Mindfulness in Bloom: Harnessing the Power of Theravada Meditation for Spring Renewal

As the gentle breeze of spring whispers promises of renewal, our latest episode unfolds a tapestry of meditation practices ripe for the season's transformative embrace. Joined by Zaw, whose breath of fresh air has revitalized the Annapolis Mindfulness community, we traverse the depths of communal meditation, celebrating the profound silence and stillness it offers. Through Zaw's lens, we gain insights into the personal growth and transformation that can emerge from such collective stillness, beckoning you to partake in this serene journey.

Embark on an odyssey through the intricacies of bead counting in Buddhist traditions and the subtleties of breath and body awareness as we converse with Zaw, a seasoned mindfulness and meditation coach. His expertise demystifies the nuanced paths toward harnessing a focused mind—be it through the grounding repetitions of bead meditation or the introspective clarity that anapanasati breath awareness brings. These practices, steeped in ancient wisdom, deliver us to the doorstep of life's impermanent nature, offering a profound appreciation for the here and now.

As you step forward with us into the thawing landscapes of spring, let meditation be the guide that nurtures your mental, physical, and spiritual growth. Through the wisdom of the Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths, our conversation illuminates a myriad of techniques that can tailor your meditation experience—whether you seek clarity, tranquility, or a deeper sense of connection. 

Explore a mindful path with Zaw Maw's coaching—Foster balance, healing, recovery, and meditation in your life's journey through his supportive and wisdom-based guidance. Contact us to set up a session. 

Zaw's Article:
Bead by Bead: The Mindful Art of Counting — Recovery Collective — Annapolis, MD (recoverycollectivemd.com)

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Recovery Collective — Annapolis, MD (recoverycollectivemd.com)
Zaw Maw — Recovery Collective — Annapolis, MD (recoverycollectivemd.com)
Luke DeBoy — Recovery Collective — Annapolis, MD (recoverycollectivemd.com)

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Explore a mindful path with Zaw Maw's coaching—Foster balance, healing, recovery, and meditation in your life's journey through his supportive and wisdom-based guidance.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Welcome back to A Therapist, a Buddhist and you. As the vibrant hues of spring unfurl around us, there's an undeniable sense of renewal in the air. It's a season fresh of beginnings, where nature blooms with vitality. In today's episode, we invite you to join us as we spring forward into meditation, a timeless practice that harmonizes beautifully with the spirit of spring. Just as spring brings new life into the world around us, meditation can infuse our hearts and minds with a sense of vitality and clarity. It's a sacred space where we can pause, reflect and reconnect with the essence of our being a sanctuary of stillness within life's bustling rhythm. So throughout this episode, our esteemed co-host Zal will draw upon his insights from his Theravada Buddhist upbringing in Burma to illuminate the path of meditation. Together we'll unravel a tapestry of meditation styles and techniques, each offering a unique portal to self-discovery and well-being. But as we get going today, let's do a little spring cleaning first.

Speaker 1: 1:12

I do sometimes forget to encourage listeners to like, subscribe and to leave a comment. It certainly helps the podcast and, most importantly, helps others find our podcasts. If you're inclined to help us financially with an offering or donation, you can do that too. We do have a donate link at the bottom of every episode description. I believe in some of the podcast platforms there's a heart, and click on that. It'll take you to the podcast PayPal account where you can do a one-time or recurring payment of your choice. These types of donations can help the podcast put on other services like courses, future series and more written articles by both Zol and I. So please consider doing so if your heart leads you in that way. Zol, you've also revived the Annapolis Mindfulness community, haven't you? I have, yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:58

I'm really happy about that.

Speaker 1: 1:59

Tell our community about Annapolis Mindfulness.

Speaker 3: 2:03

Yeah, I'll keep it short. I started this group a while back after finishing school at St John's, so it went on pretty good, but then during COVID it died out and we have found a new home here. So if every Sunday at 7pm kind of a discussion based communal open practice, weekly the focus is more on the consistency and the group effort of sinking into the collective mindfulness and then you know people growing together in a group. So I'm really happy that it revived and, um, hopefully it'll keep, you know, creating good vibe in town yeah, and there's something about meditating within a community or in a group setting.

Speaker 1: 2:51

It's something really palpable about meditating with other people isn't there.

Speaker 3: 2:55

Yeah, especially if it's silent and stillness, like sometimes I'm just amazed by wow, these people are intentionally choosing to sit here and okay with being silent you know, that that to me, is pretty much a luxury and I get so much out of those groups where I get to be part of the group and then share my experience, hear other people and, um, yeah, the purpose is really like people getting to know each other, because it's not just like people come and sit and leave, but there's an aspect of communal togetherness that's what I try to embrace, where people get to know each other and then grow together as a group.

Speaker 1: 3:31

So yeah, it's interesting, and there's often lovely tea and some communication beforehand, and I don't know if you do this every time, but you often bring a brief reading for the group which can set the tone and provide your encouragement or recommendations, and sometimes the group will process their experiences before, during and after and it's it's a, it's a quick hour, hour and a half, isn't it?

Speaker 3: 3:55

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'll keep the listeners updated about that too. It's been a good highlight of the week for me because, yeah, for me, like personally, that's like a combination of everything that I stand for in a way. You know, that's how that group started. When I started the Annapolis Mindfulness Vipassana-based seminars, for me it was like the overlapping of Buddhism, my experience at St John's College, burmese culture, all these things recovery things like that so. I'll keep it going. Thanks for graciously providing the space for us.

Speaker 1: 4:33

Yeah, and it's at the Recovery Collective here in Annapolis, maryland, and it's a free community every Sunday at seven o'clock event for our local listeners. It's a great, great thing for the community and thanks for facilitating that. Yeah, absolutely my pleasure. Speaking about facilitating, I feel like I should have some kind of noise that a therapist at Buddhist in you also won some awards recently. Yeah, yeah, wow For the Chesapeake Podcast Network, which is in Annapolis. Yeah, yeah, wow, and I don't even know if we mentioned it on the podcast to vote or not not typically our style, but we're very fortunate enough and glad that we were selected and won some of the I think, the major awards there. Wow, that's awesome. Favorite podcast co-host and host. So thank you everyone and we certainly do it for the collective solution for health and wellness and this is one way for us to spread our message in our voice and put energy in the right direction.

Speaker 1: 5:54

But yeah that means a lot, so congrats, congrats to you all and us thank you, the rest of you too, we haven't celebrated yet, but maybe we should uh cheers with some tea or something. Huh, we'll do that, yeah.

Speaker 1: 6:07

All right let's continue to spring forward, shall we? Let's do it. We're going to talk a lot about meditation techniques and we tend to do deeper dives when it comes to that, so we're going to hit some unique things. Zol practices, theravada, theravada, I'll usually say Theravada Buddhism, and specifically the Vipassana meditation which holds this is my words, and we'll see if Zol can suss this out for us Vipassana meditation holds significant importance as a foundational practice for developing insight into the true nature of reality. Vipassana, which means loosely insight or clear seeing, is one of the core aspects of the buddhist teachings, particularly emphasizing in the theravada tradition. Makes sense so far as all yeah. So the relationship between theravada buddhism and vipassana meditation is deeply intertwined, with vipassana being considered one of the methods for realizing the four noble truths in attaining liberation from suffering. So how do I? How do I kind of clean that up? Simply, vipassana itself is more of an approach or perspective than a single technique, if you will. So there are several specific meditation practices commonly associated with vipassana in the Theravada tradition.

Speaker 3: 7:39

Yeah, there's a long history about that and I don't really know the details, but I'm glad it's reviving because there was a period where it died out in Buddhism and then there were some movements back in Burma where there was a resurgence of the movement of insight meditation. Now it's in the West too, so we can talk more about that. But I'll share my experience about that background. But yeah, the word vipassana does translate. V means like deep or clear, penetrative, kind of seeing.

Speaker 3: 8:19

Passana, patana means to see, so it's like seeing things as they are, clear, seeing, which kind of is a method. But also in the canon there's also a mentioning of the vipassana. Wisdom arises as a result. So it's something that arises as well. But in the West that insight meditation is great because it has some secular, non-theistical tone to it. It's almost like a scientist. I'm just trying to understand how my mind works and I want to see things as they are. So it's very practical that way and that's my approach too when I practice here about vipassana that you don't need to be a buddhist to practice vipassana, although technically vipassana is very intertwined with buddhism.

Speaker 1: 9:12

So but it's uh. Yeah, just listening to you, my thought was, gosh, if it wasn't so secular, would the benefits of meditation be, even be deeper. But anyway, I don't want to go on a sidetrack with that, but it made me think more than just hey, if I do these four breaths in, four breaths out, then I'd benefit. But we're going to talk a lot about meditation techniques and styles, some that you may know of, some that I'm almost certain that you don't know of. But let's start that I'm almost certain that you don't know of, but let's start. You recently written an article discussing a meditation technique, and the article is called Bead by Bead, the Mindful Art of Counting. I'll make sure the link's in our episode notes, but it's about counting beads as a form of meditation, which is often called a mala meditation in various traditions. Tell us about that technique.

Speaker 3: 10:11

Yeah, I wanted to connect that with my background too, because I've shared this in many ways in other episodes about how much I have after being here with my background. So a lot of the things that were being taught or things that I absorbed back in Burma as a layman Buddhist, they were kind of like latent in me and then they kind of come into fruition with recovery and with more learning and practicing and things like that. So for me, I'm still a student and I'm learning so many new things every day. So it's also a way of revisiting. So to connect that with Vipassana.

Speaker 3: 10:51

In our tradition there was always that path between the two, like a contrast between the two. There's a Dhammata or Samadhi, which translates as concentration, one path, and then the other path is vipassana, insight. So it was almost as if that if you're doing concentration method, that's kind of dangerous because you can get carried away with that tamatta meditation which has been around even before Buddhism. So there was this always leaning more towards vipassana, that, yeah, don't get distracted with the concentration, because you might gain psychic powers you know being able to see the future, reading other people's mind, you know being able to fly, like things like that and then you will never be motivated to achieve liberation.

Speaker 1: 11:35

So like that was my understanding it's interesting because you're saying that my mind goes oh as as a Western civilization. Americans we focus on concentration. Meditation meaning concentrate on the breath, concentrate on the exhale. To me you're explaining concentration in a different way.

Speaker 3: 11:54

So I'm just bringing that up to kind of like set the tone for what we're talking about. Because for me I guess by being here I'm also being more open-minded and willing to learn new things. So I'm also seeing some of the drawbacks from just choosing one method. But I'm at a point where I'm like, oh, they go kind of back and forth or you can get the best out of the two methods. So I'm bringing that up in terms of the mindfulness of the beat by beat.

Speaker 3: 12:21

So that's a really big part of our tradition to count the beats. But it's also seen as a concentration base, the beat by beat. So that's a really big part of our tradition to count the beats. But also it's also seen as a concentration base because it's very repetitive. It's all about the singleness of the beat, single focus of the mind. But then I'm also learning new things, which is that it can be a good basis for the insight to arise. So when your mind is calm, concentrated, you can actually shape it, direct it to the inside. So that's also what I wanted to share in that article about. You know, there are some specific method of like in our tradition contemplating on the. There are nine qualities or nine virtues or attributes of the Buddha, and then you can repeat that over and over again as a mantra, and then that can even take you to the insight, just by doing that.

Speaker 1: 13:11

Are there any other? We often see in other religions, like the rosary and things like that, where there's this mantra or meditation. What are some other examples that you might recommend for people that do some form of bead counting, whether it's a mantra or a statement that they might say during this form of meditation?

Speaker 3: 13:32

Yeah, I mean the power is definitely in the consistency and also paying attention. And there is something very grounding and comforting about repetition. You know it can be. It doesn't even have to be a beat, but like it can be a location, it can be a time, like the value and the meaning that you assign to something, and then the more you do it over and over again, it becomes like a ground for you, for the mind to reveal its nature. So it can be a walk, but the beat can be helpful in terms of the physical, the tactile sensation of touching the beats, and it can be very soothing and comforting and you're usually in a quiet place anyway and then focusing that, repeating it over and over again can be very beneficial.

Speaker 1: 14:21

I think it's a very practical way for people to comfortably step into the world of meditation and mindfulness. You've got this touch, tactile way you can repeat any kind of positive affirmation or mantra that you would like, whether it's peace, happiness, acceptance, you name it or something much more personal if you'd like, and there's a certain amount.

Speaker 3: 14:50

So it's 108. 108 is the standard number, which fits really well with certain numbers. There are a lot of numbers in Buddhism and they all fit perfectly with 108, because there are three refuges that's also part of the tradition that fits so well with 108, and the nine qualities of the Buddha. That fit so well. So there is something very, yeah, like some kind of a structure that repeats and, yeah, my mom, all my relatives, were really big into that and for me it was always something that was available in the background yeah, the numbers, numbers have a powerful.

Speaker 1: 16:44

It's a sacred number. It's a sacred number for a lot of practices. Good, so that's one form. Let's uh, we go mala meditation bead by bead, to meditation that focuses on the breath.

Speaker 3: 17:00

Yeah, I guess this will also be a good moment to kind of pause and talk about why we meditate. Because it really is. You know what's the premise Like? Why am I meditating? Because it really is. You know what's the premise Like? Why am I meditating? Because if we are clear about what we want, we can also the practice can be more meaningful. Breath is perfect for that. But before saying that, I just want to say that I mean the way Buddhism came into birth or just like spiritual path in general, has a lot to do with. It's not like oh yeah, life is so blissful and joyful and I'm going to meditate as an extra, you know. But the real meditation comes from a place of like despair, like suffering pain, like I really need the solution. You know I really need the. You know what I'm looking for. So, with that in mind, the reason to meditate is at least to Buddhism is to understand the nature of the mind, how the mind works and having a better understanding of reality and then, you know, having tools to solve the mind problem.

Speaker 1: 18:08

Which is a very vipassana, insight, deep seeing way of looking at meditation. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 18:14

So with breath base. It's very helpful for that because you know it goes to that 16th step of mindfulness of breathing, which is anapana. Sati, which is anapana is breathing, sati is mindfulness. So it starts with that first four steps, which has to do with breath, and the premise is that breath is not just like the air that we're breathing, but it's also a life force, like life energy that we let in and let out and that become a really solid base to start the mindfulness practice and as as a therapist, this is even though that brings to the Buddhist way of looking at breath work.

Speaker 1: 19:01

There is the residual of helping grounding and with anxiety and letting go of racing thoughts, and practitioners or meditators focusing their attention on the natural breath and observing its movement without attempting to control it. This practice really encourages a deepening awareness of the present moment, ridding that anxiety or those racing thoughts, and this breath serves as an anchor for mindfulness, for being grounded, for insight of what really is in this moment.

Speaker 3: 19:39

Yeah, and the instructions are too simple that it would just like you know, fly through you.

Speaker 1: 19:47

The irony.

Speaker 3: 19:49

Because that's how I was taught too and that's also what it says in the, in the tradition, in the bali canons about. There's a very, very simple instruction when it comes to breathing. The way buddha taught is that one breathes in and one knows that he's breathing in. One breathes out and one knows that he's breathing out, and that really is the basic instruction of the breath. Face meditation in the relapse Prevention Group.

Speaker 1: 20:14

today the group we were looking at someone that was really struggling with sleep and just staying awake and racing thoughts. And well, have you tried to do some breath work or some meditation while you can't sleep? Well, no, but it's amazing how, not the intention to sleep, but the intention focusing on the breath, for a lot of people allows their brainwaves to slow down and they can go to sleep easier. But it's so hard to do when you have racing thoughts and you can't sleep. Yeah, yeah, it's great. I love the simplicity of breathing and you can't sleep.

Speaker 3: 20:53

Yeah, it's great, you know, I love the simplicity of breathing because that's the only thing that's happening at any time. So, like I think about, oh, life is so difficult, but what can I work with in this moment? And breath is always there, you know, and it's a good basis for that. To be more specific, there are some specific things that are helpful, which is the counting of the breath, you know, which has a good way of training the mind, Because mindfulness is also a way of like remembering, remembering to bring the attention back to what you're doing. So breathing is perfect for that, that. Oh, you know what am I doing right now? Breathing, you know. So pay attention, and then doing that over and over again. So counting is perfect for that. That, oh, you know what am I doing right now? Breathing, you know. So pay attention, and then doing that over and over again.

Speaker 3: 21:36

So counting is a good beginning, because counting is kind of conceptual, because number is conceptual, and our mind can do that. Assigning that with in-breath as one and then out-breath as two, it kind of gives the mind a task and then that becomes a good, you know, ground for establishing a practice. You know that can create consistency. But then it can turn into the specific, not like moving on from the conceptual, it can go into the reality of the physical sensation of the breath. So when you breathe in, you note or you feel the sensation at the tip of the nose of the physical sensation of the breath.

Speaker 3: 22:13

So when you breathe in, you note or you feel the sensation at the tip of the nose of the coolness, and then when you breathe out, there's a heat sensation and then being with that, you know, and these are all like really simple methods. But then what comes out? Kind of going back to like the real desire to be free. If you have the desire, real desire to be free, if you have that desire. A lot is revealed in that simplicity, Because I need help, you know, like despair, heartache, and then what do I have? Breathing? So let me find what's available and then these can be very, very powerful from these simple acts.

Speaker 1: 22:47

And that simple grounding, an act of the in-breath and the out-breath that can be taken even another step further Noticing the filling of your lungs from the lower part of the lung and the inhale in the middle and the very top of your lungs filling up and then exhaling and feeling, and noticing the top, middle and the air leave your lungs. Middle and the air leave your lungs. And it's funny how you can go deeper and deeper to a focus, if you so choose, with the breath in different forms, which can lead to less racing thoughts or something else to focus on, or when your brain goes somewhere. Oh, let me go back to the noticing the lungs fill up or the tip of your nose and the sensation of it. It's amazing how, even though it's an inhale or exhale, we can encourage our thought or our mind's eye to focus on something a little bit more specific, something a little bit more specific.

Speaker 3: 23:52

Yeah, it's very physical in a way, but also spiritual, emotional, mental, everything's all embedded in that act of breathing. But yeah, it is always very grounding, very soothing, very comforting. And I was sharing at that Sunday group that Revive about, because you usually have a discussion and then our basic instruction is just breath based, and I felt moved to say something along the lines of like there is a sense of safety and refuge, you know, in the breathing that when you're sitting in silence, and then there's a sense of safety wait, no matter what I'm doing right now, I'm being kept alive and there is a sense of safety.

Speaker 3: 24:34

Wait, no matter what I'm doing right now, I'm being kept alive. And there is a sense of, yeah, being kept alive and protected in that breath itself. That oh something is keeping me alive in this moment, no matter what I do, and that's awesome, you know, yeah.

Speaker 1: 24:46

A deeper level of insight, if you will, yeah yeah. Or the impermanent nature of the experience of breath or the transient nature of the phenomenon of breathing. You can go anywhere outside of where my brain has taken me. Yeah, good, so we just touched upon a couple examples of the breath awareness or the pronounce it again, the anapanasati, anapanasati yes, yes, anapana.

Speaker 3: 25:14

Pana is actually, I think, in the Sanskrit it's prana, like pranayama Prana, I think it's life or life force. But in Pali it's pana, anapana, because one of the precepts in the five precepts, panadipata vedam nithikabhara, so it's a vow not to kill any living beings, and pana is the same thing, because it's a living, Something that is living is pana. So anapana is the in and out of that life force, sati is the mindfulness of the in and out of life force. It's a discourse that's pretty long and technical Very good, excellent.

Speaker 1: 25:51

My mind went a few ways with that. I love that let's transition to. We went from breath awareness, let's go to body awareness Mindfulness of bodily, physical sensations present in the body, such as warmth or tingling or tension. Relaxation, potentially without judgment or attachment, but you talk more about it.

Speaker 3: 26:25

Yeah, so in that discourse the four foundations of mindfulness is before it gets expanded into that 16th step, which is that Anapanasati, which is there's like a tetrad for each foundation and then the foundation.

Speaker 3: 26:38

First foundation is all about the body, but then in some tradition there's a breaking down of that body, that the breath body and then the physical body and then connecting the two.

Speaker 3: 26:50

So, in terms of like, some of the meditation methods that are popular in the guided meditation world is more like a body scanning, where you kind of take an inventory of different parts of the body, paying attention, and that itself can be very grounding Because you know you are present here, where your feet are, where the air is, the temperature you know when you start paying attention to. If you even like systematically scan from the top to the bottom, things feel different. So that's a simplification method of the body scan, but in the very specific technical way. In the tradition there are 32 parts of the body, which is very, very specific for each group. I'm not going to go through the list, but it goes back to the idea of vipassana again, because the essence of vipassana seeing things as they are comes under those three things, which is, things are impermanent, things are unsatisfactory and things are impersonal and each part of the body can be seen through that and that's why it is a good vipassana practice.

Speaker 1: 27:59

And the 32 parts of the body. We won't go deep, but I'll give you examples. It's very specific, including hair of the head, nails, teeth, skin bones, bone marrow kidneys, skin bones, bone marrow kidneys. I mean this type of body, mind, body connection. Is it's blood sweat? Right? It's really focusing and contemplating the visualization, each part clearly, and acknowledge the impermanent and potentially unattractive nature of these things. It's a very unique something as me, as a westerner.

Speaker 3: 28:34

Oh, that's not the meditation I've ever heard of before yeah, sometimes I'm also amazed by that because I'm in the medical field as an interpreter. The medical field has advanced so much. But if I think about the 32 parts of the body, like that's 2600 years ago. How did they figure out where the heart was? The bile, the pus, you know?

Speaker 3: 28:54

literally the pus, the bone marrow, the kidneys, yeah, the diaphragm, the intestines, the, the feces yeah, it's pretty cool I mean also the traditions or the stories that I've heard of is that in those ancient time when, when there is a dead body, if somebody die, they just send it to the monastery and then that's how they meditate, because they really cut the body open and that's how they figure out where different parts are? Yeah so it's kind of yeah, scary.

Speaker 3: 29:25

These contemplating these 32 body parts, I imagine, can give a perspective on whatever this bodily existence is which can lead to, with the vipassana, more insight and a different awareness that I might not be humble enough or grounded enough to really tap into yeah, I mean that is the tradition of, but for me, like I do practice the mindfulness of death every now and then, but the mindfulness of the repulsiveness and the 32 parts I don't know if it's because I got into yoga recently, like I'm at a place where I'm, like I love my body, you know, I don't think about the repulsiveness. To be honest, I don't don't know if I'm a bad Buddhist in that sense, but what I have heard of is that when somebody is struggling really bad with lustfulness, like sex-related desire, things, this is the technique that is given to the student the repulsiveness oh, this is what you're lasting after. So it really kills or it really reduces if it's a problem.

Speaker 1: 30:33

And listeners, don't worry, we're going to go to the meta love and so it really kills or it really reduces if it's a problem. And listeners, don't worry, we're going to go to the meta love and kindness meditation soon. But you're right. You did just hear him say meditation on death and maranasati, maranasati.

Speaker 3: 30:46

Yeah, marana is death, yeah, okay.

Speaker 1: 30:51

So this is as unique, I think, as we're going to go. But this meditation involves reflecting on the reality of death and the impermanence of life. In this type of meditation, the practitioner contemplates certainly the certainty of death I always say there's nothing more surreal but real than death but the uncertainty of its, its timing, the acknowledging the inevitability of their own mortality and the impermanence of this. But since you brought it up, talk a little bit more about the meditation on death yeah, it's.

Speaker 1: 31:24

It's kind of difficult to talk about it without the reincarnation aspect so whenever zol has brought this up to me in the past, we've always haven't done a deep dive, but he uses the word. It's a little morbid, but go ahead.

Speaker 3: 31:40

No, yeah, what I meant to say is that, like, because the way of thinking in the West is a little different and this mindfulness of death cannot be detached from the Buddhist cosmology or the way we see the universe, so there is an aspect of reincarnation past life, previous lives, future lives, things like that. So to extract mindfulness of death outside of that can be kind of meaningless, because in Buddhism or in the Buddhist cosmology death is not the end, it's just an event, like a passing on to something else.

Speaker 3: 32:16

So mindfulness of death is in that context that things that I'm holding onto right now are going to be left behind. So what's important, so the goal of mindfulness of death is to really make the idea of karma pronounced, that what am I really carrying with me past this event is my actions, either mental, verbal or bodily actions that can produce good karmic results as opposed to bad.

Speaker 1: 32:45

So in some ways, even that stresses the urgency of the present and how you live in the present with the karma, if you will, it's leading to a deeper understanding of potential priorities and values. Are there certain techniques for this type of meditation?

Speaker 3: 33:07

Yeah, so that 32 parts of the body is good entry into that. But there's also like visualization, which are very, very vivid visualizations of that degeneration, like the dead body, like the arrival of that one day and then really visualizing it in the head and then even to make it even worse, that degeneration of the body and then really disappearing into dust, you know generation of the body and then really disappearing into dust.

Speaker 1: 33:36

You know, and from my little research I've done, it's the visualizing, the gradual decomposition and decay of our own human corpse potentially vividly imagine the various stages of decay and even to the level of being bloated and discolored and eventual decomposing into the bones to dust. I mean, that's a really accepting way of looking of the human body dying. But, like you're saying, it's not everything that's dying.

Speaker 3: 34:13

Yeah, it really connects back to the true purpose of meditation in Buddhism, because the whole essence of that practice is to really get to the essence. That when you think about it that way, you're like, oh wait, what's important here, what really is the essence of my existence? And then it just dispels all the distractions and a bunch of noises Like wait, things that I'm worried about right now, do they even matter? It just it dispels all the distractions and a bunch of noises, you know, like wait, things that I'm worried about right now, do they even matter? Then it really penetrates towards like, oh wait, what's important? Which is all about wait, how am I cultivating my mind? Am I expressing love to the one that I love? Am I creating good memories, meaningful relationships, things like that?

Speaker 1: 34:50

But there is that sense of like urgency and the motivation to do good yeah, and it's funny, it's it loosely, I don't know if it's bali, but it loosely translate to meditation of the unattractive, and I almost see that as a metaphor, not for like the death, but like how do I get rid of the unattractive parts of myself? So how can I rid that and let that die and decay, because my body certainly is but I do want to switch into something positive.

Speaker 1: 35:24

You know, like a positive note it didn't take us long to go from breath work, body work to to where we went.

Speaker 3: 35:31

Go ahead, yeah because there is that, because in, in, in the real sense, the goal is to for the dispassion to occur, like when I see reality as it is, I just want to let go of it. That really is like the setup for buddhism, that oh wait, are these the things that I'm being attached to? And as soon as you see the reality, you're like like, oh, I'm just going to let it go. So that's how that motivation for liberation is created. But at the same time there's also a room for living productively and joyfully in this world too, which to me personally is in the first foundation of mindfulness, because that's also where gladdening of the mind, the refreshing of the mind, living a really productive, quality life, it's also possible.

Speaker 3: 36:22

In that first four steps of the first foundation of mindfulness, there's that aspect you establish your practice with the breath, but then, as soon as you have established that there is a way to connect that breath body with the physical body, where you breathe in and you become aware, start feeling the body. And then the other aspect is to use that concentration to soften, uh, to gladden, different parts of the body. So these are very, very practical for a layman, like living in a society kind of ways, because there's a tensing up of different things and then these methods can be very helpful because I become more useful, more at ease and I can be more present. So it's not like it might be a way of like selling yourself short in a way not taking the full extent of budd, the liberation, but this can be good enough or good to be able to like at ease and then be functional and then bring joy and happiness to people around you.

Speaker 1: 37:23

And I think that's a lot of our motivation to practice or try meditation is I want to be at ease, be at ease and I hear for a lot of people the residual effect is some ease, some comfort, less anxiety, less fear, less racing thoughts, and it's walking with purpose.

Speaker 3: 37:46

and speaking of that walking meditation, tell us about that yeah, that's also is connected to the breathing meditation in a way, except that it requires more paying attention, because the specific instruction you know with breathing, you pay attention, you breathe in, you know that you're breathing in, you breathe out, you know that you're breathing out, which is very, very simple, how you can walk in a circle or you can walk in a line back and forth. But the practice becomes a little complex because you start the beginning is like, oh right, foot, left foot.

Speaker 1: 38:21

But then it can be very detailed in the way that left foot lifting up, left foot in the air, left foot landing and then the gap, you know like becoming very mindful of that, and it can be very, very grounding too, but also really good for the body to to kind of balance that with sitting, sitting and walking can be very beneficial yeah, I think a lot of us compare this to quote unquote mindfulness being aware of the bodily movements, the way you explain, and then it's the potential sensations of the bodily movements, and then it can be the awareness and mindfulness of the bodily movements, the way you explain, and then it's the potential sensations of the bodily movements, and then it can be the awareness and mindfulness of the surrounding environment, and it's certainly more than going back to the breath or the filling up of the lungs or the sensation on the nose. So it's a lot of maintaining awareness with a lot of different aspects. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 39:17

Yeah, I've heard people you said like a straight line, but a lot of people do this in their walks in the woods, you know, and it leads to a form of mindfulness. Is this a good time to talk about mindfulness and meditation that some people we've brought up in the past? But your thoughts on what is mindfulness? What is meditation? What is the difference? What is your insight on that? Zol?

Speaker 3: 39:45

Yeah, I've also heard of mindfulness meditation. I don't know what you make of that. The Lantandra.

Speaker 3: 39:54

But yeah, when it comes to, I mean, I guess, to connect more with Vipassana, like mindfulness makes more sense because in Buddhist tradition, mindfulness is the word, which is the word that already existed before the Buddha, but he used that term anyway to make sense out of it, which is to remember.

Speaker 3: 40:19

So like meditation can be. Oh yeah, whatever shows up, I'm gonna work with it or I'm gonna concentrate, I'm gonna focus on the singleness, concentration, the one point in it of the mind which can be meditation. But mindfulness has an agenda in a way in buddhist tradition that I am mindful, I am remembering what my purpose is, what I should do with my mind in this moment, and then being able to recall that map or the roadmap. So like for me, that's how I differentiate between especially if I think about mindfulness in a non-secular or like in a buddhist tradition, not in like a western therapeutic, you know, buddhism stripped away kind of mindfulness, which is kind of different in the modern world. But in my tradition mindfulness has specifically to do with I need to bring my attention to, or I need to call to mind about, the eightfold path and then the Four Noble Truths. Like am I doing that? Remembering to bring that back?

Speaker 1: 41:21

Yeah, that's good. Well, let's almost wrap up with what a lot of people that do yoga, the metta or the love and kindness meditation, I guess my description would be. It's a practice of cultivating unconditional love, kindness, goodwill towards oneself and others. It involves generating, hopefully radiating, feelings of love and kindness towards oneself, loved ones, individuals, difficult people and, ultimately, all beings. How would you describe this practice?

Speaker 3: 42:00

Yeah, it's a very universal, user-friendly kind of method. You know, everybody needs love, everybody needs some kindness in this world, no matter what era we're in, you know there is always it's good to radiate that, Right yeah.

Speaker 3: 42:13

So it's very good because you end up generating positive energy in yourself, with other people, and it's a big part of our tradition too. But what I have heard of I'm not really good with the numbers or I don't know like academically or scholastically, but I believe it was like a ministry of 40 years or 45 years of Buddha teaching after his enlightenment until he died. But what I have heard of is that the compassion and the loving, kindness practices only came later, like it was introduced much later. But in the beginning it was all about the Four Noble Truth, the suffering, you know, the Eightfold Path. But the compassion part came later, which kind of makes sense too.

Speaker 1: 42:58

Yeah, they're quite practical yeah, and as a therapist I talk about what energy you put out can be the energy you receive or you feel so. Doing a love and kindness can foster a sense of connection, compassion and empathy towards, and kindness can foster a sense of connection, compassion and empathy towards oneself and others, and that's a good foundational place to be. Even though you might not feel that you're getting kindness, love and compassion back, it doesn't mean you have to give hatred and resentment towards them, reduce feelings of anger, resentment, judgment, while promoting for a lot of us and most importantly, inner peace and emotional resilience and positive relationships and karma, if you will.

Speaker 3: 43:45

Yeah, it's a good practice because it requires effort, just like with meditation. It's not like oh, yeah, I can meditate, it's so easy, I can just sit. But loving kindness is like that too. It's not like, oh, I'm all inclined to be loving all the time. That's not the nature of our mind. So it's a good mindfulness practice because you need to train your mind to be like okay, yeah, may you be happy.

Speaker 1: 44:07

And for our 12-step recovery listeners. What does the big book say? When you're resentful towards someone, pray for them. Pray for them. So it works every time. It's a form of love and kindness meditation. No meta, if you will. Yeah, very cool. Well, any other? Any other thoughts, examples as we spring forward? I mean, we've certainly had quite a list and of, uh, ways to meditate, with different intentions or focuses or techniques.

Speaker 3: 44:37

Yeah, yeah, if it was like a lot and if it was all over the place. I just want to summarize with three main points. After everything that we talked about when it comes to springing forward into meditation, as the title suggests, is that breath base One breathes in, one knows that he's breathing in. You know, that can be as simple as that. And also the body scan paying attention.

Speaker 3: 45:01

Breathing in, you become present with different parts of your body, whatever draws your attention, and then being present with it. And then the loving-kindness part. You know it can be as specific as may I be happy today, you know. May I take care of myself today and may I be at ease today. And to kind of balance it out, you can even say that to your loved ones. You don't even have to say it verbally, but like setting an intention for the day. May I be loving to my children today, you know. May you be happy today. So those can have really powerful ripple effects down the line, you know. So those are the three main components of what we talked about today.

Speaker 1: 45:39

So Zao's ability to keep things simple always amazes me and we have a lot of listeners throughout the country and around the world. And if you'd like to learn more from Zaw, he does specific mindfulness and meditation coaching one-on-one and you can find us at the links in the episode notes or at the Recovery Collective, and he's been known to do some individual meditation coaching, if not using the Buddhist principles for life coaching and throughout his whole coaching practice. So if you want to do more of a deep dive, he's going to keep it simple for you, but you're more than welcome to do that. But I also want to say thank you, zal, and congratulations on nine years sober recently, oh yeah.

Speaker 3: 46:26

Thank you.

Speaker 1: 46:27

You're welcome.

Speaker 1: 46:28

Years go by fast. It does, doesn't it? Check out, zal has all kinds of articles and blogs on the topic of meditation and they're wonderful. So go, go read some of those articles and blogs if you want to find out more.

Speaker 1: 46:44

But as we embrace the energy of spring and embark on a journey of renewal and growth, we've explored a variety of meditation techniques and practices rooted in Theravada Buddhism. Each of these practices offer unique insights and benefits, serving as the powerful tools for cultivating mindfulness, insight and, hopefully, inner peace. From the profound introspection, where we confront the impermanence, to the expansive compassion of metta meditation, where we cultivate love and kindness towards ourselves and others. Each meditation invites us to deepen our understanding of ourselves and to the world around us. The walking meditation allows us to integrate mindfulness into our daily movements, while the mindfulness of breathing anchors us in the present moment throughout the breath. Body awareness practices like the 32 parts of the body meditation help us develop a deeper connection to our physical form, fostering acceptance and appreciation to ourselves as we are.

Speaker 1: 47:44

As we spring forward, let us harness the power of meditation to nurture our minds, bodies and spirits. Whether we seek clarity, insight or simply a moment of peace amidst life's busyness, there is a meditation practice suited to our needs and aspirations. As we cultivate mindfulness and compassion within ourselves, may we also radiate these qualities outwards, touching the lives of others with warmth and understanding. Until next time, may your journey of self-discovery and growth be filled with joy, peace and boundless possibilities. If this episode has been beneficial, please give us a like and subscribe and share with others. If you've made it to the deep end with us, happy meditating as we spring forward into the beauty of the present moment. My name is Luke and this is Zal.

Speaker 3: 48:29

Thank you all for listening.