Body scanning

[sky]

[quote=Catsquotl]I believe the Goenka way of vipassana mainly revolves around body scanning as a technique to wisdom.
there's a few down to earth basic body awarenes techniques / meditations as guided meditations by Thanissaro Bhikku cirkling the web[QUOTE

I enjoy Thanissaro Bhikkus Teachings, He is indeed very 'down to earth'

[sky]

Doing a body scan allows us to take some time out in our busy lives, we can be with our body and give it kindness, care, and love, use the energy of a kind which we freely give to others to offer each part of our body compassion.
We are worth it, imo.....

[Redchic12]

I’ve gotta say I LOVE Thich Nhat Hahn!

I’ve done a lot of research on this man and listened to heaps of videos and found him to be a very sincere, honest, humble and genuine person.

I do understand where you are coming from Gem regarding click and buy. There certainly are plenty of those about and for the reasons that you state as well. However, I don’t feel that this monk can be put into that category because of the amount of free things that he has done. Perhaps because he is dead now, there are other people trying to cash in on his name.

Just my opinion tho.

[sky]

Originally Posted by Redchic12

I’ve gotta say I LOVE Thich Nhat Hahn!

Yes as do I I imagine He was of those people who lit up a room with His ' Smiling Eyes'....

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Redchic12

I don’t feel that this monk can be put into that category there are other people trying to cash in on his name.

Exactly. Thich is OK, but the people who published that page are twisting it into an advert so you click the 'buy book' thingy. Hence the twisted motive and 'baby voice' content. Of course it gets pushed to the upper search results because the algo serves advertiser dollars, and it's all engineered to incite the craving whereas meditation itself is designed to bring that to an end.

[Gem]

Nothing against Thich, so don't misinterpret it that way. I personally don't like him but that's just a personal taste. I encourage people to hear what he has to say, regardless, and I always link his video on 'wrong views' and nirvana. It's brilliant.

Anyway, he says smile at every part of your body, but other teachers don't instruct that. Another teacher beside TNH won't add on the smile bit, but he'll add on something else. Since they all add on different little things, we can surmise that none of the add ons are necessary. I like the principle that less is more, so of course I'll say don't add anything on.

Feel it and examine the whole body closely. That's it.

Because feeling the body needs a bit of stable attention and a modicum of acute perception, it's better to stick with breath awareness for some weeks before starting on the whole body. Maybe 50 or 60 hours is enough to do the trick.

This approach to mindfulness has healing effects which add ons actually impede. I know we like light things like smiling at our brain but the reality is, This is not nice and light. It's the most serious thing in the world.

[sky]

Originally Posted by Gem

Nothing against Thich, so don't misinterpret it that way. I personally don't like him but that's just a personal taste.

If you have nothing against Him how can you not like Him. Equanimity Gem, then you would neither like nor dislike Him, simple.


[Quote=Gem) "mindfulness has healing effects which add ons actually impede"

Mybe for you personally but you obviously cannot speak for others....
The Buddha was very wise when He said 'Ehipassiko'-come see for yourself, what you call add ons actually may be extremely helpful for some and I personally would advise everyone to see for themselves, that's the only way....

[JustBe]

Originally Posted by Gem

Because in the West we have a dominant mental health narrative and click bait branding, online media pushes our anxiety to make us click and buy..

I know I'm in my own private Idaho about this. .

I tend to agree with you re- distractions can take the form of positive smiles etc..
In the end you’ve got to walk through the depth of your suffering regardless. So it makes sense that if you’re less distracted, more mindful of what is as it arises you’ll progress and move through what you can’t avoid anyway.

This is from someone who has been so distracted through my own processors over 30yrs and now I’m aware, upon reaching the simplicity, the breath, my centre, how much you don’t need them. They are distractions and the real work doesn’t need them.

I can focus on the uplifted state now, ( it’s not really focused, more natural) but that’s without the imbalance in me. I see this as the potential more so once you’ve done the work and built your equanimity and balanced being.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by JustBe

it makes sense that if you’re less distracted, more mindful of what is as it arises you’ll progress and move through what you can’t avoid anyway. I can focus on the uplifted state without the imbalance - as the potential once you’ve done the work and built your balanced being.

Yep. The smile thing is a TNH theme. It's 'nice', but it's a tiny bit off the mark - no biggie.

The meditation is based on the principle of 'mere awareness', just observe. You're not supposed to do anything.

I've sat with literally thousands of people in my time, and I know it's not easy for people to understand not-doing/just-watching. Teachers don't necessarily understand properly in depth, so they typically add on a lil' sumpm' for you to do. This is because ego gets interrupted when 'you' stop and the demons inside are cut loose. Not many people really want 'to walk through the depth of their suffering' like you say, let alone drop the one they've been living as, so they reserve just a lil' sumpm' that they get to control. It's part of the clinging which interferes in just letting the process unfold.

It's simpler. Feel from the crown, bit by bit every part, down to the toes (and/or the other way). Nothing else. It's that easy (but also harder).

Nuances and refinements include you have to look more closely and stuff, but rather than add a lil' sumpm', what you do is taken away so you have no other recourse but to be aware while nature does things her own way.

[Gem]

I take is as if your life depends on it, and other people will think that's intense, but it actually is, and I'm just being realistic about it.

You are the arbiter who discerns on merit, entirely alone because you ultimately determine your own pathway. Everything in life depends on that. You don't get to alleviate that responsibility by turning to an authority of the order and following false hope with docile obedience.

Living like you're on your own in this way necessitates high degrees of honesty and integrity. People think it's how we should be and tell us to be like that, but start living it for real and you find it's taboo, transgressive and disruptive. The rest of the world is conditioned to be 'nice', but it's a world that egos construct to pretend to be 'me' in. When we drop the veil and shine for real, that world turns out to be not-so-nice when it's exposed. Little wonder considering how the exposure of your own ego reveals a horrific phantasm and you understand they're all living as something like that. The beautiful thing is no one judges it. You're aware and it's fine as it is.

If you get the sense, yes, I'm on my own discerning for myself, even if that comes with a deep sense of uncertainty, as well it should, the positive is, you are fully self-determining. It's essential to be that free. There's always temptations because responsibility can be hard, lonely and uncertain, but full responsibility is also full empowerment, and you wouldn't want to hand that off to anyone.