I'm thinking of doing noting. Well, I already do it in my samatha practice - as it helps getting back to the breath quickly - but there's a couple things I'd like to get parsed out to bolster up the insight side of things.

I listened to a Hamilton Project podcast of an intro class to noting where Owen keeps things in the kaya. So when you do noting are you operating from the Four Foundations of Mindfulness? Do you restrict it to one foundation at a time? Do you two? Do you blend all four at once? Like this: Heat, tension, planning, deriding, shifting, soft, pleasant, remembering, tension, stuck.
Ok, so I just tried to weave in kaya, vedana, citta, dhamma.

And what about anapanasati as vehicle for insight? Is noting emphasized in that? Or is it a different approach from Mahasi style noting because you're using the breath as a filter for experience?

My insight operating manuals so far are Buddhadasa's Mindfulness with Breathing and Mahasi's Practical Vipassana Exercises. I wanted to start my insight practice with anapanasati ala Buddhadasa's book but now maybe strict, simple good old noting is the thing. I've read The Heart of Buddhist Meditation and some light weight mindfulness books. I haven't done Analayo's Satipattana because I heard it's not recommended for technique, so other recommendations are appreciated. Mahasi noting comes from the Visuddhimagga, no? Does that conflict with sutta purists or no?

So I'd appreciate any links to other DhO posts that address this and any other clarifications.
Thanks All!

Blending all four as you describe is generally recommended. You can experiment with doing "doubles" or "triplets" to hone your skill - i.e., noting the first 2 or 3 foundations repeatedly.



So I've heard.



Oh, yes!

I can't really comment on anapanasatti, other than to say it's a different practice altogether combining the calming benefits of concentration with insight investigation.

Hope that helps. Happy noting!

Actually lore says that the practice was re-engineered by Mingun Jetawana Sayadaw. He came up with the method after reading the Satipatthana Sutta. His intention was not to deviate from the suttas, as far I can gather. I don't have much experience with meditation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_N%C4%81rada

Thanks Dale, I'll check out that link.

Thanks SomeGuy. I did see on the Mahasi wiki that it has its origins in the suttas, the Middle Length Discourses, with the One By One As They Occur instruction coming from the Annupada Sutta.

It seems that there are three distinct approaches for insight: anapanasati, body sweeping and noting. Feels like these are distinctions without a difference, though, at least at times.

Anapanasati seems to want to drag tranquility with you up until the second tetrad, then Buddhadasa says you can veer off to develop the rest of the rupa/arupa jhanas or stick with insight. But he makes no mention of the stages of insight.

It looks like some people deny the vipassana jhanas, or have a different take. Or like this: it seems that Thai Forest Buddhists like Thanissaro, Santikaro, Kittisaro, etc. do insight with anapanasati, yoking tranquility and wisdom the whole way up, where as the Burmese guys bifurcate them into separate paths and prefer Mahasi noting.

I'll get a handle on this at some point.

Hmmm... I don't know. Some people seem to think that the verbal nature of noting has a particular effect, allowing you to bypass the need to develop concentration skills. Body scanning focuses on only one of the 4 foundations. Anecdotal reports from people who start with that and move to noting seem to say the latter is more effective. Ultimately, I think I chose noting because of the knowledge/evidence base that happens to be accessible by the internet. When the nature of your self and your world starts turning inside out, "faith in practice" (or evidence) helps one persevere.



Yup. By practicing.