Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online,
January 16, 2024
DESCRIPTION
Tonight we’ll continue with last week’s look at the final instructions in the Ānāpānasati sequence, focusing on the final step: letting go, or relinquishment (Pāli: paṭinissagga).
One way we can think about letting go is that it is the result of insight into the 3 characteristics, or marks (lakkhaṇa): impermanence, suffering, selflessness. The ānāpānasati instructions formally include impermanence, but we can feel how all 3 marks are present when we are seeing clearly. Because they’re impermanent, experiences elude grasping. Because they’re unsatisfying, experiences inspire non-grasping. And because they’re selfless, experiences resist grasping. Letting go is the mature insight into how all of these are true.
As always in vipassanā (clear seeing) practice, observing experience with depth is necessary for these insights to take root. Ignorance is defined as mistaking the impermanent for the permanent, the unsatisfying for the satisfying, and the selfless for the self-ish. 😉 But all of these perceptions are illusions. Our task is to see experiences for what they are, and to live into the implications of seeing with this depth.
SEAN OAKES
Sean Feit Oakes, PhD (he/they, queer, Puerto Rican & English, living on Pomo ancestral land in Northern California), teaches Buddhism and somatic practice focusing on the integration of meditation, trauma resolution, and social justice. He received Insight Meditation teaching authorization from Jack Kornfield, and wrote his dissertation on extraordinary states in Buddhist meditation and experimental dance. Sean holds certifications in Somatic Experiencing (SEP, assistant), and Yoga (E-RYT 500, YACEP), and teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, East Bay Meditation Center, Insight Timer, and elsewhere.
LINKS
Website: seanfeitoakes.com
Community Page: In It To End It
YouTube channel: In It To End It
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Insight Timer: insighttimer.com/seanoakes
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Blessings on your path.