Foundations of mindfulness

The Buddha taught that there are four foundations of mindfulness:

   * mindfulness of the body
   * mindfulness of feelings (or sensations)
   * mindfulness of the mind (or consciousness)
   * mindfulness of mental phenomena (or mental objects - basically your thoughts)

He said that directing your 100% attention and practice towards any one of those four aspects of mindfulness has the potential of leading all the way to full awakening/enlightenment. This shows the power of simple mindfulness...

Although, of course, all four of these aspects are present in Zen meditation, once your body is still and you are comfortable in your sitting position, the first two become less prominent. It's the mindfulness of your mind and thoughts that are emphasised through practices such as Zen Master Bankei's unborn or working with a koan.

Mindfulness of the body includes practices like following the breath, and mindfulness of sensations includes being aware and present with pain or discomfort. However, if Zen emphasises the mind-and-thoughts aspects, then it's (physical/hatha) yoga that emphasises the body-and-sensations side of things.

Last weekend was our last yoga sadhana weekend with Jonathan Monks (month 10 of 10), and he asked us to discuss what we've learnt, what we've gained, what has changed, what are we unsure of, and what do we need to do next. In answering the first two questions it became very clear to me that over the last almost-year (261 days of practice - minus one or two that I missed!) Jonathan had very skilfully encouraged us to explore these aspects of mindfulness of the body and sensations.

Physical yoga work is indeed only one "limb" of the eight described in the classical texts (internal and external moral codes of conduct, physical movement, energy work/pranayama, withdrawal of senses, concentration, meditation and union/oneness/emptiness), so you might expect it to lead towards deeper understanding, insights, awakening. But to be quite honest, I've not always had the clearest understanding of how moving and stretching the body can lead to insights into our true nature.

And maybe most yoga that you get out there doesn't lead towards knowing your true nature. And that's what sets Jonathan apart. Movements that leave you with a quiet mind, sequences that lead to "ahh, oh my god! - what happened there?!"; no contraction, no isolation, the body moving in union - that's the YogaMonks method. It's a wonderful balance to the Zen practice. Open the physical body and the mental/emotional bodies open - open the mental/emotional bodies and the physical body opens.

My courses in mindfulness cover all four of the aspects of mindfulness, introducing practical ways to work with them and exploring what effects they have. But if you don't want to wait until the next course starts, come to one of my yoga classes and practice mindfulness of your body and sensations (and the mind and thoughts, but sshhh, that's a secret!).

Sadhana practice with Jonathan Monks. New courses starting next year.