Pablo P. Practice Journal

[PabloP]

Below, a short summary of Shinzen Young's noting protocols.

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Shinzen Young offers four Noting strategies, plus a traverse noting tool that crosses/mixes with all of them.

Focus In: deconstruct the self by exploring mental images and talk, plus emotional body sensations. The divide and conquer strategy (five aggregates, four foundations, four elements). It’s the closest method to Mahasi Sayadaw Noting.

Focus Out: experiencing oneness with the outside world by anchoring to external sights and sounds, plus exploring the physical body sensations. It merges aspects of Zen practice and Taoist monistic philosophy.

Focus on Rest: feel a restful body and mind, by learning how muscles relax either by themselves or because of an intentional relaxation. Also note when the body is without emotional feeling. The main difference with a other Samatha traditions is that you have to note/label whether the restful feelings come from visual, auditory o body aspects.

Focus on Flow: keep track of the change of sensory experience, and the (outer and inner) forces that create that change. There are two versions of this noting strategy. The first one is focus on the flow of phenomena (akin to noting impermanence, or the Qi flow focus of Chinese medicine and martial arts). The second one is focus on expansion-contraction (akin to Taoism (Yin-Yang), Taichichuan’s filling & emptying, and Joshu Sasaki’s Zen).

In the first version, notes should be done on visual, auditory and somatic flow. The labels are just those three, though they are referring to the many facets of flow. For example, in “somatic flow” you keep track of increase-decrease of intensity, frequency and size, and the inward-outward pressures plus the display of vibrations (as bubbliness, undulations, vibrations,etc).

In the second version, you note the simultaneous expansion-contraction forces within each phenomena, or of different ones. IMO, this kind of method works best when coupled with the Gone noting tool, which a describe below. Here the labels are just three: expansion, contraction and both, where you add later “gone”.

Focus on Gone: note vanishings, that is the passing part of A&P. This noting tool feeds and is feed by all other four focuses, though it’s not easy to note vanishings in an already restful body and mind (Focus on Rest). The idea is that by noting a stream of “micro-endings” eventually the gaps between the “gones” get shorter and shorter until a figure-ground reversal takes place. Gone then becomes the abiding ground. IMO, the shortage of labels in Shinzen Young’s noting strategies seek not only reduce the complexity of the job, but also foster an equanimous perception and in particular let those “gone moments” show up.

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So far, I have tailored my own noting strategy (as Shinzen Young encourages), where off-cushion I Focus Out and Focus on Gone, and on-cushion I blend both Focus on Flow versions with Focus on Gone. In particular, I found that there is a (needed) complement to note vanishings, which is noting the “tipping point” when/where and expansion switches to a contraction, and vice versa. It’s like a gone moment while I’m still fully immersed in the phenomena. In that way, I put myself in a situation where equanimously should wait for all phenomena to unravel and show itself. There’s also another third tipping point, where phenomena arises out of a restful state, but it’s harder to catch (unless probably you already have a deep concentration skills, which I don’t). Occasionally, I do see that happen with spontaneous Taoist reverse-breathing.

In short, my noting labels are: “pop” when a visual, auditory or body phenomena pops up, “expansion” when it grows, “contraction” when it shrinks, “change” in the tipping-point, “gone” when it vanishes, and “rest” when nothing arises. All along the sitting session there are plenty of times when I have a broader perspective and I’m able note expansion-contraction by pairs (“both” label). So far, I haven’t seen them both disappear by pairs too often, but do happen individually or in sequence: an expansion-gone moment and then (or before) a contraction-gone moment.

[PabloP]

Usually I sit for about an hour. At around the 45' mark, I power up the sitting with 5' diaphragmatic breathing and keep the rest of the session in a restful samatha-like state and/or follow expansion/contraction at the dantian.

- The "pop" label I mentioned earlier is needless. Phenomena always is arising, but I can't note it at the very beginning. The rare occasion when I can note it is when just before there was a gone moment. But in this case, the phenomena (usually bodily sensations) show up as expansion/contraction. So, the noting labels in use are expansion, change, contraction, gone, rest.

- Only a few longish events can be noted with all of the labels, like outside sounds, a full tension-relaxation cycle, the breathing cycle. Otherwise, spanning from easy to difficult, I:
1) Note contraction in one place, and expansion in other non obviously related place.
2) Note expansion and an associated contraction in the same place, with different intensities.
3) Note a rapid succession of expansions and contractions.
4) Note a gone and then either a restful state or a clear stream of expansions/contractions.
5) Stay fully equanimous (as I can) not trying to relax a building tension, in order to let develop completely, arise and pass away (when the tension is big, usually a gone moment vanishes that tension).

- During the first couple of days I had these moments when I stayed without thoughts while performing daily tasks, amazed by sounds. Then this disappeared and my mind was full of thoughts anytime. Nowadays, if I focus on sounds off-cushion I may (not always) have this thoughtless moments. Other phenomena spotted during these days (colorful dreams & cool flow energy --> fear images & restless thoughts & uneasiness in the chest and throat --> vanishing of all of the later coupled with easier concentration and more gone moments) let me think that I was sailing through A&P, DÑ and Low EQ.