46. Natural Meditation

“Sabba-kaya-paṭisaṃvedī”

Yes, and so to feel,

to know,

to experience,

the whole body.

And then the next step is:

Passambhayaṃ Kayasaṅkhāraṃ

So, tranquilizing the tension,

or the formations,

or anything that’s happening.

The activities in the body.

These are the three steps

that Bhante [Vimalaramsi] started using.

 

Just doing that,

being out aware

of his whole body

and relaxing,

relaxing the tension,

relaxing the activities in the body.

This is when he started to realize:

 

“Oh Wow!”

He wanted, from then on,

to call this meditation

the “Oh Wow!” meditation. 🙂

 

Because it was going so deep,

and that his mind was becoming

so calm and released.

 

Because there was not any tension

there was not any force

upon any kind of object of meditation.

 

It was just a natural meditation

where you would just release,

relax all the activities.

When you do this in the body,

the mind also becomes clear,

becomes calm

 

And then implementing

the next two steps to experience joy

Pīti paṭisaṃvedī

Sukhaṃ paṭisaṃvedī

 

These are two very important steps

that are completely overlooked!

Which really bring up a lot of awareness,

sharpens mindfulness,

and helps this whole process to go along.

 

These are in the Satta sambhojjaṅgas

that are being cultivated

here and now.

And through these steps,

Bhante [Vimalaramsi] realized that

by saying this,

the Buddha was just pointing to a Truth,

that is:

 

Craving (Tanhā) manifests

as tension and tightness in the body,

in our bodies.

And when we are aware of our bodies,

aware of that tension when it arises,

we can actually release it.

 

And when we release it in the body,

it’s also released in the mind.

 

And this is a very, very, very

profound understanding.

These are the Four Noble Truths.

On this Dhammacakkapavattana day,

 

Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta

is mainly about the Four Noble Truths,

but not only about the Four Noble Truths,

if you read it

and understand it,

it’s about how to apply

the Four Noble Truths also.

 

So, it’s the Four Noble Truths,

AND Right Effort,

because each of the truths,

the First Truth of Dukkha needs to be understood.

The First Truth needs to be seen.

 

The Second Truth needs to be understood,

that there’s that craving there.

 

 

The Third Truth, the release,

needs to be experienced.

 

So, it’s not just only a mental game.

It’s actually a practice.

We need to practice this.

 

And Fourth [Noble Truth] is the path.

And the path needs to be cultivated.

 

(So go ahead,

Rain-Devas,

rain!)