How do I know if I have stream entry; how is fasting a benefit for practice; is body contemplation needed, how often; how to live with someone who lacks integrity; sāti and samādhi; experience of rapture during meditation; difficult to see dukkha in sense pleasures; observing eight precepts; keeping ‘not eating after noon’ based on which time zone; issue of entitlement; receiving guidance from a teacher; understanding causes and conditions for clarity.
The effect of feeling, agreeable or disagreeable, touches the citta. The practice is not to contract around the resonance, don’t grab the feeling. It’s the clinging reflex that creates the person. Maintain open stable presence – go bigger and wider than the activations – and the grasping lessens.
We need to train and tame thought so we can use it carefully for inquiry and investigation. Steering away from the conceived, find out how citta is being affected. Supported by embodiment and qualities of goodwill and compassion, the tamed, trained thinking mind gives rise to insight – it’s a liberator.
What is practicing directly; differences between sāti sampajañña and sātipañña; meandering/curious attention when practicing; how important is jhāna; help working with our habits and blind spots; how to work with the inner critic; when to address things internally or externally with regards to other people.
Body’s somatic intelligence is receptive to signals – suggest signals of safety, space, freedom. Settle more deeply into the core stability of the body, where it’s not mediating with internal or external phenomena – restful, like a tree.
