The Vipassana Retreat

　　4. The Basic Instructions

　　From the beginning and throughout the retreat, the strategies and fundamentals of Vipassana meditation will be given so that you become well established in the essentials of the techniques involved. Then it is important that the meditator understands the practice in its context. So a frame of reference is necessary, in the form of a framework to the practice as given by the Buddha in his teaching in the Satipatthana Sutta or the discourse on The Four Establishments of Mindfulness.

　　As we go through the retreat further instructions will be given both during the personal interviews and in the morning instruction sessions. The evening Dharma talks will elaborate on the teachings based on the text - sufficient at least to give you an overview of the practice. Added to this will be instruction on loving-kindness meditation to help support the Vipassana practice.

　　The Three Areas of Practices

　　These Three Areas of Practice is the basic practice structure to follow. If you can link them together the benefit is that it will create a continuous ”thread of awareness” throughout the day that brings the momentum that is needed to deepen the practice.

　　1. During Formal Sitting – where the primary focus is on the rise and fall movement of the abdomen, switching to secondary objects such as sensations, thinking, mind states, etc, as they arise.

　　2. During Formal Walking – sensing into the movement of the foot as the component parts of the step in walking are meticulously noted.

　　3. During Daily Activities – maintaining clear knowing of all body movements and postures with the support of mental noting throughout the day”s activities.

　　The Techniques of Mental Noting

　　A useful device to support meditative attention is naming or labeling the various objects as you investigate your own body and mind experience. Used judiciously, it is a very useful tool for focusing and sustaining the attention. The noting is done by repeatedly making a mental note of whatever takes your attention in your body and mind: for example, “touching”, “touching”, ”feeling”, ”feeling”, ”thinking”, ”thinking”, etc. This is a powerful aid to help establish attentiveness especially at the beginning of practice, when it is vital to systematically note or label as much as possible to establish the attention. Otherwise, it is possible to get lost in unnoticed wanderings with long periods of inattention.

　　If the noting becomes mechanical or is so clumsy that it is interfering with the subtle attention then one needs to back off and do it more lightly. When mentally noting, ninety percent or more of the effort should go into being with the experience of the object and the rest in the labeling. When you have succeeded in sustaining the attention and the awareness has matured, only then should the mental noting be dropped. Although I would be careful not to drop the noting prematurely as it does bring the advantage of mental detachment.

　　Having acquired the ability to monitor your experience with just “bare” attention, you will need to return to the mental noting only when the attention weakens, is lost or needs to be re-established. The mental noting can also be combined with the practice of orientating to a sense door by naming the physical and mental objects as they arise during a sense impression. This practice also helps with the restraint of the senses. Be careful not to analyse or classify what is being observed, just register or note it without reaction, or if there is a reaction be aware of the reaction itself.

　　Instruction for Sitting Meditation

　　The first step is to find a balanced sitting posture. You should be relaxed and yet your spine should be straight with its natural curve. You may have noticed how a five-year-old s…

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