So,
Take a posture that's comfortable,
That you think you can hold for the next 30 minutes or so.
Of course,
If the body needs to move,
That's okay,
Just try to move mindfully.
Take your time.
Respond to the need to move the body,
As opposed to react.
So this second part of the Satipatthana Sutta is dealing with feelings,
Vedana,
In the Pali.
The Buddha taught that Vedana comprises both bodily and mental feelings.
As the discussion stated,
Vedana does not include emotions,
And these bodily or mentally feelings can be pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Or neutral.
We begin by just settling in,
Just taking our seat,
Just finding that place that feels good enough.
If you're sitting up,
Allowing the back to be straight but not rigid,
Letting the rest of the body relax around the upright spine,
Letting the eyelids be soft,
Let the jaw loosen a little bit,
The shoulders hang down a bit,
Let the tension go in the hands,
Let the belly soften,
And let the breath soften.
Remember,
We're not trying to control the breath,
Just letting it be natural,
And just As the body breathes,
We begin by turning our attention to the breath,
And just know that as you breathe in,
Know that you're taking an in-breath.
As you exhale,
Know that you're taking an out-breath.
As you take a short breath,
Know that it's a short breath.
Or if it's a long breath,
Know that you're taking a long breath.
As you're being aware of this body here in the meditation posture,
Breathing,
See if you can notice where the breath is most noticeable.
Is it the rise and fall of the abdomen?
Is it as the lungs fill?
Is it on your upper lip?
And how does it feel?
Is there a feeling tone with each inhale,
With each exhale?
It's always important to remember during meditation that if the mind wanders,
That we're kind to ourselves.
The mind is a thinking machine.
Thoughts arise without our permission all the time,
And it's okay.
So the invitation is when thoughts arise,
And we become mindful of them,
We just let them go,
Lay them down,
With no judgment,
It doesn't matter what they're about.
We just treat ourselves kindly,
Lay the thought down,
And just return to whatever our attention was on before.
Noticing 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 the 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 satipatthanas,
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.
This is the refrain from the Second Foundation.
Thus we live contemplating feelings and feelings internally,
Or we live contemplating feelings and feelings externally,
Or we live contemplating feelings and feelings internally and externally.
We live contemplating origination factors and feelings,
Or we live contemplating dissolution factors and feelings,
Or we live contemplating origination and dissolution factors and feelings,
Or our mindfulness is established with the thought,
Feelings exist,
To the extent necessary just for knowledge and mindfulness,
And we live detached and cling to nothing in the world.
Thus we live contemplating feelings and feelings.
We start the practice of the Second Foundation by looking out for bodily feelings.
We scan the body and see what arises by feeling the body,
Being aware of the feeling part of the mind that connects with the body,
Aware of the tone of that feeling,
Neutral,
Pleasurable,
Unpleasant,
The head,
Neck,
Shoulders,
Upper arms,
Lower arms,
Hands,
Torso,
Hips,
Thighs,
Calves,
Feet.
As you scan the body,
Be aware of the feeling tones you notice.
Based on the feeling tones of our body,
We are aware and we note pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Neutral.
And as we keep practicing in this way,
Our awareness of these feelings become clearer.
We become aware of subtler feelings we did not notice before.
One of these is a very subtle pain that makes us want to move around,
To fidget,
To scratch an itch.
And as we practice and get to know these feeling tones,
We can just watch this feeling without needing to move.
Sooner or later,
We are forced to change.
This body is painful.
Its nature is to create pain.
And our mind is always trying to relieve the pain.
Too hot,
Too cold,
Hunger,
Thirst,
Pressure,
Itchy,
Subtle pain in this body.
Now we turn towards mental feelings.
The mind also has subtle mental feelings,
Pleasurable,
The very subtle pleasure of being in the moment.
The more we notice it,
The more we recognize it and enjoy it.
We must guard against grasping for it.
We can name it as pleasant and enjoy it while it is present,
But let it float on by like a balloon when it changes.
These feelings do change,
Constantly change from one to the other.
All feelings are impermanent.
Every feeling is a messenger of impermanence,
Like wind,
Always changing direction.
Without losing our whole body awareness,
We pay attention to these feelings and we watch.
We are aware.
When we wander,
We return to the breath,
Our anchor,
Our object,
Our home base.
Now we explore these feeling tones,
Everything in our experience,
All the thoughts that arise,
Can be pleasant or pleasurable,
Neutral or unpleasant,
Both internal and external.
What is our feeling,
The feeling tone of sitting here,
Now,
At this very moment?
Is it pleasant?
Is it unpleasant?
Somewhere in between.
How was our sleep last night?
Was the bed comfortable?
What feeling tone describes that experience?
What about our drive here today?
Was there traffic?
Did you get a green wave or did you get stuck at all the lights?
And what feeling tone would describe that?
Exploring the feeling tones you experience and looking through your life can be part of your own practice,
The bed we sleep on,
The town we live in,
The shoes we wear,
The air we breathe,
The food we eat,
The job we do.
In your own practice,
Spend some time exploring these and other points,
Paying close attention to what thoughts arise,
What feeling tones are connected to them,
And how it feels in the body.
Now you can let go of those particular instructions and take these last few minutes to just sit and notice what arises and see if the feeling tone of those particular thoughts or sensations are easy to see.
Don't hold on too tight,
Just notice and lay it down.
