The Sati Exercises
The function of the sati exercises is to bring us into the present moment by physically opening up, stretching and letting go. Most of the time we are absent from the present moment and our attention is away from the only reality in which we exist.
The things that take our attention and cause us to suffer are of two types, those we cling to and those we push away. These make up the pain of life: wanting what we cannot have, and getting what we do not want. The exercises bring us back to the present moment where we see that all is well, we are happy and we are free from fear.
This physical route is the most direct route. We could intellectually work out what our problems are but we would not change. Not until the body changes will mind change. The exercises help us to build up a dialogue within who we are; this encourages all the parts of who we are to act in harmony, fluidly and appropriately.
All the basic exercises are about letting go. We are challenged by these exercises so we expect effort is needed. Yet our practice is to let go; rather than push through, to disappear through ! This is the way in all the exercises - letting go of the breath, letting go of me.
We spend a lot of time working on physical base but we must not lose sight of the fact that the placing of attention is integral to the practice. Without that there is no practice, just mindless activity. Without knowing where your attention is, there is no meditation.
When you move the hand, you should know where the attention is in regard to the action of the hand. The attention should be where the action is. If you are finding conflict in an exercise and your breath seems rushed, pushed, squeezed or caught, you know that something within you is wrong. The exercise is not wrong; it is you, and the way you are approaching it.
Early on, I remember holding an attitude that a particular exercise was tough. I entered it as though it was tough and tortured myself with it. Actually there are no tough exercises, only attitudes. The exercises will confront you and your idea of who you are. That is what they are designed to do.
Your body becomes captured in the idea: this is the way to do this exercise, even when it is tense. Mind is captured by that shape, your normal and usual shape. To be able to drop these old shapes you have to let go. Your freedom is not in your tension patterns. You cannot be tense and be free at the same time.
To be free we step outside of the shape that says: This is me. Your relationships with other people, with things and the environment are all within the boundaries of the shape called you and this is where old identities set the agenda. What should be setting the agenda is the moment. It is that which completely lets go and sees what is present, before it is grabbed by the past.
Just keep dropping all the things that say: I will do this or be that when I get to that place. Refrain from relying on the expectations projected ahead of you for the future. What enables you to let go is not clever mind; that again is within who you think you are. Let go chemically, physically. Let go to the point where no-mind is revealed. From here, there are possibilities of a new direction. Whatever is here in this present moment is where contentment lies.
When you begin to practise it all seems physical and technical, as if all you are learning is the technique. The real practice is in applying the exercises to your life.
If you have learnt to let go the breath with each movement in your formal practice, then it is much more likely that you will not deceive yourself in everyday actions. It may seem as though the discipline of setting such parameters to life is a restriction placed upon you, but actually it is enormously beneficial. It gives you the means to stretch by setting a direction for attention to operate. You begin to see where the present moment is, whereas if you have no parameter it is very difficult to see the present moment.
When you are consistent in your application you will find a profound change in who you are. You apply skill with more and more confidence to many more situations that have agendas for you, where you have status or you have expectation. Within that, you are truly willing to let go and that is what this practice does, this leads to love. Loving kindness is a complete lack of need, a state of mind that has no expectation. There is no reaching out for things and there is no pushing away. Whether you get there easily by just letting go or whether you get there by hardship and torture in order that you let go, you will eventually get there by the outbreath. So apply yourself to the outbreath as best you can, in all the basic exercises and in every moment of your life.
This practice is a cultivation of life. You may think that it is a cultivation of body but it certainly is not. Each of these exercises has been created to help you see clearly your true nature and to cultivate a quality of ease within the way you live your life.
The function of the sati exercises is to bring us into the present moment by physically opening up, stretching and letting go. Most of the time we are absent from the present moment and our attention is away from the only reality in which we exist.
The things that take our attention and cause us to suffer are of two types, those we cling to and those we push away. These make up the pain of life: wanting what we cannot have, and getting what we do not want. The exercises bring us back to the present moment where we see that all is well, we are happy and we are free from fear.
This physical route is the most direct route. We could intellectually work out what our problems are but we would not change. Not until the body changes will mind change. The exercises help us to build up a dialogue within who we are; this encourages all the parts of who we are to act in harmony, fluidly and appropriately.
All the basic exercises are about letting go. We are challenged by these exercises so we expect effort is needed. Yet our practice is to let go; rather than push through, to disappear through ! This is the way in all the exercises - letting go of the breath, letting go of me.
We spend a lot of time working on physical base but we must not lose sight of the fact that the placing of attention is integral to the practice. Without that there is no practice, just mindless activity. Without knowing where your attention is, there is no meditation.
When you move the hand, you should know where the attention is in regard to the action of the hand. The attention should be where the action is. If you are finding conflict in an exercise and your breath seems rushed, pushed, squeezed or caught, you know that something within you is wrong. The exercise is not wrong; it is you, and the way you are approaching it.
Early on, I remember holding an attitude that a particular exercise was tough. I entered it as though it was tough and tortured myself with it. Actually there are no tough exercises, only attitudes. The exercises will confront you and your idea of who you are. That is what they are designed to do.
Your body becomes captured in the idea: this is the way to do this exercise, even when it is tense. Mind is captured by that shape, your normal and usual shape. To be able to drop these old shapes you have to let go. Your freedom is not in your tension patterns. You cannot be tense and be free at the same time.
To be free we step outside of the shape that says: This is me. Your relationships with other people, with things and the environment are all within the boundaries of the shape called you and this is where old identities set the agenda. What should be setting the agenda is the moment. It is that which completely lets go and sees what is present, before it is grabbed by the past.
Just keep dropping all the things that say: I will do this or be that when I get to that place. Refrain from relying on the expectations projected ahead of you for the future. What enables you to let go is not clever mind; that again is within who you think you are. Let go chemically, physically. Let go to the point where no-mind is revealed. From here, there are possibilities of a new direction. Whatever is here in this present moment is where contentment lies.
When you begin to practise it all seems physical and technical, as if all you are learning is the technique. The real practice is in applying the exercises to your life.
If you have learnt to let go the breath with each movement in your formal practice, then it is much more likely that you will not deceive yourself in everyday actions. It may seem as though the discipline of setting such parameters to life is a restriction placed upon you, but actually it is enormously beneficial. It gives you the means to stretch by setting a direction for attention to operate. You begin to see where the present moment is, whereas if you have no parameter it is very difficult to see the present moment.
When you are consistent in your application you will find a profound change in who you are. You apply skill with more and more confidence to many more situations that have agendas for you, where you have status or you have expectation. Within that, you are truly willing to let go and that is what this practice does, this leads to love. Loving kindness is a complete lack of need, a state of mind that has no expectation. There is no reaching out for things and there is no pushing away. Whether you get there easily by just letting go or whether you get there by hardship and torture in order that you let go, you will eventually get there by the outbreath. So apply yourself to the outbreath as best you can, in all the basic exercises and in every moment of your life.
This practice is a cultivation of life. You may think that it is a cultivation of body but it certainly is not. Each of these exercises has been created to help you see clearly your true nature and to cultivate a quality of ease within the way you live your life.
it starts with letting go