mindfulness training online - stress manegement - jack kornfiled
TRANSCRIPT
MindfulnessTraining.ca
Naming Meditationby
Jack Kornfield
Mindfulness TrainingOnline
G Ross Clark1-519-648-2985
Waterloo, ON, [email protected]
www.themindfulcoach.com
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Naming the Demons by Jack Kornfield“In ancient cultures shamans learned that to name that which you feared was a practical way to begin to have power over it.”
Often we are ignorant of the names of the powerful inner forces that move through our hearts.
Recognizing these forces and giving them a name is a specific and precise way to work with them and develop our understanding. We can begin to name and acknowledge many beautiful states that grace our lives: joy, well-being, peace, love, enthusiasm, kindness.
This is a way to honor and nurture them. In the same way, naming the difficulties we encounter brings clarity and understanding and can unlock and free valuable energy bound up in them.
How to Name
Begin by sitting comfortably, focusing awareness on
your breathing.
As you feel each breath, carefully acknowledge it
with a simple name: "in-breath, out-breath", saying
the words silently and softly in the back of your
mind.
This will help you keep track of the breathing, which
gives your thinking mind a way to support
awareness rather than wandering off in some other direction.
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Then as you get quiet and as your skill grows, you can notice and name more precisely, "long breath," "short breath," "tight breath," or "relaxed breath."
Let every kind of breath show itself to you.
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As you continue to develop your meditation, the process of naming can be extended to other experiences as they arise in your awareness.
You can name the bodily energies and sensations that come up, such as "tingling," "itching," "hot," or "cold."
You can name the feelings, such as fear or delight. You can then extend the naming to sounds and sights, and to thoughts such as "planning" or "remembering."
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At first, sitting still and naming may seem awkward or loud, as if it interferes with your awareness.
You must practice naming very softly, giving 95 percent of your energy to sensing each experience, and 5 percent to a soft name in the background.
When you misuse naming, it will feel like a club, a way to judge and push away and undesirable experience, like shouting at "thinking" or "pain" to make it go away.
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Sometimes, in the beginning you may also feel confused about what name to use, looking through your inner dictionary in stead of being aware of what is actually present.
Remember, the practice is of naming is much simpler than that; it is just a simple acknowledgment of what is present.
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Soon you will be ready to begin the practice of naming and inquiring directly to the difficulties and hindrances that arise in your life.
The five most common difficulties that the Buddha described as chief hindrances to awareness and clarity are grasping and anger, sleepiness and restlessnessand doubt.
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Of course, you will inevitably encounter many other hindrances and demons, and will even create new ones of your own.
Sometimes they will besiege you in combinations, which one student called "a multiple hindrances attack."
Whatever comes, you'll need to begin to see these basic difficulties clearly as they arise.
‘As we continue to gently note the in-breath and the main present moment sensations & emotions.’
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Resting in Awareness and gently giving thanks.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You
Reflections:
Did you notice the textures of the in-breath and how they changed?
Did you want the emotions arising into consciousness to change?
What was the most common hindrance? Was it aversion?
This is a mindful-practice in recognizing & accepting.
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Mindfulness TrainingOnline
G Ross Clark1-519-648-2985
Waterloo, ON, [email protected]
www.TheMindfulCoach.com