The following is the basis for a guided meditation, based on the Satipatthana Sutta. This text is based on a meditation developed by Bhikkhu Analayo; but it has been changed in ways he might not approve, so I take responsibility for the form in which you have it here. You can listen to, and download, the original, here: http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/439/talk/26718/ I’ll go into it more tomorrow – the day I die.
Four Placements of Attention Meditation
Preparation
Begin with being aware of the body, mind rested in the body.
Have a whole body awareness, which you can maintain throughout the whole meditation on the four placements of attention.
Resting with mindfulness in this whole body. Meditating moving from gross to subtle.
A. Awareness of the body.
1. Anatomical parts
A body scan – which we can simplify to: skin, flesh, and bone. (Or, you can replace with your style, like yoga nidra.)
Skin
Aware of the whole body in the sitting posture.
Aware of the skin at: the head, neck, shoulders, upper arm, lower arm, and hands. Front of torso, upper part of torso, lower part of torso, back of torso, pelvic area – aware of skin – upper legs, lower legs, and feet. Covered with skin.
Flesh
Aware of the whole body in the sitting, lying or standing posture.
Fleshy parts in the feet, lower legs, upper legs, pelvic area, lower torso, upper torso, both hands, lower arms, upper arms, shoulders, neck, fleshy parts in the neck and head.
Bones
Aware of the whole body in the sitting, lying or standing posture.
Aware of the skull, neck bones, shoulder bones, upper arms, lower arms, and in the hands, chest area, down the spinal cord, bones and hip area the upper legs, the lower legs, and the feet. Aware of the bones in this body.
Insight: Skin, flesh and bones of this body, are functional processes; the body is not intrinsically, absolutely, unconditionally beautiful or ugly.
2. Four great Elements
Earth, water, fire, and wind. Hardness, cohesion/fluidity, temperature and motion.
Earth element
It can be experienced in the bones. Head/skull, shoulders and upper arms, no arms, hands, upper torso, lower torso, hip area, upper legs, lower legs, feet. Earth element.
Water element
Evident in the fleshy parts, the bodily liquids – blood, synovial fluids, urine, and so on. Start with feet, aware that they are pervaded by the water element; lower legs, upper legs, pelvic area, lower torso, upper torso, hands, lower arms, upper arms, shoulders, neck, and head.
Aware of whole body, sitting, lying or standing, pervaded by the water element.
Fire element
Temperature, heat and warmth, and cold. Easy to notice at the skin level. With the head – aware of temperature. Cold and heat. Shoulders, upper arms, lower arms, hands, upper torso, lower torso, hips, upper legs, lower legs, feet. Aware of the whole body pervaded by the fire element.
Wind element
Any kind of motion found throughout the whole body. Feet pervaded by the wind element, motion. Lower legs, upper legs, hips, lower torso, upper torso, hands, lower arms upper arms, shoulders, neck and head. Aware of the whole body pervaded by the wind element.
Earth, water, fire and wind – whole body pervaded by the four great elements. Just as it is in nature outside the body. All natural process. This body is non-self, in the sense that there is no permanent ‘thing.’
3. Cemetery contemplation
Aware of the whole body in the sitting, lying or standing posture.
This body is not exempt from dying. No escape. This body will dissolve. If left in the open, it would decay. Imagine the bones scattered around a charnel ground – the skull, shoulder blades, the arm bones, the pelvic bone, leg bones, and all the hand and feet bones scattered here and there.
Insight: With every inhalation, “This could be my last breath.” With every out-breath, “Letting go – relaxing.” If you notice agitation, give more emphasis to be out breath: relaxing, and releasing fear.
This round of in- and out-breath could be my last. I am one breath closer to dying. Death is a part of life.
Awake to the present moment. The only time that is, here and now. Fully alive.
B. Feeling-Tones
Aware of the whole body in the sitting, lying or standing posture.
Feeling-tones can be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral; gross or subtle (physical or psychic).
Body.
Scan the body one my time for what is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Be aware of the tonality of experiences, of sensations.
Scan shoulders, upper arms, lower arms, hands, torso, upper torso, lower torso, hips, upper legs, lower legs, and feet.
Psyche
Now paying attention to any kind of subtle feeling that is nonmaterial – pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral. Notice the pleasure of being in the present moment. Notice the gladness that are doing this exercise. Notice the pleasure of being.
Become aware of the feelings which we don’t usually notice. For example, very subtle all disquiet in the body that would make us want to change position. If you are aware of your felt sense, see if has one of these three tonalities.
Notice again, the pleasure of being aware in the present moment. As we notice that it may become stronger – the pleasure of being. Perhaps you’ll see the joy of being.
Insight: Notice that all feeling-tones are in permanent, changing into the next, or maintaining itself through change. Every feeling-tone is a message of transience, an occurring.
C. Contemplation of the mind.
Aware of the whole body in the sitting, lying or standing posture.
Contemplating that which knows by interaction. Knowing the body; knowing the feeling-tones. The faculty of knowing. This too is interactional; it is moving. You know one thing, then another, then another. Wherever it alights, right there it’s moving again. It is a flux of interactions.
Insight: This is the natural state of the interactional mind. Smiling to the interactional mind. Smiling to the mind that wanders into one attitude or another. Smiling to the changing weather of mind-states.
Three basic states
Perhaps, if the mind is distracted from long time, notice was this train of thought desire, or aversion, or delusion. Label these three types of mind.
Aware of the whole body, aware of feeling- tones, aware of attitudes (mind-states), and aware of these three types of mind – desire, or aversion, or delusion. And noticing how pleasant it is when these three states are not present, or are weakened. Notice the spaciousness, and notice the relief.
Freedom
Noticing a mind without anger, without a version, without delusion, without belonging. This is beautiful, this is joyful.
Continuing whole body awareness, aware of changes – mindful. Aware of being awake. Sounds appear and disappear.
Aware of this precious present moment.
D. Contemplation of the interaction of processes
Aware of the whole body in the sitting, lying or standing posture.
Awareness of the five blocking processes
Is there some sensual desire as a quality of mind, right now? Is there some ill-will, now? Is there some torpor or dullness now, as a quality of this mind? Is there some restlessness or worry; or, debilitating doubt?
If we see any state of these blocking processes, then we try to understand how we got into it (trace back just a couple of steps), and we also try to understand we can drop it.
We notice when the mind is crystal clear, free of desire, free of torpor. “What a wonderful mind, free – I take joy in this.”
“Breathing in I am aware of this clear state of mind; breathing out I take joy in this state of mind.” I am glad of this state of mind, free of blocking processes, temporarily free of blocking processes.
Awareness of Seven Qualities of a Wakeful Mind
Investigating in this way, we see that this joy arises because mindfulness was present. Mindfulness present, I can investigate. Investigating brings energy and joy. Joy brings tranquillity, which is soothing. And the mind becomes concentrated. And then balance is present. Mind free from blocking processes brings the seven awakening factors.
Insight
With these awakening factors I know impermanence or change. And so, dispassion arises. This dispassion leads to no clinging. Dispassion grows and ceasing happens. We allow things to end. We notice every little fading of experience. Everything disappears – gone, gone, gone, gone.
Appreciating the dissolving of experience moment to moment. Allowing ourselves to see cessation. Noticing the peace that comes with familiarity with cessation.
From allowing things to end we come to letting go. There is nothing worth clinging to as ‘I’ or ‘mine.’ Dwelling independently, without clinging to anything, including distinctions such as inside and outside.
Letting Go
Resting in the peace and openness.