16 Mindfulness of feelings (1)
Teaching pt1: Alan introduces the new cycle with the 2nd application of mindfulness on feelings. Feelings (Skt. vedana) refer to 1) like/pleasant, 2) dislike/unpleasant, or 3) neutral. Although feelings could be considered part of the mind, feelings get their own application and their own skandha due to their primacy. Feelings arise in reaction to 1) too much, 2) too little, or 3) wrong kind of the 4 elements. The hedonic response to feelings is to want pleasant feelings to stay and unpleasant feelings to go away. In this practice, we are learning to look at pleasure and pain with interest and recognition—i.e., without moving towards or backing away. Feeling arise in space, and awareness is like space. Meditation: mindfulness of feelings. Let awareness permeate the field of the body and maintain an ongoing flow of mindfulness of sensations associated with the breath. Take special interest in feelings associated with those tactile sensations of the 4 elements. Examine whether pleasant/unpleasant is intrinsic to the experience or whether it is our mode of experiencing. Is feeling static or arising moment-by-moment? Does observing feelings change them in any way? Q1. What is the difference between non-grasping and ignoring? Q2. Is thinking, “This might be cancer,” grasping? Q3. Does vipasyana require grasping at an object? Q4. In loving-kindness practice, is it better to attend to one person at a time? Q5. When doing the body scan, I experience the body as being hollow like space, and yet, we know the body is solid. Q6. When practicing mindfulness of breathing in the supine position, I’ve had the following experience which has been replicated. In the beginning, with full-body awareness, there is a lot of rumination, and as it dies down, I progress to mindfulness of breathing at the abdomen, and as it dies down further, mindfulness of breathing at the nostrils. At the 20-30 minute mark, there is an abrupt shift in the breath whereby the body has fallen asleep but awareness is on. There is clear awareness of prana (although not bliss). Is this practice on track? Meditation Starts at 24:30
