2022-01-14 Satipaṭṭhāna (9) The Clear Seeing of Mindfulness
IInsight Meditation CenterJan 14, 2022 at 4:31 pm12min
GGil Fronsdal00:02
Continuing this theme of satipaṭṭhāna, I want to repeat what I said at the beginning of the meditation because it is so important. Maybe I will say it in a different way. This practice of satipaṭṭhāna is not static. It involves an onward leading journey. I like the metaphor of deepening – deepening into our practice, into ourselves. It involves unfolding.
GGil Fronsdal00:41
Just like if you are really tense in your body, running around doing a lot of things, and you finally have a chance to sit down, you might discover that your body begins to unwind, relax, and open up. That is an unfolding, a deepening, which is part of this journey.
GGil Fronsdal01:03
The way human beings are created is that we are dynamic processes, which can unfold in all kinds of ways. We can move toward greater and greater tension and strain, which we can feel in our own eyes. Sometimes we can see when people are really caught up in something that their eyes are fixated. When they are afraid, we see it in their eyes. And this dynamic procress can unfold in beautiful ways. It can unfold into greater peace, relaxation, and openness. And satipaṭṭhāna is very much part of this dynamic process of life.
GGil Fronsdal01:49
That sometimes is not understood when the practice is described in certain ways. In the way the practice is described it is sometimes said: "Just be aware. Just accept things as they are and be aware, and don't try to change anything." And it is kind of good advice. But even if you are not trying to change anything, if you practice this, you will change. You cannot help but change. Things open up in this dynamic process of satipaṭṭhāna.
GGil Fronsdal02:25
The journey for each of these thirteen exercises of the satipaṭṭhāna begins with a statement. At the beginning it says: "And how does one observe the body in terms of the body? How does one observe the body in the body?"
GGil Fronsdal02:50
Then it describes the exercise of breathing. One knows the breathing, knows the qualities of it, the characteristics of it. One experiences it, feels it deeply. And also one experiences the body. One begins experiencing feeling the full body as one breathes. Then one relaxes the body. So the instructions are to know, to feel, and to relax.
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