Dearest Friends,

It was delightful to be in your company again at our most recent gathering.

Having explored the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta’s exercises under mindfulness of the body, we turned our attention in our last session to mindfulness of feeling tones (vedanā). In Buddhist practice, vedanā refers to the three immediate and fundamental “tones” that color each of our experiences: pleasant, neutral and unpleasant. Working with these feeling tones is foundational in the dharma because their emergence is the place where suffering begins.

Imagine you’re checking your social media feed. A recent post of yours has gotten hundreds of likes and dozens of glowing comments. A pleasant feeling arises. Almost immediately, the mind starts wanting more: more likes, more comments, more attention, more validation…basically, more of that pleasant feeling. Later, when you discover that no new likes or comments have been made, disappointment arises.

Or imagine you’re checking your work email. A client has sent highly critical feedback along with a threat to find another service provider. An unpleasant feeling arises. Almost immediately, the mind begins replaying the words, rehashing encounters, formulating justifications…basically generating resentment. A minute of discomfort becomes an entire day of agitation.

Or imagine that nothing much is happening. A moment late in your day feels neutral. Boredom creeps in and, without thinking, you find a random video on YouTube, then another, then another…and so on and so forth. A moment of neutrality turns into hours of restless and dissatisfying distraction.

In each of these cases, the suffering doesn’t come from the feeling tone itself. It comes from our habitual reaction to the feeling tone. We reflexively and automatically grasp at what’s pleasant, resist what’s unpleasant and zone out at or overlook the neutral. Mindfulness of feeling tones allows us to observe this process—and arrest it before dukkha arises.

SUGGESTED PRACTICE:

Sit quietly and attend to your breath with your gaze lowered or your eyes closed. Whenever you’re ready, turn your attention towards sounds or sensations. As these arise, simply note whether the sound or the sensation is pleasant, neutral or unpleasant. Then with a gentle curiosity and sustained interest, note your mind’s reflexive reaction to each of these feeling tones. As the meditation unfolds, simply notice how the feeling tones keep changing…and how the mind’s reflexive reactions change, in turn. To end the practice, reflect on what you’ve observed: that feeling tones change, that the mind’s reactions change…and that it’s possible to simply witness it all. Rest in the freedom that comes with not having to be in thrall to the mind’s reactivity. Bring this sense of freedom with you into the rest of your day.

REFLECTION PROMPTS:

• Which feeling tone most often pulls you out of presence? Is it what’s pleasant, neutral or unpleasant?
• Can you recall a recent moment when a simple feeling tone snowballed into craving, irritation or restlessness?
• What changes when you recognize a feeling tone as merely “pleasant” or “unpleasant” instead of immediately reacting to it?