The following exercises approximate the exercises recommended by Buddha.
NOTES
The body is the entrance point to the physical universe. Before one can look at the physical universe objectively, one must first acquire the ability to look at the body objectively.
EXERCISES
Exercise 9B-1
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Make sure that the environment is comfortable, and that you won’t be interrupted during this exercise.
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Sit in a comfortable position such that no body part is under tension or strain. Let the body be still. NOTE: If the body moves on its own then let it move. Don’t resist it.
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Start the exercise by becoming aware of breathing in the body. Do not add any thoughts. Do not resist. Simply experience the breathing.
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Observe the breath going in and out. Do not attempt to control the breath. Let your body breathe by itself.
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Keep alert. If a thought arises in your mind then simply notice it for what it is, and continue. Don’t attempt to suppress it. You may be distracted by such thoughts, but as you persevere the condition will improve.
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Let the body accomplish breathing without you doing it. If it is a long breath let it be a long breath. If it is a short breath let it be a short breath.
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Let the awareness expand to the whole body. You may become aware of beating of the heart, digesting of the food, etc., in addition to breathing.
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Do not resist the attention getting absorbed into some thought or experience. When you realize that your attention had gotten absorbed, you put it back on breathing as in step 3 above.
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This exercise takes a lot of practice. Use every little break for practicing. You have to live it as much as possible. Upon continual practice of this exercise you may gain the knowledge and awareness that the body exists and you can live unattached.
Exercise 9B-2
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The body is naturally engaged in various activities throughout the day. Start becoming aware of just how the body is disposed at any moment.
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Start the exercise by becoming aware of the present posture of the body. Do not add any thought. Do not resist. Simply experience the posture.
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Keep observing the postures, such as going, standing, sitting, lying, etc. Do it as often as possible, even for a second each time. Do it at least “hundred” times a day. Make it a part of your new life style. Make it a habit.
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This exercise takes a lot of practice. It is not something that you do for 15 minutes a day. You have to live it as much as possible. Upon continual practice of this exercise you may gain the knowledge and awareness that the body exists and you can live unattached.
Exercise 9B-3
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Start becoming aware of the activity that the body is engaged in at any moment.
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Start the exercise by paying full attention to the present movement of the body. Do not add any thought. Do not resist. Simply experience the movement.
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Continue paying full attention to the movements of the body in whatever activity it is engaged in; whether it is standing, walking, sitting, stretching, exercising, eating, drinking, speaking or attending to the calls of nature.
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Simply experience the movements of the body without adding any thought or resistance. Make it a part of your new life style. Make it a habit.
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This exercise takes a lot of practice. It is not something that you do for 15 minutes a day. You have to live it as much as possible. Upon continual practice of this exercise you may gain the knowledge and awareness that the body exists and you can live unattached.
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Comments
Very effective practices. Well presented. What is lacking in some schools of such thought, as a context for the practices, is the understanding (or theory until understanding arises) that it is the infinite-timeless formless-being that is doing the looking/observing of itself *as* being the time-bound finite-form it beholds. That which breathes not, observing the breathing. That which moves not, observing the movement. That which thinks not, observing the thinking.
A powerful context to support the content (i.e. practices) I’d say. Which lies at the heart of Siddhartha’s Awakening.
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Thank you for your suggestion. I have a link to WHAT BUDDHA TAUGHT in the column on the left.
To Buddha the ultimate reality was not a being. It was absence of beingness.
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Would we agree that beingness is a reality? If so, It seems inconsistent to say that the ultimate reality is not a reality. How could you explain this better?
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It is just a play of considerations that forms the reality. Probably the realization that all considerations are additives would be the spotting of ultimate inconsistency.
I wrote the following response to somebody recently:
A viewpoint is basically how something is being looked at. The assumption here is that something may be looked at in many different ways. Each viewpoint basically adds its own consideration to what is being looked at.
What is being looked at is also the result of some basic consideration. That is how it was “created”. It was considered into being.
“I” and “others” are also created considerations. These are similar to considerations being added in the form of different viewpoints.
Basically, the “viewer + viewpoint + object” is a set of considerations. This set may be changed by changing any one of the elements that make up this set. It may be possible to grasp all such changes simultaneously. That would be total awareness. That would be recognizing the whole universe. That may also be called the viewpoint of the universe, or universal viewpoint.
Basically, awareness is recognizing something for what it is. Partial awareness would be recognizing parts of something. Thus, anything less than the universal viewpoint, will bring about a partial viewpoint and a partial awareness.
Thus, viewpoint of a planet, or viewpoint of an individual, would just be a partial viewpoint that will bring only partial awareness.
So, I look at beingness also as a manifestation, though it is a manifestation of ability. It is a consideration too, and so it is also a part of reality.
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These exercises are presented in a much better form in
KHTK EXERCISE SET 1 (new)
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