Using Subtle Body Energies

Ajahn starts: "Mindfulness of body encompasses all states that give rise to wisdom." A detailed encouragement to track and become familiar with subtle energies in the body and to experience the beauty and joy of the citta. The body is actually a constructed experience. He advises us to note where we feel comfortable and how we feel comfortable. Better not to search for the breath but to use the process of embodiment to allow things to come to us.

Transcript

Mindfulness of body is held to encompass all states that give rise to wisdom.

So it's a reminder that mindfulness of body we are not just looking at outward form or anatomy but the energetic sensitivity,

The body as a sense organ,

The body as a feeling experience and the body as something that has an intelligence that begins to sense what's happening at the surface of the skin,

That's its job,

The feeling of safety or well-being and also it senses what's happening internally in terms of the health,

The tensions,

What's happening in the organs,

Vitality,

Well-being,

Tension,

Ease,

Comfort.

So there's a lot of intelligence going on there and because the mind always synthesizes with the other sense organs,

Sense data,

We see something and we find it attractive,

The mind lights up and synthesizes,

Makes something out of it.

In the body you're getting a very direct synthesis because it's not just a matter of taste,

It's something that's much more deeply embedded in life itself.

The body is a matter of life and death,

The warmth of pain and pleasure and fear and love and joy.

So this area then we track it,

We're re-tuning into it,

It gives rise to very helpful mind states associated with ease and release of tension and stress and clarity and directness.

What we feel in our bodies becomes what we feel in our minds.

What we feel in our minds becomes what we feel in our bodies.

To this extent even the word mind is problematic.

Since Descartes,

Mind went up into the head and then gradually been pushing it,

Widening the boundaries ever since.

The last hundred years or so it came back and encompassed heart,

Became psyche and unconscious,

Collective unconscious,

Psyche and it's continuing to develop.

And now we have coming close to the Buddha term citta which means awareness,

Spirit,

Heart,

Mind,

Intelligence,

All these things.

So what we experience psychologically,

What we experience emotionally,

That is also mind,

Affected mind.

The primary quality of citta is just the sense of knowing,

Sensing,

Being aware and then the very colors that come into that,

Emotional tones,

Intentions,

Trembling,

Firmness,

So on.

So using,

When you come into your body with awareness then you're bringing awareness in the body and you're able to bring these effects of steadying,

Of calming,

Easing into the mind without any intellectual effort.

Just by placing awareness into something that is comfortable,

Steady,

It becomes that way.

Now the topic then is how to establish this presence in the body.

Since most of the body sensations and sensations for anyone are not always that good.

As far as I can sense in my own body there's always something painful going on,

Those sensations.

Painful or disagreeable or something one just has to kind of bear with.

It's too hot,

It's too cold,

There's an ache here,

There's a twinge there.

That's the deal with sensations.

Okay,

You get some good stuff too but it's generally,

It's not that great.

To goodness it's still,

It's definitely not great.

So there's that,

But there's more to it than that.

There's also energies.

Energies are the vitality of the body we could say it's an energy and of course this is where you,

As meditators you have the big advantage over people who don't cultivate because when you tune into breathing you're tuning into the fundamental vitality energy source of life.

So that's a big,

Big thing.

And with that,

That's bigger than sensations.

That's what keeps you going.

So for this we tend to focus particularly on this energetic process and there's two phases to it,

Very simple,

There's the discharge which is breathing out,

Everything releases and softens.

And breathing in things sharpen and brighten,

Regenerate.

So you can detect that to some degree when you breathe in,

It's brightening,

Things tend to sharpen,

Become more vitalized,

Breathe out,

Things tend to soften,

Fade,

Become quieter.

Now that will develop actually.

The more you bring your awareness into that you can begin to notice that often there are blocks,

Subtle or gross obstacles to that process,

Something is actually interfering with that energy.

It can be physical,

One feels physically tense or tight but it's often results of tension in the body,

Frozen areas in the body,

Shock,

Psychological effects such as shame,

Fear and so forth,

It closes down.

This is where to be mindful of the body really requires good deal of goodwill to encourage the system to come out of pressure,

Shock,

Shame,

Fear.

These things are not always verbal,

We don't always have a thought process going on,

It can be something pretty nonverbal,

Just an overall sense of held tight or an overall feeling of inadequacy or an overall feeling of don't want to be here.

We don't know what it is,

It's just that sense.

So these are psychological effects that get carried as ongoing resonances and they become embodied.

So in certain places in your body you can feel quite restricted,

It could be your throat,

Your chest,

Your belly,

Any area of the abdomen from the midriff all the way down to the pelvic floor,

Something that doesn't ease,

It tends to tighten and resist.

So in a process of breathing we are beginning to maybe touch into some of these places every time you find that something resisting or not at ease,

This is where this quality of goodwill and gentleness,

Openness,

Non-pressure and when you find a place of tension or resistance or numbness,

Try to pause,

Not push through it and a sense of an attitude of receive this,

Let's be with this,

Open to this,

Widen your awareness,

Soften your attitudes and see if you can just relax a little,

Breathe through it.

When I mean breathing I don't purely mean the process of air,

I mean a sense of both of vitality and also even of awareness itself,

Letting your awareness not be frightened,

Annoyed,

Disappointed by difficulties in your experience,

Not to think something is going wrong,

Not to think you shouldn't feel that way,

Not to struggle or fight with it or get frustrated,

Just stay there,

A mind of goodwill,

Openness,

Accepting and see if you can relax a little,

If your system can relax a little.

As it gets clearer,

You can begin to track the degree of when you're breathing out,

When the out breath is going,

You can track energy shifting,

Draining,

Moving down,

Even track the muscles in the body as they begin to gently unbind,

To breathe out,

Take the abdominal muscles of course.

It's not just a sudden switch off,

Is it?

It's a very thorough graduated releasing that occurs in all the muscles of the body,

Particularly the abdominal muscles to allow that release.

So the energy of discharge is just as intelligent as the energy of re-picking something up.

For example,

If you've ever damaged your arm,

I've broken my arm one time,

It takes just as much careful muscles to put something down as it does to pick something up.

You may think picking up is what muscles do,

But actually putting something down takes a very careful extension and awareness in the muscles.

Otherwise it just collapses,

Doesn't it?

Put something down,

But you don't think that takes any effort.

It's not a conscious effort in your thought,

But the body has to carefully arrange that so it becomes steady and smooth.

Similarly,

It's doing that with the breathing.

We may think breathing in is,

But it's not.

In fact,

Try to not make a point of not doing anything on breathing in other than witnessing.

Breathing out,

Sense the graduated release that occurs in the body,

In its system to allow everything to relax.

The more you sense that,

The more you're able to sense areas which are not comfortable and relaxing,

Which are slightly withheld or tight or you're not even a bit numb.

Those are the places where goodwill,

Pausing,

Sensing,

Feeling the mental tone,

If you're agitated or impatient or whatever.

May this be well.

Letting the breath go.

Letting it go completely.

Letting it go completely down to the down of your legs and your feet,

If you like.

You can extend the flow of energy down into the soles of your feet as you breathe out.

Just letting that wash,

That tide wash all the way down.

Breathing in,

Letting it rise,

Breathing out,

Releasing it,

Smoothing down through the body.

This is not just purely a body sweep.

It's an energetic cleansing and steadying and it has profound effects on both the tonality of the citta.

Citta feels steady.

It's never long gone rushing,

Jumping,

Stuttering,

Stalling,

But it's actually steady,

Smooth.

There's a certain beauty to it,

It's steady and smooth.

That beauty is joyful.

This is where spirit,

We can call citta something like spirit.

Spirit rises through knowing itself,

Through knowing its steadiness,

Its ease,

Its completeness.

This is one of the effects.

Another effect comes in time as we begin to understand that this citta,

This awareness is actually not something inside us,

But everything we are is inside it.

So our manifestations,

Our objects,

Our sensations,

Our thoughts arise within this.

So if you like the body is within awareness.

Real body is immaterial.

So often the case people imagine,

You know,

When it's some kind of quality deeply within and surely that's often where we find access to it.

But as it becomes more steady and complete,

It begins to sense it pervading,

Suffusing the entire being and gradually we recognize this very sense of having a body itself is purely constructed.

And there's body is not really a problem.

You know,

You can,

There are sensations,

But that's not really what you're focusing on.

You're focusing on the big picture and the sense of ease with that.

Let's find some time because the practical piece is that I can only give some general encouragements and instructions,

The practicalities of it.

You know,

Finding your own way and for sure,

You know,

It may help.

You may find yourself,

You want to put a word on the breath to just keep your mind registered,

Like just counting one to 10 back again,

Or using the word put on the in breath and go on the out breath.

So,

You know,

Something that helps if you're finding it difficult to stay on track.

If you're getting more fully in your embodied state,

Your embodiment,

Then taking your time to get the whole body.

So the inner qualities,

The fluid,

The flows,

The fluidities within the body,

The energies within the body,

The sensations and cultivating that so it's no longer,

It can flow through the whole form.

And within this case,

Then it becomes increasingly possible to discard or to put aside the anatomy and just feel bodily elements arising,

Such as pressure,

Warmth,

Vitality.

You don't really need a map of legs and arms anymore.

It becomes smooth and steady.

And for deeper samadhi,

Keep focusing on where you feel most comfortable,

How you feel most comfortable,

The sense of enjoying it,

Persisting,

Staying with that,

Letting it come to you.

Personally,

I would not recommend searching for the breath.

I'd recommend getting embodied and waiting till that process brings the breath breathing to your attention.

So you always remain established on your refuge of here and you let things come to you.

This puts the mind in a much better state than trying to find something.

So start with just something that you can easily is given to you already,

The presence of body,

The presence of here.

Get in that and then you begin to detect this flow of energy,

Your breathing,

And then you can tune into that.

So it's been some time adopting any of these instructions or ignoring them as you like.

Reviews

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Beneficial

Clear and gentle guidance ... Somehow he’s able to convey such comforting and beautiful kindness, humor, and compassion in how he speaks.

One of the best discussions of mindfulness of body I’ve heard

At last I understand how to meditate on the breath.

Wonderful guidence to prepare for mindful sitting. Thank you. 🙏

Simply brilliant

All of this is lovely and useful, but the very last bit about sitting in the here/body and waiting for the breath rather than searching for it has completely changed my practice. Thank you 🙏💙

Informative. Thank you

Wonderful! One comment: it was quite hard to hear at times, whoever is making these files should just add some compression and gain to the tracks to make them more audible on a range of devices. Thanks for considering this suggestion. Cheers!

Totally esonates

The intersection of qigong Buddhism Tao , nice