2023-Gil-Challenge Check-In (1 of 5) Mindfulness of Body

9:07AM Jan 22, 2023

Speakers:

Gil Fronsdal

Keywords:

challenge

happening

mind

mindfulness

falling

check

checklist

body

rabbit

lion

sky

running

assumptions

ideas

mental processes

investigate

predictions

pleasant

states

respond

So good morning or good day. And we continue with this ongoing series on practicing with challenges. In any challenge at all, from the minor to the extreme, though extreme might need extra care and attentiveness, and, and, and kind of a specialty to it, but maybe we'll get to that later in this ongoing series. But we're laying down the foundation now. And the elements that are really helpful for being able to address whatever challenges we have. So today, this week, I want to focus on what's called the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. I think most of you know what they are, and I've taught thought about it here before the body, feelings, mind states and mental processes. And, and how they can be a tremendous support Foundation, kind of a grounding, for working with challenges. And to introduce this idea, I want to tell you a Buddhist fable kind of tale. That of, it's kind of like the Chicken Little and the sky is falling. There was a rabbit in ancient world who, who was sleeping, taking a nap under an mango dream. And at some point, a mango. Big, big mango, from high up in a tree fell on the ground right next to the head of their brother rapid was sleeping, and with a big bang and a shake and woke the rabbit up. And the rabbit immediately assumed that the sky was falling. So the rabbit jumped up and started running away yelling, the sky is falling, the sky is falling came across a a school the whole herd of rabbits. And, and when they heard that the sky is falling, they started screaming and running along to sky is falling, the sky is falling and they went further and they came across a whole bunch of deer and the deer herd about this and they started running to the sky is falling and they went further along and they saw the water buffaloes and the water buffaloes and delta started in the elephant started and everybody started running all of them thinking of a bet to run fast because the sky was falling. And and high up on the mountain on a cliff overlooking all this was a lion. And the lion could see that this huge mass of animals was running right for a cliff. And which kind of jumped right a fall right off of they kept running at the speed. So the lion kind of quickly got in front of them jumped in front of them and roared said stop. And he asked you to walk you know, the elephants. Why are you running? All because the water buffalo said the sky is falling as this as the water buffalo and they said, Oh, it's because of the deer and the deer said oh, it's because of the rabbits. And then why did why were you running the lioness, the rabbits and all the rabbits looked at the first rabbit and said, Well, we heard him say that the sky is falling. And, and the and that. So then the Lion said, Well, let's go investigate. Where were you sleeping? So they went to investigate went back to the tree. And they're right next to where the rabbit was sleeping was the big mango. And everyone realized that there was no sky falling, it was just a mango that had fallen. So in this Jothika tale, this birth story, that story of course, the Buddha was the lion in a previous lifetime. But the important thing was this idea of knowing to investigate. And if we if we don't have them the mind capability to investigate what's happening. Then with challenges we're kind of sometimes caught up in the swirl and the agitation of it all and the preoccupation and, and more importantly, the assumptions we have around what's happening. The concepts, the abstractions, the future, the plannings the predictions are the kind of all kinds of fixed ideas about who we are and what's happening to us and so on. The ability to stop before we go over the cliff, and investigate, take a good look what's happening here. Revive requires knowing where to look, where's the grounding? Where's the useful places to bring attention? And, and so the Buddha offered these four areas for what's called for foundations for establishments for mindfulness. And so when we are in challenges, we can check in with ourselves. Well, how are how are these particular areas being experienced? How is it being felt in the body? Is this pleasant or unpleasant? What kind of mind state is operating when I'm caught up in this involved in this challenge? And what are the mental processes that are reacting? And, and and to the challenge, and what are the mental states that are supportive of being with this challenge in a better way. So those four areas, is an alternative to the abstractions we live in the big stories and predictions and ideas that are generated by fear and by anger and by confusion. It's a particular subset of the total whole gestalt of it all. A Gestalt which is often infused with a man imagination, with assumptions with predictions with thoughts and beliefs and ideas about self. And some of the ways that we enter into challenges actually limit our ability to do it wisely. Actually, part of what makes the challenge so much more difficult, is the ways in which our inner life responds to it and lives with it and is confused by it or caught up in it and all that. And because that's so much of the challenges, the challenge is not the challenge, challenge out there or that challenge, but rather, will be called the challenge, but rather, how we are in relationship to it. It's so powerful, to do the mindfulness check in, check in with yourself. Go through the checklist, if you like such things. Okay, this is challenging. Now, how does this how is this being felt in the body? What is activating the body? Where am I tense in the body? Where am I contracted in the body? Am I even connected to my body or my disconnected to my body with all this? What's happening here with a body? What's happening with a feeling tone is is really unpleasant? Is it really pleasant? More than a physical experience? The predominant experience is the unpleasantness of it all. What's happening with the mind states? That, you know, is it confined, contracted? Is the mind filled with desires in greed and wanting something so desperately needing something so desperately? Or is the mind angry and blaming and upset and guilty? All the kinds of kind of forms of aversion? Is the mind confused, perplexed lost? Is the mind narrow and tight? Is it expansive and open? How's the mind state? And then the or then the mental processes is that are we operating with the hindrances? Is there ill will? Is there a consensual desire? covetousness? Is there sloth and torpor? Is there? Agitation restlessness, remorse? Is there doubt it or is there calm? Can there be calm here? Is there mindfulness? Can there be mindfulness here? Is there curiosity and investigation? Is there joy? Is there tranquility is there some ability to stay focused here and centered concentrated? What about equanimity? So as we do this check in, we can discover which of these predominates and sometimes we're predominates or what we're aware which of these four needs most attention. We're gathering the information together about how we are so that we can know how wisely to respond to the situation. This presupposes we do this check in, not in the middle of a traffic accident, in the middle of having the accident when we have to take care of things. But we're doing it when we can like in meditation or when we're not right in the middle of the fire of a challenge that we have to put out the fire. Other times, do the mindfulness check in

And notice which of these four predominate, know how they operate, then you're in a better position to respond and know what to do after the check in, and the check in can go quite quickly. And it might be the response is to go for a walk or call a friend or do something really nice. Or it might be to go to bed and put the sheets over your head, it might be all kinds of things that you do. It might be to go meditate. But you had gathered the information to see what's happening here. And you're breaking the trends of the minds kind of overall picture and fear and concern of what it is, you're beginning to break that caught up pneus in the assumptions in the sky is falling kind of attitude. It's very respectful to do this kind of check in to really get it underneath the surface of the assumptions, that beliefs that are operating with it all to find out what's happening here. And then based on that, deciding what to do. But if what you're doing is mindfulness like mindfulness meditation, then as we see which is most predominant, or which is most in need, of being really present for and one of the defaults, that is many times as useful not always, is to stay close to how it is and your body. Feel the embodied nature of it. What's happening in your body trust the body, don't treat the body as a static victim or just a receiver of experiences. It's a participant in experiences, it has its own wisdom, it has its own goodness, its own, its own, what the what it brings to the to what's happening. If we allow it, if we make room for it, if we're willing to kind of drop into the body, get centered, grounded in the body, and then let the body process what's happening. And some of this is because when we're challenged, there's a can be a lot of reactivity, a lot of tension and tightness and contraction in the body. And so by feeling in the body, the body wants to relax. And as we allow ourselves to feel it, it's kind of like we get out of the way, we're not continuing to direct the attention from the mind to the body, the mind is letting up. So the body has a chance to relax. So so the mindfulness check in, it's a way of changing the perspective of what's happening for us. That's useful to do at the right time. As I said earlier, when we're not right in the middle of having to deal with something, but you know, when it we take it home with us, or, you know, when we're more in nursing, quiet situation. And, and maybe there's a time and place to do the mindfulness, check in the four foundations, and see what you'll learn from that. And so for this week, we'll go through this checklist, we'll go through and see how to use these four foundations as a way of bringing a useful perspective to our lives when we're challenged. It's an alternative perspective, then maybe the perspective that we usually bring. And by doing the checklist approach this other perspective, it might highlight for you the perspective that you were bringing, you might you might tend to see it more clearly. And maybe see that some of the perspective, some of the assumptions and beliefs that go into how we respond and see a challenge may be our optional, provisional not needed, that actually interfere with our ability to be wise, and how to care and take care of challenges. So mindfulness checklist, and, and so for the next days, we'll go through these four and emphasize its value of each one and tomorrow we'll do a very important topic, the fork challenges which has to do with mindfulness of the pleasant and the unpleasant, where the pleasant actually has a very important role. So thank you, and may you go through the checklist today periodically and see what it does for you in different circumstances. Thank you