You should be noting continuously from the time you get up until you go to bed. In whichever posture you may be in such as lying, standing, sitting or walking, you should be noting continuously. You may think that it is too much to note every object continuously. Actually, if you divide practice into three sections such as sitting, walking and general activities, then it will not be that much.
According to the Satipatthāna Sutta, however, there is no specific advice on what object one should start one’s practice with. But in the beginning of the practice, the best way is to follows the vipassana formula, “Whatever is obvious, vipassana is focused on that.” That is why we highly recommend you to start practice by noting rising and falling of the abdomen as a home object because it is always available and easily noticeable. When your insight becomes more mature, you can note any object most obvious without making choice.
Buddha described three suitable places for meditation practice: in the forest, under a tree and in a secluded place. Here in this meditation center there are trees, so it is somewhat like a forest, but I do not mean that you have to sit under a tree. And also this meditation center is quiet and peaceful and therefore should be regarded as a secluded place (suññāgāra). You made right choice to come and practice here in this center. Regarding the suitable posture, Buddha taught us how to sit properly, i.e., to sit cross-legged with the upper body upright (pallankam ābhuzitvā ujum kāyam panidhāya). You should sit comfortably with legs crossed without pressing one leg on the other. You can see the Buddha image how the upper body is upright. It should be ninety degrees perpendicular to the floor. And then direct the noting mind into the meditative object (parimukham satim upatthapetvā). According to Mahasi tradition, yogis should direct the noting mind towards the rising and falling of the abdomen as main object and follow it from beginning to the end.
In the beginning, as his mind wanders here and there, the yogi may miss noting many things. But he should not be disheartened. Every beginner in meditation encounters the same difficulty. But as he becomes more practiced, he becomes aware of every act of mind-wandering until eventually the mind does not wander any more.
The beginning yogi is likely to miss several things which he should note, but he should resolve to note all. He cannot of course help it if he overlooks and misses some, but, as his samadhi (concentration) becomes strong, he will be able to note closely all these happenings.
For sitting meditation
During sitting, you note rising and falling of the abdomen as the primary object, as well as other prominent secondary objects that arise.
During the sitting meditation, you are supposed to note rising and falling of the abdomen as the object. When the secondary objects, such as pain, wandering thoughts, become prominent, you can note them, too.
From practical aspect, all you have to do is to try your best to be aware of obvious objects arising at present moment. Your chosen primary objects are the rising and falling of the abdomen during sitting and the movements of feet during walking. When you note the rising, for example, you should try your best to be aware of the phenomena involved in it from the beginning to the end of the rising. The same is true with the feet during walking.
Although ‘rising, falling of the abdomen’ is noted in common language, what actually to experience is the nature of wind element such as stiffness, tension or movement involved in the rising process and relaxation, contraction, movement in the falling process. In order to be aware of such natures, yogi needs to note objects applying jhānic factors. At the beginning of the practice, however, yogi may not see such true nature but only see form or shape of the abdomen or mode or manner of moving. In due course of time, concentration will get strong enough to realize the true natures beyond the form, shape or manner. Depending on where the noting mind falls onto, yogi will come to know stiffness, tension, or movement accordingly. Thus, there are three things to be known by observing mental and physical phenomena: form and shape (santhāna), mode or manner (ākāra) or nature (sabhāva).
You should start vipassanā meditation by noting the most obvious object. Physical objects are the most obvious ones. Again, the air element (vāyo-dhātu) is the most obvious among the physical objects. That is why we recommend you to start your practice noting the air-generated physical objects like in-and-out breath or rising and falling of the abdomen. When your practice gains momentum, however, you can start your practice noting whatever obvious.
There is a phrase in the Satipatthāna Sutta: “sabbakāya-patisamvedī, perceiving the entire object.” It means that when you note an object, your awareness should follow from its very beginning all the way to its end. Only then, will your awareness cover and spread over the entire object. That is the meaning of the phrase sabbakāya-patisamvedī. It is quite easy for every body to be aware of such physical objects as rising and falling of the abdomen from the very beginning to the end. As for the awareness of mind, the object is too subtle for a beginner to find where to focus and how to note it concurrently. You need to make it clear where your attention is focused on and how you follow the mind from the very beginning to the very end.
At the beginning of the practice, however, it will be difficult for a yogi to note that many objects. A beginner should start his or her practice with objects easy and obvious like lessons a child starts in the school. And Buddha gave in-and-out breath (ānāpāna) for the mind to anchor. The rising and falling of the abdomen should be treated similarly.
In the beginning of the practice when you note rising, falling, first you are likely to see its form, shape or manner of movement. Sometimes, you may be merely labeling the object (nāma-paññatti) without seeing anything substantial. Later, however, when your effort, mindfulness, and concentration develop, you will be able to see real phenomena beyond those conceptual form, shape, manner or name as the saying goes: “When concept emerges, the ultimate reality will submerge; when the ultimate reality emerges, the concept will submerge.”
For walking mediation
During walking, you should keep your attention on the foot and note lifting, moving, and placing without paying attention to secondary objects like seeing, hearing, thoughts or itchiness. If the mind is totally distracted by these and goes off the foot, or if you really want to note them, however, you have to stop walking and note them accordingly. Right afterward, you should go back to the feet and note lifting, moving, and placing. The reason is that if you note other objects while you are walking, you would get confused among the moving feet and secondary objects, and your awareness would be superficial. This is the difference between sitting meditation and walking meditation.
During walking it is the legs that should be moving and other parts remain still and steady. You should just look down instead of here and there. There may be noises and voices but you should not pay attention to them.
. When you start walking meditation you are asked to make one note for one step, “right” or “left” accordingly; later two notes, “lifting, placing”; then three notes, “lifting, moving and placing.” In this way, you can increase the meditative objects gradually. Thus you can make faster progress in the practice.
. During the walking you keep your attention on the feet noting lifting, moving, placing. And at other times when you are doing general activities you should be noting every movement. You should have the determination: “I will not fail to note anything obvious to me, even the smallest minute activity”. If you have such determination and note carefully, you will miss very few. Although you miss, you will know it.
During walking, you should keep your attention on the foot and note lifting, moving, and placing. You should not pay attention to other objects during walking in the way you do during sitting. When noting lifting, moving and placing, the noting mind may fall on the form or shape, or mode or manner of the foot. Yet, it is still beneficial to some extent. But your noting mind should not rest only on that stage. It should go beyond that until the true nature of the object such as lightness that is characterized by air element and the series of intention that determines the actual lifting. And when the foot is released to place down, the heaviness will be obvious. When the foot is fully placed on the ground, you may feel resistance against the ground, hardness or softness. In order to know the true nature involved in lifting, moving, placing, you should be noting them concurrently.
At the end of the lane you should stop and note standing, standing, standing. While standing the legs or the feet are fully rested on the floor with the upper body upright. You should keep the awareness not only on the feet or legs but also the entire body as a whole. There are the series of intention to stand which generates the actual standing. Also there is air element in the body that is supporting the body to be upright, stiff and erect. You should be aware of them. In order to know them as they really are as I mentioned repeatedly, you should be noting them the moment they are obvious. And when turning also you should do it slowly and mindfully noting turning, turning, turning.
When going, you are supposed to keep your eyes down, looking about six feet ahead. Remember it is only the eyes but not the head to keep down.
For daily activites
When the yogi is able to note the primary object or prominent secondary objects with full attention (aiming) and effort, then it is not necessary to make an attempt to contemplate on the mind for the development of cittā-nupassanā. But when you find the mind wanders or associated with lust or anger, then it is necessary to be aware of it to develop cittā-nupassanā but not otherwise.
Yogis have faith and confidence in the practice and strong will to get its benefits. They are likely to be excessively eager by asserting excessive effort in the practice. Then, the noting mind overshoots the object. Their mind scatters as if thrown into far. Such scattered or restless mind is called vikkhitta. In this case, you need to fine tune so that the noting mind will be concurrent with the object. Only then will there be balance of these mental states. The noting mind will fall onto the object.
For a yogi, the laziness is the nearest internal enemy that is ruining the practice. In order to fight and dispel this enemy you should try your best to be aware of the laziness itself or whatever is obvious at the present moment with aim and effort.
The activities like standing up, sitting down, bending, stretching should also be done slowly and mindfully. You are strong, you can get up or sit down abruptly. During the practice, however, you should act like sick, weak, and feeble person doing every thing slowly and mindfully so that you can keep pace with the activities you are doing. But the noting mind must be always fast and active so that you can note the presently arising object.
For report
In order for the meditation teachers to give you necessary and suitable guidance, you should explain these three things: what object occurs to you, how you note it, and what you come to know about it. If your report based on your imagination or thoughts, but not on your own experience, then your report will not make any sense.
The meditation teacher may ask yogi “Can you note rising and falling concurrently with full attention and concentration? If you can do so, what do you come to know? Noting rising, what do you come to know? Noting falling, what do you come to know?” A yogi who notes properly and honestly will be able to give proper answer to the questions. Yogi must answer whether he or she comes to know form and shape of the abdomen, or mode or manner of moving, or the nature such as stiffness, tension, warmth, cold, heat, pressure, movement and so on. If the yogi gave the answers from his or her own thoughts or imagination, his or her answers would not be satisfying to the teacher.
You should report in a simple and clear manner what you have experienced when you note the primary objects or secondary objects. There are three things to report: what object occurs to you, how you note it and what you come to know or experience. For example, you may report thus: “When I breathe in, the abdomen rises. I noted it as rising. I experiences tension or tightness,” and so on. The same is true with falling, lifting, and so on. When reporting, you should start your report with noting the primary object before secondary ones.
For instance, if you look at something, you will know what it is. In the same way, when you note a meditative object, you will come to know what it is in terms of its true nature. You should report it in a short, precise and clear way. You should explain the quality of your practice, whether you can note an object with full attention and precise mindfulness. If you are able to do so, you should report what you come to know. Did you see form or shape of the abdomen, or its mode or manner of moving, or its true nature such as stiffness, tension, warmth, cold, heat, movement and so on? These are how or what you should report.
If you are not able to note properly and the mind is wandering somewhere else, you should report it, too. You should describe exactly what the problem is with your practice. If you can note one object after another continuously with aim and effort, there will be less wandering. Even though the wandering arises, you will know it right away. You can control over your mind by noting the presently arising objects with aim and effort.
. According to the western idea, it takes place in the brain but the eastern idea says it takes place on the heart-base (hadaya-vatthu). Most of the consciousness takes place in the heart which is the center of the blood circulation. So, to note the mind, you should focus your attention on the heart area. The Buddha did not mention where the heart base is.
In order for the meditation teachers to give you necessary and suitable guidance, you should explain these three things: what object occurs to you, how you note it, and what you come to know about it. If your report based on your imagination or thoughts, but not on your own experience, then your report will not make any sense.