Cattāri Brahmavihārā

I had made an aditthana to practice with buddho for the next three years and, despite new discoveries, I intend to keep it. However, I also plan to add Venerables Pa Auk and Ledi Sayadaws approach to cultivating wisdom through a vipassana style investigation of the properties of the Four Elements in the body. In this way I hope to be able to cultivate one pointedness through buddho while planting the seeds of pañña so that the unique and liberative teachings of the Buddhadhamma aren’t lost on me.

This morning, for example, I spent the first third on metta bhavana, the second on buddho recitation unhooked from the breath as described by Ajahn Martin and the last part investigating air (pushing) and earth (hardness). It wasn’t easy but I’m getting the sense that lay, guerrilla practice has to be like this: there’s just too many defilements and not enough free time to devote to a single practice so it’s all about planting seeds and applying antidotes. In this way, metta clears the heart, buddho concentrates the mind and vipassana gives rise to wisdom. Or, that’s the hope at least.