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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