Breath and Body
The Dancing with Life KM group meets tonight. The passage I chose for our discussion is from Chapter 15: When the Dance Ends, Freedom Begins.
“Ajahn Chah used to say, ‘We focus on the here and now dharma. This is where we can let go of things and resolve our difficulties. We look at the present and see continuous arising and ceasing. When the mind starts to realize that all things without exception are by their very nature uncertain, the problems of grasping and attachment start to decrease and wither away….’
“To practice Ajahn Chah’s style of moment-to-moment awareness in daily life, when your mind is engaged in a specific task, you train it to automatically rest in awareness of breath and body sensations. Eventually breath and body awareness will become the ‘default’ position of your attention.
“Once you develop this ease of attention on the breath and body, you begin to note that every breath and every sensation ceases. At first, practicing noticing these endings may feel mechanical, but gradually a realization of wonder emerges: It is really true–everything that arises disappears! Such a moment of wonder is the direct experience of cessation.”
Phillip Moffitt says, “If you only develop one practice for cessation, this is the one I recommend.”
(image: Kitty Kahane Tarot)