2022-05-04-gil-Satipatthana (69) The Four Foundations Together

2:53PM May 4, 2022

Speakers:

Gil Fronsdal

Keywords:

foundations

mind

perspective

awareness

body

hindrances

feeling

caught

practice

unpleasant

mindfulness

meditate

happening

buddha

changing

state

expansive

damas

liberating

experience

So we've gone through for these last four months, the four foundations for awareness for awakening awareness. These four awarenesses, four areas of developing awareness that can work together, cooperatively support each other. And they make a very interesting perspective, very useful perspective for us to bring to our lives. So often when we pay attention, give attention, take in perceive the world around us, or the world inside of us. It's all too easy to do it with preconceived ideas, preconceived agendas, being oriented to certain areas, certain things that we think are important. And not to automatically dismiss those. Even if it's a useful way to look at things, the way you're looking at things. Sometimes it's you, it can be useful to find a new way, for a fresh perspective, for, for perspective, for our perception of the world, ourselves. And so these four foundations, four areas are kind of interesting to keep them in mind, use these perspectives when looking at our life. So if, for example, some people might be oriented towards what's in it for me, what is it? What What am I going to get out of this experience? In sati, Putana, suta, we wouldn't do that. We instead we would say, what is the physical experience here? What's the feeling tone that's here? What's the mind state that's present? Then what's the dilemmas? What are these processes of being caught or being free, that are playing out? As I practice here? It could be that when we look at the world, we look at the world through what we don't like, what, what frightens us, or what's unpleasant for us. And, and react, we react to that from that point of view? And, but instead of that, we can ask this, you know, how does it physically how is it feeling tone? How is it mine states? How is it with Adamas? It could be we, there's a lot of self orientation going on. Instead of that, we do the four foundations. So these are like going through the scales, we can ask ourselves, given what's happening now. Maybe let's look at them from these vantage point. These are the these are the four vantage points that the Buddha offers, for the path to awakening to freedom, a path to everything that's wholesome, or skillful a heap of skillfulness heap of awesomeness. For the Buddha, this is phenomenally healthy and beneficial to cultivate this kind of awareness. And so, so in the vehicle, he does this, or the medium is not through orientations that are about me, myself and mine. Of course, it's about you in a certain way. But that's not the orientation which with which we're looking and analyzing, understanding the situation. Rather he saying, for the purposes of cultivating this open awareness, that's liberating, it's freeing, healthy and wonderful. Notice how it is in your body. Notice your body. Notice the feeling tones of how it's taken in and registered as pleasant, unpleasant or neither. Notice the qualities of the mind the state of the mind, is it contracted? Is it expansive? Is it filled with intense desire or intense aversion? Or is it not? Is it the minds peel caught? doesn't mind feel free? And those categories? I have no self in them? It's not like saying, Am I caught to my filled with greed? Am I Versiv? Am I contracted?

There's, there's none of the instructions in the satipatthāna involved the perspective of me, myself and I, it can be such a relief. It can be a challenge because of how common it is to have that perspective. But to put it aside or evoke a different perspective, the advantage of that is the perspective of looking at things from the point of view of me Me, myself and mine, what's in it for me? And how am I being seen? And what's good for me and how I am, is that that's a magnet for all kinds of unskillful, unhealthy attitudes, states of mind situations, it tends to one way or the other, it tends to close the space inside of us around us. It tends to reduce the open handedness, the open heartedness, the open mindedness. And so instead of going that direction, like, you know, what's the what's happening to me? How am I doing? How are people treating me what's going on here for me, and how am I improving, I'm getting better. I'm getting worse. I'm meditation failure, all these things, you can say with a word I or me. See if you could put them aside and bring into play a different perspective, the four foundations. And so what you've learned about mindfulness of the body, you know, there's all these things we talked about, you know, go back and read some of the exercises. So or listen to some of these talks about mindfulness of the body, and cultivate this greater connection to the body. It is you, but you don't have to think about it being you. Of course, this is who you're paying attention to. If you're paying attention to your body, it's your paying attention to yourself. But it's extra to put that idea to operate, to analyze, to react to the situation, from the city of me myself in mind, especially when we're meditating. So just the body, the simplicity of it, the feeling tones, the mind states, the Damas and then the orientation also, is not to get anything of it or understand or analyze situation. But to begin tuning in, waking up to that the changing nature of experience, the flow of present moment experience, the river of life that goes through and things are always changing, always moving. And to do it from the perspective at these four foundations. And so there's also a different perspective or the perspective of change things coming and going. And, and to do that with an open hearted, open minded way. And this is a another this is a very helpful way to loosen the grip of attachments, to just rest or float or, or just to keep opening to the flow of change the flow of experience that's only available or best available. When we're centered in awareness in these direct experience of body feelings, mind states and the Damas. Let it all cause flow. teaching us how not to cling not to grasp. The five hindrances are forms of grasping forms of clinging, that diminish the freedom that diminish the clarity in which we can see things. And for the Buddha diminish our wisdom. When you're caught in the five hindrances, bring forth the four foundations, when you're caught in a hindrance, how is that in the body? What's the feeling tone of it? What are the mind states that are there, and then just be really present for each hindrance in and of itself, as it comes and goes, letting go of it. And this, this referencing back then through the four foundations, applies also, to the way in which we practice the way that we meditate.

And from time to time, it's good to go through the the steps, the scales, the four foundation scales, and to see in relationship to how you're practicing how you're being mindful, how you're meditating. How does it feel in your body? How you're doing it? Or you're straining is tightening up or you're resisting? Or your slug sluggish or you're collapsing? Are you are you kind of draining in your body because you're not really in it? What's happening in your body? What's happening with a feeling tones is what's the feeling tone of how you're practicing, of how you're doing mindful? Is it pleasant or unpleasant? Is it something that feels good to do or not? What is the mind state with which you're Do a mindfulness is the mindfulness? Is the mind state with greed or aversion or delusion? Is the mindset expansive? Or is it liberating? Or is it settled? What's the mind state? And then in the way that you practice, the five areas of the fourth Foundation, or the hindrances that play even subtly, are we entangled, knotted up in anything? Are we caught in identity me, myself and mine around the five aggregates? Oh, or are the seven factors of awakening kind of peeking their head up? As we're practicing? Are they the kind of nearby or potentially nearby? Are they creating the space where those wonderful factors can can to grow and it know how we're paying attention? Is it receiving in a way that's allows us to see the Four Noble Truths, which is another way of saying seeing the changing nature of things. So, how to bring these together these four foundations, and when we sit down to meditate, different times, we might choose one of the foundations more than another another foundation, because that seems to be a salient one, it seems like the good one with which to develop awareness, I find it's really useful to come back to breathing over and over again, the first very first exercise stay in the body FNV really useful. And then the other ones as needed, as is helpful. And sometimes I'll go through the four just okay, what how's it this area, how's it here in relationship to whatever is happening in the moment. So, this is a way of bringing the four foundations together and and cooperating them and how they are mutually supportive of each other and how this works as a whole. The unified whole, there is a unified way, bringing together all these practices for the purposes of open awareness, open hearted, open minded, open handed attention to ourselves in the world. So thank you