INTRODUCTION
TO INSIGHT MEDITATION: Class 6
Mindfulness in Everyday Life & Continuing
Practice
A. Review
the instructions (see handout)
A. Talk
& discussion re mindfulness in everyday life
B. Completing
feedback form
C. 30-40
minute sit, if possible
A. Quote
from Gary Snyder:
1. “All
of us are apprenticed to the same teacher that the religious institutions
originally worked with: reality. Reality-insight says . . . master the
twenty-four hours. Do it well, without self-pity.
It is as hard to get the children herded into the car pool and down the
road to the bus as it is to chant sutras in the Buddha-hall on a cold morning.
One move is not better that the other, each can be quite boring, and they
both have the virtuous quality of repetition. Repetition and ritual and
their good results come in many forms. Changing the filter, wiping noses,
going to meetings, picking up around the house, washing dishes, checking
the dipstick — don’t let yourself think
these are distracting you from your more serious pursuits. Such a round
of chores is not a set of difficulties we hope to escape from so that we
may do our “practice” which will put us on a “path” — it isour
path.
—Gary
Snyder, “The Practice of the Wild”
inKabat-Zinn,
Wherever
You Go, There You Are, Hyperion, 1994, p. 171.
B. Clear
Comprehension
1. Clearly
understanding our intentions:
a. Is
this an activity that is arising from a state of desire, a state of hatred
or of confusion? (If so, let it rise and fall, holding it with mindfulness.)
b. Or,
is this an activity arising from generosity, loving-kindness and clarity
of understanding?
2. Clearly
understanding the appropriateness of our intended actions:
a. Even
if the intended action is in alignment with generosity, loving-kindness
and clarity, is this the appropriate time and place for these actions?
3. Clearly
understanding the domain or scope of meditation
4. Clearly
understanding our true nature:
a. Seeing
through our perceptual distortions, our habitual tendencies.
b. Seeing
the self-less nature of our moment-to-moment experience.
D. SharonSalzberg:
Picking one thing to do mindfully
E. MattFlickstein:
100 “Be Mindful” notes hidden aroundhouse,
car, etc. (Flickstein,
Journey to the Center,
p. 157)
F. ThichNhatHanh’s
mindfulness bell
G. BhanteGunaratana’s
minutes ofmindfulness
H. Walking
meditation: Instructions and practice for 5 minutes
1. Walking
meditation allows one to learn to carry meditation into more complex activities.
2. It
is a way of learning to changeone’s focus of
attention depending on what is needed to develop and maintain one’s
mindfulness and concentration.
a. It
can be used as a way of grounding one in the physical reality of the present
moment, by focusing on the physical sensations. This can be especially
useful when concentration and mindfulness are not strong.
b. It
can be used as a way of balancing energy with concentration, by varying
the speed at which one walks.
(i) If
energy is low but concentration is moderately developed, slow walking can
actually contribute to restlessness.
(ii) Walking
at a moderate speed may bring more energy for concentration and mindfulness,
which then will lead to slower walking as one pays closer attention to
the intentions and sensations of moving.
c. It
can be used to develop insight. (Review Matt Flickstein’s
instructions – see handout)
I. Eating
meditation
J. Review
Resources for Continuing Practice handout (from first session)
1. Welcome
at sitting group
K. Availability
of local teachers to answer any questions
A. Feedback
Forms
B. Sign
up for local/regional retreat information
A. “Traditionally
the Eightfold Path is taught with eight steps such as Right Understanding,
Right Speech, Right Concentration, and so forth. But the true Eightfold
Path is within us — two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, a tongue, and a body.
These eight doors are our entire Path. Know these doors, examine them,
and all the dharmas will be revealed.
“The
heart of the path is so simple. No need for long explanations. Give up
clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are. That is all
I do in my own practice.
“Do
not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not
be a meditator. Do not become enlightened.
When you sit, let it be. When you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist
nothing.
“Of
course, there are dozens of meditation techniques to develop samadhi
and many kinds of vipassana. But it all
comes back to this — just let it all be.”
AjahnChah, A
- Mindfulness
in Everyday Life
-Joseph
Goldstein’s meditation instructions (“Tricycle” Winter, 1993, pp. 16 or
Insight
Meditation: The Practice of Freedom, p. 34-36)
-Mathew Flickstein’swalking
meditation instructions (Journey to the Center, pp. 127-131)