the practice of satipaṭṭhāna [1]

As I mentioned in a few previous posts, my next Dharma talk will be on the practice of satipaṭṭhāna. In neither of those posts, did I actually talk about the practice itself. So now we'll do that! Oh, and if you're planning on attending that talk, uh, spoiler alert, I guess.

So, the pericope--the formula repeated over and over again in Buddhist texts to aid in memorization--is:

Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāye kāyānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṃ, vedanāsu vedanānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṃ, citte cittānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjādomanassaṃ, dhammesu dhammānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā vineyya loke abhijjādomanassaṃ.

( I can't read Pāli, dude, so what the hell does that mean? )

stay on top of yourself

For that dissatisfaction, distress, stress, discomfort, etc that we generate for ourselves as a result of clinging and grasping, the solution is simply to stop clinging and grasping. While simple, it is not easy. It takes clarity and insight to see the clinging and what exactly is going on with it...what is being clung to, how the clinging is being done, etc. Once it is seen, then the action of release and relaxation can be taken. But the thing is, a lot of the time it's not a one-shot deal. You can't just see it once, stop clinging, and it's over and done with and never comes back. For a lot of the really serious, deep clinging, you have to keep on top of it--you have to maintain awareness so you can see when it comes up, see it operating, and then deliberately release it, over and over and over again. If the clinging is habitual, it will take time and effort to break down that habit with nonclinging.