Using U Silananda’s commentary on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Peter described satisampajanna, the Four Clear Comprehensions. This quality of consciousness sets a worthy goal, suitable means for realizing it, monitors the four foundations of mindfulness and cultivates awareness that is free from delusion. During the discussion, several members of the Sangha were able to apply this practice to concrete decisions involving values conflicts.
Mindfulness of the body is a fundamental practice in the Buddhist tradition. Body awareness includes physical sensation as well as hearing, seeing, smelling and tasting. There’s nothing imaginative about sensation-mindfulness is most important as the process of mental association emerges. During the body sweep meditation, the attention is persistently focused on whatever sensation emerges on the surface of the body. Beginning with sensational awareness at the rim of the nostrils, in this guided meditation, Peter repeatedly suggests progressive awareness of sensation, moving over the facial area, then the scalp, the neck and so on, ending with the sensations noticeable in the feet. Finally, the meditator is invited to sit with open awareness for whatever sensations appear in the body. The value of this practice is that, when practiced repeatedly, sensations become evident all over the body, subtle tingling or vibrations, and this awareness provides a stable and ever-present foundational focus, from which the meditator can note the emergence of thoughts and emotions through vipassana practices.
This is the first of a long series of in-depth reviews of the Satipatthana Sutta, known as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse. Peter is using several of the books on this topic written by the German Theravadin Monk Analayo on the Sutta, including “Satipatthana-The Direct Path To Realization” and “Satipatthana Meditation-A Practice Guide”. Analayo is highly regarded as a scholar of Buddhism and is also a dedicated meditation practitioner, who is currently in residence at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. During this talk Peter described the history of the Satipatthana Sutta and important structural elements, required because the Discourse had to be memorized over many generations before it was written and preserved. Two categories described by Analayo were listed–Definitions and Refrains.
This was followed by discussion of the impact of the Sutta on the participants.
The Panca Khandha, the Five Aggregates of Clinging, represents an important concept regarding how to “deconstruct” the view that there is an enduring and autonomous self. Investigating the presence and effect of the Five Aggregates is an important practice in the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness, Mindfulness of Mental Phenomena. Each of the Aggregates was reviewed as well as how each is integral to the view of the self. After Awakening, the Five Aggregates no longer involve clinging and this represents liberation from Dukkha, distress and confusion. Here are the notes prepared for this talk: THE FIVE AGGREGATES OF CLINGING
This review was followed by a question and answer period to clarify practice points from the discussion and the day’s meditation practice.
Hi Fellow Travelers–Thanks to the causes and conditions provided by the Covid-19 virus there will no assemblies in our meditation cottage until the circumstances make it safe to assemble in groups. I hope this supports and maybe even expands the outreach of the Orlando Insight Meditation Group, the goal of which is to provide training in mindfulness and lovingkindness meditation and practical applications of the Wisdom found within these concepts that will support us as we go through these trying times. Last week’s recording was a first attempt at streaming and hopefully the recording of April 1 will be more effectively posted; the microphone will be muted until the Dharma talk so the meditation will not be interrupted by the sounds of folks entering into the group.
The meeting operates through the Zoom software (OIMG has subscribed for one year at a cost of $150). The URL for the meeting is: https://us04web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUuf-2srDMtnERzureO8f2K4iQeRCf-dQ and the meeting password is 620329. As I understand how it works, you must preregister at the site the URL in order to participate in the events and registering one time will provide access to all the upcoming meetings, as long as we continue streaming them (Which may become a problem when we resume meeting in the meditation building which has weak reception from the server in my home; hopefully sometime later in the Spring we can safely assemble again in the cottage). The meetings will be audio only and, once again as I understand the way it works, the meeting can be accessed by smartphone as well as any internet-connected computer system. The meetings will be recorded and posted on the website as usual. Please be patient with me as I find my way into the world of internet streaming and hopefully we can all benefit from this crisis.
The topic for the meeting on March 31 will combine a contemplation from the First Foundation of Mindfulness, The Four Elements, which involves using noting sensations of pressure, movement, temperature and liquidity to interrupt the narratives that accompany the hindrances; this interruption creates more stability, clarity and tranquility, which is of great benefit in these trying times. The talk will focus on how the pandemic relates to the Four Noble Truths and interdependence. i hope you will participate in the streaming meeting and I wish you well. Peter
