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Additional Instructions

The mind must stay with the movement of the foot while you are walking. If the mind goes to other parts of the foot such as beneath the foot or knee then the concentration becomes weak. Unless you slow down your stepping, you are unable to watch precisely and energetically. Then your concentration is weak.

You must not look around here and there. Desire is a cause and looking is an effect. When the cause is destroyed , there would not arise an effect. When the desire has been destroyed there would not arise the effect of looking and so you would not look. So the best way of controlling your eyes is to note the desire to look when it arises. When you have a desire to look at something, then you should note 'desire, desire', until the desire has disappeared. When the desire has disappeared you won't look around, then your concentration won't break. So be careful to note desire, to observe desire until it has disappeared. Only after it has disappeared you can continue to observe the movement of the foot as usual.

When you have been walking five or ten minutes your mind may go out, your mind may wander, or you may think about something. Then you stop walking, stand still and note 'wandering', or 'thinking' until that thought has disappeared.After it has disappeared, you resume your walking.
(Canberra Retreat, 1990)

Your stepping must be short, about the length of a foot so that you can put down your foot very well and note it very precisely and closely. If your step is long, then before you put your foot well on the ground or floor you may unconsciously already have lifted the heel of the other foot. You then miss the awareness of the lifting of the heel when you note 'lifting'. That is because your step is long. After you have put down your foot very well in its place, you begin to lift your heel of the other foot. You can then note it very well and you can be aware of the very beginning of the lifting of the heel.

After you have noted 'left, right' for about 10 minutes, you may note 3 parts of a step, 'lifting, pushing, dropping'. If you think you can skip the noting of 2 parts of a step, then go straight to the noting of 3 parts. Awareness of 2 parts of a step is not very good because it is as if you lift the foot and drop or put it down at the same place. Actually after you lift the foot you have to push it forward a certain distance and then put it down. By noting 'dropping' after 'lifting' you have skipped noting the process of pushing movement, 'pushing'. The middle part of the step is lost. So if you think you are able to note 3 parts after noting 'left, right' then you should do it.

When you drop your foot down then the foot touches the ground or floor. You can note it as 'touching'. In this way you note, 'lifting, pushing, dropping, touching'. Also when your foot from the very beginning of the lifting of the heel. Immediately before you lift the heel of the other foot, you have to press the front foot a little bit . Then that pressure must be aware of and noted as 'pressing'. 'Lifting, pushing, dropping, touching, pressing'. The Commentary said that a step may be noted in 6 parts. As such when you lift the heel note 'lifting' and when you raise the toes you note 'raising'. In this way 'lifting, raising, pushing, dropping, touching, pressing'. (St. Paul's Retreat, 1990)

Every action is preceded by a mental process, that is wishing, wanting or intending. When you wish to lift the foot, you lift it. When you want to lift the foot, you do it. When you intend to lift the foot, you do it. Not only lifting of the foot but also all other actions and movements are preceded by the mental process of wishing, wanting or intending. If you are able to note intention, wanting or wishing then you come to realize the relationship between the movement of the foot and that mental process. To realize how these two processes, physical process of movement and mental process of intention is related to each other you have to attain deep concentration by being aware of the movement of the foot.

If you have realized how there two processes are related to each other, then you don't have any idea of a person who is walking, a being who is lifting the foot, a self who is pushing forward the foot. Then what you realize is that intention or wishing, a mental process causes the movement of the foot to arise. Without intention, the movement cannot be done. In this way you come to realize the law of cause and effect in your walking meditation.
(St. Paul's Retreat, 1990)

Then what causes the foot to lift? The agent that lifted the foot is the intention. The intention caused the toes to be raised, the intention pushes the foot forward, the intention causes the foot to push forward and so on. You do not find any person or self or soul who lifts the foot, raises the toe and pushes forward. The reality is that the intention causes the foot to lift, raise, push forward and drop down. It is an intention, not a person, not a being, not 'I' or 'you'. It is a mental state. When it arises, then it passes away. It is not a permanent entity, not an everlasting entity which may be regarded as a person. It's just a natural process of mentality which causes the foot to push forward and so on.
(Canberra Retreat, 1990)

Therefore you note 'intending, lifting', 'intending, raising', 'intending, pushing', 'intending, dropping', 'touching' and 'intending, pressing'. When you note touching, it is not preceded by intention because as soon as you drop your foot to the ground it touches the ground whether you have intention or not. Actually there is no intention. So before touching you need not note intention because there is no intention. In this way 'intending, lifting, intending, raising, intending, pushing, intending, dropping, touching, intending, pressing'. (St. Paul's Retreat, 1990)

The Omniscient Buddha taught us to be aware of all four postures which are walking, standing, sitting and lying down. When you are doing all these four postures, you must be aware of all actions and movements involved in these four postures without failure. After that the Buddha taught us to be aware of all daily activities or physical movements. Abhikkante patikkante sampajanakari hoti, Alokite vilokite sampanajakari hoti. Here what the Buddha taught us is that we must be mindful of any activity of the body, any physical process as they really are. Whatever we are doing must be noted and whatever we are doing, we must be aware of it as it is without fail so that we have continuity of mindfulness for the whole day. Continuity of mindfulness is the cause of deep concentration. When mindfulness is interrupted, there are gaps between the previous mindfulness and the following mindfulness. Then mindfulness cannot be continuous and constant.

To rightly understand absolute reality of body-mind processes, not a person, not a being, not a self or a soul, you have to be mindful of whatever arises at your body and mind as it is. The Omniscient Buddha said, when you stretch out your arms, you should be mindful of 'stretching, stretching'. When you stretch out your legs, you should be mindful of 'stretching, stretching'. When you bend your arm or leg, you must note 'bending, bending'. As long as you are bending the arm or leg you must be aware of the bending movement. As long as the leg or hand is stretching out you must be aware of the stretching movement, so that you can rightly understand the reality of the movement of the hand and the movement of the leg. That is also wind element or air element. In this way when you put your hand down or when you lift it up, you should be aware of it.
(Canberra Retreat, 1990)

During sitting meditation you may be experiencing a severe painful sensation. You are patient with it and do not change your position because you know it is not good to change your position in a sitting. However, though you do not change your position, your hand is moving here and there. Instead of changing your position you move your hand. Sometimes the hand touches the face or head. Without any itchy sensation you may rub the face or hand. Sometimes when you feel restless or when you feel a severe pain, your hand lifts itself and then touches or rests on the knee and so on. In systematic sitting for meditation you mustn't move even the hands. You should sit like this statue so that your concentration doesn't break and it becomes deep and stable. When you move your hand from one place to another then the mind goes with the hand. Then concentration breaks. When you get used to moving unconsciously you may do it as a habit in future. You must remind yourself of this statue. "I must sit like the statue of the Buddha".

Unconsciously you move your hand. But even though we say it as unconscious movement but actually your mind goes with the hand. Without intention to move the hands, you don't move. Because you have intention to move, so you do that. That intention is a mental process. The concentration of the mind is a mental process. When you move your hand, then your mind goes with the hand and concentration breaks. So please be careful not to move even your hands from one place to another in sitting meditation. (St. Paul's Retreat, 1990)

To have deep concentration your mindfulness must be continuous and constant for the whole day, as long as you are awake. To have a continuous and constant mindfulness, you have to put enough effort in the noting during your practice. You have to be mindful of whatever arises in your body and mind while you are sitting, walking or engaged in your daily life. In this way you can obtain continuous and uninterrupted mindfulness for the whole day. To have this continuous mindfulness, you have to put enough effort into your practice. To put enough effort into your practice you need strong faith in your technique of meditation or the Dhamma. (Canberra Retreat, 1990)

What is the cause of suffering, Dukkha? Lobha or attachment is the cause of suffering. Even if you are attached to good experience in meditation, it is dukkha. Meditation is the thing which you should experience; not the thing which you are attached to. Is it right? If you are attached to your good experience you had yesterday and today, your meditation is not good, concentration is poor, then you are about to cry over it. You feel restless because you want to re-experience those good things you had yesterday. The more effort you put in your noting, the more distraction you have, the more restless you become and then the more suffering you have. That is not because of meditational experience but because of attachment to it. Attachment is the cause of suffering, dukkha. That is why the Buddha said that attachment is Samudaya Sacca. Samudaya is the cause or origin. Sacca is the truth. Samudaya Sacca is the truth of the cause of suffering. So attachment is the cause of suffering. It is right.
(St. Paul's Retreat,1990)

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