- Contemplation of Body (Kayanupassana)
- Contemplation of Feeling (Vedananupassana)
- Contemplation of Mind (Cittanupassana)
- Contemplation of Dhamma (Dhammanupassana)
Contemplation of Feeling (Vedananupassana)
Because of sitting for a long time, there will arise in the body unpleasant feeling of being stiff, being hot and so forth. These sensations should be noted as they occur. The mind should be fixed on that spot and a note made as "stiff, stiff" on feeling stiff, as "hot, hot" on feeling hot, as "painful, painful" on feeling painful, as "prickly, prickly" on feeling prickly sensations, and as "tired, tired" on feeling tired. These unpleasant feelings are dukkha-vedana and the contemplation of these feeling is vedananupassana, contemplation of feeling.
Owing to the absence of knowledge in respect of these feelings, there persists the wrong view of holding them as one's own personality or self, that is to say, "I am feeling stiff," "I am feeling painful," "I was feeling well formerly but I now feel uncomfortable," in the manner of a single self. In reality, unpleasant feelings arise owing to disagreeable impressions in the body. Like the light of an electric bulb which can continue to burn on a continuous supply of energy, so it is in the case of feelings, which arise anew on every occasion of coming in contact with disagreeable impressions.
It is essential to understand these feelings clearly. At the beginning of noting as "stiff, stiff," "hot, hot," "painful, painful," one may feel that such disagreeable feelings grow stronger, and then one will notice that a mind wanting to change the posture arises. This mind should be noted as "wanting, wanting." Then a return should be made to the feeling and it should be noted as "stiff, stiff" or "hot, hot," and so forth. If one proceeds in this manner of contemplation with great patience, unpleasant feelings will pass away.
Patience
There is a saying that patience leads to Nibbana. Evidently this saying is more applicable in the case of contemplation than in any other. Plenty of patience is needed in contemplation. If a yogi cannot bear unpleasant feelings with patience, but frequently changes his posture during contemplation, he cannot expect to gain concentration. Without concentration there is no chance of acquiring insight knowledge (vipassana-ñana) and without insight knowledge the attainment of the path, fruition and Nibbana cannot be won.
Patience is of great importance in contemplation. Patience is needed mostly to bear unpleasant bodily feelings. There is hardly any case of outside disturbances where it is necessary to exercise patience. This means the observance of khantisamvara, restraint by patience. The posture should not be immediately changed when unpleasant sensations arise, but contemplation should be continued by noting them as "stiff, stiff," "hot, hot," and so on. Such painful sensations are normal and will pass away. In the case of strong concentration, it will be found that great pains will pass away when they are noted with patience. On the fading away of suffering or pain, the usual exercise of noting "rising, falling" should be continued.
On the other hand, it may be found that pains or unpleasant feelings do not immediately pass away even when one notes them with great patience. In such a case, one has no alternative but to change posture. One must, of course, submit to superior forces. When concentration is not strong enough, strong pains will not pass away quickly. In these circumstances there will often arise a mind wanting to change posture, and this mind should be noted as "wanting, wanting." After this, one should note "lifting, lifting" on moving it forward.
These bodily actions should be carried out slowly, and these slow movements should be followed up and noted as "lifting, lifting," "moving, moving," "touching, touching," in the successive order of the process. Again, on moving one should note "moving, moving," and on putting down, note "putting, putting." If, when this process of changing posture has been completed, there is nothing more to be noted, the usual exercise of noting "rising, falling" should be continued.
There should be no stop or break in between. The preceding act of noting and the one which follows should be contiguous. Similarly, the preceding concentration and the one which follows should be contiguous, and the preceding act of knowing and the one which follows should be contiguous. In this way, the gradual development by stages of mindfulness, concentration and knowledge takes place, and depending on their full development, the final stage of path-knowledge is attained.
In the practice of vipassana meditation, it is important to follow the example of a person who tries to make fire. To make a fire in the days before matches, a person had to constantly rub two sticks together without the slightest break in motion. As the sticks became hotter and hotter, more effort was needed, and the rubbing had to be carried out incessantly. Only when the fire had been produced was the person at liberty to take a rest. Similarly, a yogi should work hard so that there is no break between the preceding noting and the one which follows, and the preceding concentration and the one which follows. He should revert to his usual exercise of noting "rising, falling" after he has noted painful sensations.
While being thus occupied with his usual exercise, he may again feel itching sensations somewhere in the body. He should then fix his mind on the spot and make a note as "itching, itching." Itching is an unpleasant sensation. As soon as it is felt, there arises a mind which wants to rub or scratch. This mind should be noted as "wanting, wanting," after which no rubbing or scratching must be done as yet, but a return should be made to the itching and a note made as "itching, itching." While one is occupied with contemplation in this manner, itching in most cases passes away and the usual exercise of noting "rising, falling" should then be reverted to.
If, on the other hand, it is found that itching does not pass away, but that it is necessary to rub or scratch, the contemplation of the successive stages should be carried out by noting the mind as "wanting, wanting." It should then be continued by noting "raising, raising" on raising the hand, "touching, touching" when the hand touches the spot, "rubbing, rubbing" or "scratching, scratching" when the hand rubs or scratches, "withdrawing, withdrawing" on withdrawing the hand, "touching, touching" when the hand touches the body, and then the usual contemplation of "rising, falling" should be continued. In every case of changing postures, contemplation of the successive stages should be carried out similarly and carefully.
The postures hide painful feelings from view
While thus carefully proceeding with the contemplation, one may find that painful feelings or unpleasant sensations arise in the body of their own accord. Ordinarily, people change their posture as soon as they feel even the slightest unpleasant sensation of tiredness or heat without taking heed of these incidents. The change of posture is carried out quite heedlessly just while the seed of pain is beginning to grow. Thus painful feelings fail to take place in a distinctive manner. For this reason it is said that, as a rule, the postures hide painful feelings from view. People generally think that they are feeling well for days and nights on end. They think that painful feelings occur only at the time of an attack of a dangerous disease.
Reality is just the opposite of what people think. Let anyone try to see how long he can keep himself in a sitting posture without moving or changing it. One will find it uncomfortable after a short while, say five or ten minutes, and then one will begin to find it unbearable after fifteen or twenty minutes. One will then be compelled to move or change one's posture by either raising or lowering the head, moving the hands or legs, or by swaying the body either forward or backward. Many movements usually take place during a short time, and the number would be very large if they were to be counted for the length of just one day. However, no one appears to be aware of this fact because no one takes any heed.
Such is the order in every case, while in the case of a yogi who is always mindful of his actions and who is proceeding with contemplation, body impressions in their own respective nature are therefore distinctly noticed. They cannot help but reveal themselves fully in their own nature because he is watching until they come to full view.
Though a painful sensation arises, he keeps on noting it. He does not ordinarily attempt to change his posture or move. Then on the arising of mind wanting to change, he at once makes a note of it as "wanting, wanting," and afterwards he returns again to the painful sensation and continues his noting of it. He changes his posture or moves only when he finds the painful feeling unbearable. In this case he also begins by noting the wanting mind and proceeds with noting carefully each stage in the process of moving. This is why the postures can no longer hide painful sensations. Often a yogi finds painful sensations creeping from here and there or he may feel hot sensations, aching sensations, itching, or the whole body as a mass of painful sensations. That is how painful sensations are found to be predominant because the postures cannot cover them.
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