Pacification of The Senses: When Body Awareness Gets In the Way

[ardacigin]

After developing some introspective awareness with body awareness and breath practices I've detailed in my previous posts, you will eventually come across a point in your practice where body awareness - filled with distinct moving, changing or stable sensations - starts to get in the way of your spiritual development.

'Getting in the way' means you are better of exploring the less solid aspects of the body after a certain point of practice.

This is the exact point where the pacification of the sensory systems of your brain is the key to progress as outlined in Culadasa's book 'The Mind Illuminated'.

Pacification of the Senses: From Bodily Sensations to Physical Pliancy

Pacification of the senses comes from consistently ignoring normal sensory information presented in awareness. This is NOT the same as suppression.

Ignoring sensations simply mean focusing your attention on the meditation object BUT not boosting body awareness as a natural part of your practice. Allowing attention to exclusively attend to the breath sensations at the tip of the nose and nothing else.

Eventually, the sensory sub-minds (which include aches, pains, pleasures, sense of weight etc) stop projecting that content into consciousness at all. This is similar to 3rd jhana/ 4rth jhana, but it also delves deeper into the unconscious recesses of your psyche due to unification of mind.

When this happens, it means the sensory sub-minds are unified around a common intention not to interrupt the focus of attention to the breath, resulting in complete pacification, effortlessness and physical pliancy.

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Once the bodily senses are fully pacified, there will be a dramatic change during meditation in how you experience ordinary bodily sensations, proprioception, and the mental image you have of your body.

Before pacification, when meditating, we’re usually quite aware of many tactile and other bodily sensations: pain in muscles and joints, burning and pressure where our body touches the cushion, temperature sensations, and pressure and touch where body parts contact each other or our clothing.

However, when the senses are completely pacified and physical pliancy arises, we cease to be aware of all these sensations. Instead you may feel as though your body is completely empty inside—that there is nothing more than a thin membrane or shell at the surface of your body, from which all sensations have disappeared. You’ll have little more than a vague awareness of your body occupying space.

This corresponds to when attention stabilizes effortlessly for long periods of time to the breath at the tip of the nose. Pacification of the senses will reinforce effortlessness.

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Short version: After enough body awareness and introspective awareness develop, ignore all bodily sensations and exclusively focus on the breath sensations to pacify senses.

Why Is This Important?

Eventually, you will have to do longer sits to delve deep into certain insights or start insight practices. You can't do that without physical and mental pliancy. 

You've heard about a yogi who can sit for 4 hour SDS with ease. Well, they are not using some magic trick. They are also not brute-forcing a smile in a state of resistance. They've completely pacified sensory sub-minds and unified the mind.

One of the effective ways of doing that is explained in this post and my prior techniques.

Physical pliancy and meditative joy come quickly and easily for some, but slowly and arduously for others. Physiology and genetics may play a role, as do differences in temperament and psychological disposition.

If you are an entrepreneurial go-getter type of individual, the process will be more torturous and harder than someone who is laid back and chill but also firm when it comes to following instructions.

Physical, mental, and emotional health are also factors, which can be addressed through diet, exercise, good work and recreation habits, and appropriate therapy, if necessary.

However, the biggest obstacles are often the hindrances of aversion and agitation due to worry and remorse. How we condition our mind on a daily basis has a powerful influence over these hindrances, and practices that purify the mind can be extremely helpful.

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Much love,

Arda

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by ardacigin