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Introduction to Insight Meditation, Session 1: Introductions, How to Sit & Mindfulness of Breathing
by Philip L. Jones
I) Beginning
Meditation (5-8 minutes): Guided, bringing minds into the present, settling
into our bodies, finding the breath and following it.
II) Introductions
A)Group
members introduce themselves and speak a few words about why they're taking
the class.
B)Leader
introduces self
1)Practicing
meditation for X years
2)Teaching
this class for X years
3)Offering
class because:
(a)Practicing
insight meditation has brought me a lot of peacefulness, freedom and joy
(b)When
I began practicing didn't have anyone to offer an introduction, so trying
to offer a more systematic introduction to others.
III) Group
Operations and Structure
A)Session
Structure
1)~
2hr.
2)Will
normally begin with a 10-15 minute guided meditation period, reviewing
the previous week's instructions
3)Then
will take time for questions/discussion about previous week's practice
4)Main
talk
5)Questions
from talk or practice
6)One
or more periods of meditation practice
7)Questions/discussion
B)Practice
at Home
1)Importance
of Daily Practice, a skill just like playing the piano
2)Amountof
practice: 10-45 minutes/ day
3)Play
with this! Be curious!
4)Be
kind to yourselves!
C)Handouts
each week, can be found ??
D)Issue
of Cost: Dana
1)Teachings
are regarded as priceless and have been freely offered for over 2500 years.
2)Committed
to making these teachings available regardless of a person's ability to
pay, so freely offered.
3)People
often ask if there is an expected amount that they can donate. No expected amount,
can be $0 or whatever you feel this course is worth to you.
4)At
same time want you to know that we will be grateful for your support. It
will allow us to continue to offer these classes.
5)Danabaskets
located with handouts
E)Any
questions about any of this?
IV) Insight
Meditation: What It Is and Why Do It?
A)Why
Do It?
1)Each
person has come for their own reasons
(a)Curiosity
about meditation
(b)Stress
reduction
(c)Pain
management
(d)Support
in getting started meditating
2)Stress,
Dissatisfaction & Suffering
(a)Are
a part of our lives that we all want to deal with
(b)Our
culture offers many options to help us try to avoid experiencing this stress:
TV, alcohol, drugs, sex, buying things, even books and exercise
(c)We all
use these things to try to escape, yet they never seem to last for long.
3)Insight
Meditation's Solution
(a)Insight
meditation provides a very simple method for reducing the stress, the suffering,
in one's life.
(b)It
is based on the idea that
(i) when
we resist reality, either by trying to hold onto an experience or to push
it away, we create stress and suffering for ourselves;
(ii) and
when we can simply be present for whatever it is that has come into our
lives in this moment, when we can hold that experience with spaciousness
rather than clinging or pushing away, then we can experience some peacefulness
in our lives.
4)Thich
Nhat Hanh talks about this in terms of being present:
(a) "Our
true home is in the present moment. To live in the present moment is a
miracle. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on
the green Earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty
that are available now. Peace is all around us -- in the world and in nature
-- and within us -- in our bodies and our spirits. Once we learn to touch
this peace, we will be healed and transformed. It is not a matter of faith;
it is a matter of practice. We need only to find ways to bring our body
and mind back to the present moment so we can touch what is refreshing,
healing, and wondrous." Touching Peace, Parallax Press,
Berkeley, CA,
1992, pp. 1-2.
B)What
Is Insight Meditation?
1)So
what we will be learning here is a method for investigating our experience,
a way to see if it is indeed true that holding on and pushing away our
experience leads to stress and suffering.
2)We
will also be learning how to let go and to meet our experience with openness
and to hold it with spaciousness.
3)This
approach is derived from the teachings of the Buddha, but you don't have
to be Buddhist or even religious to practice and benefit from it.
4)The
Buddha said "Ehi Passeko" or "Come and See", in other words, try it out
for yourself and see if it is true.
5)It
has been successfully practiced by people for 2500 years.
6)There
are three qualities that are cultivated in this practice, qualities that
are at its core:
(a)Kindness
(towards self and others) & a non-judgmental attitude
(i) The
basic foundation for the rest of the practice
(ii) Rather
than getting caught up in thoughts and judgements of how our lives should
be, it's a practice of meeting ourselves, treating ourselves with kindness
(iii) It
is hard to be calm and settled if we are harming ourselves or others.
(b)Clarity:
coming to see more clearly what is happening so that we can respond more
appropriately
(c)Insight:
coming to understand from our own experience what causes stress and suffering
and what leads to peace and freedom in our lives.
V) Beginning
Insight Meditation
A)Actually,
in the first minutes of this class you've already experienced a little
taste of the practice.
B)Now
I'd like to back up and talk a little about posture
1)The
key: An erect but relaxed spine.
(a)Allows
easier breathing
(b)Less
physical strain
(c)Allows
body to become still so that we can see more clearly what is happening
in our minds.
2)Exercise
(a)Stretch
spine up while inhaling. Then exhale, relax while keeping the spine erect.
Can rock a little to right and left to settle into a balanced position.
3)Seating
Options (Discussed and Demonstrated)
(a)Chair
(b)Seiza:
Bench or cushion
(c)Cross-legged
on cushion
(i) Cross-legged
(tailor)
(ii) Burmese
(iii) Half-lotus
(iv) Full
Lotus
(d)Zabutons/blankets
to protect legs and knees
4)Questions?
C)In
this course we're going to work with different aspects of our inner experience
each week.
1)We'll
begin to investigate for ourselves the simple idea that holding on or pushing
away leads to stress and how being present can bring peacefulness even
to difficult moments.
2)You
can explore whether this is actually true in your own lives and if so where
you're getting caught and how mindfulnesscan
help you.
D)The
place where we begin is with the breath.
1)It
is the foundation of our meditation practice and the thing we come back
to again and again to help settle the mind.
E)Guided
Mindfulness of Breathing (10-15 minutes)
1)Mention
handout
VI) Discussion:
A)What
was your experience like?
C)Any
questions?
III) Second
Sitting
IV) Handouts
A)Beginning
Meditation Practice: Guidelines
B)Mindfulness
of Breathing instructions
C)Postures
D)Resources
for Continuing Practice