual But if we've been doing everything else in this raw Experiential way then we're more likely to be able to come into a raw experience of raw experience of aversion or craving or or joy That's not just stuck in ideas about things And not only theoretical ideas,

But what other people have told us because Most of us learn through what other people our parents teachers partners tell us about things or what we've read about or You know,

I know when I started practicing I had done a lot of yoga.

I had done some teaching in yoga And so and the tradition I was part of did a lot of pranayama the breathing exercises And so I was very used to making my breaths full and long or short and fast and really Intentionally manipulating the breath which I think is a wonderful practice,

But it's entirely different from Buddhist mindfulness meditation where we are not manipulating the breath and It took me a few years to get to a point of oh This is this is the body breathing the body and not because I had I had Developed this subtle constant control of my breath trying to make it always full and not that there's even a problem with that But that is different Than really the effortlessness the the relaxation the letting go that is required to actually Just let the body breathe itself as it changes So Again,

I just want to pause does this is this making sense are there questions about this end?

We will open up soon for conversation,

But I want to make sure that what I'm That that this very small but very specific piece.

We have some clarity around it Yeah,

Carolyn So It's the fourth that is a little puzzling to me because I'm very often subsumed in the object of mind.

So the thoughts And to be able to then Notice the objects is it,

You know,

It just doesn't happen but maybe that's just the point is that that's the aim,

Right?

Yeah,

Okay.

I get it.

Well,

I mean and and what we will we will Move towards there,

But that's part of why it's so challenging is because the whole nature of our first dreams of thoughts is that they feel real they feel like a Whole we get caught and stuck in them and sometimes they cause a lot of suffering.

So Yeah,

If it was if it was easy to do and natural we wouldn't need instructions and teachings Yeah,

We don't have it figured out right?

Yeah,

But we the body seems to be a little bit more accessible the bodily Sensations then being able to be really fully constant for me at least to concentrate on the thoughts not concentrate but the 19 awareness Without craving and Without craving and distaste We're gonna get to that next time Not even gonna go into those details so much today But just to say my personal approach is actually very embodied even through the feelings and the feelings Mind in the mind mind objects in mind objects.

So We're gonna go as I said nice and slow when we get there I will keep sharing and and the basics is like getting to know what?

The aversion feels like in the body so I can recognize it because the mind will trick and spin and say oh no,

This is this is Clear seeing this is equanimity.

This is and then but wait a minute.

Why does it feel bad?

Why am I so tight?

So Just that little hint of we will do it an embodied Exploration of of these but we're gonna start purely in the body For the first while I think oh I didn't look this up for a little while But I think that there's nine different exercises that the Buddha gives just in the section of the body So we'll do one a week When we when we still want to get to there it'll still be another week or two before we do the first exercise But then we'll just we'll just do one at a time and if it wants more time We'll do them two or you know,

We'll we're just doing one more time We'll do them two or you know,

We're just taking time with each one so that we can digest it and really live into This richness and it's again it's it's as simple as being fully in Our experience but knowing that we're in our experience This is what's happening And yet it requires a fair bit of training too So I'll invite three sounds of the bell to close this aspect of the reflection and you can see if there are Comments questions other insights different takes on this That you'd like to share You You