#008 MASTER T. Message

hello students,

The more you learn the Life Handbook, the more you understand the truth of living life, and the power of mindfulness will grow in you more and more.

Here is the Life Handbook # 3 for you to digest.

The Life Handbook # 3
The Body: “The primary four postures of the body”

You understand how the correct beginning is crucial. It brings profound understanding to lead you to the Life Handbook, to be liberated from suffering forever according to the merits you have gained from the past to the present and on to the future. 

Next is the topic of "the primary four postures of the body."

The Lord Buddha said, 

All monks, there are some others to pay attention to beyond the breath observation. 

When the body is walking, you understand correctly that (now) you are observing the walking body.

Or when the body is standing, you understand correctly that (now) you are observing the standing body.
Or when the body is sitting, you understand correctly that (now) you are observing the sitting body.
Or when the body is lying down, you understand correctly that (now) you are observing the lying down body.

In whichever position you dispose of the body, understand it correctly.
Thus, all monks should observe the primary four postures in the body internally.

And observe the primary four postures in the body externally.
And observe the primary four postures in the body, both internally and externally.
And observe the normality of arising in the primary four postures in the body. 
And observe the normality of ending in the primary four postures in the body.

Thus, you observe the normality of arising and ending in the primary four postures in the body.

Now your awareness is established, realizing this is the primary four postures in the body.

That is for you to know.
And that is for you to be aware.

This way, you become detached without clinging to anything in your life and this world.
You should always consider the primary four postures in the body.

"It is the ending of the section of the body on the primary fours postures."

In this section, the Life Handbook added to your knowledge that the section on the body includes breathing in and out with the postures of standing, walking, sitting, and lying down (to put the primary four postures in the body in the present or now.) You must now be aware of observing the body while walking, standing, sitting or lying down. 

How you set the body, you must know its posture.

The phrases “observe the primary four postures in the body internally” and “observe the primary four postures in the body externally” mean seeing the position at that moment as part of the body “internally,” to feel inside that posture and “externally,” to see the pose from the observer base at home (the body). 

You understand your home concerning inhaling and exhaling breathing, which you assume is the closest to touching the point of the breath. When you bring yourself home, the awareness and you are together at home, aware of the breath moving in and out.

 While the body is walking, you sometimes with walking body, feel the sole touches the ground. Then the breath awakes in the body, and you are coming to see the breath touching and seeing the body’s movement when the sole touches the ground ahead. The seeing and the going of you is called seeing the walking body in the body internally. Seeing the walking body from the observer base at home is called seeing the walking body in the body externally. 

The Life Handbook said, “Seeing the primary four postures in the body partly internally and partly externally.” It means you are at home and can see; sometimes, you are in that walking posture. It’s the same with other poses, sitting, lying down or standing. 

That is the nature of the FFM practice. The postures of standing, walking, lying down or sitting are sometimes perceived by you by being with it, sometimes by backing the observer base at home to see it. It is not looking at someone else’s body. The Life Handbook is for one to look at one’s own life, not that of others. So this explains what is internal and what is external seeing. As you practice, you will see it yourself.

The Life Handbook wants you to see the postures as being normal. That there is arising and ending of all poses. Mindfulness reminds you of movements or stillness of the postures at the moment. It is occurring and changing. You should be aware and careful of the primary four postures of the body and remain detached. When you feel good, full of desire, joyful, and fresh with some poses, you want to do them longer. But the Life Handbook cautioned, “Do not become attached to them.” What happens will disappear as the three characteristics are illustrated. No matter how conditioned a posture is, how good you feel, or how smooth it goes, it is just part of the three characteristics. There is arising, and there is changing and finally disappearing. You see through it the postures' appearing, being and ending, walking, standing, sitting and lying down.

Thus, the Life Handbook continued, saying, “You should be detached and not cling to anything in the world.” It refers to individual life and the whole world. It is the world in which you learn about the body and mind, and it is one’s life. You must realize that even the appearance of the primary four postures is not permanent. When you are not attached to them, you are fully aware. So you come to know that you should not get attached to anything. Thus, the primary four postures, everyday phenomena, help you realize the impermanence of life. It will help you achieve enlightenment and more possibility. It enlightens you to insight knowledge.

For further understanding, I would like to explain the breathing that makes you feel the breath touching a place inside the nose to realize the arising, being and disappear, and see life as the breath of the body. You have your home (the body)), are aware of every touch and movement, and are clear (not deluded). During the mindfulness practice, it is like watching the demonstration of the three characteristics of impermanent, imperfect and uncontrollable. You “bring yourself home” and try to stay at home watching those postures change and catch the moment of their ending, from stillness to movement or vice versa, to capture whether the end is during internal or external breathing. It means the breath is arising and ceasing alternatively as well. And the rising and ceasing seem to occur almost simultaneously. So the Life Handbook's caution about attachment is actual. As you see it with yourself as a watcher, it indicates you are home. So it is vital to know your home. Otherwise, you will drift away along with the postures without having a place for mindfulness to remind you of the present.

During the practice, notice how the FFM is related to each other. One learning leads to another and others. If you attach to what you learn, you become ignorant. But when you let go of what you know, you reach insight knowledge and become liberated, less deluded and finally free.

You may wonder why you always go here and there because you have no home. As soon as you have your home, you will come to stay and rest and recharge energy to handle or resist ignorance that keeps pulling you from the present responsibility to go back to the past or drift ahead to the future. 

Staying with the present is learning The Four Foundations of Mindfulness gradually
to understand the entire it someday.

See you again.
Your master,
Master T.