Five Ways to Know Mikhail Zybin

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Mikhail Zybin, modified 3 Years ago at 5/8/20 2:26 AM
Created 3 Years ago at 5/8/20 2:26 AM

Five Ways to Know Mikhail Zybin

Posts: 57 Join Date: 2/16/20 Recent Posts
Hello and welcome!
This is my second practice log here on DhO (the first one is here). Here I will describe my experience of practicing Shinzen Young's Basic Mindfulness system described in his book Five Ways to Know Yourself.

I am a 21 yo student from Moscow, Russia.
I am pre-SE pre-A&P practitioner. My overall meditation time is approximately 300 hours (as of May 2020).
I study a lot of mathematics, statistics, computer science, data science, and machine learning. Currently finishing my BS in maths, planning to enter the MS program in data science, and then do research in the field of Artificial Intelligence. I have been more or less regularly meditating since May 2018.
I visited 10 days Goenka retreat in June 2019.
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Mikhail Zybin, modified 3 Years ago at 5/8/20 2:27 AM
Created 3 Years ago at 5/8/20 2:27 AM

RE: Five Ways to Know Mikhail Zybin

Posts: 57 Join Date: 2/16/20 Recent Posts
1 May 2020
Morning session 30 min Do nothing
I planned to sit for an hour, but I noticed that I was just daydreaming, thinking about my tasks and plans, and decided to finish earlier because it seemed a waste of time. During the day I would like to read more about this meditation.

2 May 2020
Morning session 30 min See In, Hear In, Feel In
I decided to read Shinzen's Basic Mindfulness. I love that he is very clear and systematic.
These were neither dullness nor tiredness during the session. I loved the technique. Now I see what to develop and how.

3 May 2020
Morning session 30 min Hear Out
I opened the window in my room and listened to the street noises. There were birds singing and cars passing by. It was beautiful and engaging. However, in the end the thoughts started to distract.

4 May 2020
Morning session 30 min Feel Out
I observed body sensations. Tingling in fingers, warmth, knees touching the floor, sitting on the cushion.
There was a lot of mind-wandering, thinking, imagining, which is probably because I am used to fast freestyle noting of wherever my attention goes, and observing a specific area of experience (hear, body sensation) requires more concentration than freestyle.

5 May 2020
Morning session 30 min See rest
I focused on not having any mental images. It was very pleasant and restful. During freestyle noting, I constantly have changing mental images, and during this session I allowed my mind to rest. Images arose, but rarely, and I noted as they came and went away. Mental chatter was also much quieter than usual.

6 May 2020
Morning session 30 min See rest, hear rest
Most of the time thoughts and images arose anyway, despite that I cultivated a restful state of mind. I did not go into tranquility this time, but I mindfully observed whatever was happening.

7 May 2020
Morning session 30 min Hear Out
I opened my window and listened to the birds. However, it was so calming and relaxing, the breeze from the window was so warm and pleasant, that I got sleepy and too tranquil. Anyway, that was interesting. Usually the mind is agitated rather than sleepy.

8 May 2020
Morning session 30 min Feel Out
I planned to observe a specific area of experience - namely, body sensations. However, I got lost in thoughts and mental images. I did not note them, because I aimed at exploring only the bodily sensations. In the last quarter, I noted everything and stopped being lost.
Probably in the last couple of months I did too much dry vipassana, ignoring the concentration part, so my attention is used to be constantly running.

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