Howard Clegg:
it may be beneficial if you establish mindfulness prior to sitting down to practise; that is, begin your practice session before you sit down. so if you're doing noting, start noting whole-heartedly while you're standing or walking or whatever else, and attentively bring yourself to your designated sitting place (if you have one) and transition into it keeping the momentum of the practice you've already begun going. maybe 5 or 10 minutes of it is sufficient.
alternately, you may also consider formal walking meditation. mahasi sayadaw's book practical insight meditation provides instruction on this in part 1 as an essential part of the noting practice he taught (and is now taught by his former students, and their students, etc).
Okay thanks, will do this. Related question, is the book you mentioned the book you would recommend as an overall guide for this practice? I generally look for "how to" books rather than metaphysics, or more inspirational books.having now found the book in pdf form, you may now know that it is as 'how-to' as books get. part one is the meditation instruction (required reading at the beginning of all mahasi courses), and part two is a summary of the progress of insight (of which the progress of insight section in MCTB is an expansion).
Howard Clegg:
the three characteristics are impermanence (i like to explain it as momentariness or fleeting experience), suffering (i like to explain it as tension or uneasiness, or sometimes dissatisfaction), and no-self (i like to explain it as stuff-happening-on-its-own). reflect on your practice sessions (either via memory or what you've written about them) and see if you can spot instances of each of these. you may find that these characteristics are indeed prominent.
I get this pretty much all the time, meditating or not. I have spent much of my life trying to avoid this very visceral reality, and spent may years drunk or stoned as a result. It has only been through a daily practice that I have been able to face the thing full on. If I don't practice, formally or informally, it all goes south, like night follows day.i wrote the above in response to what you previously wrote:
'This is a big deal to me because the way I normally go with my practice is completely different'
...in order to emphasise that what characterises the practice of vipassana is a direct appreciation of the three characteristics, moment-to-moment, and not any other characteristic which may be observed. yet, as one of those three characteristics is called, aptly, 'suffering', then what you wrote in the previous paragraph, that it 'feels unsatisfying', should not be surprising.. and oughtn't indicate that you are practising incorrectly.
Howard Clegg:
note the 'mindfulness' by the way, and any other state of mind you identify. if its too much to try and note states of mind specifically (by their distinguishing characteristics), whenever you become aware of a state of mind (usually this happens when the state of mind changes noticeably), note 'state of mind'.
Hang on, this mindfulness i describe is kind of "above" things like anger or sadness or joy. Joy's tough to catch though, much easier to note the negative stuff. The mindfulness I mean is more of a process that has a "feeling". I have to "do" it. It may be a sub-routine that chugs away in the background but I still have to do it. So it has the appearance these days of a mind state, but runs alongside anything else that is going on. It differs from elation, or giddy or morose or wired because i make a choice to go there. Surely if I am making a choice to be mindful moment by moment. I am by definition noting it. it does not matter if mindfulness is a first-order mental state or a second-order mental state, it has a particular quality, and if you are not noting that quality you are
not, by definition, noting it.
again, note the mindfulness.
if, after the above explanation, it still doesn't make sense to you to do, leave it be and return to the topic later, perhaps when you're established in equanimity regarding formations.
Howard Clegg:
Secondly this sequential vs simultaneous issue. In waking consciousness I have a kind of tight focus awareness which is sequential and to be where my mental thought processes appear to reside; and a wide angle awareness which is like peripheral vision but for all the senses and appears to be simultaneous. When I talk about my normal mindfulness state I'm referring more to the peripheral vision awareness. The tight focus awareness shuts down when I choose to "drop in" to the peripheral state. I find it much more productive to live as much of my life in the peripheral as i can. "Tight focus" takes more energy and is inappropriate a lot of the time. But both of these are available to me as a matter of choice and I can access both at the same time if I want to. Indeed, when doing a concentration practice I normally use the tight focus on, say, the breath and have the peripheral running concurrently. Is this what you mean when you say it helps to see it both ways? When you note I assume you are using the tight focus awareness, but should I keep my peripheral awareness in play as well. Or to to look at it another way i'm processing so much more data with my peripheral why bother with tight focus. Unless the whole point of noting is that you are trying to strengthen that tight focus awareness muscle, rather like doing biceps curls in the gym?
the tight focus should give way to the 'peripheral vision awareness', but without sacrificing continuity and the momentum of practice.
ingram breaks down the progress of insight into four steps (the way he classifies the vipassana jhanas - slightly differently from u pandita's classification, cf. 'the vipassana jhanas' chapter), and has recommended a different emphasis of practice on each step, as roughly follows:
first jhana (the pre arising and passing away stages) - keep a tight focus, note as quickly and accurately as possible, with full effort, keeping up the continuity and intensity of practice without any compromise.
second jhana (the stage of arising and passing away) - keep a loose focus, become absorbed in the vibrations that present, understanding the three characteristics, with the amount of effort optimal for keeping up the continuity and intensity of practice without any compromise.
third jhana (post-a&p/dark night stages) - attend to the periphery of one's focus of attention more than its centre, as well as the background of one's field of attention should it become apparent, understanding the three characteristics, with the amount of effort optimal for keeping up the continuity and intensity of practice without any compromise, and with an understanding that one's level of concentration may seem somewhat diminished here and that one's experience is not likely to be pleasant.
fourth jhana (the stage of equanimity regarding formations) - attend to the whole 360 degree field of one's attention, taking especial care to note phenomena which are not easily located or are not localised, such as the sensations that imply space, the sensations that imply the sense of time, the sensations that imply the movement of the mind, the sensations that imply mindfulness, wakefulness, and awareness, and so on, with the amount of effort optimal for keeping up the continuity and intensity of practice, and with an understanding that now that mindfulness is broadly and firmly established, it is fine tuning that may be in order, or perhaps no tuning at all.
ingram models the emphases of practice which are suited to these jhanas like a pyramid, with the first jhana-style of practice (intensive straight-forward noting) being its base and the fourth jhana-style of practice being its apex. in order to transition up the pyramid effectively, a strong foundation must be in place. while it is possible to reach the higher jhanas without having established a strong foundation, it is not likely to be stable and will not support well further development. in this sense, 'strengthening the tight focus muscle' has a use - doing so builds a foundation for the 'peripheral vision awareness' to run smoothly and continuously.
Howard Clegg:
you're welcome.
tarin