Each morning, we were introduced to a new insight practice to experiment with. The practice that surprised me the most was noticing vedanā – the pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral feeling tones that come with every experience.
We all on some level have noticed that feelings, no matter their “tone”, are impermanent. You don’t need to be a Buddhist to know that. We all have had mornings that started with lethargy and dejectedness but evolved through the day into excitement and vitality, and vice versa. However, a quieter mind can unpack the moment-to-moment changes that appear to the distracted mind as continuous.
What, for example, constitutes a “pleasant walk”? I explored this on a trail outside the meditation hall, taking in the sounds, sights, and sensations that presented themselves and their feeling tone. When my eyes landed on an ancient tree or a vibrant flower, joy arose from seeing beauty; almost immediately, joy was already on its way out. This unpleasantness (or even just neutrality) from the fading joy would propel the mind to flit toward another source of feel-good. As long as the eyes could find another beautiful or interesting object, the pleasant experience would continue seemingly uninterrupted. What hit me on this morning’s walk, as a jolt of pleasure faded away without the impulse to reach for more, was so vivid that it felt like the first time I saw it, but also so simple that it felt almost silly to say out loud. It was this: pleasant feelings are impermanent.
This realization was likely made more apparent by the stark contrast between spikes of pleasant sensations and the stable, restful, prolonged bliss of concentration states. This is another benefit of the jhanas that I experienced during the retreat: bathing in the jhanas again and again, the mind and body learn of a better alternative to the only kind of pleasure they have known. This allowed for a more sobering view of sensual pleasure and lessened the obsession with them.
Of course, this is a gradual process, not one-and-done (I still reached for a chocolate brownie at the lunch line). But this insight was a big step for me. One can repeat to oneself “Pleasurable feelings are impermanent,” but without any other alternative, what can one do? If that’s the only source of pleasure one has ever tasted, one will still obsess over hoarding as much as possible, even if one knows intellectually of its fickleness. Unlike views or ideas, experience is remembered by the whole body. Furthermore, not only is the spiritual bliss of the jhanas more restful and stable, but the path there is directly opposed to how one obtains pleasures in the world: letting go of one’s desires instead of identifying with and following them. Celebrating the experience, recalling it, living one’s life by it… little by little, one widens the gap between stimulus and reaction and weakens the constricting habit of craving.
This series covers my (still very new) experience of learning the jhanas during a retreat and practicing with them in daily life.
Part 1: Supportive Conditions
Part 2: you are here!
Part 3: Six Months After
