Studying And Practicing With “The Iddhipāda-Vibhaṅga Sutta — An Analysis Of The Bases Of Power”: A (Type Of) Situational Awareness (3 of 7)

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Article shortcut: https://tinyurl.com/basesofpower

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Series introduction:

While I reference some non-Buddhist material most everything in the notes and podcasts for this series on The Iddhipāda-Vibhaṅga Sutta are solely my effort to relate considerations, questions, experiences, explorations, suggestions, interpretations and practices involved and associated with this sutta.

This series comes via seven categories/blog posts/podcasts:

1. Introduction; the key encapsulation/encoding/summary paragraph of the whole sutta which includes and weaves in the four powers; and a reading of one of two translations for the sutta
2. Unpacking of the hindrances and the other of two translations for the sutta
3. A (type of) situational awareness
4. 32 parts of the body
5. Perceptions of night, daytime and light
6. “Psychic Powers,” practice combinations and miscellany
7. Summary, findings, observations and comparisons

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In more detail, the four Iddhipāda — sometimes translated as bases of psychic power, basis of psychic power, bases of power, base of spiritual power, wings to success, paths of accomplishment, accomplishments, or roads to power — are:

1. chanda: desire; enthusiasm; purpose; wish
2. viriya: persistence; energy; effort; will
3. citta: intent; consciousness; knowing mind; mental development; devoting mind to; heart-mind
4. vīmaṃsā: investigation; inquiry; discernment; discrimination; reason; interest; intelligent curiosity; [(perhaps a new contribution, or for chanda:) balanced and helpful enthrallment, fascination]; feedback and fine tuning, adjustment; learn from doing; circumspection

Along with aiding our even mundane accomplishments and mastery, perhaps the Iddhipāda play a significant role in approaching will — the way one decides on and initiates action — and at the core of The Iddhipāda-Vibhaṅga Sutta is an analysis of will along with instructions for its training, development, and use.

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A (Type Of) Situational Awareness

This third part of the series addresses a type of situational awareness mentioned within the sutta. In the first portion I speak without notes while I reference the notes below in the other portion.

This type of situational awareness is in regards to the following portion:

“There is the case where a monk’s perception of what is in front & behind is well in hand, well-attended to, well-considered, well-tuned [‘penetrated’] by means of discernment.”

Or translated:

“And how does a mendicant meditate perceiving continuity: as before, so after; as after, so before? It’s when the perception of continuity is properly grasped, attended, borne in mind, and comprehended with wisdom by a mendicant. That’s how a mendicant meditates perceiving continuity: as before, so after; as after, so before.”

The first translation seems to emphasize space more while the latter emphasizes time.

I speak some to the second translation although I practiced mostly in regards to the first translation. Some comments cross-correlate to each other.

Can this include internal (physicality) as well? If so, this simplifies to include all as in a field, a dhamma field, with perhaps various specific fields within the dhamma field such as the bio-field and perceptual field.

Drilling further into “well in hand, well-attended to, well-considered, well-tuned [‘penetrated’] by means of discernment”:

• OK to admit to having little clue as to what these mean then asking what they mean and how to go about them
• Well in hand — What does “well in hand” mean? To take it literally for practice — since I don’t usually wear (a) ring(s) — I’ve used a tumbled, polished gemstone snugly between two fingers that seemed to bring more awareness to having something in hand on the physical level. How to do this without an actual hand? Perhaps contact with attention, mindfulness and awareness. Maybe even etheric or imagined hands when viable and called for.
• Well-attended to — if referencing how one would attend to someone in everyday life for how would one attend to “perception of what is in front & behind,” would one just say, “do it yourself, I can’t be bothered”? No. We find out what is needed, when and how.
• Well-considered — would it be possible to take a radical approach — especially to the internal organs very challenging to discern and continue being aware of — by assigning a temporary working ego to what needs practicing with and mastering and cranking it up to 11 so it’s dripping with neediness, entitlement, victimhood and co-dependency like so much we already encounter in life with the intent to transition into with worthiness as a replacement with the caveat of doing so only if this will not detrimentally affect speech and actions? [It occurred to me after writing and recording this that it seems more helpful to do this if still healing through neediness, entitlement, victimhood and co-dependency instead of rehashing or (re)creating these]
• Well-tuned [‘penetrated’] by means of discernment
• The Three Characteristics of Existent — inconstancy, stress and not-self — applied to all of these

Going back to the second translation, “…the perception of continuity is properly grasped, attended, borne in mind, and comprehended with wisdom.” How would one verify if one’s wisdom is in accordance with the truth of how this actually is, especially on various relative reality levels? Are there formal teachings for continuity? Who are the wise ones to consult on this? If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound? How do you know? How does (various degrees of) presence, consciousness and the observer effect influence continuity? And could what’s in front and behind also be somehow related to what’s arising and passing; (perhaps a type of pivot point between) past and future?

Below is my scribble representing various techniques I mention in this episode for practicing with the sutta, especially the situational awareness part

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After recording and publishing I came across this commentary:

“As before so after; as after so before.” This should be understood: (1) by way of the meditation subject; and (2) by way of the teaching.

(1) By virtue (vasena; abhinivesa) of the meditation subject is called “before,” and arhathood is “after.” A monk who, after interpreting the root of meditation subject, does not allow investigation to fall into the 4 undesirable conditions (overly lax, etc.) goes on to attain arhathood; he is called one who dwells “as before, so after.”

(2) By way of teaching, the head-hairs are “before” and the brain is “after” (among the solid parts in the contemplation of the body).

A bhikkhu who cultivates his meditation from beginning to end without sliding into the 4 undesirable conditions is called one who dwells “as before, so after.”

Samyutta Commentary (SA 3:258) on: yathā pure tathā pacchā, yathā pacchā tathā pure “As before so after; as after so before.”

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And how about the specific context mentioned in this quote from Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques by Lee Parks:

In the quest for maximum bike control, your mental
ability to be completely present in the moment is
just as important as your actual riding skills.
Because the penalties for not paying
attention while riding are so severe, the
act of motorcycling all but forces you to
pay close attention. For this reason,
motorcycling has been called “the lazy
man’s Zen,” as it can produce the same
type of spiritual awareness as deep
meditation. Fear and distraction are the
enemies of presence, and concentration is the cure.

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Or listen via Insight Timer (app or website)

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The raw unedited YouTube transcription of this podcast:

a type of situational awareness part three of a seven part series

on studying and practicing with the eripada vivanga sutta an analysis of the

basis of power for situational awareness what i’m going to be talking about here off the cuff

probably sounds pretty strange we’ll have to set aside our screens

are considering how much of us live our lives now going back to the time of the buddha where there is no technological

devices that people spent most of their time around so in the same way we might be

fascinated by the idle chatter that we find on

devices really just on and on and on about pointless drivel for the most part are

amped up fantasies and imagination that’s being all contained on a screen

or from a screen and set all that aside and think of the people in that time

might have how they might have considered the mass behavior of that type of

thing for today if you told them about that’s how people would act maybe they would think well they’re so disconnected

from reality in the world around them all that time and attention on those

screens what about all the other physical objects in the world starting off with that perception

sitting kind of modern day life and behavior

on the shelf to consider some of these things so so much of our time and energy these days goes into that

what if it didn’t what if we were given the same amount of time attention energy to other physical objects

with our mind interfacing with our mind with other objects

and the type of emotional attachment some of us have and dependencies some of us have on screens and

the content on them seeing that aside and considering other objects from the text here it says you know how

do we have the perception of what is in front and behind is the same as what is behind it in

front we’re dealing with perception perception can be very tricky can be

very helpful it can be very harmful depending on what the perception is very illusionary buddha said he likened

perception to a mirage so there’s four things here well in hand well attended to

well considered and well tuned penetrated by means of discernment

so we’re looking at perceptions with discernment in these four ways of well in hand well

attended to well-considered well-tuned penetrated so basically from what i

understand as of now and all what i’m about to say could easily

change or drop or fall away evolve or be completely pointless and

useless nothing here just to be cling to it’s just my current understanding so discernment ability to discriminate

to tell differences to know one difference from another so

we can obviously see the sky is different from the ground i mean it seems a little inane example right but we can discern that

the sky is not the ground the ground is not the sky there’s a difference an obvious difference there in perception

anyway what does it mean we’ll go through each one of these individually what does it mean to have something well

in hand i’m going to use a crystal that i have in my hand just as an example if i need to so if

something’s in hand it means that there’s a certain amount of

immediate potential for control or movement or manipulation or carrying out choices

so if the mind says oh i want to rotate that crystal counter clockwise in my hand

easy for me to say then then the fingers start moving to turn the crystal counter clockwise so

there’s kind of a very responsive almost immediate feedback given once

hand and eye coordination is not damaged or something’s not going right with it at

the moment and so there’s an immediate physical contact with another physical object with the body well in hand

it’s also can be just there to be idle in

consciousness i guess but still contacted and still

temporarily kind of a part of if something’s you’re holding something in your hand if it’s in hand and then

the well part of course is you know something that’s not by ill means it’s

well right so well attended to i think of well attended to what is it putting aside the

crystal example what does it mean to attend to something well well let’s just think if you’re a caregiver

and somebody’s soil themselves and they can’t clean themselves so how would you

well attend to that would you just gripe and complain the entire time you have to do it or would you just say i

just could do a little bit now and just yeah it can wait wouldn’t come back to it so what’s the kind of attitude that’s

being brought to it what kind of action is given

and phones ringing now so we look at kind of a room too by the way i’m on the second floor of a

building ideally what’s in front and behind it’s a little bit different on a second floor than it is on the ground

level sometimes you have activity outside down and so that kind of gets confusing with

well is that in front or behind behind her in front so it’d probably be a little bit easier

to practice this on a ground level but going back to the room example now well

attended to so just think about what’s really important to pay attention to

so if something’s dirty and we’re not attending to it then what kind of effect will that have on us

it’s kind of easier to know once it’s cleaned up then i’m sure everyone’s experienced this where

they’ve gone into a dirty place and how they feel and then once the place is

cleaned up and then how they feel after that maybe even how intense it is while

cleaning certain things up like the caretaker example sometimes things are almost hidden or

they’re under our awareness and then once we discover them and then address them take care of them then there’s a a

change you know a dust bunny under the bed or something you figure that out

oh how long has this been with a dust bunny under the bed and then once cleaning it out and then notice the

difference and how you feel and how the space feels also this can be done with

space in a room too the absence of objects as well so if we go back to

well in hand how can you have an empty space well in hand the absence of objects well this

just has to be with discernment knowing that it’s empty of objects and how long

can one keep that in awareness when we’re constantly looking for things to captivate our attention and distract us

because it can be fairly boring to just keep one’s mind on empty space there’s no kind of

pull or push for tension there which can actually be of great benefit

when things get a little bit overly pressurized so well considered

so we use a perception to consider something with the sermon what does that mean so we go back to the crystal

example what would we be considering about that crystal using discernment what kind of

perceptions are we going to hold in regards to considering that crystal well i would

think we’d have to look at the kind of powers that are mentioned in the rest of the suta about being able to dive

through the earth like it’s water pass through objects things like that which seem fanciful in today’s society because

the only reference point we really have for that are on fictions on screens right

people reserve that for fictions on screens if we go back to the time of the buddha

where there was none of that and so much time and energy and effort can be put into practices like this

and you had followers of this awakened one and did intensive training

so who knows well considered could we consider

a choice of if there was the option or ability capacity to pass through an object

with the body could there be consideration for a choice to do that or not in what would be

a consideration that’s considered well and what would be consideration that we considered not well

i think that’s where it comes back to ethics sila non-harming not taking what’s not given

not misusing sexual conduct not falsifying speech or doing wrong

speech and intoxicating oneself that make the other things more likely what else could we

consider what’s in front and behind just so many choices

just think of one object in front or behind and the choice of what all the different variations that

can be done with that so you can rotate an object in space 360 degrees with your

hands or you know if with these powers of like telekinesis right where you manipulate

the movement of objects with mind so every object can move in 360 degrees

and then think of all the different possibilities just on the ground level without it having to float above the air

you can rotate it how many ways depending on the construction of the object and then how much space is in

front and behind all the possibilities of where it could sit and for how long

and then the spacing and timing and duration between resting in one space

versus another and then the rate of the transition between those two points

and then the choices from each point and then if there’s a movement in space to

have which way it can go while it’s going from point a to point b but then that’s just on the 2d level

surface level now what compounded how many times over and if it can go

in the air right front or back and the air so how many different planes higher

and lower so i think maybe that’s why it might get too overwhelming that’s why the other part mentions what’s above and

below as in reference to the body so i don’t know how accurate or how far we should take it into the

external especially when what’s above and below if i’m getting this right and the rest

of the suta is just considered within the body and again we’re talking about perceptions here more so i guess than

actual physical objects so my look on this could be skewed

and then the last one well tuned penetrated by means of discernment so

this ties in i feel to kind of the masculine tendencies

with penetration so if you have a monk who’s taken a celibacy this kind of

red-blooded male drive to penetrate sexually so that’s taken away

not given the means to do that with a partner does that

kind of inbuilt tendency entirely go away just like that vanish are is that

masculine tendency still there and it can be expressed

in such a way of penetrating into other things besides sexually on a consciousness level

perhaps going into an object or perception either in front

of behind and really inhabiting it in a way dominating

and asserting i don’t know either assertion over it or with it just kind of like okay now there’s no more

being in the dark not knowing talk about carnal knowledge there’s an intimate

knowing and almost emerging but the well-tuned part

still the masculine principle if we’re going to go with that just think about

someone who kind of bores you or annoys you you’re not interested in or on the

other hand someone who’s just kind of overly domineering almost like a cartoon character

where they’re so caught up in themselves in such unbeneficial ways for themselves and

others that it’s almost comical and it’s kind of hard to be around them but let’s say you have

something to say to someone you want to interact for whatever reasons or

sometimes you have to and you can’t really have the choice not to be around them

so either way in those instances you have to set aside those perceptions

or at least if you want to make it beneficial for both parties set aside those perceptions in a tune

tune in well tuned so you tune in to what’s going on beyond those

characters those characters things we see on the outside and i liken this to like an old school radio you know this

one station but you forgot where it’s at on the dial so you just start scanning you start tuning in you listen and you

oh it’s not that no set that aside nope that’s not helpful this one’s not it you keep tuning and

tuning and tuning and then eventually get to the right space where okay you know this isn’t gonna be forever i can

really listen and hear this person and tune in to where they’re coming from

we can meet and have an exchange by what we can have in common here for a few moments

so that would be well tuned so now if we take that to a physical object

or something that’s not as psychologically relatable like a chair

um you know how do you tune into or penetrate a chair well this you’re gonna

have to use your imagination or lots of lots of meditation to discern whether

something like that would be similar with an object some people can do this easier with crystals

some people start sweating around crystals you have these huge crystal caverns where you can’t be in them for

very long without special equipment because of their piezoelectric properties there’s a lot of physics behind the stuff that i

don’t know but some people are energetically sensitive and doesn’t take such a huge example to know with that

and then there’s certain different feelings for different types of crystals

different effects just like if you would go into you know a filthy dirty run-down crime-ridden neighborhood and notice how

you feel and your thoughts there compared to if you’re in like kind of a lush paradise

so that’s the grossest example gross energy level and then some people can

just kind of know you know what kind of neighborhood i feel better in this neighborhood than

that neighborhood but on the outside they might not look that different just a little bit but there’s a discernible

difference there if we take that kind of tuning in and a lot of times it’s done

automatically which can be done with perceptions that we already have

established so then we have to look at our perceptions too and what

effect our current perception has our past perception on something has

and then what it might be like to adjust those perceptions especially in light of

this well in hand well attended to well considered well tuned penetrated by means of discernment

and all that plays in here potentially at least so for this portion

and here i’m referencing my notes with these two translations here

the first one i practice the most with it says there is the case where a monk’s

perception of what is in front and behind is well in hand

well attended to well considered well tuned

penetrated by means of discernment and i’ll go into

each of those ways of dealing with perception those

four different ways here in a moment first i want to address this second translation

which reads and how does a minikit meditate perceiving continuity

as before so after as after so before

it’s when the perception of continuity is properly grasped grasp

attended born in mind and comprehended with wisdom by a

mendicate that’s how a mendicant meditates perceiving continuity as

before so after as after so before the first translation emphasizes space

more why the second one seems to do more with time this may be one way of

looking at it but the second translation about continuity perception of continuity well what is continuity it’s

just this perception that something just keeps continuously going on and on or

existing we look at physical objects some

exist very briefly some seemingly for eons like mountains

so we look at the energy involved in physical objects applied to

continuity so maybe some energies are more erratic and stable and a physical

object won’t last that long will be will break down

quicker than others so that’s one facet of continuity is how form is affected the energy behind

continuity how we perceive that if we can as changing our influx

what do we look at or perceive as more easily noticed as

something continuous compared to something that doesn’t seem as continuous so for

this we turn to meditation and we look at our own continuity of attention on a meditation

object is one way to do it so what are all the forces and influences

causes and conditions that go into supporting an unbroken continuity with

the meditation object we go into the synth spheres the sixth senses

the consciousness of sight sound smell taste touch and mind these sixth

sense gates how does continuity work with those do we need to

master continuity as a general concept do we need to apply it to our immediate

surroundings how far does the perception of continuity need to go beyond

our immediate surroundings what can interfere with perceiving continuity and our

immediate surroundings how can there be more stability for mastering this it

seems when there’s either a lot of energy or a lot of emotion

or just increased volume and sound then that tends to grab the attention the

attention seems to go to that which is crying out for more attention so to speak when we go into

more subtle realms more subtle meditation objects things without the gross energy

sometimes it can be more challenging to stay with to meditate on

how does consciousness come into this what if we’re staying with a meditation

object like the breath and all of a sudden we just see more dimensions

it kind of opens up and we’re starting to notice more and more nuances

subtleties about the breath and so that original continuity with not as

much depth what happens to that does it remain we have more access to more subtleties

does the continuity change as well when that happens i guess it may depend on if that first

perception level of continuity is maintained throughout

the greater access to subtlety but zooming back out here why is continuity even important why do we need

to perceive continuity how is that going to develop the yiddipada the different

idipadas well one thing i guess would be unbroken attention when we get into

more zamata concentration practices can focus the mind for long times

continuously brings us stability and power and gathering and unification of mind

and then when this perception itself is properly grasped

attended to born in mind and comprehended with wisdom how do we

check our wisdom with this and so turning the wisdom to

perception itself instead of developing the actual perception of continuity it’s

kind of like getting to the core of it i guess and these are also

facets of mindfulness too if we properly grasp something attend to it

bear it in mind and comprehend it they’re all things that have to deal with mindfulness as well

back to the first translation there is the case where a monk’s perception of what is in front and behind is well in

hand well attended to well-considered well-tuned penetrated by means of

discernment this has got to be one of the more interesting puzzling

portions of the suta with these different translations at least for me the second one deals with

like i just talked about the perception of continuity this first one deals with attending

how to attend make well in hand consider well and well tuned penetrated of what’s in front and

behind all using discernment so can this include physicality too and if it does

maybe another way of approaching this is using these notions of fields

so the dhamma field would just be like kind of a reality field what’s actually going on

truth the way things are and then within this vaster dharma field there can be

other fields within it like the bio field what’s going on with the body the physical body

and what’s involved in that and then the perceptual field and these labels we put

on things as identification so now drilling further into well in

hand well attended to well-considered well-tuned penetrated by means of discernment first off i feel it’s okay

to admit to having a little clue of what these actually mean and then

asking oneself in meditation what do they mean and how to go about them

so well in hand this is kind of an english saying i guess to have something in hand how do we do

this without using an actual hand if you think about something that’s in hand

it means you are actually holding a physical object in your hand is one way and so with

that comes a certain amount of willpower control

mastery of a physical object in one’s hand very responsive and able to

turn and move it manipulate it let go of it pick up something else

so if we don’t use an actual hand maybe we’re contacting our immediate

environment what’s in front and behind with attention mindfulness and awareness and going into

more subtle areas some people talk about etheric or astral or just even imagined

hands when viable and called for so can we use that when it would be

appropriate to do something like that when we’re attending to what’s in front and behind this can also be maybe

metaphorical in a way think about the different sense spheres

and how an object can be quote unquote well in hand with our attention and

knowingness mindfulness so well attended to so we think about attending to something

well in everyday life talk about attendance you know someone that’s there

to help another so if we’re attending to a perception of what is in front and behind if you are

attending to someone would you just say no just do it yourself i can’t be

bothered with this and that’s not attending well so we find out what’s

needed to do our job of attending and then when it’s needed and how it’s needed

also sometimes knowing when not to overly attend to something expend

extra effort stirring things up or doing things unnecessarily

when something’s well considered that’s the fourth one here my original notes for this

say would it be possible to take a radical approach especially to the internal organs that

are very challenging to discern and continue being aware of by assigning

a temporary working ego to what needs practicing with and mastering and cranking it up to 11

so it’s dripping with neediness entitlement victimhood and codependency like so much we already

encounter in life with the intent to transition into worthiness as a replacement

with the caveat of doing so only if this will not detrimentally affect speech in

action so that’s pretty wild statement there and it’s hard for me to even go back and

follow that it seems like these core wounds of neediness entitlement victimhood and

codependency are kind of ways of getting more love and attention in a

negative way so we’re trying to stay with or at least when i’m trying to stay with something

we’ll get to the 32 parts of the body the sections and the internal organs where for me it’s very challenging to

keep these in mind bear these in mind with mindfulness so if there’s a core

wound there of neediness entitlement victimhood or codependency would it be more relatable

to the way we operate in society with these wounds a lot of times and then working on

healing those especially if we’ve worked to heal some of these in general

by bringing in worthiness and love to these it would be almost like assigning

these wounds to an internal organ for consideration

temporarily in order to better relate to it in context but this is kind of

a gamble in a way i guess because what would the outcomes of something

like this be would it detrimentally affect our speech in action i don’t know if it’s in the container of

meditation and it’s just kind of seen in that light in that container

then maybe it wouldn’t cross over into everyday life and just have to put this

into practice to see if it’s actually helpful which i didn’t do a lot it just

this notion just came to me so i’d probably have to practice with this to see if it

has any benefit so this might be easily chalked out so when we come to well considered how

do we consider something well i think maybe that might have to do with choices

usually when we consider something it has to do with maybe a choice of either something we actually have to do

or even kind of change our perception about something our idea our views

maybe we need to talk to somebody about something and we need to consider something they said or

something that we need to consider before we talk to them and then this begs the question what is

the opposite of well considered and how is that done do we need that contrast to know

how to consider something well and then when we bring this consideration into what’s in front and

behind how does that apply so then on to well-tuned penetrated by means of

discernment i’m not sure if this means of discernment applies to each of these

methods well in hand by means of discernment well attended to by means of discernment

well considered by means of discernment or if it only applies to well-tuned penetrated by means of discernment

either way we talk about well-tuned penetrated by means of discernment so

it’s knowing when we’re tuning into something instead of tuning it out or sometimes perhaps

tuning something out instead of tuning so much into it and then penetrated going into something

not being aloof or separate this is sort of male quality masculine

quality and then if this is done with discernment we know

when we’re going into something when we’re tuning into something when not the

tune into something when not to penetrate into something to what extent

something’s tuned into and penetrated into how much force and energy is needed

so the other thing i thought was interesting to bring up here was applying the three characteristics of

existence to all these which are in constancy stress and not self

so for example when we have something well in hand how does that apply to inconstancy

stress and not self kind of makes it more complicated so if something is well

in hand there’s still an inconstancy there right and if something’s well in hand

how is the stress level dukkha apply to something well in hand

and then not self that one’s maybe more easy to see if we have something well in hand we know that that’s not who we are

that’s not me that’s not mine so i won’t go into doing the other ones like that asking

those questions anyone listening this can extrapolate that themselves i want

to go back real briefly to this first translation and i mentioned earlier about the wisdom portion of it

the perception of continuity is properly grasped attended born in mind and

comprehended with wisdom again just to reiterate how would one verify

if one’s wisdom is in accordance with the truth of how this actually is especially on various

relative reality levels are there formal teachings for continuity who would we

consult on something like this it reminds me of this old sin koan if a

tree falls in the woods and no one’s around to hear it does it make a sound and how would you know

then how would various degrees of presence consciousness and the observer effect

influence continuity too i also wanted to mention real briefly just some ways that i kind of practiced

with this portion of the suta just dealing with the first translation of

one’s immediate environment sometimes when something’s very hard to stay with or there’s a lot

of pressure and difficulty within the body can hover right outside the body let the attention

go to the surrounding immediate areas of the skin but beyond the skin maybe

there’s a perception of like an atmosphere or an energy surrounding the body too

let’s find it helpful obviously to gather the mind through recalling benevolent qualities

in ourselves and others steady the awareness and then paying attention to the

surroundings sometimes the continuity is just not there so the techniques i use

kind of radiating out in all directions at once from the body to the immediate

surroundings with the different sense spheres could start sweeping in a clockwise

circle starting with one area of the room or space sweeping around the body to ever how far

the awareness can extend with eyes open and eyes closed can also

start sweeping forward and back in the immediate area taking awareness through the body to the

front going so far and then coming back with awareness sweeping

back through the plane of the body and then keep extending behind do front and back side to side

because there is a portion of the suture that says what’s above and below is the same as what’s below and above right

that whole portion is just with the 32 parts of the body i was

kind of at a loss sometimes to know how much with awareness to go

in the physical 3d up and down so down below and up above

the body how far to extend that and how far not to extend that so i kind of just stayed with

left and right front and back more you can also approach this with energy

kind of vibratory energy waves maybe feeling into that visualizing that

in one surrounding kind of a flux a change in this then of course instead

of imagining going out with awareness can use the perception of something

coming towards the body and awareness and also kind of noticing again where

the limits of our perception and awareness are as far as distance and how

this may change as far as like an energy field around the body can notice kind of

a sphere so we can do maybe a sphere as far as distance of one’s immediate

surroundings so that would obviously include above and below two

and that’s the portion of the suit i’m calling situational awareness