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Noting is "formally" done in practice, but there are many forms of practice. Practising when sitting is, well, good practice. The idea is not only to develop the skill (and of course do it) but also the capacity. Shinzen speaks of "starting on a dime" and "practice in life" in order to strengthen the "attentional skill-set" of concentration, clarity, and equanimity. Funny, I have been working out at the gym on the rowing machine and participating in another forum talking about strength vs fitness, speed vs power, and the like, and how subtly different approaches will train different aspects of physical fitness. Similarly here: noting out loud a restricted range of experience (say, just mental images, or just physical sensations) in stillness and sustaining that for a period of time will develop one kind of strength (or endurance... or whatever metaphor you like) whereas noting, say, just the endings of sounds while walking down the street will develop another aspect of one's overall spiritual fitness. It all depends what you are training for, so to speak, to say nothing of where you happen to have talent, motivation, interest, and opportunity. Shinzen's system is flexible to a fault, so you can be exquisitely precise in what you are setting out to do, and then be able to tell if you are "on" or "off". For example, I have had much fun (and some success) in setting micro-goals for noting practice out and about, like "I will note all sights and sounds until I get home and touch my doorknob" when I am still half an hour away from home. Sometimes I actually find that easier than practice in stillness. Noting inner phenomena is trickier "in life" than on the cushion until there is some good reserve of concentration available, much like a certain degree of cardiovascular fitness is required before one can really discuss the finer points of maintaining a high pace of physical exertion. I would say, practice anywhere, any way, and any time you can and you are sure to improve! You can sometimes do endurance training, other times intervals; in other words some long sits of strong determination, other times shorter bursts of intense concentration... the brain is not a muscle, but it is trainable.
Also, technical point, Shinzen distinguishes "noting" from "labelling" and what I am talking about here would be Shinzen's "labelling", but which common usage here on Dho and elsewhere would call simply "noting". |