Week #1 (4/14/10)

As we shared why we are interested in focusing in awareness, we reaffirmed that most human beings (and all of us in the class) currently experience a desire to either stop or control what we recognize as conditioned thinking: untrue/patterned/unhealthy beliefs, perceptions, concepts, stories, pictures, movies, etc. We saw that we quickly judge these thoughts, which only holds them in place with more thought, and judge ourselves for thinking these thoughts - a vicious circle! What to do?

It was suggested that struggling with, or trying to control or stop thought, only fuels thought and creates more, or secondary thought around the original thought. How can we stop fueling thought without fighting with it? Equanimity. Equanimity means being aware of thought without the reaction of judging, controlling, manipulating, doing, pushing away, denying, making stories, etc. Equanimity is allowing what already is to be as it is without doing something with it. Noticing sensations, thoughts or feelings with equanimity allows them to run their course as the temporary phenomena that they are: they rise up and they dissolve away, IF we don't hold onto them with more thought.

We start practicing equanimity by getting still, quiet and focused on a sensation (either the feeling of breath in the nostrils as we breathe, or the feeling of inner body energy or aliveness in our hands). We do this one breath at a time, focusing completely on the sensation. When we do this, some distraction will come - a different sensation, a noise from outside, a thought. Sooner or later, we will become aware that our focus is now directed toward that distraction. This is the crucial point of applying equanimity! How? By not giving the distraction a second thought... by applying the equation: distraction = return my focus to breath (or inner energy). And this becomes the practice: focusing with equanimity, one breath at a time.

Homework for Week #1: Practice getting still, quiet and focused on sensation with equanimity for at least five minutes, at least once a day. And during your day, when you are not sitting still and being quiet, begin to focus inside, on just one breath, and notice what happens.