Mindfulness Practice

(adapted from the teachings of Jack Kornfield –Insight Meditation Society)

This article is being written because of popular demand. Several people have asked me to explain this meditative practice which is now part of the nine-fold practice of Pilgrims’ Progress. Please give us some feedback, on this blog, after you have tried it out for a while.

The acronym, we are going to use is RAIN-b. The. ‘b’   is my addition but also comes from basic Buddhist practice. This practice is most useful when you come up against negative emotional states , which we inevitably do in our daily lives. It can also be used to deal with stressful situations and overloaded, restless mindsets. As well, it can be built into a daily practice and used to follow our ’normal’ states of mind which , if we observe carefully, can be seen to be constantly changing throughout the day or throughout the period of meditation. Ok. Let’s get going!

R stands for Recognition or even better, Recognize and Name. Let’s say your issue is a boss or supervisor who has criticized you and you are afraid of meeting him again. We could call this state “Boss Phobia” or “Boss Anxiety”(Of course ,you will have to adapt this exercise to whatever issue you, yourself, are confronting but this example should serve as a model.)

A stands for acceptance. You are not accepting the contents of the thoughts. You are accepting the fact that you are in this state. After all, this state was ordained for you to be in by your Creator. This is ,often, the most difficult step as we have a reflex to try to push away the negative state, as with everything else unpleasant in our lives. That will only make it worse. Bawa Muhayiddeen, one of my teachers from Sri Lanka, told us that there wss a plant that grew near the shores in his homeland which was like a thistle. If  an animal got it in its skin or foot and tried to shake it off, the more it shook the more the plant dug in deeper. That is a metaphor for our unpleasant thoughts. So don’t try to push them away and don’t try to feed them either. Let them be.

I stands for investigate. Here,we investigate in three dimensions: 1) Thoughts. They may sound like this:”I hate that boss. I wish he’d just leave me alone” or  ”That’s so unfair. I really did a good job this time” or “That boss is such an unpleasant person. He’s always negative and critical .I’m glad I’m not his wife or his child ” etc. etc. Don’t argue with the thoughts. Just notice them. 2) Feelings. These may be anger or fear (of being fired) or disappointment( that I always have to work with these difficult people). Then 3) actually the most important-the physical sensations. They are most important because they are the easiest to objectify and thus give you the best possibility of dis-identifying with the state. So you may feel a pressure in the chest, a tightness in the shoulders, queasiness in the abdomen or a clenching of the jaw. There is no right answer. Just notice what you feel in your body.

N is for non-identification. It is the result of doing the first three steps correctly. You are then in the observer or witness position. And the pain is already diminished. Don’t worry if that is not the case immediately. This is a learning process and it may take some time to master it. When you do,  you can see the suffering leaving your psyche more and more quickly .So  states that may have lasted for days may now leave in hours and eventually even in minutes. Don’t, however, get too attached to the results. Just practice the process.

b is for breathing. Often, by the end of the process, there is still lingering pain especially of the physical sensation source. So now you breathe into the painful area. A long nasal in-breath followed by a more rapid outbreath via the mouth in which you release the tension.

You can do this practice as often as you like-for whatever state you find yourself in. You can even use it for positive states if they are too intense or inappropriate for the context you find yourself in (ecstasy at the workplace lol).Try it out and get back to me. Enjoy your meditation.