58 Mindfulness of the body (4)

Alan Wallace Fall 2012 Retreat Podcast: Vipashyana, Four Applications of Mindfulness

Teaching: Alan continues with verses 85-87 in Ch. 9 of the Bodhicaryavatara covering components of the body. Just as we examined the body, we now examine parts of the body, going all the way down to the atomic level. As long as something has attributes, it can be divided further. The Vaibashika view contends that while we view the world with our senses and that configurations depend on our way of perceiving, atoms are truly existent. The Madhyamika view understands dependent origination as follows: 1) conditioned phenomena arise in dependence on prior causes and conditions, 2) parts and attributes, and 3) conceptual designations. The Dalai Lama says that which you’re pointing your finger at and holding to be already out there from its own side does not exist in that way. In the dzogchen view, dharmadhatu, primordial consciousness, and energy of primordial consciousness are all co-extensive. Perhaps it is possible to arrive at this one reality via different doors—e.g., probing matter, probing space, or probing the mind.
Meditation: mindfulness of the body. Attend to the 5 elements in the space of your body. Open your eyes, and see the form of your body. Note the difference between the tactile and visual perceptions. Apart from these tactile and visual perceptions, is there anything else of the body you can perceive? These perceptions are arising and dissolving either in the space of the body (tactile) or the space of the mind (visual). What do you think of as “my body” among all these perceptions? As in the Heart Sutra, form is emptiness, and emptiness is form. Appearances are mere appearances that arise from and dissolve into space. Appearances consist of space. Appearances are none other than space which is empty. Release the conceptual designation “my body” and rest in the realm of appearances, which are the basis for designation yet empty.
Q1. For me, lucid dreaming starts with me being aware that I’m asleep (body is paralyzed). As the dreamscape begins to unfold, I’m not sure how best to make use of this opportunity.?
Q2. This is a question about emptiness and atoms. While people may question the reality that arises to meet them, interdependence makes classical reality true for all of us within the same quantum system. ?
Q3. In Ven. Analayo’s book on the satipatthana sutta, he covers the dry insight approach which dispenses with shamatha and describes sati as attacking an object like a stone hitting the wall which sounds like it requires a lot of effort. ?
Q4. There are claims of people achieving multiple dhyanas or offering 1-2 week retreats to move through all the dhyanas. From your perspective, you seem sceptical of these claims. Do such people have experiences which somehow match the dhyanas, or are there references to dhyanas with lower levels of realization?

Meditation starts at 40:19