Should I Focus On Or Ignore Pain During Meditation?

[With English interpretation] Ven. Pomnyun Sunim's (법륜스님) Answer to “Should I focus on or ignore pain during meditation?”
A question chosen from the weekly Sunday meditation with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim (법륜스님).

Peace of mind is only one step away.

Transcript

My legs were extremely sleepy and numb. Should I focus on the pain and observe it disappear, Or ignore the symptoms and focus on the tip of my nose? There are different experiences and sensations that are going to arise during meditation. Actually, In everyday life, A lot of things happen around us without our intent. Then we get distracted by those externalities and then we waver based on those. Whatever happens, Whatever you see, Whatever you hear, While you can discern them, Be aware of them, You should not allow yourself to be distracted, And be rooted, And be centered, And live your life in that centered way. It's very difficult to do that, To sustain that centeredness in everyday life. If you get angry and swear, You get angry and swear along with it. For example, If somebody else curses you out or insults you, Then you tend to react in kind. You think you did right by reacting in kind, But in essence, What you've done is actually enter into that frame the other person created. So when Buddha was insulted, All he did was just smile. That means that he remained centered despite what others threw at him. We meditate in order to sustain our centeredness in this world. So no matter what sensation you feel, We should continue focusing on the tip of our nose and not allow our mind to be distracted by those sensations. And if you practice this, Then it is possible to sustain this through your everyday life. Pain is a sensation that is far stronger than the subtle sensation, Nuanced sensation of the breath leaving your nostrils. That's why your mind gets distracted easily. So it's not another nuanced sensation that you have to focus to be aware. It is a pain, It's a large sensation that demands your attention and takes it away. So if you're saying you want to focus on the pain or observe it disappear, It means that you have already been swayed by the sensation of the pain. Therefore, That's not the correct approach. You might be aware of the pain, But you do not let your mind focus on the pain. And do not endure the pain either. Just be aware that the pain exists, However your focus should remain on the tip of your nose. And if you practice and train yourself to remain focused and sustain your centeredness despite the demands of such strong sensations such as pain to take your attention away, Then you can maintain and sustain this centeredness in everyday life. If somebody curses you out, You don't react because you don't know that you're being cursed out. You don't react and you sustain your centeredness even though you know you're being cursed out because you don't want to be swayed by the other person's actions. So you're not ignoring the pain. You're not enduring through the pain. You're just aware that the pain exists there. However, You remain focused on the breath. And that is the approach that you should take to meditation.