Jeanne Corrigal: Morning instruction: The Body as a Home Base

I think today the foundations of the practice will really offer friends who are newer to the practice a frame for the practice and offer experienced practitioners a day to rest into this foundational frame that is an ever-deepening invitation into peace of mind and freedom in the heart. And one of the ways that we usually start a time of practice is with a chant. We chant the refuges and the precepts. And we chant the refuges most every Wednesday night. And so when we have a day long, we have a chance to chant the rest of the chant, the precepts. And I'll say a little bit about these precepts. They are part of the foundation of the path as well or the refuges and the precepts. When we take refuge, we remind ourselves that there are three areas that we can rest the mind and the heart. The first is the refuge of the Buddha. And that's the refuge in our own being, in our own heart. The peace lies here. And that we have the capacity for understanding and wisdom and freedom right here in our own mind and heart. And so we can remember that any time that we are struggling, any time that we feel like we can't get it, oh, maybe I can't see it right now, but I know it's here. And then the refuge, the second refuge is the refuge of the Dharma or the teachings. And having a path, we just remember, oh yeah, there is, there are teachings. And when I think back to before I knew these teachings, this path, this frame, I felt, you know, I didn't have a way to orient when I had challenges. I didn't have a way to orient when I had pleasant experiences. And so I'm very grateful myself for this path. So I just remember, oh yeah, there are teachings. There are things like tools I can reach for, I can understand. And so this can bring just a gratitude in the heart as a refuge, especially for having a challenging time. And then there's the refuge of the community, which we've already felt, this refuge which helps us, supports us to be here practicing. And yeah, we're here because of the community. And so this really supports our practice. And so remembering this refuge and just being grateful for it can gladden the heart. And so these are three places of gladdening the heart, refreshing the heart, nourishing the heart and the mind. So we'll chant these in Pali in a moment. And we chant in Pali because this helps us to remember the Asian roots of the practice. There are Asian teachers for 2600 years, back to the Buddha who practiced this teaching. And my teachers' teachers, our teachers' teachers were the Asian masters who our teachers went to Asia to study with. In the Thai tradition, Ajahn Chah, Ajambuddha Dasa, in the Burmese tradition, Mahasi Saira, Saira Upendita, it's good to say their names because these ancestors have given us exactly what we'll be studying today. And so they are our direct benefactors. And so one of the ways we remember them is chanting in the language that was spoken at the time of the Buddha. And then the precepts are guidelines for the heart and the mind. Guidelines that really support the heart and the mind in harmonious action, in sila in Pali, in virtue. These are the ways we take care of the community. These are the gifts we give the community. And these guidelines are intentions that we take, trainings that we take into our mind and heart. And we really have already taken them. We know that every person here is already living by these precepts. And these are then gifts. We recognize these gifts that we are giving. The first is the precept or the training of trying to do as little harm as we can to ourselves and others. We take that. We've already been living that. And when we chant it, we recognize it and empower that gift that we're giving ourselves and others. We know that ourselves try to be compassionate with all beings. And so this is honoring our own good intention. And the other four are ways of honoring this intention. So the next one is that we refrain, we give the gift of safety and the gift of trust by taking the training to not take that which is not freely offered. And so if I leave something laying around, it will stay there. Unless someone knows it's mine and they'll put it closer to my chair so I don't forget it. You know, we give the gift of not taking that which is not freely offered, how that's how the precept is worded. And this is giving the gift of safety and the gift of trust. The third one is that we undertake the training to refrain or from, say, sensual misconduct or sometimes said sexual misconduct. So we understand our sexual energy and on retreat here we undertake the training to not act on it. So this gives a sense or sense of safety again for everyone here. But another way of understanding this is that we channel our life energy with care. Our whole life energy. And so just being here, we've all chosen to channel our life energy today in a wholesome way. It's something to choose to spend six hours, to spend a whole day channeling your life energy in a wholesome direction. That's what this precept is really about. An honor that you've chosen this. You've chosen this beautiful practice. This time. The fourth precept is to refrain from false speech or practice wise speech and in this day, as we're going to say, we'll practice this without taking noble silence. And this helps us to go on the inner journey. It's such a gift. The first time I went on a retreat, a silent retreat, I decided to go on a silent solo retreat for three weeks in a kayak. Up on the northern lake. I was so scared I came back after one day. And so I thought, how can I be in silence and not feel free? This is how we're in silence together on this inner journey. And that's what the gift of silence gives. How rare and precious to be with a group of people and we're able to be in silence together. It's precious. And so I appreciate yourself and appreciate everyone else for giving yourself this gift today. For friends who are new on retreat, I also, we also like to include, say that this includes other ways of communicating because we want to support the inner journey and eye contact is one of these things that we'll let go of today. Of course, we might have, find ourselves catching someone's eye in the kitchen or in the stairwell or something as we go out the door. That's fine. Enjoy that. That's fine. And then just go back to guarding the the sensed or the eye door, just avoiding eye contact. Of course, we'll have eye contact when I'm talking like this. That's fine. And it's a beautiful way of communicating. It's a beautiful way of saying, I see you. I'm here. How are you? But on retreat, it can take up a lot of inner space. Between here and the doorway, I could spend the entire time worrying about how to have eye contact and when to have eye contact. And so I'll be heading to the door, but I'll know that Darla's sitting right there and I don't want to be rude, so I want to have some eye contact. But when is the key, the question? Okay, not too soon, not too late. Right at the, not too long. Okay, right at, okay now. And then afterwards, Lorna's back there. Okay, when do I, okay, not too, and then up the stair. Do you see what, yes. That's a lot of internal dialogue. That's a lot of inner journey time that we're spending. So we're going to let go of eye contact and let it be not rude. It's a good support for all of us here today. And so we can, and many people find this a relief. Oh, just take a rest from this way of connecting today. So that I can go deeply inside. And then the last, Recept is refraining from intoxicants that cloud the mind. And here we give ourselves the gift of clarity. And the biggest intoxicant, as Lorna mentioned, is the phone. Anyone besides me, a tiny bit addicted to the phone? Uh-huh, yeah. We don't realize how much it stirs up the mind. It stirs up the mind. And so we're giving ourselves the gift, the gift today of unplugging. So when you do, I mean you've probably already turned off the phone, but really take this moment right now to honor that renunciation. We renounce something smaller for something larger. That's the understanding of renunciation in the Buddhist way. We renounce something smaller, a pleasure is smaller for something bigger. And so we're going for peace of mind today. Okay, so we'll chant today. We'll chant and we'll just chant all the way through. We chant the refuges three times. And then the precepts, which we don't chant as often, I will chant the first part of the phrase by myself, and then we'll chant together. And then we'll chant the last part of the phrase altogether. I'll repeat that when we get there. And so you'll see me holding my hands like this. This is another tradition we've adopted from Asia. It's optional. You can find your own way with it. Some people place their hand on the heart. Some people just silently offer appreciation. It's a way of honoring the teachings. And one teacher told me that we're holding all the teachings of the Buddha between our hands softly and gently, close to our heart. And I just love that. Sammasambuddhasa Buddha am sarlang kechami Damang sarlang kechami Sangam sarlang kechami Dutiyampi Buddha am sarlang kechami Dutiyampi Damang sarlang kechami Dutiyampi Sangam sarlang kechami Dutiyampi Buddha am sarlang kechami Dutiyampi Damang sarlang kechami Dutiyampi Sangam sarlang kechami And the precepts, the first part of the phrase, is the precept itself. And then the last part, which goes like this, where amni si kapajam samadhyami is the part of the phrase which says, I undertake this training. And then the particular training is the first part. So I'll repeat the first part. I'll say the first part, and then we'll say it together, chant it together, and then we'll chant the last part altogether. And if the first part is complex, I'll split it into two. Panatipatta Panatipatta Where amni si kapajam samadhyami Adinadana Adinadana Where amni si kapajam samadhyami Kame su mi chachara Kame su mi chachara Where amni si kapajam samadhyami Musawada Musawada Where amni si kapajam samadhyami Surah Meria Surah Meria Majapamadatana Majapamadatana Where amni si kapajam samadhyami Idamesilam Idamesilam Magafalananyasa Magafalananyasa Bacchayohodhu Bacchayohodhu Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu And so these four foundations of the path, friends, that we'll practice today. The first is the body. These are four places that the Buddha invited us to pay attention on this path to freedom. And in these are described in what's called the Satipatanasuta. Sati means mindfulness, patana, the foundations of mindfulness. The Satipatanasuta. And in there it says these four foundations are the path to freedom in the mind and the heart. And so the first is the body, paying attention to the body and the breath. This bodily, the sensations of the body. And we do this to help support a steadiness in the attention, a steadying of the attention, a calming of the system. We bring our attention to this home base of the sensations of the body as a way of giving the mind and heart a place to rest, even for a moment. The intention isn't to stay on the breath and body the whole time, the mind won't do that. The mind will move to thinking. That's okay. There's no problem with that. A big misunderstanding in meditation is that we have to stay on the body and the breath the whole time. We just begin here and then later on we open the attention to all experience. This is our beginning point and we come back here again and again, even if just for half a breath to help the mind steady in the home base place. Once we cultivate some steadiness here, a little bit of calming, then we can look around in our experience and see what else is here. And this is where we can start to look and see where peace lies and where struggle lies in the mind and the heart. And so the second foundation of mindfulness we'll look at later this morning. It's kind of the flavor of experience, whether we find it pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. And then the third foundation is thoughts and emotions and we'll talk about those in the early afternoon. And then the fourth foundation is the foundation that describes the processes of freedom. And so we'll talk about that in the early afternoon, but really we're touching freedom all the way from the beginning. It's just described clearly in the fourth foundation. But we're cultivating the skills to work with it, this process of freedom and really touching it all along the way. And so we'll begin with a guided practice, tuning into the body and the breath. And if you wish to lie down for the first half of this, you can make yourself a place to lie down. I think we've got some yoga mats in the back. So if you don't have a mat beside you, you want to get a yoga mat, there are some in the back. And so make yourself comfortable now. If you would like to do lying down, if you want to stay sitting up, that's just fine too. It's completely your choice. What we want to do is develop ease. And so this is why we invite lying down, if you wish to, to support in ease as we begin. And you can do that when you're sitting as well. And so just making sure if you are lying down that you have something under your head. And even that you have a blanket. So if you put your hand up, if you need something under your head that we know, or Bart can bring you a cushion, or if you need a little blanket, I think we've got some blankets. So if you're even a little tiny bit cool, put your hand up. We want to settle ourselves as if we're our own best friend. Settle ourselves so that we're really comfy. Really take this time. We want to bring kindness in right in the beginning of our meditation. Great kindness. So however you're sitting, whether you're sitting or you're lying down, scan the body and see if you're comfortable. And just find out how you could support yourself to be comfortable. And whether you're sitting or lying down, begin to notice the sensations of the body, how the body is contacting the floor or the chair. Just the places of pressure and contact. How are the feet contacting the floor? Just noticing the pressure under the ball of the foot, or the heel, or the sides of the foot, or the back of the heel if you're on the floor lying down. And noticing the pressure, the contact along the backs of the legs, the places that aren't in contact with the floor or the chair. And then the places of perhaps on the thighs that are in contact with the chair, or the hips which come into contact with the floor, and the hips and the chair. Just noticing these places of contact as a way of helping the attention connect with the body. This body that's always here in the present moment. And sensing how the back might be touching the chair or the floor. Noticing is the pressure the same on either side, or is it a little different on the right side and the left side? Just noticing with mindful curiosity. Noticing the pressure contact on the back just as it is. Is it the same or different? No judgment. This is mindful attention being able to see clearly just how it is. And allow that without needing it to be different or trying to make it different. The sensing, the shoulders, the arms, the hands, the head. It can be very helpful to bring some kindness in. And so one way we can do that is to notice places in the body that might hold a habitual tightness. So sensing into the belly. Sometimes even when we're lying down, sitting the belly can hold tight like... Never to judge it. We just notice it with our kind attention. Sometimes just noticing can support the belly to soften or release. Or we can invite the belly to soften. The belly just as it is. If there's some tightness there, just as it is. We gentle with it, we'll hold it gently into the shoulders and inviting the shoulders to soften. Sensing the face and the muscles around the eyes. Inviting them to soften. Sometimes when we do that we can sense the softening across the whole face. We can sense this whole body and invite ease, whatever ease is available by sensing kind of relaxing back into the floor. Letting the body rest on the floor. If you're sitting rest on the chair. Notice that you can rest back and really rest. And just receive the sensations of the body or the breath. In this way we can know that we don't need to try hard to meditate. We can just receive what's happening. Noticing the body and the breath. The body lying on the floor, sitting on the sensations of sitting. Even as I'm talking, the mind, the attention will move to thinking and planning and daydreaming. And we'll notice that it will come back into the present moment at some point all by itself. We don't have to work hard to bring it back. When it comes back we can notice, oh, awake again. Sometimes we judge the mind for going in, the little note we make in our mind is up. But we can really celebrate that moment and say, oh, awake again. Need for judgment. We just turn the attention gently back to this home base. The body sensations. In the body we'll notice the breath, the sensations of breathing. You might notice the breath at the nostrils. In the trunk of the body, letting this be a part of the sensations of the body. Finding the sensations in the body which are most grounding for you, most compelling for you. Perhaps the weight of the body on the floor, the chair or the breath. Just for a few minutes in silence, practicing this dance of returning to this home base. And the mind will move and come back and then return gently to this home base. Just for as long as the attention will stay there. It'll move again and come back and then return again to the sensations of the body here. Easeful, heavy, tingling, lifting, making a little quiet whisper in the back of the mind to describe what's happening, if that's helpful to stay connected to it. Pressure, warmth, in-breath. Now if you are lying on the floor, find your way very gently to one side. And in this position, and if you're sitting on the chair and bringing this invitation in as well, how can you rest in this posture with ease, with enough energy to be awake and present, but not with a trying hard energy or a striving energy, a relaxed energy that can just be present and receive the sensations of the body lying down in this posture or sitting. Your way to your upright sitting posture and settling yourself in as if you would settle a good friend. And here we might tune more closely in perhaps to a sense of the breath. Sensing first the body, the whole body sitting and the weight of the chair on the body on the chair. And then noticing the sensations of the breath as it comes in at the nostrils. Taking a couple of deep breaths and just noticing any impact or relaxation in the body. And taking the time in this posture to make sure you're comfortable. If that means moving to a chair, just feel free to do that. Noticing the breath in the chest rising, moving in the belly, sensing the sensations as the ribs expand in the sides of the body and move the sides of the body against the arms. Noticing the back of the body and how it moves against the chair. Noticing how the breath can lift and lower the shoulders just a little bit. Be helpful to find a way that the breath can be pleasant for you. This could be the sense of easing back and just receiving the sensations. Noticing you don't have to do it. Everything will breathe all by itself. Find the rhythm of the breath, the relaxing rhythm. It doesn't have to be deep or regular. Just this ebb and flow. Sometimes an image like the swell of the gentle ocean can be helpful. Just feeling like the breath is this gentle swell. Sometimes it's more pleasant, grounding to be aware of the whole body. Find your own way about which home base area is most useful, pleasant, supportive for the mind. If it's helpful to whisper in the back of the mind, what's happening at the moment, if that can help you stay connected, that can be skillful. But no need to do it all the time. Gentle whisper on the in