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Dharma Talk – Prajñā, The Fourfold Sangha (14)
Today we learn about the Four Recollections—recollection of the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and the Precepts—and the four domains of mindfulness, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness: mindfulness of the body, feelings, mind, and objects of mind. The word “Dharma” appears twice with different meanings: with a capital “D,” it refers to the teachings of the Buddha; with a lowercase “d,” it refers to objects of perception. The origin of the gatha on the Four Recollections in the “Chanting Book of the Zen Monastery” and the White-Clad Layperson Sutra (the Householder Sutra) both mention these Four Recollections. For deeper study, you may refer to:
- “For a Future to Be Possible (White Clad One)”—the White-Clad Layperson Sutra and commentary on the Four Recollections
- “Transformation and Healing”—the original text of the Satipatthana Sutta in Pali, Chinese, and commentary
The practice of mindfulness of the body begins with the sixteen exercises from the Discourse on Mindful Breathing, repeating each exercise:
- Recognizing the breath (knowing when breathing in, knowing when breathing out)
- Following the breath
- Recognizing the whole body
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Releasing tension and relaxing the whole body
This can be expanded into 20–30 exercises depending on experience, and can be similarly applied to mindfulness of feelings (recognizing feelings, soothing them, generating joy and happiness).
Contemplation of the body is also practiced during walking meditation with each step: being aware of each posture (standing, sitting, walking, eating), each stage of movement (lifting, moving forward, placing). Begin with a rhythm of one or two steps (breathing in, one; breathing out, two), then according to the capacity of your lungs, move to two–two, two–three… up to three–three steps. You can replace the numbers with meditation phrases such as “Returning to the island within.” Only when you are firmly established in mindfulness of the body and your steps can you recognize mental formations, take care of and transform worries, anger, and sadness into mindfulness, concentration, and insight.
