 |
||||||
Practices
(Patipatti) Practice Summary |
||||||
|
||||||
| Four Positions | ||||||
| We observe rupa and nama in the four positions: | ||||||
sitting,
standing, walking, lying down. |
||||||
| These are the basic or major positions as outlined in the Maha-satipatthana discourse. We begin with rupa only, because rupa is easier to see than nama. It is easier to see because 1) rupa is "gross" and nama is subtle. 2) The four positions always exist. (Objects of nama - such as hearing, seeing - only arise at certain times.) 3) It's easier to see suffering in rupa, than in other objects, because when we observe the four positions they can no longer hide the truth of suffering (see 1.11). | ||||||
| Tools We Observe With: | ||||||
|
||||||
| Atapi is earnestness to destroy kilesa. | ||||||
| Sati is mindfulness in Satipatthana. | ||||||
| Sampajanna is clear comprehension that brings the wisdom to destroy Moha, or wrong view. | |
|||||
| These three types of nama (or "yoki") observe the positions: | ||||||
| 1) Atapi. Without earnestness you can't realize the whole sitting rupa. When for example, wandering mind (foong) takes you out of the present moment, earnestness used with sati and sampajanna brings you back. | ||||||
| 2) Sati realizes the way you sit - i.e. realizes the position. | ||||||
| 3) Sampajanna knows the whole posture is sitting rupa. | ||||||
| 4) Yonisomanasikara means to fix your attention on something with right understanding as to the reason for your action, or as to the true state of the nature of sitting rupa, etc. "Yoniso" reminds you when you are eating, bathing, going to the toilet, or do any other task that you do this to cure suffering and not to seek pleasure. Also, "yoniso" reminds you that you change the position to cure suffering. | ||||||
| 5) Sikkhati is observing. It tells you when the practice is not done correctly. Sikkhati knows when the present moment has been left. | ||||||
|
||||||