Hi Again,
I'm really liking this discussion.
@Mike- Now you've got me wondering about something. Here are Daniel's 'finger tennis' instructions:
In one of these exercises, I sit quietly in a quiet place, close my eyes, put one hand on each knee, and concentrate just on my two index fingers. Basic dharma theory tells me that it is definitely not possible to perceive both fingers simultaneously, so with this knowledge I try to see in each instant which one of the two finger’s physical sensations are being perceived. Once the mind has sped up a bit and yet become more stable, I try to perceive the arising and passing of each of these sensations. I may do this for half an hour or an hour, just staying with the sensations in my two fingers and perceiving when each sensation is and isn’t there.
So, my assumptions/observations about this exercise so far are:
-the experience of 'alternating perception' between fingers is a similar feeling to the 'jumping around of attention' we already discussed, just faster
-the essential 'moments of perception' in this exercise probably each appear to be spatially localized in either one finger, or the other (rather then 'in the head' or anywhere else)
-after doing the exercise for a while it seems like the rather 'light' feeling of 'attention jumping' turns into a slightly more vivid, more physical-seeming 'vibrating sensation'. (But so far for me, the two feelings are kind of similar and the transition is pretty subtle.)
Mike, it seems to me that maybe you are talking about trying to experience the 'moment of raw perception' as being separate from 'the moment of the mind overlaying further interpretation onto the sensation'. I agree that lots of the Buddhist literature supports that, but doesn't it seem like for this exercise Daniel is really just suggesting to focus on one finger vs. the other, and just making that 'back and forth' as distinct as possible? And, that the 'next level of fidelity' Daniel seems to describe is to actually make some type of distinction between the 'arising' of each sensation-moment and the 'passing' of each sensation-moment? (Am I making any sense here?)
I am excited to hear everyone's further comments on the 'right way' to do this.
cheers
Graeme