We had our Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss today. We’ve been working with the four foundations of mindfulness: awareness of the body, feeling tone, thoughts, emotions and then all phenomena. We drew our practice inspiration from B. Alan Wallace’s Minding Closely: The Four Applications of Mindfulness. We included two practice periods and a walking meditation.
Alan suggests observing what we perceive and how we perceive it. Oh yes, and don’t get caught up with proliferating thoughts about whatever “it” your awareness lights on. Sounds simple but it isn’t easy. The key to practice is to feel the body as the body; feel thoughts and emotions simply as thoughts and emotions; experience all phenomena, internal and external, just as phenomena. Notice when you are embellishing the direct experience of what you perceive with a projection of your own. How are you cloaking your experience? Are your windows of perception clear? Sometimes the veils are so thin they’re really tough to recognize.
Once we recognize the filmy overlay clouding direct experience, we’re encouraged to allow it to be. Leave it alone. We don’t try to clean it, or fix it, or judge it. It is simply “grist for the mill” of awareness. Our time on the cushion can help reveal what gets between us and experiencing the world more clearly. Our time in a circle of caring friends or even in solitary contemplation of what we recognize can help to bring compassion to our shared human nature. We might be inspired to challenge beliefs that incline us toward the way we view things. We can help each other find our way into a more congruent experience of the world. This takes a strong degree of willingness to drop some of the fixed ideas we’ve been navigating by. Sometimes this feels like venturing close to a ledge or losing the safety net we’ve come to know and depend on.
Yet, as we discussed in class, this is exactly what is happening in life all the time. We are constantly challenged to change and adapt. The harder we resist, the more we feel stuck. Yikes. I really need a little help from my friends. Hearing their experience with this living stuff really helps me connect. It scooches me a little closer to a broader definition of self – a more inclusive one. I feel like my burden is lessened when talking about my need to practice forgiveness. My heart opens when I hear how others struggle.
We touched on the experience of joy in our lives. Eastern contemplative teachings encourage us to refrain from chasing after false sources of happiness. Yet we are encouraged to be truly happy – to experience joy in our lives. Another simple, but not necessarily, easy instruction. Maybe you know a joy is genuine by the look on someone’s face – it’s relaxed and the smile is at the lips and the eyes. I saw this face when my friend, Jan, talked lovingly about her goofy, affectionate dog. Hmmm. Great teaching for me.
Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class 32 Homework