This said, don’t be upset if you find that after catching yourself quite quickly for some time, you suddenly end up near Albany. This is not a linear process, and progress is determined more by the change in your relationship to your experience than by any particular change in the content of the experience itself.
For instance, years ago when I first began to practice, I found that my mind was sometimes like a nightclub, and sometimes like a monastery. Truthfully, it was more like a nightclub than a monastery; but when practicing, I was clear that I preferred it to be a monastery and felt that if it were a nightclub I was failing. Worse, I felt like I was a failure. Now, although I’ll admit that while practicing my mind is more often like a monastery than in the old days, it can still be a nightclub often enough. What has really changed is that I don’t struggle against the “nightclub mind” and I don’t cling desperately to the “monastery mind.”
This change in how we relate to our mind in meditation has its parallel with how we relate to the various situations that arise in our life. This growing equanimity is a true feeling of freedom and ease, which I could only dream about when I first set out on this path.
If you choose to note the breath instead of count it, then when you breathe in, mentally say to yourself, “in”; when you breathe out, “out.” Again, when your mind wanders into some daydream or thought, as soon as you see that, make the note “thinking,” let it go, and return to “in” and “out.” It absolutely does not matter what the thought was, it is simply noted as “thinking.” Here, I encourage you to remember that it is not a “failure” if your mind wanders. In fact, in that very moment when you see that it has wandered, you are being mindful—and that is what we are practicing to cultivate!
Like developing stronger biceps, you wouldn’t expect one curl to do it. You need to practice repetitions. To develop mindfulness, you need to keep at it. And know that every time you see that the mind has wandered off the breath, you have just woken up. You are awake in that moment. So let go of any irritation or frustration or anger with yourself.
In fact, it may help to listen to the sound of your inner voice when it notes “thinking.” Does it sound like a mental shout: “thinking! (again!),” or does it have an impatient and frustrated quality to it? Soften it up. Whatever arises, just note “thinking” in a neutral mental voice. And then “in” and “out.” In many ways we are practicing nonrejection, complete and utter acceptance of ourselves and each moment.
This whole process is sometimes referred to as preliminary practice, but that should not lead you to think that it is purely a “beginner’s” practice and that sometime down the line you will “graduate” to a more “advanced practice.” This kind of thinking can be one of the biggest obstacles to liberation.
In fact, we never leave behind the awareness of breathing. Rather, we continue to go ever deeper with this practice. To take the first step on the path is to fulfill the path. This path, which returns us to our true home, is the greatest journey we can take. Stop now. Return to yourself. Return to your breath.
CHAPTER SIX
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SUTRAS
THE Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing (Anapanasati Sutta) and the Sutra on the Establishments of Mindfulness (Satipatthana Sutta) are two of the most important sutras found in the Pali canon. They contain some of the most detailed information and instruction the Buddha gave regarding the actual practice of meditation.
Mindfulness Yoga is based upon the Four Establishments of Mindfulness as found in the Anapanasati Sutta. In this sutra, the Buddha offers sixteen “exercises,” using conscious breathing as a means to awaken and maintain attention in order to look deeply into the true nature of things and to liberate oneself from delusion.
The sixteen exercises offered by the Buddha in the Anapanasati Sutta can be divided into four groups, each containing four exercises. Each of the four groups corresponds to one of the Four Establishments of Mindfulness. The first group uses the body as the foundation or object of establishing mindfulness; the second uses feelings; the third uses the activities of the mind; and the fourth uses objects of mind, or dharmas.
In the Anapanasati Sutta, the Four Establishments are only briefly discussed, and so we will consider selected sections from the Satipatthana Sutta for further information on how to practice the Four Establishments. You can find resources listed in the back of this book if you desire to read or study the whole sutra. The following is the second section of the Anapanasati Sutta, which details the sixteen exercises presented by the Buddha.
Anapanasati Sutta: Section 2
What is the way to develop and practice continuously the method of Full Awareness of Breathing so that the practice will be fruitful and offer great benefit?
It is like this: the yogi or yogini goes into the forest or to the foot of a tree, or to any deserted place, sits stably in the cross-legged position, holding his or her body straight, maintains mindfulness and practices: “Aware of an in-breath as an in-breath, I breathe in. Aware of an out-breath as an out-breath, I breathe out.”
First Group (The Body)1. “Breathing in a long breath, aware of breathing in a long breath. Breathing out a long breath, aware of breathing out a long breath.” He or she practices like this.
2. “Breathing in a short breath, aware of breathing in a short breath. Breathing out a short breath, aware of breathing out a short breath.” He or she practices like this.
3. “Breathing in, aware of my whole body. Breathing out, I am aware of my whole body.” He or she practices like this.
4. “Breathing in, calming my whole body. Breathing out, calming my whole body.” He or she practices like this.
Second Group (The Feelings)5. “Breathing in, I am aware of feeling joy. Breathing out, I am aware of feeling joy.” He or she practices like this.
6. “Breathing in, I am aware of feeling happiness. Breathing out, I am aware of feeling happiness.” He or she practices like this.
7. “Breathing in, I am aware of my mental formations. Breathing out, I am aware of my mental formations.” He or she practices like this.
8. “Breathing in, I calm my mental formations. Breathing out, I calm my mental formations.” He or she practices like this.
Third Group (The Mind)
9. “Breathing in, I am aware of my mind. Breathing out, I am aware of my mind.” He or she practices like this.
10. “Breathing in, gladdening the mind. Breathing out, gladdening the mind.” He or she practices like this.
11. “Breathing in, concentrating the mind. Breathing out, concentrating the mind.” He or she practices like this.
12. “Breathing in, liberating the mind. Breathing out, liberating the mind.” He or she practices like this.
Fourth Group (The Dharmas)13. “Breathing in, aware of the impermanent nature of all dharmas. Breathing out, aware of the impermanent nature of all dharmas.” He or she practices like this.
14. “Breathing in, aware of the disappearance of clinging. Breathing out, aware of the disappearance of clinging.” He or she practices like this.
15. “Breathing in, observing cessation. Breathing out, observing cessation.” He or she practices like this.
16. “Breathing in, observing letting go. Breathing out, observing letting go.” He or she practices like this.The Full Awareness of Breathing, if developed and practiced continuously according to these instructions, will be fruitful and of great benefit.
In section 3 of the sutra, the Buddha briefly elucidates the practice of the Four Establishments of Mindfulness and tells us how we can practice them:When the practitioner breathes in or out a long or a short breath, aware of the breath or the whole body, or aware that he or she is making the whole body calm and at peace, the practitioner abides peacefully in the observations of the body in the body, persevering, fully awake, clearly understanding, gone beyond all attachment and aversion to this life. These exercises of breathing with Full Awareness belong to the first Establishment of Mindfulness
, the body.
The Buddha reiterates for each of the remaining twelve exercises included in the three other Establishments of Mindfulness: the practitioner remains peacefully abiding in the observation of the feelings in the feelings; of the mind in the mind; and of the dharmas in the dharmas. The practitioner must persevere in the practice, remaining fully attentive, understanding his or her state, and gone beyond all attachment or aversion to this life.
He tells us in section 3 that “without Full Awareness of Breathing, there can be no development of meditative stability and understanding” and that if developed and practiced continuously, Full Awareness of Breathing will indeed lead to “perfect realization of the Four Establishments of Mindfulness.”
Before going further, I would like to make some comments about these unusual phrases “observing the body in the body,” “observing the feelings in the feelings,” “observing the mind in the mind,” and “observing the dharmas in the dharmas.” We are being asked by the Buddha to drop the dividing line between the subject of observation—“I/me”—and the objects of our observation—body, feelings, mind, and dharmas. We do not stand outside our body, or even act as if we were an independent observer, but rather we stand within whatever it is we observe or contemplate as the presumed object of our meditation. We are talking here about samadhi again. In this kind of “observation meditation,” body and mind, the subject and object, are one.
So, technically, even though some translations of this sutra have the phrases “I know,” “I am aware,” “I calm,” “I concentrate,” “I liberate,” and “I observe,” eventually there arises simple awareness, free of the sense of “I” having an experience or doing something. We may at first begin with the thought “I am aware of a long breath,” but we develop over time the simple awareness “breathing,” “calming,” and so forth. There is simply “awareness,” and no separate sense of “self” or “I” that we hang on to.
We are asked to maintain a lucid, full awareness of what is going on in each of the Four Establishments: body, feelings, mind, and all dharmas. And we must drop all our clinging to what we prefer and our resistance to what we dislike, as both of these tendencies limit our awareness. To be fully awake, we must go beyond our conditioned aversion and attachments, not grasping after or rejecting any of “this life.”
In section 4 of the Anapanasati Sutta, the Buddha tells us that if the Four Establishments of Mindfulness are developed and continually practiced, they will lead to the “perfect abiding in the Seven Factors of Awakening.”
When the practitioner can maintain, without distraction, the practice of observing the body in the body, the feelings in the feelings, the mind in the mind, and the dharmas in the dharmas, persevering, fully awake, clearly understanding his or her state, gone beyond all attachment and aversion to this life, with unwavering, steadfast, imperturbable meditative stability, the practitioner will attain the first Factor of Awakening, namely mindfulness (smriti/sati). When this factor is developed, it will come to perfection.
When the practitioner can abide in meditative stability without being distracted, and can investigate every dharma, every object of mind that arises, then the second Factor of Awakening will be born and developed, the factor of investigating dharmas (dharma-vicara/dhamma-vicaya). When this factor is developed, it will come to perfection.
When the practitioner can observe and investigate every dharma in a sustained, persevering, and steadfast way, without being distracted, the third Factor of Awakening will be born and developed, the factor of energy (virya/viriya). When this factor is developed, it will come to perfection.
When the practitioner has reached a stable imperturbable abiding in the stream of practice, the fourth Factor of Awakening will be born and developed, the factor of joy (priti/piti). When this factor is developed, it will come to perfection.
When the practitioner can abide undistracted in the state of joy, she or he will feel the body and mind grow light and at peace. At this point, the fifth Factor of Awakening will be born and developed, the factor of ease (passaddhi). When this factor is developed, it will come to perfection.
When the body and mind are at ease, the practitioner can easily enter into concentration. At this point, the sixth Factor of Awakening will be born and developed, the factor of concentration (samadhi). When this factor is developed, it will come to perfection.
When the practitioner is abiding in concentration with deep calm, she or he will cease discriminating and comparing. At this point, the seventh Factor of Awakening is released, born, and developed, the factor of letting go (upeksha/upekkha). When this factor is developed, it will come to perfection.
In Part Three of this book, we will begin to look at how we can use these teachings of the Buddha to inform and guide us in our asana practice. If you do not presently have a sitting meditation practice, I again wholeheartedly encourage you to begin one. Practicing the sixteen exercises of the Anapanasati Sutta is much more difficult when you are moving or maintaining the various asanas that we will be practicing. And yet, if we expect meditation to effect transformation and healing in our lives, we must carry our practice from the sitting cushion and the yoga mat into the world.
Meditation practice allows us to be free of the bonds that cause us fear, sorrow, and unease. Although we will be following the sixteen exercises of the Anapanasati Sutta in our asana practice described in Part Three, it is important to keep in mind that all the exercises are intimately interconnected. The order in which they are presented in the sutra is not necessarily a progression from easy to difficult or beginner to advanced practice. Each practice is a total practice in itself—each is both as “easy” and as “difficult” as every other one. At the same time, they can together be seen as a single practice. While preliminary practice emphasizes stopping or calming, and the later practices emphasize insight or looking deeply, the practices of stopping and looking are inseparable. How can one exist without the other? As Thich Nhat Hanh has said, “If there is stopping, looking deeply is already present, more or less; and if there is looking deeply, there is a natural stopping.”
We can practice any one particular exercise for a whole practice session, or even for an extended period of time, or we can practice a progression of exercises in any one practice session. This means we can practice with our attention on just one of the Establishments of Mindfulness, or we can proceed through several or all four in any practice session. For example, we can practice TRIANGLE POSTURE (Trikanasana) while observing our breath and how it changes as we maintain the posture, or we can place our attention on the feelings (sensations). This would be practicing the first two Establishments of Mindfulness. We can practice the Third Establishment by shifting our attention to our mental formations, for instance, our aversion to the sensations that arise as we maintain the posture, or our mental commentary on our practice. Finally, we can observe the Fourth Establishment if our concentration is strong enough to allow us to see directly the impermanence and nonself nature of our thoughts, feelings, and body.
If we can cultivate this kind of insight in our asana practice (and here I include all the asanas—from sitting, lying down, standing, and moving) then it will more naturally flow into our lives—while preparing dinner, taking out the garbage, commuting to work, working, and playing. And if we can do this, we will find that we are coming alive to our life, meeting it openheartedly, living in a fully awakened state, with more ease, stability, joy, and happiness. We will be living in freedom.
PART THREE
THE PRACTICE OF MINDFULNESS YOGA
CHAPTER SEVEN
BODY AS BODY
Aware of an in-breath as an in-breath, I breathe in.
Aware of an out-breath as an out-breath, I breathe out.
Breathing in a long breath, I am aware of breathing in a long breath.
Breathing out a long breath, I am aware of breathing out a long breath.
Breathing in a short breath, I am aware of breathing in a short breath.
Breathing out a short breath, I am aware of breathing out a short breath.
Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body.
Breathing out, I am aware of my whole body.
Breathing in, I calm my whole body.
Breathing out, I calm my whole body.
THE FIRST FOUR EXERCISES the Buddha offered in the practice of the Full Awareness of Breathing help us to return to our body so that we may look deeply into it and therefore learn ways to best care for it. The Buddha was adamant that we should never mistreat or abuse our bodies. Remember that ahimsa, or the principle of non-harming, is the essence of all yoga practice.
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