Book Club: "The Body of Truth" by Ajahn Amaro Bhikkhu

It’s with the sequencing of this essay, following mine and Jill Satterfield’s, that I believe Michael Stone’s editorial expertise shines. With Jill, we read a personal account of mindfulness practice directed to the body. With my chapter, there’s the explicit tying in of the Buddha’s teachings to the larger Yoga Tradition and the explication of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. Here, in Chapter 12, Ajahn Amaro emphasizes the body as the path of truth – Dharma itself.

First, the Ajahn emphasizes how the body and mind in the Buddha’s teachings are not seen as two radically different phenomena. While they are not generally seen as “identical,” they are seen as completely interdependent (for the most part; traditional Buddhism posits a form of consciousness that can indeed exist independently of the body, and which links one life to another).

In the section “Dimensions of Nature,” Ajahn Amaor explains the concept of namarupa, and its five component khandhas (also known in Sanskrit at skandhas). He then goes on to introduce the other “patterns” or “models” that are used in the Buddhist tradition to describe the human condition: the six senses (ayatana) and the elements (dhatu).

His second section, “Mindfulness of the Body” for the most part, reiterates some of the salient points I make in my essay. What I especially appreciate in Ajahn Amaro’s section is his distinction of the Buddhist emphasis on the body and the ‘mundane’ aspects of life for liberation, in contradistinction to the typically ‘transcendent’ and ‘withdrawal’ understandings of ‘enlightenment.’

In “The Present – Full of Useful Possibilities,” Ajahn Amaro points out how the body is always experienced as ‘present’ while the mind can appear to be caught up in the past and future. It is this very ‘present-oriented’ nature of the body that Buddhist meditation takes as it’s opening to limitless potential for freedom. As he writes, “…since the body is always in the present, the simple recollection of its presence is a surefire method to key the attention into the reality of the way things actually are.” And it is too often forgotten by students seeking some ‘other-worldly’ experience that seeing things as they really are is the door to the wisdom of liberation!

His section on “Walking Meditation,” though short, explains the importance of this practice for the cultivation of mindfulness. By extension, other forms of conscious movement – such as hatha-yoga, Tai Chi and various forms of martial arts and even weight-lifting -- can be developed as forms of mindfulness meditation. This is still something I find many students not fully grasping! They seem to fixate on sitting meditation as the be-all and end-all of meditation practice! Apparently, as the Buddha himself aged, and suffered from various physical ailments, walking meditation became his preferred method of practice.

Finally, for this post, I’ll end with a few words about sila, the ethical teachings of the Buddhist tradition. Ajahn Amaro says about sila that it is the “basis of practice.” I would go as far as saying that sila is the whole of the Dharma. Currently, a group of students I am working with are going through intensive sila study and practice with the ‘goal’ of taking refuge. They are beginning to see sila as real, on-the-ground mindfulness training. They are also seeing sila as more guidelines to freedom than restrictions or prohibitions. As one student said, “When I practice sila, I find myself free of many anxieties, concerns and sufferings I thought were simply part and parcel of life!” Ajahn Amaro refers to the precepts as “rules,” but I think that term misses the living spirit of sila.

I’ll post a concluding post on this chapter later this week, but for now, I’d be happy to hear any comments from those of you who have been reading along. OR, even from those of you who have not read the book, but have been following this blog ‘book club.’

May Daily Practice: Walking Meditation

Walking Meditation is not simply preparation for sitting, and not merely something to do between the "important" work of sitting meditation while on retreat. No, walking meditation is a full-on mindfulness practice in its own right; one that the Buddha seemed to favor as he grew older and apparently experienced the pain of rheumatism. It is also one of Thich Nhat Hanh's favorite forms of practice; one he emphasizes often, even offering up a book and dvd on the practice.

When ordaining into the Tien Hiep Order (Order of Interbeing), established by Thich Nhat Hanh, one even vows to make all of one's walking, 'walking meditation.' One image Thay uses when presenting this practice is to recall the legend of the Buddha's first steps after being born: under each footfall, a lotus blossomed. Thay points out that often while walking, we are lost in thought, anxieties about the future, thoughts of the past, 'imprinting' our worries into the earth. With walking meditation, we can feel at home where we are, each step a kind of embrace or kiss of the earth.

There is the practice of formal walking meditation, where we walk slowly, sometimes as slowly as a full cycle of inhalation and exhalation with each half-step. OR, you can take a half-step as you inhale, and another half-step as you exhale for a more 'moderate' pace. If you wish to take up this formal practice, mark off a path (best to be at least 25 feet or so) that you will walk back and forth on at this slow pace.

However, it would be inappropriate to walk this slowly throughout most of your daily activities, but that doesn't mean you can't do walking meditation! I've even done it on Fifth Ave off 42nd street in Manhattan at lunch hour and no one would have known from just watching! Simply bring your attention to your feet, lifting, moving and being placed back on the ground while feeling your breath. Avoid manipulating the breath. You may find that you take 5 half-steps on an inhalation and 8 half-steps on your exhalation. That's fine. Some folk even count: "In-in-in-in-in; out-out-out-out-out-out" as they walk. If you find such noting or labeling is helpful, then by all means try it. If you find it gets in your way, let it go!

One way to work this into you life is to choose to do this as you walk to your train or bus. If you work in an office, you can do it every time you walk from and to your desk (on the way to the restroom for instance). When I walk to the cafe with my daughter in the sling, I often practice this way -- especially once she's fallen asleep as she often does almost immediately when carried in the sling. 

I'd really love to hear from any of you who choose to take up this month's practice. Where are you doing walking meditation? How are you finding it? You can begin at any time and comment here whenever you'd like. 

And remember, as Lin Chi, the Chinese Zen Master, is reported to have said: "To walk on water is not the miracle; to walk upon the earth is a miracle."

Walking Meditation Gatha:

The mind can go in a thousand directions.

But, on this beautiful path, I walk in peace.

With each step, a gentle wind blows.

With each step, a flower blooms.

metta,
poep sa frank jude

Mindfulness Yoga: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness

Well, there have been no other comments or questions regarding my chapter in Freeing the Body, Freeing the Mind, so I won't be posting anything more about this chapter unless I hear from any of you.

Look for a post on the next chapter, "The Body of Truth," by Ajahn Amaro Bhikkhu later this week.

in metta,
frank jude

Book Club: "Mindfulness Yoga" by Frank Jude Boccio

Well, it had to happen sooner or later! We’re up to Chapter 11 in Freeing the Body, Freeing the Mind and that means we’re up to my contribution to the anthology. Rather than any comment I make now being merely a reiteration of what I’ve written in the essay, I thought I’d fill in a bit  of the ‘back-story’ here and leave it to you, my dear readers (there are some of you, yes?) to respond with any comments or questions. I’d be especially interested in hearing from any of you who have practiced the Four Foundations of Mindfulness through your asana practice. How has it been for you? Do you feel it has made a difference in your practice? Have you had any insights you’d like to share?

Opening Introduction:

It should be obvious that I take the position of Georg Feuerstein, that Buddhism sits firmly within the wider Yoga Tradition he speaks of in his tome entitled, simply enough, The Yoga Tradition. To my mind, it is obvious. But what you may want to know is that I came to this understanding through my own ‘self-study’ of both texts (practice-oriented, history and philosophy texts as well as my own practice and experience) before I had come across Georg’s work. In fact, it was reading his work and finding a wonderfully clear enunciation of my understanding that drew me to study with him at the first and only YREC (Yoga Research and Education Center) Yoga Teacher Training.

It should also be obvious that perhaps it’s a bit of a bête noir of mine, but it really irks me when people talk about “yoga and meditation” as if they were two things, or even “Buddhism and yoga” as if they were two completely different things! To my mind, it only makes sense to differentiate between “Buddhism and Classical Yoga” which is to say, the specific darshana or philosophical viewpoint espoused by Patanjali in the Yoga-Sutra. But buddhadharma, the teachings and practiced taught by the Buddha is nothing if not a fully realized, comprehensive, coherent model of yoga. His Nobel Eightfold Path is as much a yogic path as the Eightfold Path or the Kriya Yoga model found in the Yoga-Sutra.

This is essentially the jist of my opening paragraphs. The other main point I make there is that one of the fundamental principles of all forms of yoga shared by all is the concept of duhkha. Sadly, this concept is badly mis-understood by many in the hatha-yoga camp and has led to much confusion and straw-man parrying. All yoga arises as a response to the existential human situation – impermanence and the mortality that implies. And, all yoga postulates that we – and all phenomena – are not what we, or they, appear to be. Through this mis-perception of how things really are, we fall into duhkha.

I’ve even had a bit of a discussion with John Friend over this, as he has a tendency to put-down Buddhism’s emphasis on duhkha, saying how his path celebrates life and is about sri and “bliss.” To me, he has admitted to over-stating this, and in fact distorting the truth, because he does understand that duhkha is the First Noble Truth. If you stop at that, you are NOT talking buddhadharma, which is nirodha, the cessation of duhkha (the Third Noble Truth).

One other point I express in the essay, I wish to emphasize here, is that “yoga” means “yoking” as much as it does “union.” Those yogis who only talk about yoga as “union,” I believe both distort and miss an essential aspect of yoga as practice, for much of actual practice is the yoking, the restraining or containing of our conditioned reactivity. It is this restraint (a form of tapas) that allows for the freedom to choose a more skillful way to respond to life’s challenging situations.

In fact, neuro-science shows us that the impulse to act precedes our consciousness of the impulse to act by around 0.3 seconds! That means, action is conditioned, and we are unaware of our first beginnings of the impulse to act. There is no absolute, acausal free-will! However, with mindfulness, we create a bit more ‘temporal space,’ about a half second, and in that ‘gap,’ we can inhibit our action. Thus, our free-will is the ability to restrain our conditioned reactivity. This is the yoking of yoga.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Metta

Poep sa frank jude

April Daily Practice: Enlighten Up!

April.... it's Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, but if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, it's a good time to "enlighten up" as well!

What do I mean by "enlighten up?" Primarily, it's not taking ourselves all that seriously all the time. It's learning to smile at our 'foibles' and 'follies.' One of my favorite "Dalai Lama Stories," is told by Sharon Salzberg. Apparently, the Dalai Lama was interested in having a tour of Gethsemene Monastery to see how they managed to be self-sufficient. As usual, he was accompanied by a retinue of other Buddhist teachers (including Sharon) as well as the ever-present media.

During the tour, the Dalai Lama learned that the monastery makes both cakes and pastries as well as cheese. At the conclusion of the tour, the abbot presented the Dalai Lama with a big wheel of cheese. The Dalai Lama took the wheel of cheese in his hand, looked at it, then looked up with that marvelous twinkle in his eyes and said, "But I was hoping for a cake!" And then he burst out in his famous belly-laugh! When I heard Sharon tell this story, she remarked that in that moment, she realized that if she had been in the Dalai Lama's position, she too would have preferred the cake, but would have played the "Spiritual Person" part and accepted the cheese with a smile (while feeling disappointment inside).

The Dalai Lama, however, showed that he could not take his role, his identity, or his preferences so seriously that he couldn't laugh at himself!

So, this month, perhaps we can remember (sati, usually translated as "mindfulness" actually refers to remembering) to 'enlighten up' when we catch ourselves taking ourselves overly seriously. We can set the stage by sitting up at the side of the bed when we awake in the morning and placing our hands in anjali, (palms pressed together at the heart) and smiling while taking three breaths.  Then, throughout the day -- whenver we find ourselves lost in that serious drama in our heads -- we can pause, practice smiling anjali, and take three breaths. If we are in mixed company, we can skip the anjali, but please, don't skip the smile and three breaths!   :-)

AND, really.... I would LOVE to hear from more of you! There are 124 "Followers" of the blog, and I would really like to hear from you! Please offer any ideas for future "Daily Practices" as well as sharing how these practices are for you.

in metta, and with a big smile,
poep sa

Book Club: A Twisted Story by Jill Satterfield

Obviously, as the nature of this chapter is so personal, and simply put, one person’s story of her yogic path, I am not about to address it as I have the other chapters. There is no ‘agreement’ or ‘disagreement,’ no real comments possible, other than the following.

I had the pleasure and honor of finally meeting Jill (I had had some brief e-mail exchanges back when I lived in NY) during the first Spirit Rock Mindfulness Yoga Teacher Training, where she shared her story with the group. I was moved then, and I was moved once again while reading her story.

I think it should be manifestly clear from her story just how non-dual the body and mind are. My teacher, Samu Sunim, always spoke of mindbody (which more or less translates the Sanskrit term namarupa). Rupa is form, and in particular refers to the body, and nama, from which we get the word, “name,” refers to what in Buddhism would be called the other four aggregates (skandhas): feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness.

Even before I met Jill, we bonded over an e-mail exchange where she wrote me to offer her agreement and gratitude in response to a letter to the editor I had had published in Shambhala Sun. My letter spoke to the point that in the Buddha’s teaching of the First Foundation of Mindfulness, it is eminently clear that all activities of the body, from walking, bending, reaching, and twisting or turning to the side to defecating, urinating, eating and bathing can – and should become – expressions of practice. Jill says the same thing in the section entitled “Sitting Straight” when she writes: “…practicing a Yoga posture became just another shape in which to meditate.” My only comment would be to say, make that ‘hatha-yoga posture’ as Yoga itself is meditation – or perhaps more precisely, the meditative ‘stance’ or attitude of mind.

As she states in the section “Straight To The Heart,” with the awareness a master teacher such as Jill brings to her teaching, the postures of hatha-yoga can indeed become a “doorway into the mind,” and one that may often be more accessible to many folk who would find sitting meditation much too difficult to engage in. Mindfulness of the body “in the body” is the meditative approach to cultivating greater intimacy with the body – and seemingly paradoxical – just what allows one to come to the realization that body is not-Self! In order to touch the water of the ocean, one must penetrate the wave. The wave is the ocean; form is emptiness. Yet, we cannot touch the water without touching the wave; emptiness is form!

March Daily Practice: Mindful Eating

Ah, March is here and Spring is in the air. Here in Tucson, our windows and doors are open, the birds are singing, the chickens are laying, and the hiking is lovely!

For this month, I thought we’d take up the practice of “Mindful Eating.” Now, before any of you grumble and complain, I am not necessarily suggesting what you should eat, nor how, other than suggesting chewing your food a bit more than you most likely do now. There’s no need to count your chews or anything, but notice when the urge to swallow arises, and simply chew a few more times, savoring and noticing any changes. What have you been avoiding by swallowing when you normally do?

I remember the first time I participated in an “Apple Meditation,” eating one apple mindfully. I found that my conditioned tendency was to swallow as soon as the intense sweet taste started to fade. By continuing to chew, I found that the taste became a bit ‘sour’ or tart, then bitter, until eventually, the skin was just about all that was left and it had a definite ‘astringent’ quality. This amazed me!

In Ayurvedic teaching, there are six ‘tastes’ (rasa): sweet, sour, salt, pungent, bitter, astringent. These can be thought of as forms of prana or even ‘intelligence.’ When we eat the apple just for its sweetness, we only assimilate one ‘code of intelligence.’ No wonder one apple is rarely ‘fulfilling.’ I found that when I chew the apple, and experience the other tastes (four of the six!), I actually feel more satiated from the apple. It’s like I assimilate more of the energy/intelligence the apple has to offer.

In any event, we can practice a very simple form of Mindful Eating, by first sitting down to eat; turn off the radio or tv; and refrain from reading while eating. If you have the opportunity to eat an occasional meal in silence, that’s great!

The following “Contemplation” and “Meal Gatha” are simply ‘bells of mindfulness’ allowing us to take a few moments to really look at, and acknowledge, the food we are about to consume. As Thich Nhat Hanh has said, if we do not pay attention to the food, it is not real to us, and we cease to be ‘real.’ "If the broccoli is real, we are real."

At Plum Village, the following Five Contemplations are said before meals. As you will see, they are a specific form of the traditional Meal Gatha:

1.    This food is a gift of the whole universe – the earth, the sky, and much hard work.

2.    May we live in a way that makes us worthy to receive it.

3.    May we transform our unskillful states of mind, especially our greed, and learn to eat in moderation.

4.    May we take only foods that nourish us and prevent illness.

5.    We accept this food so that we may realize the path of practice.

Meal Gatha

First, seventy-two labors broght us this food; we should know how it comes to us.

Second, as we receive this offering, we should consider whether our virtue and practice deserve it.

Third, as we desire the natural order of mind to be free from clinging, we must be free from greed.

Fourth, to support our life, we take this food.

Fifth, to attain our way, we take this food.

First, this food is for the Three Treasures.

Second, it is for our teachers, parents, nation, and all sentient beings.

Third, it is for all beings in the six worlds.

Thus we eat this food with everyone.

We eat to stop all evil,

To practice good,

To save all beings

And to accomplish our

Buddha Way.

Please, enjoy your food, and do please share your practice here at the Mindfulness Yoga Blog. What kind of reaction or response arises when you read and contemplate the above verses? What is your experience of slowing down (a wee bit) and really savoring what is on your plate?

in metta,

poep sa frank jude