To begin this practice,
We find a comfortable stationary position and allow our awareness to slowly descend into the space of the body,
The somatic field of experiences,
Especially those associated with the earth element,
The sensations of firmness,
Solidity,
Stability underneath us,
That we can rely on in order to start the gradual process of physical relaxation.
Breathing naturally,
Without any attempts to control the breath or hold it artificially,
And allowing each natural exhalation to slowly take away all the types of physical tension and all the types of deliberate physical activity,
Even the minute movements of our fingers and the subtle types of tension that might still be present in our forehead,
Across our face,
In our pelvic floor,
And so forth.
Then,
With our body still resting naturally,
Still releasing tension and movement with each natural exhalation,
We take some moments to establish a truly positive,
Truly vast,
Truly profound motivation for this practice by revisiting our highest spiritual or psychological aspirations,
Associated with genuine well-being for ourselves and for all other beings,
Wishing that this practice would contribute to that greater well-being,
For ourselves,
For our communities,
For the world.
And with that as the foundation,
Returning to the somatic field,
The field of tactile experiences,
Where we will begin this practice of applying mindfulness to feelings,
First through concentration and then through insight.
To do that,
We can choose a part of the body that is relatively easy to observe in terms of the experiences,
For example,
The abdominal area,
Or our face,
Or one of our hands,
And first just resting with the tactile sensations there,
The pressure,
The movement,
The heat,
The cold,
And so on.
Then,
On the basis of these tactile sensations and their dance,
We start discerning the feeling tones,
The pleasant,
Unpleasant,
And neutral tones of experience that accompany the sensations themselves.
And so,
While probably still holding our awareness focused on the same body part,
We are now observing a different layer of our experiences,
The experiences of our sensations being pleasant or unpleasant or relatively neutral.
And we rest there while making sure the body is still breathing naturally and is still relatively relaxed,
At ease.
Then,
To this process of simply concentrating on feelings or feeling tones,
We gradually add an element of insight,
Or vipassana,
By posing a question,
A question that we will be answering by observing the level of our empirical experiences,
The experiences arising in the here and now.
To do that,
We ask ourselves whether these feeling tones are changing or unchanging,
Whether they change every moment,
Or whether they constantly remain the same.
And instead of simply finding answer once,
As a conceptual thought,
We continue discerning this property of changeability or unchangeability in each given moment,
Changing or unchanging,
Discerning that,
With regards to the feeling tones of pleasant,
Unpleasant,
And neutral,
Moment by moment,
Every moment of correct discernment adds to our accumulation of insight energy,
Or our accumulation of wisdom,
As it's sometimes referred to.
And so,
We can continue this process without any particular expectations for what should be happening here and now,
And with a certain degree of peaceful curiosity,
With a desire to understand the nature of these experiences.
Then we switch to another type of inquiry,
Exploring the second of the three marks of existence,
Dukkha,
Or unsatisfactory nature.
And this can be seen in a number of different ways,
But because the experiences we're analyzing include pleasant types of feelings,
Not just unpleasant or neutral,
We can ask,
Are any of these feeling tones satisfying in themselves?
Can even the pleasant feelings arise independently and fully fulfill us?
And so we're discerning whether these feeling tones,
Unpleasant,
Neutral,
And even pleasant,
Are inherently satisfying.
It's as if we're looking into the depths of these changing sensations,
Changing experiences,
Changing feelings,
And asking each moment of them,
Can you be inherently satisfying on your own?
And we're working against the deeply held belief that these experiences,
The pleasant experiences,
If we were simply to have more of them,
Would completely fulfill us.
Exploring that moment by moment,
And then starting to explore the third of the three marks of existence,
In this case applied to the pleasant,
Unpleasant,
And neutral tones of experience.
We're still noticing these tones in the chosen body part,
And the question we are now posing is whether there is anything in these experiences,
The pleasant,
Unpleasant,
And neutral tones,
That makes them really mine,
Inherently mine,
Truly mine.
Do they truly belong to a self?
Or are they simply experiences?
Something subjectively known by awareness.
Moment by moment checking and exploring whether these feelings,
These feeling tones,
Are truly mine,
From their own side,
Empirically,
In terms of how we really experience them.
And then letting go of the process of inquiry,
To simply rest with the somatic experiences in the entire body,
Grounding our awareness there in the dance of sensations.
And then taking a moment to dedicate the energy and the insights of this practice to our highest aspirations,
The greatest well-being,
The greatest clarity of vision for all beings.
And then introducing some movement to the body,
Bringing our awareness back to the space around us,
And concluding this practice as we invite the bell.
