There is some skill and art involved in learning how to wield one’s awareness for the practice of vipassana or insight meditation. Awareness can be intentionally deployed in different ways at different times. For instance, awareness can at times be focused exclusively on the body – either the feeling of the breath in the body or one’s bodily movements. This can sometimes produce a calming effect through the suppression of mental/emotional phenomena but typically does not lead to insight. At other times, a wider awarenessing may be deployed that simultaneously takes in both the body and mind more broadly. This can facilitate insight into rūpa-nāma – a recognition that body and mind are separate components that comprise the experience of being a person, and an understanding of how these two things work together. This is also a way to practice that can help ground us in our daily lives. And at still other times, one might narrow the beam of one’s awareness to observe the rising and passing away of individual momentary phenomena in the body and mind. This can lead to the recognition of the three key characteristics of all phenomena that is necessary for liberation – anicca-dukkha-anatta (impermanence-unsatisfactoriness-uncontrollability). An appreciation for these different ways of wielding one’s awareness can help one overcome obstacles in one’s practice and avoid becoming stuck.
In this retreat, we will practice intentionally deploying these different modes of awarenessing, experientially explore how they differ from each other, and consider how to decide which one might be called for at any given time. This retreat is open to both beginners and experienced meditators. While it will be conducted mainly in silence, there will be brief instructions in vipassana meditation available, an introductory Dhamma talk, and a discussion period at the end.