The five Spiritual Faculties of Faith, Energy, Mindfulness, Concentration, and Wisdom give us both a map for the natural unfolding of our practice and a guide for how to orient and encourage its development.
With mindfulness of breathing, subtle beneficial signs are picked up and suffused into the body. We can relinquish the signs we’ve picked up from the concrete jungle, the fear, the dread, the lack of heartfulness; we can purify the internal environment. Refer to what’s beautiful, uplifting, noble and generous. With mindfulness of breathing you’re taking in these messages.
Starting with the usual anchors of body, physical sensations and sounds, then opening to choiceless attention and cultivating an attitude of equanimity or non-reactivity in relation to whatever we're experiencing
Beginning by acknowledging what we can appreciate about the outer conditions of being on retreat, then orienting to the skilful inner qualities that have been strengthened, specifically the seven factors of awakening
As the retreat comes to a close, noticing the tendency for the mind to go into future thinking, and come back to abiding in the skilful qualities that have been developed here, specifically mudita as a form of appreciation or gratitude
We all participate in this generated ‘me’ experience, which is of being ‘in here’ afflicted by the world ‘out there’. But we can come to understand this scenario as conditions with causes and effects. We can cultivate the basis for contentment, for love, tolerance, acceptance, gladness. There is a Path.
