Hello all,
Satipatthana sutta does not seem to tell "
you have to deliberately focus only on this first, then focus on 2nd, then on 3rd, etc" .
At
every normal waking conscious moment in our daily life one can be aware of all five aggregates and all four satipatthanas. It depends more on depth and breadth of awareness to know which satipatthana one will be aware of. I believe in developing "panoramic view" where one can see more, not less, of what is happening including impermanence. By seeing impermanence one can see anatta as well.
I understand that when you naturally let bare observation to happen, anatta is seen better. There is no feeling of "self choosing something".
When for example it says:
- when walking, the monk discerns, 'I am walking.' When standing, he discerns, 'I am standing.' When sitting, he discerns, 'I am sitting.' When lying down, he discerns, 'I am lying down.' Or however his body is disposed, that is how he discerns it.MN10
Unless one is paraplegic, one will have to change postures regardless if one wants to or not. Personal effort is not required to change postures.
The sutta doesn't tell us that one should
deliberately take this or that posture. Naturally the human body will have to take them. And when you are aware of posture that the body is in, you are also aware of the body (
kāya) through feelings (
vedanā), perception (
saññā) and consciousness (
viññāṇa). Also when there is deeper mindfulness, one can see one's reaction (
saṅkhārā) toward the bodily position that one is in. So all four frames of reference can be noticed when one pays full attention to taking postures and minor bodily movements as well. One just needs to develop the depth and breadth awareness.
When one is continuously mindful without a break, seeing state after state after state occur, one will notice the impermanence. From seeing impermanence, anatta can be seen.
- "He should develop the perception of inconstancy so as to uproot the conceit, 'I am.' For a monk perceiving inconstancy, the perception of not-self is made firm. One perceiving not-self attains the uprooting of the conceit, 'I am' — Unbinding in the here and now." Ud4.1