Wholebody Mindfulness

Inviting Presence

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Passage from Glenn Wallis

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On June 8, 2009

In Uncategorised, Uncategorized

I’ve been thinking about a passage that Glenn Wallis translates, and soon I’ll make some comments. Here is the passage, though, ahead of my comments, to come soon:

“I will teach the destination and the path leading to the destination. Listen to what I say. What is the destination? The eradication of infatuation, the eradication of hostility, and the eradication of delusion are what is called the destination. And what is the path leading to the destination? Present-moment-awareness directed to the body. This awareness is what is called the path leading to the destination.
In this way, I have taught to you the destination and the path leading to the destination. That which should be done out of compassion by a caring teacher who desires the welfare of his students, I have done for you.
There are secluded places. Meditate, do not be negligent! Don’t have regrets later! This is my instruction to you.”

the art of meditation: the body

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On May 3, 2009

In Uncategorised, Uncategorized

Talking about ‘gut feelings,’ I recommend Paramananda little book (Windhorse Publications) called, ‘the body,’ especially if you are a focusing-style meditator. Without any indication that he knows of Gendlin’s work, he has written a book that I find compatible with inclusion of the ‘felt sense’ in my meditative life. It is certainly a book that fosters trust in our body’s intuitive knowing.

Gut Feelings

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On April 28, 2009

In felt sense, Gendlin, Gigerenzer, gut feelings

I’m reading a book called ‘Gut Feelings’ at the moment. An enjoyable read by Gerd Gigerenzer. I find it interesting that in my first couple of chapters there is no mention of the body. There is lots of mention of a certain organ in the body; that is, the brain. So, how does he define ‘gut feelings’? He uses ‘gut feeling,’ ‘intuition’ and ‘hunch’ interchangeably (p.16) “to refer to a judgment

  1. that appears quickly in consciousness,
  2. whose underlying reasons we are not fully aware of, and
  3. is strong enough to act upon.”

This is pretty good, and there are lots of good cognitive psych stories in the book, good experiments, supporting the theory that much that is important about us and our decision-making goes on out of sight. However, I thought, “Can this be, that he doesn’t know about Gendlin’s ‘felt sense’ and that he doesn’t include the body below the neck in this ‘intuition’ field?” I’ll read on and let you know, but when I go to the index, there is no entry for ‘body.’ (And no mention of Gendlin anywhere.)

This is strange to me, especially when in other places I’ve read of the discovery of ‘brain’ cells in the heart and in the stomach; in other words, in the gut. But most of all, because mindfulness of the body produces a direct realisation of the role of the body below the neck in intuitive life.

Senses Portals for the MInd

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On April 7, 2009

In Uncategorised, Uncategorized

In the classical summary of the processes which make up a human, the Buddha didn’t include the six senses in the first ‘aggregate’, the body. The later Theravadans made the senses more physical than they were in the early suttas, says Sue Hamilton in her Identity and Experience: the Constitution of the Human Being According to Early Buddhism. The senses in the early Buddhist literature are not contacted via the aggregate called the ‘body.’

This makes sense to me. When at any time of the day I do a simple exercise to find my presence, it goes something like this: “Firstly, relax the body. Next, relax the breath. And, now, relax the senses.” When I get to this ‘senses’ part, I notice that this automatically means an entry into the kind of ‘space’ that we call ‘the mind,’ not more into the so-called physical body. When I rest into this resultant ‘spaciousness’ curiously, I can notice that ‘the senses’ are all there in the space together; they aren’t separated in their conventional channels – they interpenetrate. One way of saying this might be to say: they partake of the same source, a unified ground state of consciousness.

This brings a new perspective on the injunction to ‘guard the senses.’ The senses need to be guarded because they are so directly portals to the spacious, luminous mind, the ‘citta.’ As such, the senses may be thought of as a liminal space which is neither body, nor non-body. Hence, they get a mention as domains of awareness in the citta, not as functions of the body.

Some Questions

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On March 22, 2009

In Cartesian dualism, levels of bodily experiencing, mind-body dualism, the aggregates

Before we go too much further there are some things to name that will need our consideration soon enough. Because there are so many things that have come to me since starting this blog, that I think I should list some of them, in the hope of addressing them soon.

In wanting to write about the role of the body in Buddhist meditation practice, we can ask: What is the body that they speak of here? Is it one ‘ thing’? Even if we consider the body a collection of processes, does their ‘aggregation’ come in only one modality? Will one meaning of the word ‘body’ suffice? What if there are a number of different experiences, or kinds of experiences, that the word ‘body’ indicates, indicating levels of bodily experiencing? I think this is the case, and I will have more to say about this as I explore the theme.

Another matter that needs clarification is how I’ll view the age-old red herring called “the body-mind dualism.” There are confusing and, indeed, discouraging views abroad in the Western Buddhist community about this, is students of meditation being encouraged to avoid me ‘Cartesian dualism’ of separate mind and body. For the moment let me comment that the Buddha used a particular term which is helpful in this respect: “body with consciousness.” (saviññāṇa kāya) ”Then, Sariputta, you must train yourself as follows. In this mind and body, or anything external to it, there is no notion of ‘I’ or ‘mine.’” (Trans: Sue Hamilton). The pharase, ‘mind and body’ is meant to point us to our direct experience, and wasn’t intended to set up fixed philosophical categories. (By the way, this quote puts to rest the biased, sectarian, rhetorical and imprecise notion that Theravādans only realise the selflessness of persons, and not that of the environment. “ ..Or anything external to it,” says the Pali text.)

An important matter to clarify, too, is the relationship of what we call the senses to the notions of body (usually rūpa and kāya) in the Pali texts. As a simple experiment, try this is threefold deepening practice: Relax the body for a few minutes; then relax your breathing for a few minutes; then relax your senses (all at once). Is there a difference between ‘relaxing the body’ and ‘relaxing the senses’? Can you find your words (ignoring public meanings) for the difference? Are the senses, in fact, and speaking conventionally for now, more a matter of ‘mind’ than of ‘body’?

Where we will go.

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On March 22, 2009

In Cartesian dualism, mind-body dualism, the aggregates, Uncategorised

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Before we go too much further there are some things to name that will need our consideration soon enough. Because there are so many things that have come to me since starting this blog, that I think I should list some of them, in the hope of addressing them soon.

In writing about the role of the body in Buddhist meditation practice, we can ask: What is the body that they speak of here? Is it one ‘ thing’? Even if we consider the body a collection of processes, does their ‘aggregation’ come in only one modality? Will one meaning of the word ‘body’ suffice? What if there are a number of different experiences, or kinds of experiences, that the word ‘body’ indicates? I think this is the case, and I will have more to say about this as I explore the theme.

Another matter that needs clarification is how I’ll view the age-old red herring called “the body-mind dualism.” There are confusing and, indeed, discouraging views abroad in the Western Buddhist community about this, is students of meditation being encouraged to avoid me ‘Cartesian dualism’ of separate mind and body. For the moment let me comment that the Buddha used a particular term which is helpful in this respect: “body with consciousness.” (saviññāṇa kāya) ”Then, Sariputta, you must train yourself as follows. In this mind and body, or anything external to it, there is no notion of ‘I’ or ‘mine.’” (Trans: Sue Hamilton) The phrase, ‘mind and body’ is meant to point to experience, and not meant to set up reified ontological categories. (By the way, this quote puts to rest the biased, sectarian, rhetorical and imprecise notion that Theravādans only realise the selflessness of persons, and not that of the environment. “ ..Or anything external to it,” says the Pali text.)

An important matter to clarify, too, is the relationship of what we call the senses to the notions of body (usually rūpa and kāya) in the Pali texts. As a simple experiment, try this is threefold deepening practice: Relax the body for a few minutes; then relax your breathing for a few minutes; then relax your senses (all at once). Is there a difference between ‘relaxing the body’ and ‘relaxing the senses’? Can you find your words (ignoring public meanings) for the difference? Are the senses, in fact, and speaking conventionally for now, more a matter of ‘mind’ than of ‘body’?

mindfulnessofthebody.org

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On March 19, 2009

In Uncategorised, Uncategorized

You can go to www.mindfulnessofthebody.org if you want to read translations of Buddhist Pali texts on mindfulness of the body. I’ll add them as I find them.

Mindfulness of Body with Breathing

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On March 18, 2009

In ānāpānasati, mindfulness o breathing, satipaṭṭhāna, Uncategorised

I’d like to share some thoughts on mindfulness of breathing as a way to keep the body in the picture in meditation and also as a way to keep contact with the body moment to moment during a day’s activities. Anālayo, in his wonderful book – Satipaṭṭhāna: the Direct Path to Realisation  (p.125)– writes:

In ancient times, and still today, mindfulness of breathing might well be the most widely used method of body contemplation. The Buddha himself frequently engaged in mindfulness of breathing, which he called a “noble” and “divine” way of practice. According to his own statement, even his awakening took place based on mindfulness of breathing.

To obtain a sense of the importance of mindfulness of the body, we only have to consider that attention to the presence of the body is a foundational ‘step’ in the following practices:

  • awareness and investigation of the five ‘existential functions’ (Wallis’ translation of the ‘aggregates’ or ‘khandhas’); 
  • the four establishments of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna); 
  • and the ‘Mindfulness of Breathing’ meditation practiced by the Buddha (ānāpānasati);
  • and, related to the first point: in general in the teachings (not only in the first foundation of mindfulness), mindfulness of the body is important in the contemplation of the earth-element, as well.
I’ll have more to say on how the teachings present the relation of the senses to the body in a future post, but for now I’ll just claim that the body also figures in what the Buddha called ‘the All’; ‘that is, in the six’ channels that he said comprise the whole of our lived world. This is an experiential thing. The ‘bodily sense’ in this context is often translated (perhaps correctly, in a strict translation) as ‘touch,’ but this is often an inadequate term to describe the fine and intricate body-senses which are available as objects of our mindfulness. Just consider, for instance, the existence of (what we now call) proprioception; and of kinaesthesia; and also of the ‘felt sense’ (Gendlin).

The importance of the body as the early or first steps in the above practices is that founding our awareness in our ‘physical’ presence gives us yogis a steady basis for the realisation of progressively subtler states of awareness; and it allows integration of these subtle, spacious states with our daily activity. So, moving ever deeper into subtle phenomena – such as the feelings, mind-states and the dynamics of suffering & liberation – does not mean abandoning the body after its initial role. puts it nicely:

Any bodily or mental phenomena coming within the focus of awareness during the sixteen steps [of ānāpānasati]

are experienced against the background of the ever-changing rhythm of in- and out-breaths, which provides a constant reminder of impermanence. (p.134)

In other words, as we progressively encounter subtler phenomena in ourselves, we continue to check in with the breath and body; we transcend and include the body, embodying our realisation.

Intention

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On March 14, 2009

In body, Buddha, Mindfulness, Pali

Through my years of Buddhist practice, I’ve come to a very different understanding of the place of the body in our practice than I had when I set out. I’m struck with how powerful this practice statement by the Buddha is:

“Therefore, bhikkhus, you should train yourselves thus: ‘We will develop and cultivate mindfulness directed to the body, make it our vehicle, make it our basis, stabilize it, exercise ourselves in it, and fully perfect it.’ Thus, bhikkhus, should you train yourselves.”

I’ll post regular comments on the subject, to share an inquiry into this. And I’ll slowly collect texts – mostly from the Pali Nikayas (early Buddhist texts), but not exclusively – which support embodied meditation and mindfulness practice.

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