Hedonic tone (vedanā) as a feature of human experience is the major factor in governing involuntary attention – vedanā rules much of our attention. The reflections unpack the role of feeling tone on attention, intention and the cultivation of mindfulness. Learning to cultivate attention beyond gratification and avoidance and to uncouple attention from pleasant or unpleasant feeling tone.
Kafka and the girl with a lost doll.
Satipaṭṭhāna and Suttas in general – a little history.
Satipaṭṭhāna as a cartography of human expericence: the 'raw materials' to establish mindfulness in. (This is not the satipaṭṭhāna as exercise but their use as a map of the somatic, hedonic, affective and discursive aspects of mind.) This orientation helps greatly with the actual practice of satipatthana exercises outline elsewhere.
Knowing Impermanence Experientially is the doorway to Freedom. We see we can't hold on to anything! Letting Go– Not Clinging brings the Freedom to Be. Anicca vata sankhara chant: 'All conditioned things are impermanent. Their nature is to arise & pass away. To live in harmony with this truth. Brings the highest happiness'. Anicca vata sankhara chant.
An overview of the Satipatthana sutta and the four brahma viharas, with an encouragement to practice with what is accessible and not get lost in a large array of possible meditation practices.
This reflection and guided meditation was offered on January 1, 2025 for the New Year's Daylong and Bonfire.
00:00 - DHAMMA TALK / INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE BUDDHA
13:24 - GUIDED MEDITATION
32:48 - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE BUDDHA
The challenge of attending and being mindful. Mindfulness (sati) and Attention (manasikāra) are different things. Attention comes in two forms: voluntary and involuntary attention.
Teaching on this key factor in the Satipatthana Sutta, including the four commentarial categories:
Clear comprehension of purpose (Pāli: sātthaka)
Clear comprehension of suitability (sappāya)
Clear comprehension of domain (gocara):[12]
Clear comprehension of non-delusion (asammoha)
Body as a construct. On touch (phassa) and touching and being touched (phusati). Differing senses create a different relationship - 'seeing', 'hearing' and 'touching' as analogies for attending to something create a different kind of relationship to ourselves. The visual is overdetermined, often at the expense of touch. Feeling the body as an experience of touch rather than being 'observed'.'.
