Guest guest Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 Dear Alton, > the sadhana must happen on all of the 4 > foundations of mindfulness as well as any > other meditation techniques that one > practices.... Sorry, I missed this part of your message. You asked if I agree with this. No, I don't. If this were true, only people who practice a sadhana that includes attention to bodily sensations would ever have realized. And that's not the case. In fact, both Patanjali Yoga and Advaita tell the seeker *not* to pay attention to bodily sensations. The method of Advaitan discrimination (the method mistakenly attributed to Shankara in the Crown Jewel of Discrimination) tells people *not* to withdraw attention from *all* of the four foundations. Also, I don't think the four foundations were meant to be taken very rigidly. I think Buddha intended the division into four categories only as a pedagogic device. The idea, really, is to develop the habit of being mindful in general. The habit of mindfulness itself (apart from objects of mindfulness) is the important thing. On the other hand ... I *do* think that all sadhana has to involve mindfulness in a certain sense of the word. Mindfulness in the sense of being aware of awareness. This is a hard thing to communicate to people in words. It's the sense you get when you suddenly realize that you've been daydreaming for the last 10 minutes instead of meditating. The sense of coming to your senses. I think all effective sadhanas cultivate that sense of being aware of what's going on. Regards, Rob Realization [Realization ] On Behalf Of Alton Slater Sunday, August 07, 2005 4:30 PM REALIZATION, ROB'S Following the rules I hope What I have concluded after 30 years of intense sadhana is that, except for the GIFTED ONES like Ramana, the sadhana must happen on all of the 4 foundations of mindfulness as well as any other meditation techniques that one practices. See the Net or previous posts if you cant recall what they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 P.S. Oops, typo alert. I meant to write: The method of Advaitan discrimination (the method mistakenly attributed to Shankara in the Crown Jewel of Discrimination) tells people *not* to pay attention to *any* of the four foundations. Realization [Realization ] On Behalf Of Rob Sacks Monday, August 08, 2005 2:03 PM Realization RE: Following the rules I hope The method of Advaitan discrimination (the method mistakenly attributed to Shankara in the Crown Jewel of Discrimination) tells people *not* to withdraw attention from *all* of the four foundations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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