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cattasallaOne exercise that's often mentioned that I've kind of wanted to be able to do goes under the name "restaint of the sense faculties" or "guarding the sense doors". The idea is that you set your mindfulness up so that when any sense-object arises for any of the six senses (the five physical ones plus the mind), you can see if an unwholesome/unskillful state arises in connection to the sense object (and can then deal with it immediately), instead of getting wrapped up in whatever stories you automatically tell yourself about it.
My approach to it now is to recognize that there's a gap between the arising of the feeling-tone or hedonic tone, the vedanā, and the unwholesome state (akulasa dhamma) itself. That is, initially, there's the automatic evaluation of the feeling accompanying the sense-object as pleasant, unpleasant, or neither pleasant nor unpleasant. Once this immediate hedonic tone arises, which comes simultaneous with the appearance of the sense-object itself, then the mental reactions begin, and then there is the possibility of a skillful or unskillful state arising. So I am trying to stay in touch with the feeling-tone. It is always present (and if you think it's not, then it's probably the neutral feeling-tone). And the initial reaction of craving to be nearer to or away from the object comes almost instantly afterwards. By attending to that feeling-tone, then those reactions of attraction and aversion lose their power somewhat, because I can see them arising in response to the pleasantness or unpleasantness.
Karmically, the arising of the feeling-tone is due to past karma. There's nothing I can do about it. It's just there. But everything that happens in response to it, the arising of skillful or unskillful states, and how I navigate them, and what actions I take, that's present karma. That is shaping the present experience, as well as future experiences with the same stimulus.
So the challenge, then, is to be aware of the feeling-tone, and then see how it affects the mind, and how the mind starts to either lean towards or away from it, move towards or away from it. At this point, that's all I'm doing. Just seeing how it works. And keeping it simple: Pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. And in response: Craving, aversion, or equanimity. (Note that there can be craving and attraction to unpleasant things, or aversion to pleasant things; figuring out what's going on there, why that is happening, is not what this practice is about, though...this is just about noticing what is happening, not why.)
The full exercise of vedanupassanā, contemplation of feeling-tone, also involves further classifying the feeling along another axis, translated as worldly/unworldly or worldly/spiritual or carnal/spiritual, and literally of the flesh/not of the flesh, but that's something I'll worry about in the future, after I've developed this some.
My approach to it now is to recognize that there's a gap between the arising of the feeling-tone or hedonic tone, the vedanā, and the unwholesome state (akulasa dhamma) itself. That is, initially, there's the automatic evaluation of the feeling accompanying the sense-object as pleasant, unpleasant, or neither pleasant nor unpleasant. Once this immediate hedonic tone arises, which comes simultaneous with the appearance of the sense-object itself, then the mental reactions begin, and then there is the possibility of a skillful or unskillful state arising. So I am trying to stay in touch with the feeling-tone. It is always present (and if you think it's not, then it's probably the neutral feeling-tone). And the initial reaction of craving to be nearer to or away from the object comes almost instantly afterwards. By attending to that feeling-tone, then those reactions of attraction and aversion lose their power somewhat, because I can see them arising in response to the pleasantness or unpleasantness.
Karmically, the arising of the feeling-tone is due to past karma. There's nothing I can do about it. It's just there. But everything that happens in response to it, the arising of skillful or unskillful states, and how I navigate them, and what actions I take, that's present karma. That is shaping the present experience, as well as future experiences with the same stimulus.
So the challenge, then, is to be aware of the feeling-tone, and then see how it affects the mind, and how the mind starts to either lean towards or away from it, move towards or away from it. At this point, that's all I'm doing. Just seeing how it works. And keeping it simple: Pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. And in response: Craving, aversion, or equanimity. (Note that there can be craving and attraction to unpleasant things, or aversion to pleasant things; figuring out what's going on there, why that is happening, is not what this practice is about, though...this is just about noticing what is happening, not why.)
The full exercise of vedanupassanā, contemplation of feeling-tone, also involves further classifying the feeling along another axis, translated as worldly/unworldly or worldly/spiritual or carnal/spiritual, and literally of the flesh/not of the flesh, but that's something I'll worry about in the future, after I've developed this some.