Like in the first 10-day course one is taught anapana at the nose and body scanning. In the second course, one is taught also acknowledging thoughts, in the third also feelings - something like that.
Any suggestions? Should i keep working with sensations? or with breath?
Still sailing on a stormy sea of sensation.....cannot relax...
Now she was allowed to note chaos and allow it to be there. Not any more this idea that she should be relaxed. No more struggle with the idea that there should not be hatred. If hatred came to the foreground, there was hatred. Just look at it. Acknowledging what is there has a calming effect - even if at first, it might be shocking or disquieting.
...trying too hard to focus...
... you will need to try a month or three or more of "breathing in sensitive to the whole body and calming the body, breathing out sensitive to the whole body and calming the body"
Shamatha/Calm abiding instructions and notes.The practice is designed to bring your body and mind into full harmony, to quieten the mind naturally over time, through repeated practice and not using any kind of force, and to improve and deepen your level of concentration. It is the gate through which you gain the solid basis of a calm, stable, concentrated bodymind able to further investigate the reality in which you live (internally and externally). 1) Choose a quiet place where you feel comfortable.Notes: This can be a spot in your home where you will not be disturbed, somewhere in the garden or in nature.2) Sit in a way that your back muscles hold you upright and erect without strain and without external support if possible. Notes: This can be seated on the floor cross legged or seated on a chair such as a dining chair for example. It is important that the least strain in your body comes from your posture, thus if you sit on the floor for most westerners it is advisable to use some cushions or folded blankets to raise the backside a little bit - anything from 10 - 30 cm is usual - and if you sit in a chair it is important that your hips are not lower than your knees - also do not use the back of the chair to lean on if possible. 3. Once seated in a quiet place, upright and comfortable take a few deep breaths to centre yourself and start quieting yourself.4. The core of the practice:i) Breathe in paying attention to bodily sensations as you breathe and calming the body as you breathe. Breathe out paying attention to bodily sensations and calming the body as you breathe.Notes: Do not intellectualise where you pay attention to or try to "follow the path of the breath in the body" or any other such thing - these are fabrications. Pay attention to the actual sensations in your body, wherever they are. Do not interfere with the natural breathing pattern, just pay attention to the sensations in the body as you breathe.ii) Thoughts: Let thoughts be. Do not try to suppress them yet do not follow them. Let them arise and fall like waves coming up on the beach and flowing back into the sea.Notes: Do not try to suppress thoughts - this will quickly turn your practice into a form of self-hypnosis. Thoughts will happen - a lot at first! When we say "do not follow them" what is meant is this: Usually one thought triggers another. For example you might experience the thought "What shall I have for dinner tonight?" - usually the mind is then triggered into further thinking, such as, "Oh I fancy cheese on toast. Damn .. we have no cheese at home. I'll have to go to the supermarket after work. Oh that will be bothersome, it's always so busy at that time. etc. etc. etc."The aim is to be aware of thought happening without allowing this follow-through of habituated thinking to continue. Do not expect to achieve this from the moment you start the practice. Depending on the initial internal conditions of your bodymind, the time you invest in the practice and the external conditions of your day-today life, it can take from some hours of practice to some months before having the experience of a single thought with no "follow through" thinking.Do not force your mind into silence and do not fall into the trap of criticising yourself for having follow-through thinking occur. This is just natural! It is your current conditioned state - and this is what this practice will gently, in time, and safely, unravel.iii) Always return to the sensations in the body as you breathe and calming the body as you breathe.Notes: Thoughts will occur. You will suffer "follow-through" thinking - probably a lot and especially when you begin this practice. The point is not to suppress this artificially but to notice when it has happened and your mind has wandered from the sensations in the body as you breathe and calming the body as you breathe, then return the focus of the mind to those sensations and calming the body. When you notice you have got caught in a "train of thoughts", you can, at the beginning, make a mental note of this if you wish: just say "thinking" to yourself in your mind. It is not encouraged to do this for an extended period as it will be a new habit, but for some beginners it helps to "kick-start" the practice.This returning of the attention to the bodily sensations and calming the body is the first stage of training in calm-abiding meditation. If you force quiet on your mind and avoid this stage you will never progress beyond a mild hypnotic calming trance. This trance can bring peace and relief yet it will not deeply change the way your bodymind works. Only by repeatedly failing to keep the attention on the sensations in the body as you breathe and calm the body, then by noticing/becoming aware you have done so, and then gently (and without self-criticism - just another form of follow-on thinking), returning the attention to those sensations and calming will you train yourself in the first skill in concentration: maintaining the focus on an object (the bodily sensations).iv)Time: How much you benefit from this practice is deeply correlated to the time you invest in it.Notes: You probably spend at least half an hour to an hour looking after your bodily hygiene. Why not start by aiming to spend the same amount of time on this "mental hygiene"?Sitting twice a day is recommended for the best results. The ideal times are after you shower in the morning and before you eat breakfast and some time in the evening that is neither too close to dinner (likely to induce sleepiness) nor too close to your bedtime (also likely to induce sleepiness and sometimes can cause interruptions to sleep).5) Summary of the practice:Sit comfortably: spine erect but comfortable, a sense of being awake and aware.Breathe in and out naturally: paying attention to your bodily sensations and calming bodily tensions.Let thoughts be: without following them and without suppressing them.When you find you have got caught on the "thought-train" return awareness to bodily sensations and calming the body: do so without guilt.Remain aware and awake: if you feel sleepy it is often because your body posture has leant forward and your breathing become shallow.Try and find as much time in the day as you can practically find to undertake this practice and undertake the practice on a daily basis.
duh for now..helps to be interacting about all this...Love,Niza
All i seem to do is give myself a forced reminder that its impermanant...
About equanimity...the body resists the experience..tenses up...and doesnt feel like its in equilibrium
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