Right Mindfulness: Insight
G. Hunt
The Buddha's Path of Peace: A Step-by-Step Guide August 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1558/equinox.39409 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Practical guide or manual Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Interventions | Walking Meditation Standing Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | The chapter describes the first three 'Foundations of Mindfulness'—bodily experience, pleasure/pain, and the meditational quality of the mind—and provides exercises for Walking Meditation, Standing Meditation, and a 'states of mind' diary. The author proposes that these practices lead to recognizing the 'three marks of existence': anxiety or suffering, impermanence, and not-self (insubstantiality). |
Abstract
We now run through the first three ‘Foundations of Mindfulness’ with some simple exercises. (We shall return to the fourth foundation in Chapter 17). By a ‘foundation’ of mindfulness is meant a category of those things we can be mindful of. In this chapter there is a quick description of the four: 1. the bodily experience (e.g. skin sensations), 2. the pleasure/pain experience (e.g. an insect bite, a delicious morsel), 3. the meditational quality of the mind (e.g. whether it is concentrated or not), 4. a reflexive evaluation of one’s meditational journey and its landmarks (e.g. the struggle with hindrances and the cultivation of good will). Instructions are hen given for Walking Meditation, Standing Meditation and for the keeping of ‘states of mind’ diary. These lead to a recognition of the crucial breakthrough to ‘three marks of existence’: anxiety or suffering, impermanence, and not-self (insubstantiality).