The Four Frames Of Reference Part 2- Feeling Tones

This is part 2 of a guided meditation series on the four frames of reference, which come from a Buddhist teaching called Satipatthana, sometimes referred to as establishings or foundations of mindfulness. Each meditation will focus on one of the frames of reference, with cues to help establish consistent mindfulness and concentration. While focusing on one frame of reference is a useful tool of practice, each ultimately finds itself entwined with the others. For the first time through, it might work best to do them in order, but they each also stand alone as a complete meditation, so feel free to mix it up, especially if one in particular speaks to you and seems like it will be useful to your practice. Thank you- I hope you enjoy, and I look forward to your feedback.

Transcript

There is a case where the practitioner remains focused on feeling tones in and of themselves,

Hardened,

Alert,

And mindful,

Subduing greed and distress with reference to the world.

This practice overlaps with mindfulness of the body with greater emphasis on sensations of pleasure,

Pain,

And neither pleasure nor pain,

A spectrum we call feeling tones.

When connecting with the sensations of breathing,

Notice the resulting feeling tone connected with how you breathe.

Try taking several deeper-than-normal breaths and notice the resulting sensations.

Begin to incline the mind toward the aspects of the breath that are refreshing,

Nourishing,

And pleasant.

Allow the breathing to adjust to maintain a relatively steady feeling of ease and allow that ease to generalize in the body,

Allowing the awareness to spread and grow to a sense of the body as a whole.

There will be the arising and passing away of sensations,

Comfortable,

Uncomfortable,

And neutral,

But the mind takes on the task of simply returning through the breath,

Filling the body,

And inclining toward the refreshing,

Nourishing,

Abiding again and again.

Some moments will feel effortful as we pull the mind away from thoughts of the future or past,

Greed or distress,

And return it to the breath.

Some moments will feel effortless when remaining with the breath feels easy and more truly like an abiding in a wholesome space of practice.

To the degree that effort can be let go and the mind remains with the breath and body,

Allow the effort to fall away.

For now,

This is the whole of the practice,

Remaining alert,

Ardent,

And mindful of feeling tones in and of themselves,

Putting aside greed and distress with reference to the world.

Even as the meditation session ends,

Feeling tones remain as a part of our experience.

Instead of suddenly diving into the next task of the day,

See if you can maintain a degree of mindfulness of feeling tones as you are exposed to more of your senses,

The sights,

Sounds,

Tastes,

Smells,

Tactile sensations,

And thoughts that enter your world.

For the last few moments,

Remain settled in the breath,

In the body,

In sensations of refreshment and ease,

And consider how these may be sustained in your daily life.

Reviews

Thank you, Mark, for this short and sweet meditation that invites us to focus on our feeling tones. It felt very musical to me to embody my feelings and rest into the harmony of nourishment.