Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

Hello everyone!

I was wondering if anyone would be able to help me with an issue that has been frustrating me recently, regarding labelling/noting.

I have been trying to work out, when doing vipassana meditation, if, when my attention is drawn away from my breath, say to feelings of 'fear' for example, which I would then observe, should that 'fear' then turn into 'anger' after my observation has caused the 'fear' to dissolve, should I then observe the 'anger' that has arose on the back of the original feeling 'fear', or should I instantly refocus on the breath.

Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere, (a quick search turned up nothing) and further apologies if my question appears nonsensical!

Best wishes to you all!

Sittter.

If concentration is poor then it's probably best to keep going back to the breath after noting the fear and then the anger, if concentration is good then stay with observing whatever experience is dominant at the time.

Hi Goofaholix,

thank you for helping to clear that up for me, my thinking was similar, but hearing it from somebody else makes me feel more at ease.

thanks for asking. I came on here about to post something similar, so im glad I found this and might as well just add on here instead of starting a new topic..

what if theres a lot going on in my awareness? like, one thing will take me away from my breath, and then before that thing fully dissolves something else stronger pops up, and then other, and other. should I just go and note whatever is strongest at the time? I don't know if my concentration is bad, since I seem to be aware of everything, I just feel like it takes me for a ride and then I end up getting confused having to note so much.

also, I seem to have the tendency to "look" around for stuff when not much is going on instead of going back to breath. of course Ill always find something, even if its the sensation of "sitting". is this a bad habit that I need to break?

lastly, how important is it to note the "rising" and "falling" of the stomach, opposed to the in and out of breath? ive heard that concentration is stronger if you use the nasal, and I feel like ive worked pretty hard in previous techniques at keeping it at the nasal.

thanks for taking the time to answer. ive had no formal training in vipassana, although I have in a few other methods, and for me it's been the most tricky but beneficial thing so far.

thanks again,

justin

my tendency to "look around for stuff" is the same as described by the other poster in a topic below about waiting to "snipe" whatever comes up next, or whatever I can find. so ill just observe and note that for now on. I do sometimes feel like im just "sniping" away at bad things in meditation, unless im in for a while and more relaxed then it becomes more natural..

I hope this may some help to you.
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Mindfulness In Plain English
http://www.stefan.gr/buddhism/books/hen ... nglish.pdf

Hi fringeclass,

Here are some useful resources on this approach:
http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=341#p6695

Mike

FRINGECLASS wrote:my tendency to "look around for stuff" is the same as described by the other poster in a topic below about waiting to "snipe" whatever comes up next, or whatever I can find. so ill just observe and note that for now on. I do sometimes feel like im just "sniping" away at bad things in meditation, unless im in for a while and more relaxed then it becomes more natural..

Sniping like this just burns up a lot of energy as you jump from object to object and encourages restlessness. The mind is capable of being aware of whatever it needs to if you just let it, so it's better to open the mind up and just maintain an attitude of observing. Think of the mind like an empty sky, objects arise and pass away within it, objects pass through but the sky remains stable, and open, letting it all happen without grasping or aversion, without jumping from object to object.

thanks all, i will check these out..

metta