MN 10 Pt1 '4 Foundations of Mindfulness'-Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta - Majjhima Series with Delson Armstrong

Everyone can see this? Yeah. All right, so today we will be talking about the Satipatthana Sutta. Now, this can get a little long, so I think we'll probably do maybe two sessions on this. We'll see how that goes. So this is called the Foundations of Mindfulness. What do we mean by that? The foundations of mindfulness. So sati here, of course, is referring to the word mindfulness, which, as I've said before in the past, I'm not really a fan of, but we'll talk about that.

And patthana comes from the Sanskrit prasthana, which means to place, to put down, to anchor. So when we talk about foundations of mindfulness, they're anchors for the mind to come back to the present. That's primarily it. And mindfulness here, we've always defined as remembering to observe how mind's attention moves from one thing to the other, right? Remembering to observe how mind's attention moves from one thing to the other.

But if you simplify that, it's really two components: sati, which is to remember, and sampajanna, awareness of where mind is in reference to the present moment. Is the mind thinking about something while it's eating? Is the mind daydreaming while it's driving? Is the mind occupied with ruminating thoughts while walking, whatever it is? So with reference to what we're doing here and now is the sampajanna. So the sati, when we say mindfulness, you know, yeah, I get it, mindful, to put your mind to, to make everything that you're doing full of your mind. Right? You're bringing all your mind towards the experience that you're having in this particular moment, in any given moment.

But if you just go, as a purist in terms of the Pali and the Sanskrit, with the sati here, the smriti, it's just memory, just to remember things. What do you remember? You come back to sampajanna, the clear comprehension of what is arising in this present moment. So it's not such a big deal when we look at the sutta. Obviously it's a very pivotal sutta, because this is the sutta that everybody quotes as the thing that you have to do and so on, but you don't have to make it a big deal. Mindfulness, or the foundations of mindfulness, or anchoring the mind in the present moment: these four foundations are just anchors or hooks to bring the mind back, nothing beyond that. You don't need to keep going, okay, now I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this. No, I've come back to the present moment. If I'm meditating, where is my mind in reference to its object? So when we do loving-kindness meditation, that's mindfulness of loving-kindness.

When we do anapanasati, that's actually mindfulness of breathing, or using the breath as an anchor to come to the present moment. The reason why we're talking so much about the present moment is because that is where life unfolds. Every vedana, every sanna, that is to say every feeling and perception that arises, happens here and now. And if there is lack of mindfulness, if there's lack of sati, of remembering to keep present here and now, then the gatekeeper has left, the security guard has fallen asleep.

And now the invaders of craving and clinging and becoming can arise, causing further desolation to us through our kamma. But if we are alert and aware and remember to observe where our mind is in reference to what is arising, then whatever is arising is just arising, and whatever is passing away is just passing away. So whatever is arising and passing away is conditioned, therefore it's impermanent. So every experience we're having in this moment: the sound of my voice, the reading of the sutta, the thoughts that arise in reference to reflecting what is happening.

All of that is happening here in the present moment. And if we are not aware and with it, if we're not present with it, then there is liability of the mind going astray. And when the mind goes astray, we have what is known as yoniso manasikara. And yoniso manasikara is attention that is not rooted in the reality of what is arising right here, right now. Therefore the feeling can be taken personally. If we see that this lack of mindfulness is there, then we will see, just observing how this process works: when there's lack of mindfulness, there is lack of yoniso manasikara, meaning there's lack of proper attention. When there is no proper attention, which means that now there's liability to misperceive reality, we don't see reality as it is. We take it personally, and in taking it personally, the I, the me, the mine that comes up, emotionally intensifies the experience more than it actually is.

And thereby there's craving, and there's clinging, and there's becoming. And so we will see why there is such great importance to mindfulness, and why it's important to understand and be clear about the fact that this mindfulness, or this sati, is the ekayana magga. Ekayana means the one vehicle. It's the straight shot to nibbana, it's the direct path, as we will see. Jhanas are important. Jhanas are there, they will come as a result of the mindfulness, but don't make jhanas your focal point. They can become, in the larger scheme of things with reference to nibbana, a distraction. Jhanas are there for the mind to get further collected. They are signposts to say, oh, the mind is further collected.

The feeling of loving-kindness, the feeling of compassion, the feeling of empathetic joy, the feeling of equanimity: these are all experiences that happen along the path as we're meditating, but they are again anchor points, as we will see, and they are the launch pad from where the mind goes to nibbana. Nibbana being unconditioned, you know, it's not something that you can just take these particular formulas and then it will take you there. However, the Buddha has very much directly said, very straightforwardly, that mindfulness, sati, is the straight shot. It's the direct path.

So I needed this introduction for you guys to give you context of how we're going to approach this sutta. Okay, thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living in the Kuru country, where there was a town of the Kurus named Kammasaddhamma. Kammasaddhamma means Delhi, that's present-day Delhi. The town of the Kurus. The Kurus were a bunch of people, a tribe of people, that were there around the time of the Buddha and even before.

This is their direct path for the purification of beings, to purify the mind of all the hindrances, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for the attainment of the true way, for the realization of nirvana. So the surmounting of lamentation and sorrow, or surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, the disappearance of pain and grief because as soon as we are present and alert to what's happening there is a distance a space a pause given between the emotionality of the experience no matter how unpleasant it is and the sense of witnessing and observing what is arising and in that space and in that pause there's an opportunity to relax and see it for what it actually is

it's not that big of a deal it's okay i can get through this it's happening now but it doesn't mean it will continue forever with the attainment of the true way only with mindfulness only with the right effort and the right mindfulness which which are in essence interwoven together can we get to the right path the eightfold path and for the realization of nibbana the most important the realization of the liberation of the mind the realization of the other shore that is unconditioned the refuge the shelter

and so what are the four here because a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body ardent fully aware and mindful having put away covetousness and grief for the world abides contemplating the body as a body in other words i am only present with the body whatever the anchor is it's connected to the body i'm not thinking about feelings i'm not contemplating perception i'm not observing formations.

I'm not being aware of awareness itself. I'm using the body as the anchor, just fully present with the body as body. Ardent, fully aware, and mindful. What do we mean by that? Ardent, fully aware, and mindful. Having put away covetousness and grief for the world. ardent right resolute diligent fully aware i am fully present with what's happening here and now and mindful so i have sati sampanjanya and i have let go of any kind of identification with the experience just being present as body with body as body in other words i'm not using it as a way of like oh i need to escape this and this is terrible or using it as oh this is very pleasant and i want more of it it's just here we are there is a sense of ease balance tranquility and equanimity where yes of course we're using the anchor to let's say let go of the hindrance and some can say oh that's a way of escaping but we're not escaping we are aware of the hindrance and we're choosing the body as the the anchor

to bring the mind back and we're choosing to let go of that hindrance using that we're not saying okay i need to be mindful so i don't use so i don't have this hindrance anymore or i need to be mindful so i get to this particular jhana it's all about your intention and motivation you know the more you desire something the further away it gets from you and the more you push back on something, the closer it gets to you, the tighter its grip on the mind.

So here, what we want to do is just be equanimous. Be present and say, here is a hindrance. I am aware of this hindrance. I'm using the body, relaxing the body. While we're relaxing the body, that is using the body as an anchor as a foundation he abides contemplating feelings as feelings ardent fully aware and mindful having put away covetousness and grief for the world so here contemplating feelings as feelings ardent fully aware and mindful having put away covetousness and grief for the world so seeing the feelings as feeling right there's no i'm just present with this experience here and now there's just this experience i'm not thinking about you know the formations that are arising in this present moment not thinking about the perceptions that arise in this present moment i'm not thinking about the body in reference to the breath or the qualities and aspects of the body i'm just with the awareness of the experience if it's an unpleasant If it's a pleasant experience, I'm aware that it's unpleasant.

If it's a pleasant experience, I'm aware that it's pleasant. If it's a neutral experience, I'm aware that it's neutral. There's no "this feeling is mine", "I am feeling this", or "this feeling is me". There's just this feeling. Hunger arises, there is hunger. Yes, we say conversationally, "I'm getting hungry", but we don't identify with that hunger. Generally we just say, we know that we're hungry. The body is getting hungry, there's a sensation of hunger, so let's go and get something to eat. When there is an internal feeling of joy and happiness, what happens? The mind has a tendency to get caught up in that and identify with it. Oh, how wonderful is this joy? How wonderful is this bliss?

I hope it never stops. There you go. I hope it never stops. That's the covetousness. Oh, how painful is this feeling? How painful is this inconvenience that I'm experiencing in this moment? I'm so irritated by it that I want to push it away. Grief for the world. Just be aware of feeling as feeling.

He abides contemplating mind as mind. Ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. Contemplating mind as mind. This is what is known as chitta. There are three: mano, chitta, and vinyana. Mano is the physical component of the mind. We can say the brain and the nervous system. Chitta is the... we'll get back to chitta. Vinyana is the awareness or the consciousness. So what is chitta?

Chitta are essentially the mental states. And the mind, the mentality, the, let's say, the quality, just as you might say that the moods that we have are a collection of emotions, right? I'm in a terrible mood. Why? Well, this happened, so I got upset about that. And then this happened, so I'm feeling grief about this. And then that happened. It's a collection of feelings that come together, of emotions that come together to bring a mood.

And chitta, I like to translate it as mindset. It's a set of mental states that come together. Yes, we have joyful states, we have a state of exaltation in the jhanas, but there are co-factors and sub-factors that bring up that state, that mindset, if you will. So citta is that awareness, or that cognizance, or that consciousness, or whatever you want to put the label to on it. It is that collection of various mental states that come and go that have a similar theme, or maybe you can say a unifying theme. That's one way of looking at this. He abides contemplating mind objects as mind objects, ardent, fully aware and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world.

Mind objects as mind objects. Well, this is actually translated from the word Dhamma. The word Dhamma has many different connotations depending upon the context. So Dhamma can mean the teaching, Dhamma can also mean phenomena, Dhamma can also mean a way of life. That which gives you sustenance and purpose and contributes to the world is your Dhamma. That which are the teachings of the Buddha is the Buddha Dhamma. That which are the teachings of other dhammas are mitya dhamma, wrongful teachings in reference to what the Buddha is teaching.

That which is said to be a phenomenon of the mind is also called Dhamma. Dhamma means that many different Dhammas, many different mind objects. What do we mean by these mind objects or phenomena? Well, they can be hindrances. They can be the five aggregates. They can be the seven enlightenment factors. They can be the four noble truths. They can be a whole host of things that happen to be subjects or themes that the mind takes up, either as contemplation or gets distracted by or gets carried away by.

So if you see mind objects or mental phenomena as just phenomena, here are the hindrances. There's just a hindrance. It's not my hindrance. I didn't ask the hindrance to come up. Obviously I didn't ask the hindrance to come up. It's just a hindrance. Here is an enlightenment factor. Yes, I created, so-called, I created the causes and conditions by relaxing and letting go for that particular enlightenment factor to arise. And so here it is, present, but it's not mine. It will arise because of the right causes and conditions, and it will go away when those causes and conditions are gone. Here are the four noble truths that I'm thinking about. I'm contemplating these. These are all subjects, themes, mental objects the mind can take on.

So let's get into the contemplation of the body. The first one is mindfulness of breathing. And how, bhikkhus, does a bhikkhu abide contemplating the body as a body? Here, a bhikkhu, gone to the forest, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty hut, sits down. Having folded his legs crosswise, set his body erect, and established mindfulness in front of him, ever mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out.

So, here somebody goes to an empty space, a silent space. For those of you who are joining us on retreat on the 14th, that will be that space for you. You will be there with your empty cabins. You will be there with the silent Dhamma and meditation hall. You could meditate at the root of a tree if you want, but I wouldn't really recommend it. And he sits down, having folded his legs crosswise.

Well, at the time of the Buddha, you rarely ever used chairs. You sat down. When you sat down to eat, you sat down with your legs folded in a crosswise manner. And you ate. It's a nice way to eat, for those of you who are flexible enough. Really comfortable. I prefer to eat that way, actually. But a little-known fact, little-known tidbit, I was talking to David about this a couple of days ago, that you see some of the iconography of the upcoming Buddha after Gautama, after Shakyamuni.

There is the Maitreya Buddha, the Metta Buddha. And in some of the iconography, you will see him sitting in a chair in meditation. His legs are not cross-legged, they're just sitting with his feet to the ground in a chair. So we always say there's no magic in sitting cross-legged. You can sit in a chair. You can lie down. Even the Buddha has meditated lying down. You can do obviously walking meditation and so on. So don't read too much into "having folded his legs crosswise, set his body erect." You want a body that's relatively stable, so you need a spine that's straight.

Don't overstretch it. Just keep it relaxed and firm. And established mindfulness in front of him. What does that mean? So do I have a thing called mindfulness that I put in front of me? Here's my box of mindfulness. I'm going to keep it in front of me, and now I'm going to start my practice. No, it means that I take a moment to relax and pause, a few moments, a few minutes.

to just relax and pause and sit and be present with whatever is arising. If there's tension somewhere in the body, I relax. If there's tightness, I relax. If there's a hindrance, I let it go. This is how we have established mindfulness in front of us or before us. And so now with that mindfulness established, he breathes in.

Mindful, he breathes out. Breathing in long, he understands, I breathe in long. Or breathing out long, he understands, I breathe out long. Breathing in short, he understands, I breathe in short. Or breathing out short, he understands, I breathe out short. Does that mean I'm saying, when I'm breathing in, I'm saying, okay, now this is a long breath. And now this is a long out-breath and this is a long in-breath or this is a short in-breath and this is a long out-breath and whatever it is. No, I'm just present with the breath. I don't need to keep noting. You know, this is where we get things topsy-turvy. We keep noting things, you know, and we keep noting and noting and noting and noting and noting and then nothing.

We don't need to note, okay, this is what's happening now. Thinking is going on. Thinking, thinking, thinking, walking, walking, walking, eating, eating, eating. You're not actually doing that thing if you're going to keep thinking about it and noting it. When you're actually doing it, you're just aware there's breathing going on, obviously. So you're not controlling the breath, but you're watching the breath. You're observing how the breath moves.

It's a little subtle and nuanced because sometimes the mind wants to control the pacing of the breath and so on. When you see that happening, relax and just watch the breath. Let the breath happen naturally as it arises. He trains thus, I shall breathe in, experiencing the whole body. He trains thus, I shall breathe out, experiencing the whole body.

He trains thus, I shall breathe in, tranquilizing the bodily formation. He trains thus, I shall breathe out, tranquilizing the bodily formation. Just as a skilled lathe operator or his apprentice, when taking a long turn, he understands, I make a long turn. Or when making a short turn, he understands, I make a short turn. So too, breathing in long, he understands, I breathe in long. He trains thus, I shall breathe out, tranquilizing the bodily formation. herein lies the the pinnacle of what we're doing with the contemplation of the breath anapanasati means the awareness or remembering to observe how mind's attention moves using the breath

as an object and ana really is the sanskrit apana and pana is the sanskrit prana apana is the exhalation prana is the inhalation depends on who you ask but basically inhalation and exhalation just the bare awareness of the inhalation and exhalation is the starting point breathing in he tranquilizes breathing out he tranquilizes what does he tranquilize he tranquilizes the bodily formations so i have a spin on this which maybe one day i will do a guided practice the way i sometimes people come and say i really want to do anapanasati so i give them a certain instruction and i say when you're breathing in and breathing out just notice your breath just observe what's happening for a while and make a conscious effort this is the key conscious effort that in the in-breath just before the out-breath there is a turning point

relax make a conscious effort to relax and when you breathe out and just before you breathe in there's that turning point and in that turning point relax see it's again very nuanced and subtle you don't want to control the breath but you want to be aware of those meeting points between the breath in and the breath out and you want to relax in those moments you do this and your mind gets supremely collected supremely tranquilized supremely aware so breathing in just before you breathe out tranquilize breathing out just before you breathe in tranquilize and when you do this what happens your mind becomes centered collected present immersed in this way he abides contemplating the body as a body internally

Or internally and externally he abides. Its arising: the arising of awareness of the body, the arising of the body coming up in reference to the breath. The passing away of the body in reference to the breath, or both the arising and passing away. We're not talking about sensations at this point, we're only talking about the body. So, in reference to what? In reference to the breath. The breath comes in, the breath goes out. The breath comes in, the breath goes out.

So you see those turning points as the turning points between the arising and passing away, and as you do that you see impermanence right here, right now. Or else mindfulness that there is a body is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge. Okay, here is a body. Okay, here is the breath. Okay, here's relaxation in the breath. And he abides independent. So important to understand: he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body, not clinging to anything in the world. Do the practice not for any gain. Do the practice for the sake of the practice. Nibbana will follow you no matter what.

I will now breathe in and tranquilize. And breathe out and tranquilize. Because I want to get to jhanas. And I want nibbana. I want it so bad. How about enjoying the process itself? How about relaxing in the process itself? You do that, and when you least expect it, nibbana will follow suit. Again, because when walking, a bhikkhu understands, "I am walking". When standing, he understands, "I am standing".

When sitting, he understands, "I am sitting". When lying down, he understands, "I am lying down". Or he understands accordingly, however his body is disposed. Now, this is where the people who are the note-takers come in. I am walking, walking, walking, sitting, sitting, sitting, lying down, lying down, lying down. No. Walking is going on. You're present with the process of walking.

You sat down, now you're present with the sitting. If you're going to be continuously thinking sitting, sitting, sitting, you're not going to be looking at the food in front of you and not eating, eating, eating. So it's just now, in this present moment, there's sitting going on. Okay, now I'm eating, there's eating going on. Now I'm walking, there's walking going on. Now I'm driving, there's driving going on. Now I'm taking a shower, there's showering going on. Now I'm drinking a cup of water, there's drinking going on. Whatever it is, you're just aware of the action itself.

For marketing purposes we talk about TWIM as doing this for you, for the body and for the mind, and so on. That's obviously for people to get interested in it. But when you actually go and sit down, you're not thinking about how is this going to benefit me right now. Sit, just sit, and do the work of relaxing and letting go, and everything else will show itself to you. Again, because a bhikkhu is one who acts in full awareness when going forward and returning, who acts in full awareness when looking ahead and looking away, who acts in full awareness when flexing and extending his limbs, who acts in full awareness when wearing his robes and carrying his outer robe and bowl, who acts in full awareness when eating, drinking, consuming food and tasting, who acts in full awareness when defecating and urinating.

Who acts in full awareness when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, and keeping silent. This full awareness that we're talking about, this is sampajanya. What do we mean by sampajanya? Samprajnata is the Sanskrit: prajnata, pajanya, panjanya, sampajanya, panjanya, prajnata. That means insight, awareness, wisdom. Pragya is the Sanskrit for panya, which is wisdom. Acting with full wisdom, some here is, you know, conjoined with it. So acting with full wisdom doesn't mean I have to keep contemplating, okay, now this is impermanent, now this is dukkha, and now this is not my, not my, not me, not me, not my, not myself. It just means that I'm in full awareness of what is going on in the present moment. I'm using it as an anchor. Remember, when we're using it as an anchor, that's it, for that purpose of being in the present moment. Whatever happens after that is the observation of the present moment, maybe in reference to the body, maybe in reference to the mind, maybe in reference to feeling, maybe in reference to an object. So it's the beginning of meditation.

Using something like when you're going forward and returning, walking back and forth, using that as, okay, here I am in the present moment. Looking ahead and looking away, I'm present, I'm aware, I'm having the wisdom to see with awareness where I'm going and what I'm doing. When I'm picking up a bottle to drink some water, when I'm walking out of the hotel room to walk downstairs, I'm present. When I'm putting on my clothes, eating, drinking, consuming food and tasting, tasting is so important. And who acts in full awareness when defecating and urinating?

A lot of people take their phones into the bathroom, not even aware of what's going on. They're in the bathroom longer than they should be because they're just scrolling on Instagram. Just being present with that saves a lot of time. Who acts in full awareness when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, and keeping silent? When you're walking, where is your mind? When you're standing up, where is your mind? When you're sitting, where is your mind? Falling asleep, now this is a little harder, but basically what we're saying is, when you're falling asleep, you're noticing, okay, it's time to go to bed. You're present with that. If I try to go to bed, if I try to go to sleep, I'm not gonna sleep.

I'm just gonna relax, do something until I fall asleep. I'm aware, okay, now there's sleepiness coming up, and I'll fall asleep. Waking up: when I wake up, a lot of people, what do they do? They take their phone in their hands. What's the news of the day? How do my stocks look? What's going on on Instagram and TikTok? You wake up, you know, and notice your body, notice your breathing, notice what you're looking at. Where is your awareness? Can you bring a smile to your face? Can you bring attention and awareness to the present moment? Can you bring loving kindness? Can you bring good wishes for all people in this moment as you wake up? When you're talking, are you acting with full awareness? How many people actually talk without thinking? How many people actually talk not knowing what they're going to say, just blabbering for the sake of filling the void? And keeping silent, full awareness when you're keeping silent. So in this case it could be listening to somebody while they're talking, or just being silent, full awareness of that silence.

Again, because a bhikkhu reviews this same body, up from the soles of the feet and down from the top of the hair, bounded by skin, as full of many kinds of impurity. Thus in this body there are head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, contents of the stomach, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil of the joints, and urine.

Just as though there were a bag with an opening at both ends, full of many sorts of grains such as hill rice, red rice, beans, peas, millet, and white rice. And a man with good eyes were to open it and review it thus: oh, this is hill rice, this is red rice, these are beans, these are peas, this is millet, this is white rice.

So too, a bhikkhu reviews this same body as full of many kinds of impurity. Thus, and in this way, he abides. Okay, we'll continue, one second. So here we're talking about the foulness of the body parts. This is for people who are too attracted to bodies, who get too lustful about bodies, maybe who have a lot of pride about their own body. When you just see that body as a body made up of so many different elements, skin particles and hair particles and blood and blood cells and sinews and arteries and veins, and the different organs, and then the things that are filled up in the stomach and the intestines, all of that, you start to see, and you just say, oh, it's just a body. Men, you know, get attracted to different parts of a woman. I'm just talking about the heterosexual idea, but men get attracted to, why? Why do they get attracted to a woman? Because she looks beautiful, right? There's something about her features. Why? Because however her features are, he assumes beauty on those features.

He looks at the curvaceousness of the body. They're nothing but globules of fat. That's it. It is globules of fat that men find particularly attractive and obsess over and lust over. That's it. So the idea that this person is beautiful because they are possessing this particular body feature, or this particular feature on their face, that's all cultural. That's all stuff that you pick up as you grow up and hopefully you grow out of, because then you realize that it's more than just that. But the lustfulness of that is not realizing the reality of what those things are. They're just parts of the body, and they continue to change. So when we do this, our mind becomes less interested, and eventually it loses that fire of lust for that particular body, but also pride for our own bodies. So the Buddha is saying, you're looking at a bag. That's what the body is. One end is the face, the mouth, and the other end is the other end. So that's the two ends of the bag, and everything else is in there.

And you're just noticing that, and you're like, oh, that's all it is. Why am I getting carried away? This is one of the contemplations that the Buddha prescribed to his son Rahula when he was young. Rahula was probably, I don't know, I'm not sure exactly, but as far as I understand he was probably in his youth, 18, 19, maybe less than that, 16. Very proud of his own body, and of course, as a boy with hormones, probably also lustful. The Buddha probably said he should do this so that he doesn't get enticed by that lustfulness and he doesn't have vanity and pride and conceit for his own body. And then he gave him other contemplation practices and other objects of meditation. So in this way he abides contemplating the body as a body internally, externally, and both internally and externally. He abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That too is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as a body.

Again, because a bhikkhu reviews this same body however it is placed, however disposed, by way of elements, thus: "In this body there are the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element. Just as though a skilled butcher or his apprentice had killed a cow and was seated at the crossroads with it cut up into pieces, so too a bhikkhu reviews this same body by way of elements, thus: in this body there are the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the air element." So let's understand what we're doing here. The body is made up of different elements. Now what do we mean by these elements? They're called bhutas or tattvas. They are basically different states of matter. Let's say the body has a solidity to it.

There is a solidity to the body with regards to the bones, with regards to the muscles and other aspects of it. There is a liquidity to it, the flow of blood, sweat, tears, all of that. There's a fire element to it. There's a digestive fire, there's the heat and temperature of the body. And the air element: there are different winds and prana moving through and circulating in the body. And why do we do this? Look at the metaphor, the analogy the Buddha gives: just as a skilled butcher or his apprentice had killed a cow and was seated at the crossroads with it cut up into pieces. So you're cutting up the body, noticing: just these elements make up this part of the body. The solidity of the body, a solid state of matter, is made up with the bones, the muscles, the skin, the sinews, the joints, whatever it is.

The liquid aspects of the body are made up of the urine and the sweat and the tears and the blood and so on, the plasma and so on. The air element or the fire element is made up of heat in the body. Just as when the body has fever, there's heat, there's fire. And when the body's digesting, there's digestive fire that's going on there.

The Bhuta Agni, right? Or sorry, the Jatar Agni, as it's known in Sanskrit. Or there is the air element. When I'm breathing in and out, there are those elements. Of course, the Buddha here is given four elements. You can even go beyond with the fifth element of space and look at the element of space in reference to the spaces, like in the ears and in the nostrils.

The spaces between the organs, the space that the organs are contained in, and so on. You can look at the consciousness element, how the flow of thoughts arises as an element of consciousness. So, what are we seeing here? We're seeing that this body has been borrowed from different elements to make it what it is right now. It is dependent upon those elements. And it is not different from the elements externally, so to say. You notice that everything is made up of the earth element, whether internally, with reference to the body, or externally, with reference to a table, or a computer, or a lamp, or a phone, or whatever it is.

Likewise with the other elements. And when you do this, your mind sees it as an impersonal process. It stops identifying with the body as something more than me, mine, or myself. Or as me, mine, or myself. Me, mine, or myself. It just sees it as, oh, it's just body. In this way, he abides contemplating the body as a body.

I urge all of you at some point to visit Varanasi, because there you will see for yourself the burning pyres. You can walk up to it and see it. You will have a different experience. You will realize that this body one day will be nothing but dust, and even that dust will be microparticles. This body is just body, and like this body, everything else also decays. One day there will come a point in which the sun will be bigger, hotter, and consume the earth, and the earth itself will become ash, and that ash will be consumed in the radiation of the sun and turned into microparticles. There will be nothing, no history, no anything, in terms of a memory left behind. It will be all gone. That is the nature of this body. There's a nature of all things.

So why take it so seriously? Why take it so personally? Everything that we are experiencing now, everything will go away. Everything will decay. If you realize the fragility of life and existence, the fragility of things, the fragility of everything that we own or seem to own, everything that we want or seem to want, everything that arises will pass away. Without warning, without realization, without any kind of observation in the sky. An asteroid can impact the earth in the next week and we will be totally unprepared, won't know what to do. It might even make it worse if we're trying to stop it. And that could just lead to extinction. When you contemplate in this way, things come into real perspective about what truly matters, about what gives meaning to life.

It's not about the meaninglessness of life. It's about the fact that there are certain values that make us feel uplifted, collected, and lead towards peace and tranquility, which are synonymous with Nibbana. Some people will have anxiety about thinking about the body in these different ways. But if you have deep equanimity and you do this, this is a wonderful practice to let go completely.

Here a hand bone, there a foot bone, here a shin bone, there a thigh bone, here a hip bone, there a backbone, here a rib bone, there a breast bone, here an arm bone, there a shoulder bone, here a neck bone, there a jaw bone, here a wing bone. No, not a wing bone. You don't have wings. I hope you're paying attention. Here a tooth, there the skull. A bhikkhu compares the same body with it thus: this body too is of the same nature, it will be like that, it is not exempt from that state, from that fate.

and so then i try to come back into the body breath awareness but then i find myself starting to sort of objectify rigidify it uh sort of conceptualize it as again a thing thingifying it's turning into this substantial sort of concrete or all i can say this thing and then so then i come back to again awareness uh but am i i guess my question is do you think that it's possible that i'm um attaching too much to either not body or um some transcendent state that's non-self i mean like it said empty uh i've had other teachers point out to me that i'm making that's a fixation of wine that's sort of grasping a not to uh impermanence again as a discursive thing mind object whatever terms you want to use but it's i'm getting stuck so i'm trying to release

because i really don't see body as body um you know in the standard sense of body uh but so when we see so the thing is when we see body as body we're just so that's that's the word that's the statement that's used but it's just saying just be with the body wherever the body is just be with the body and like i said it's an anchor it's not like a full practice that you need to do it's just to come back to the present so that you can continue with whatever it is that you're practicing now of course the buddha has you know broken this down into sub practices that you can do as an as an actual you know course of work like contemplation of the charnel grounds contemplation of the elements and so on those are all meditative practices that you can do that he's broken down but he's saying when he says body is body with just just this body in that moment you're just with this body for what reason so that you are anchored to the here and now.

Now if your mind is, as you say, discursive and looking towards, you know, the emptiness of things, this is why we don't, you know, I generally would say, and I agree with the traditionalists on this approach, you don't give emptiness practices haphazardly or prematurely. You give them after a person has gotten some level of good awareness and contemplation and jhana. Now I'm not saying that that's happening to you but i'm saying that this is a important to understand in reference to okay you see the emptiness of things great don't make it into its own thing don't reify it it's just another thorn that you use to take out the thorn from your foot so that you can keep walking so the awareness of that allows the mind to liberate from that like if you can just take a pause and see all that discursive thinking as oh this is just another process that's going on and in that process realization that this is just a process the mind can drop it more easily

okay so once i notice it just you know drop it let go because even like when you're talking about body i see you as a body i've already reified you thousand hair man and then i'm like again i realize that that's just discursive thought basically so it's more but that's just the nature of the mind that the mind will do that anyway right that's okay that's okay i mean to see emptiness doesn't mean that you're going to see obviously you know emptiness as the codes of the matrix you see emptiness is just a a um you know for lack of a better term like useful a useful to liberate the mind okay that's helpful thank you all right

um okay anyone else uh it's there's oh there's there's a few things here in the chat i'm looking at oh that's cool so recognize or realizes the sati release relax re-smile return is the the Sampanjanyo and repeat is the Atapi. So Atapi, Sampanjanyo and Sati are the six Rs. Very good. Very good. Here is a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh. Waking up this morning, I smile.

24 brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and look at all beings with eyes of Compassion. Nice way to wake up. Why did the foulness meditation cause monks to do mass suicide? I don't know. I'm not aware of this. Oh, okay. Somebody already responded to it. It says they did it without the teacher being present and because they had no equanimity and got lost in the repulsiveness. Bante Vee says this meditation is not allowed unless he or another teacher is present that can talk to them every day. Somebody else says, detaching from the body is so important.

A real understanding that it will not last. Hearing the Sutta helps me release more and more my attachment to the body, which is a very hard thing to do. Aside from the charnel ground and foulness meditations, which I get, what does it mean to contemplate the body internally versus externally versus both internally and externally with regards to breath and the postures I didn't get that yeah so you can think of it from the perspective of that it's not just this body contemplating this body it's like okay there are other beings experiencing the same thing externally that all other beings are also inhaling and exhaling or there are other beings also in these particular postures and they're just that contemplating internally and externally also internally and externally can mean the internal elements that are underneath and the external elements that are outside and so on so anyone else have anything to say or ask yes erica

you are on mute. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Nelson. I have a question about this. I chat with AI because I find it a bit contradictory. At the beginning, it gives a grand promise that this is the way to get rid of your lamentation, etc. It's open by that so it gives a lot of hope but then when it's come to the instruction it will just basically say okay get rid of your uh grief so i wonder where is the instruction it was just basically to say it's like it will make you uh not sad and then the instruction is okay just don't be sad

um no it's not saying that it's not saying that at all uh what it's saying is that when we say grief for the world where grief here is um you know it's it's one of the translations but it's saying it's saying aversion it's saying you know i don't want this i don't like this these kinds of things so it's not it's not saying that uh you abandon that in the sense of like this is going going to help you abandon that uh it will insofar as keeping you into the present moment

but uh i think i think the context here is when you're contemplating the body as body the breath as breath or whatever it is it helps you to become present with whatever experience is happening and therefore there's no attachment to the experience which is the covetousness And there's no aversion to the experience, which is the grief in that case. And this happens as a natural process.

Thank you. Makes sense. Anyone else? I think, if not. Oh, what was the place you recommended for the Channel Grounds meditation? Varanasi. Go to the Manikara Nagat, where they do all the burning of the bodies 24-7, by the way. No vacation for death. So you go there and you will have an experience. Okay, let's share some merit.

May suffering ones be suffering free, and the fear-struck fearless be. May the grieving shed all grief, and may all beings find relief. May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. May beings inhabiting space and earth, devas and nagas of mighty power, share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation. Salud, salud, salud. Thank you, everyone. See you around. Thank you. Bye-bye. See you next week.