Mindfulness - Buddhist Principles
(Notes from Awakening the Heart / Dharm Talk 2 – 3 by Thich Nhat Hahn)
According to Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hahn our spiritual practice is known in the Buddhist tradition as Dharma Body, and “…if we have a ‘good’ practice we are no longer afraid, because we know how to deal with the difficulties that present themselves every day. A good practitioner should be able to handle a strong emotion like fear, anger, hate. A good practitioner should be able to generate a feeling of joy and happiness whenever ‘she’ wants to.“
So, if we regularly practice the Dharma Body or spiritual practices that Thich Nhat Hahn goes onto explain we can meet situations with calm, peace and confidence, no longer afraid of our unconscious reactions. What exactly are these practices that are commanded by the Buddha?
All of these practices are mindfulness techniques. This Zen Master instructs us that “…If you breath in mindfully and be aware of your in breath you bring your mind home for your body, and when your mind is with your body you are truly there, in the Here and the Now.” This is an important step in the practice for when we are truly in the ‘Here and the Now’, then we are present and aware. Once we have awareness we can choose how we will act in our day-to-day activities and to any strong emotions that may arise.
We start with mindful breathing but it doesn’t have to end there, we can be mindful during any daily task whether it is walking outside, washing dishes or clothes or when talking or listening to others. Any time we practice mindfulness whether during breathing or eating we become present, aware, clear minded and are living deeply in this moment.
The Zen Master then takes us a little deeper, leading us to next to be mindful of our body and release any built up tension that has accumulated recently. I find that generally this tension can come from anxiety (being overly focused on the future), resentments (being overly focused on the past) or from not practicing self-compassion by working too hard or not resting adequately.
Although it is incredibly helpful to be able to breathe through a difficult situation or strong emotion the Buddhist practitioner takes it a step further by being able to generate the feeling of happiness or joy at any given time. As with anything, practice makes perfect, so a ‘good’ practitioner spends time regularly getting focused through breath awareness, scanning the body for tension, releasing it and then generating the feeling of joy so that when a crisis arises they feel confident and calm that they can endure the wax and wane of that one strong emotion and not add extra emotions (fear, anger, frustration) to exaggerate or magnify that pain. Thich Nhat Hahn describes an emotion “…like a storm, if you know how to handle it, you will survive the storm easily.”
Mindfulness Practices
1. Focus on the in and out breath.
Breathing in – “I know this is my in breath. “
Breathing out – “I know this is my out breath.”
2. Follow your in breath all the way through.
Breathing in – “I am aware of my in breath from the beginning to the end.”
Breathing out – “I follow my out breath from the beginning to the end.”
This is to cultivate more concentration (to bring insight) which helps liberate, to set you free. The Zen Master says, “With insight, enlightenment is not far away”.
3. Become aware of your body.
“Breathing in I am aware of my whole body.”
“Breathing out I am aware of my whole body.”
This is to bring the mind back to the body.
4. Release the tension in the body.
Breathing in – “I release the tension in my body.
Breathing out – “I release the tension in my body.
Scan your body and consciously soften each body part.
5. Recognise the feeling of joy, or happiness.
Thich Nhat Hahn says, “So, when we visiting all parts of our body we can recognise that so many conditions of happiness are there within us & when we touch that environment we recognise other conditions of happiness.”
6. Can generate the feeling of joy or happiness.
A ‘good’ practitioner should be able to generate these feelings whenever one wants. We can do it ourselves and we can help another person to do this.
7. Recognise a painful feeling or emotion.
Be aware of how the body responds to this emotion, notice if the body tenses, face gets red and or hot.
8. Embrace and release the tension.
The method recommended to then deal with a strong emotion is to bring the attention down to the abdomen. Focus your attention only on the in and out breath and the rise and fall of the abdomen. While mindfully breathing here, remember that emotions are impermanent, they come, they stay for some time and they go after a while. “This too will pass.”
When the energy of anger or fear arises the practitioner straight away begins mindful breathing or walking in honour to generate the energy of mindfulness. Once aware one can recognise the strong emotion and embrace it, there is no attempt to fight or suppress the emotion, (this goes against the Buddhist way of non-violence) just a willingness to recognise and embrace it in order to relieve the suffering.
This was used as the Spirit Yoga Theme for the week, I hope it can encourage you to take time out to practice mindful breathing or walking and learn ways to deal with strong emotions lovingly.
