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Summary:
In Cultivation 02, you will begin to train your short-term memory by being mindful of the natural flow of breathing within your body: mindfulness of breathing.
Mindfulness of Breathing is a method of developing calm & tranquility (called samatha) by being mindful the experience of your breathing as it naturally flows within your body.
When you meditate, there will be times when feelings of relaxation and calm come easily. At other times, you will find that your mind inclines towards restlessness or dullness, unable to find enjoyment.
My advice for developing insight is to take an interest in the 'by-itself-nature' (anatta) of anything that disturbs the development of relaxation and calm.
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In Cultivation 02, your daily meditation focuses on two things:
Its purpose is to develop the second & third Enlightenment Factors of curiosity and balanced effort by observing imbalances within your body & mind and calming them by relaxing/letting go.
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How your meditative path will unfold.
The meditative path in MIDL is the same for all meditators: calm > insight > letting go, though there are three distinct ways that it will develop, depending on your personality.
Attraction: Attraction-based personality types develop calm (samatha) easily since their mind naturally inclines towards meditative pleasure.
Aversion: Aversion-based personality types develop deep insight and disenchantment as their mind naturally finds fault with any object of meditation (vipassana).
Delusion: Delusion-based personality types develop strong faith as their mind naturally trusts in the Buddha & reality of the path.
Cultivation 02 introduces the 12 Experiential Markers, the 16 Meditative Hindrances, and more advanced versions of the GOSS Formula.
The 12 Experiential Markers.
There are 12 sequential markers of experience that are observed during mindfulness of breathing when developed through letting go.
Understanding these 12 markers allows you to guide the progression of mindfulness of breathing up to access concentration.
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The 16 Meditative Hindrances.
While the Experiential Markers are a way of tracking the depth of your letting go, there are 16 imbalances to relaxation/letting go experienced during mindfulness of breathing.
In MIDL these 16 hindrances are not seen as something to be overcome, but rather as opportunities for understanding and insight.
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Applying the Goss Formula.
Now that your skill in relaxing/letting go has developed, so has the way that you apply the GOSS Formula.
This article discusses how to refine the way that you Ground > Observe > Soften > Smile depending on what you are experiencing in your meditation and daily life.
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Your Meditation:
During Meditation 04, you will use the mindful presence of Meditation 03 to arouse a joyful presence within your mind.
As letting go grows, you will observe the natural flow of breathing in your body in Meditation 05 to create the foundation for mindfulness of the whole of each breath in Meditation 06.
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