Well, I don't usually use the nostrils (I only use focussing on the nostrils for concentration practise) but for me it's one object at a time. Ultimately, according to Theravada Abhidhamma and Commentary, the mind can only take one object at a time (but cycles rapidly). What seems to become apparent with good mindfulness and concentration (several days into a retreat) is that consciousness jumps (very rapidly) from one sense door to another.catmoon wrote:This raises a question. When going from minding breath to sensation at the nostrils to the next object of focus, are the previous objects then abandoned or do you try to keep 'em all going at once?
So, with Ben's question:
As I said above, the instruction is to jump from object to object. I didn't think it was possible to do anything else...ben wrote: I don't know the Mahasi technique very well so here are my impressions of what I think you are referring to and how it differs (or how I perceive it to be different to what I am referring to).
Frm what you are describing it sounds like you are adverting awarenes from breath to non-breath sensation and then back again. Whereas, what I am referring to is maintaining unobstructed awareness on the breath while also maintaining the same degree of awareness on another object, say, non-breath sensation, thought, mental state.
Let me emphasise that I've been speaking from the point of view of Mahasi-style practise. Other teachers, such as Goenka, take different approaches, and mixing the instructions could be confusing.
Mike