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Breathing with the Sangha
The collective energy of the Sangha provides a powerful source for transformation and healing. By surrendering to this collective mindfulness, even a smile becomes a co-product of the community rather than an individual effort. The first two exercises of mindful breathing involve identifying the in-breath and out-breath without interference, like sunshine embracing vegetation, and becoming aware of the entire length of the breath body. These exercises demonstrate the nature of interbeing, where the first exercise is made of the second, and following the breath all the way through ensures mindfulness is always present.
The third and fourth exercises focus on reconciling with the body, which may have been treated as a stranger or neglected. By embracing the whole body and its specific parts—such as the eyes, heart, and liver—with tenderness and a smile, the practice of love and healing begins. This includes contemplating the four basic elements:
- Earth, the element of solidity.
- Fire, the heat and burning that makes life possible.
- Water.
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Air.
Looking deeply into these elements reveals that life and death, or left and right, are pairs of opposites that inter-are. Recognizing that life carries death within it dissipates fear and anguish, allowing for a non-dualistic vision of reality.
Mindfulness is applied to the four positions of the body—sitting, standing, walking, and lying down—and every movement, such as opening a door or making coffee. This practice is rooted in three key discourses: the Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing, the Discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, and the Discourse on Living Happily in the Present Moment. These teachings explore the five skandhas:
- Rupa (form).
- Feelings.
- Perceptions.
- Mental formations.
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Consciousness.
These elements function like a namarupa, where mind and matter are two aspects of the same reality. The four foundations of mindfulness—body, feelings, mind, and dharmas—require contemplating the object from within, removing the frontier between the knower and the known. This leads to the realization that everything is a manifestation of collective and individual consciousness, touching the realm of no-birth and no-death.