First Day Morning Instructions (Retreat at Spirit Rock)

0:00 Out with something very simple and basic and then each morning we'll be expanding the scope of awareness, scope of mindfulness, so that by the end it's really including every aspect of our experience. Suggest a fix for the passage at 0:00

0:20 When we were taught this in Asia, usually they presented all the instructions at once. So basically it's just be mindful of everything every moment. Suggest a fix for the passage at 0:20

0:33 And that's the basic instruction. Just be mindful all the time. But in coming back to the West, for whatever reason, we found that we thought, at least thought it would be helpful to break it down a little more systematically. And each day to highlight one or more aspects of what to pay attention to. And so just to build the whole of it. In a more gradual way. So that's the intention behind how we'll be giving the instructions. Suggest a fix for the passage at 0:33

1:16 This whole practice comes from one particular discourse of the Buddha. In Pāli it's called the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta which means the discourse on the foundations of mindfulness. Sometimes translated the discourse on The ways to develop mindfulness. Suggest a fix for the passage at 1:16

1:46 And in this particular teaching, the Buddha lays out in the most comprehensive way the details of all the different aspects of mind and body and internal and external that we can pay attention to. So it's really quite an amazing teaching how in just not very many pages, six or seven or eight pages, the Buddha lays out This comprehensive map of our experience and how to pay attention to it all. So all of the instructions that will be given over this retreat are really drawn from this basic and essential teaching of the Buddha. Suggest a fix for the passage at 1:46

2:40 There's one line in the teaching in this discourse that in recent years Through my own retreat practice, it really came to new life for me because I had read the sutta many, many times over the years. But as you know, sometimes you read something and at a particular time it just clicks and you hear it or read it, understand it in a new way. So some years ago that happened as I was sitting and reflecting on This one particular line in the sutta and it really changed my practice. And so that's what I want to share with you this morning because it provides a basic framework and a basic attitude with which to be with all of our experience. So this one line, which is repeated in various forms throughout the discourse, it says, be mindful. Suggest a fix for the passage at 2:40

3:59 And then in quotes, the equivalent of quotes in Pāli, be mindful, there is a body, unquote, to the extent necessary for clear mindfulness, Suggest a fix for the passage at 3:59

4:17 for clear awareness and continuous mindfulness. Be mindful, quote, there is a body, to the extent necessary for clear awareness and continuous mindfulness. So I just want to break that down a little bit. Suggest a fix for the passage at 4:17

4:39 I found that the phrase which is highlighted, be mindful, there is a body, just using that phrase, there is a body, became a very useful instruction rather than taking it simply as a description that the Buddha was offering. Because it's in quotes, it's almost as if it's suggesting Use this phrase as a framework, almost as what we might call a mental acknowledgement, a mental note. There is a body. And this is not meant as some metaphysical statement, because later on in the retreat we'll be talking about how there is no body on another level. So we're not talking about that. We're just talking about it in the most general way. Reminding us, just we're sitting, settle in, and you can use the phrase, there is a body. That's very similar, just dropping into the awareness, you know, of the body and of sitting. And what I found was several things from doing this. One, it's very simple. You know, there is a body and we just remind ourselves and we settle in to that awareness. Suggest a fix for the passage at 4:39

6:16 The second benefit, and this is one of the things that really changed the attitude or the quality in the meditation, usually we had begun the instructions with, okay, focus on the breath, bring the attention to the breath as the anchor, as the primary object. And for years, that was the beginning instruction. Suggest a fix for the passage at 6:16

6:48 But we found that often, Suggest a fix for the passage at 6:48

6:57 There were a few little problems that arose with that instruction, even though it's so basic. We found that very often people over -focused on the breath, were trying a little too hard to be with the breath, or were influencing the breath in some way. Okay, let me breathe in a way so that I can really feel it. It was like over -efforting, over -striving, even in a subtle way. Using the phrase, there is a body, as a starting place, so we sit, there's a body, it's providing a bigger framework for our awareness to settle in. You follow? So instead of zeroing in on the breath, we're settling into, oh, there's a body, so it's a bigger frame in which to rest. Are we clear so far? Then, What I found, and I've continued to find really helpful, within that framework, oh, there's a body and just feeling it, within that framework, one naturally becomes aware of the body breathing. Suggest a fix for the passage at 6:57

8:20 Because hopefully for all of you, your bodies are breathing. It helps. But instead of having the mind then narrow on the breath, Experiment and explore the possibility of resting in the somewhat larger frame there is a body and simply let the body breathe and be aware of the breathing within that larger frame there is a body. So it's the difference between a narrowing of the attention on the breath or being aware of the body breathing within the slightly larger frame there is a body. Suggest a fix for the passage at 8:20

9:10 You all look like you've gotten it. Suggest a fix for the passage at 9:10

9:16 Another way of saying this, an even simpler way of saying it, is something my first teacher and Kamala's teacher as well, Anakavika Munindra, who we'll be talking about more during the retreat, Suggest a fix for the passage at 9:16

9:41 he was the most un -guru -like guru you could imagine. Very quirky in delightful ways. So he would say, as just the first basic all -encompassing instruction, sit and know you're sitting and the whole dharma will be revealed. That was the whole instruction. Sit and know you're sitting and the whole dharma will be revealed. Suggest a fix for the passage at 9:41

10:18 So that's an even simpler way of saying what I just said about there is a body. Sit and know you're sitting and if we're aware that we're sitting, Then whatever arises within that automatically becomes known because we're not distracted. And so we sit and know we're sitting and then we begin to be aware of the body breathing. Oh, so that's what's happening as I'm sitting. And as we go through the week, we'll point out the other things that arise, like different sensations in the body or thoughts or emotions or sounds, all the aspects of our experience. But they all fall within that basic sit and know you're sitting. Or there is a body which just allows us to settle and then becoming aware of what arises within that frame. So today and over the next days, just play with this a little bit and see if you can tease out the difference between the mind narrowing on the breath And the mind being receptive to the arising of the feeling of the body breathing within that slightly larger frame. There is a body. And what I found, and many people have found, is that occasionally repeating the phrase quietly in the mind, oh, there is a body, it brings us back. It reminds us of this very simple, easeful, restful way. Suggest a fix for the passage at 10:18

12:10 Just a couple more things and then a chance to practice this. Suggest a fix for the passage at 12:10

12:19 As you're sitting, there is a body, that phrase, and settling in. You may notice that you feel the breath or the breath appears or manifests in different ways. For some people, maybe it will be most clear at the nose, the air passing. Maybe for some people, it will be the movement of the chest. Or the movement of the abdomen. Suggest a fix for the passage at 12:19

12:50 You don't have to predetermine. Just sit. Know you're sitting. There is a body. And then notice what happens. Notice what you become aware of. Notice where the breath is being felt. And you don't have to do anything special about that. And you don't have to zero in on it. But simply notice. And oh, it's feeling the breath here. Or it's feeling the breath here. It's feeling the breath here. And it may be that for some of you one of those places becomes predominant. And maybe for others of you with each breath you'll feel it in a different place. So again, it's just to be aware, as was said last night, of the nature of this body and mind. How is your experience unfolding? Suggest a fix for the passage at 12:50

13:45 One other really important piece of advice, and this is especially for those of you who have not practiced A lot. Less than 20 years. Suggest a fix for the passage at 13:45

14:03 What will inevitably happen is that you'll be very simple. Just sitting there you're sitting. There's a body. Oh yeah, the body's breathing. Feeling it here. And maybe you'll be with that for a breath and a half. And the mind wanders. The mind is going to get caught by some thought or image or train of association. This is totally normal. This is what happens to almost everybody. And so no need to get upset about that or to think you're doing it wrong or that there's some mistake. Just at whatever point you become aware that you've lost that connection with there's a body. Sit and know you're sitting. You wake up from being lost in a thought, you know, in a train of association. Simply acknowledge that. Suggest a fix for the passage at 14:03

15:07 Pay attention. To the difference between having been lost and having awakened again. Okay, we're out of the thought now. We realize that we've been thinking. And simply begin again. So this becomes your mantra. Simply begin again. There's no need for the mind to have judgment or self -criticism or think something is not working right. This is what happens. And so you could think of the meditation practice as the practice of simply beginning again. That's what we're practicing. If you have that easeful relationship to the fact that thoughts will arise and carry us away, and you know that this is just part of it, then the mind doesn't get upset, it doesn't get restless, it doesn't get agitated by the fact that this is happening. No, no, this is just part. Of the meditation unfolding. So as soon as we're aware of it, just, oh. Could even make a slight little mental note of thinking, and back again. There is a body. Feeling the body and then being aware, which you will quite naturally, of the body breathing. Suggest a fix for the passage at 15:07

16:41 Okay, so the summary. Three things. Sit and know you're sitting. Suggest a fix for the passage at 16:41

16:51 Simple. There is a body. That's the frame. Just as a way of settling in to the wholeness of the body sitting and then being aware, as you will at some point, of the fact that the body is breathing. And so feeling that, but without necessarily narrowing the attention. Feeling the whole body, the body's breathing. Sit and know you're sitting. It is a body. Simply begin again. Every time the mind wanders and you become aware of it, you wake up. Simply begin again. Suggest a fix for the passage at 16:51

17:33 Can you remember these three things? Sit and know you're sitting. There is a body. Simply begin again. Suggest a fix for the passage at 17:33

17:43 Okay, we'll practice it. Suggest a fix for the passage at 17:43