Bhante G

Went to a day-long teaching with Bhante Gunaratana (author of books like Mindfulness in Plain English). He is quite the adorable old monk!! In general he was very encouraging and cheerful. In case anyone is interested, here are some of my notes on what he said (filtered through my non-Theravadan brain and said in my own words, so any misunderstandings are my own):

The first thing he did was give basic meditation instruction in sitting and walking and mindfulness (he said mindfulness=vipassana, as opposed to concentration practice). He wanted us to use the breath as the focus, and simply allow any other experiences to come and go. He said it was important NOT to use word labels or descriptions or narrate experience in any way, as that interrupts the immediacy of being fully present in the moment.

Given the popularity of word-labeling noting practice, I thought this was an interesting instruction.

Regarding walking, he said the most important thing was slowness, just as referees in a sports match watch the instant replay in slow motion to notice every detail, when we move with slowness we are able to pay close attention to the details of experience.

He said breathing and paying attention are two actions that take place simultaneously. Labeling or describing is a third activity that intrudes on the simultaneity of the previous two, thus to be avoided. (I thought it key that he pointed out that paying attention is an activity in itself. We tend to overlook the fact that it functions independently, coming and going in response to sensations, for example.)

He described this method further as "participatory observation" - you are subject and object. And then you see that everything happens naturally (I assume he is implying "by itself.")

During the questions about these techniques, most questioners asked about details of posture - should the hands be this way or that way, should one use this posture or that posture, how long should one sit or stand or walk. He said none of that matters. The only important thing is total mindfulness at all times.

The root of the problem:
He compared a dog, who will chase a stick that is thrown and bring it back, paying attention to the stick vs a lion, who will come and chase you if you throw a stick at it. The lion addresses the cause, the root of the situation. The dog does not. So we must be like the lion and look at the root of things.

He told the story of bamboo, which you can cut down again and again but it keeps coming back from the root. When we practice meditation, he said, we must be utterly honest with ourselves. There are obvious hindrances to our practice (the leaves or stalks of the bamboo), but these have their source in the root, and beyond the obvious root, there are even smaller roots and from those are even finer roots. He called the latter two hard-to-see roots something like "asara" and "ansaya" but I could not hear the words clearly and don't know Pali, and he didn't return to any discussion of those. If someone knows those terms, could you tell me what they are?

He compared our motivation and determination to practice to a person who sees a mountain and says "There is a mountain. I can try to climb it." and begins to climb. Faith in our ability to climb the mountain helps us get started. The results of climbing motivate us to continue. Your meditation shows you and you see - the proof of the practice comes from the practice alone, not from faith, belief, or someone telling you about it.

Where is the beginning of a perfect circle? Anywhere you draw a line and say "there it is." Meditation is the same. Just look at what is happening right now.

I must say I was having a very difficult day personally, but I benefitted from the teaching and group sitting for more hours than I usually bother to sit.

I also think all men should wear robes like that. Bring back the toga!! What's with bermuda shorts and t-shirts. Blah. To-ga! To-ga!

I love the lion bit. That's great! And the circle. Damn, those two alone are really excellent pointers for how to actually start a practice in a solid way.

Vipassana.
To me vipassana is noticing, right now, what is arising/occuring. Boom.
There are many ways -- formal and informal to do this.
The Mahasi-style word noting is just one of many. I think in the entire history of vipassana practice it may even be relativley rare, except for the fact that it was practiced by so many of the people who became popular teachers in the US and Europe after learning the method in Burma -- like Ingram and Folk, and Goldstein and various other people from IMS and Spirit Rock.

I don't really like to do for the same reasons BG gave:

He said it was important NOT to use word labels or descriptions or narrate experience in any way, as that interrupts the immediacy of being fully present in the moment.

Again, for me, word noting can become just about the noting and not the noticing, you know? What to note? What words to use? How fast to note? How well am I noting? So one can become good at knowing how to word note stuff. Great. But my gut always told me that that was adding an extra step, that the key was to notice the way sensations/thoughs/images/everything JUST AS THEY APPEARED. With continuity and momentum.

But, clearly, it is and has been effective for a lot of people, but it just isn't the only way to practice vipassana. Something happens and then something else happens and something actually happened between the former and the later and if one can see that with open raw bare awareness tick tick tick tick tick and move with it -- one will really see what's going on here.

I actually disagree with Bhante G's statement, as recalled by Ona: "He said it was important NOT to use word labels or descriptions or narrate experience in any way, as that interrupts the immediacy of being fully present in the moment."

First, setting up rules for one's self like, "You should note use noting. You should not allow descriptions or narrations," has the paradoxical effect of causing those very processes to arise. How can you expect to keep reflection out of your mind if you're trying not to do it? In order to know that you're not reflecting, you have to first think of reflecting, and then watch out for it. It calls it to mind the same way, "Don't think of a pink elephant," will lead to thinking of a pink elephant.

Second, while noting isn't the only effective option, it is a really good tool for clarifying phenomena by objectifying it, rather than seeing through it; especially thoughts and emotions. Clarifying experience in this way can focus one's attention on the unfolding of experience, rather than getting tripped up by it. Noting isn't the only way to do this, of course, but it's a really good tool. I find that the more thoroughly stuck I am, the more a functional process of dividing-up and objectifying of experience (albeit a temporary one) can get things moving again. This is why I think the RAIN practice can be so effective.

Third, my understanding of dependent co-arising inspires me to approve of a wide spectrum of practices that interrupt the samsaric system at any of its key loops. Perception (the mental label we give to phenomena) is just one loop in the system. If attention is anchored here, one can practice and cultivate skillful faculties right there - without getting carried away. In my understanding, that's why noting works the way it does. It stops feeding into the system, leading its collapse. It's not unlike the "fear cycle" of panic disorder. One becomes so afraid of fear that it just builds on itself until a meltdown of sorts occurs. If one chooses to accept their anxiety, rather than trying to push it away, panic attacks are less likely to happen.

I do like BG's analogies, though! I'm glad you shared them, Ona. I'm also glad you enjoyed the event. I wish I could have been there!

I can't believe someone disagreed with something!

I don't have a strong opinion either way. There was a particular period in my mediation when I found word labels extremely helpful, but otherwise I have rarely used them.

How can you expect to keep reflection out of your mind if you're trying not to do it? In order to know that you're not reflecting, you have to first think of reflecting, and then watch out for it. It calls it to mind the same way, "Don't think of a pink elephant," will lead to thinking of a pink elephant.Second, while noting isn't the only effective option, it is a really good tool for clarifying phenomena by objectifying it, rather than seeing through it; especially thoughts and emotions. Clarifying experience in this way can focus one's attention on the unfolding of experience, rather than getting tripped up by it.

-awouldbehipster

More (gentle) disagreeing:
It seems like you are supposing that one is doing a practice called "not noting" or "don't note" or "don't reflect" -- which would, I think create the situation you describe of not thinking about the pink elephant. However, if one is just aware of what is coming up continuously -- open, moving with it -- then you are just too mindful to reflect. In a way, reflecting is pulling out of practice a bit, I think -- except if one objectively notices that one IS reflecting, which is where things can start to get detailed and deep and insights come.

But, mental noting (clarifying phenomena by objectifying it) certainly can and does bring one to the ability to start to uncover the layers of unmindful thinking and help one to see the subtle workings.

Also, BG said that posture is unimportant. Again, this shows the wide variety of techniques in the dharma/meditation world. Of course, if I was at a zazen instruction session at the San Francisco Zen Center and asked about posture I would be told exactly how to sit and exactly how to place my hands, etc. and doing this just right is usually the only instruction given -- except to pay attention or count ones breath. in zen, posture is the key thing.