We discussed discussed the gata ‘Aware of my whole body’ and how it sits at the beginning of the sutra, after the Scan and before feelings.
Really awareness of whole body is part of the four ‘physical’ gatas; breath, rhythm of breath, scan and then awareness of the whole body.
The key word here is ‘whole’ meaning complete, entire, unfragmented… you get the idea I hope. When we are aware of our bodies in day to day life we are often thinking of parts of them.
- My ear hurts
- My stomach is rumbling
- Does my bum look big in this?
We have visited each part of the body, one at a time during the ‘Scan’ gata, so now we are thinking of bringing it all together. ‘I am one complete thing’ hopefully this will give you a sense of completeness and stability. Certain that you are all these bits together as one entity.
It is helpful to have a sense of certainty and stability before moving on to more intangible concepts, like feelings and mind.