January 9 – The mind becomes beautiful

Dear Friends,

In the latter part of DaRa’s talk on The Five Hindrances, she describes 5 aspects of practicing with them, based on an acronym coined by Gill Fronsdal. B.E.L.L.A.

Gil describes these steps more fully in this post:
https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/hindrances-to-mindfulness-and-clarity/

Gil says,

BELLA [is] the Italian word for “beautiful.” When the hindrances are overcome and mindfulness is strong, the mind becomes beautiful.

Fronsdal, Gil. “Hindrances to Mindfulness and Clarity.” Insight Meditation Center.
https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/hindrances-to-mindfulness-and-clarity/

So what is BELLA?

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Be

When a hindrance first arises, we let it be. We don’t need to reject it or try to change it. We don’t need to be angry or upset.

We are simply present to what’s here – oh, this is sensual desire (or aversion, or sloth and torpor, or restlessness and worry, or skeptical doubt).

Clearly knowing what has arisen helps us not be so caught in the momentum of that habit.

“Recognition also ensures our practice is honest and realistic.”

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Examine

“Overcoming the hindrances requires understanding them well.”

We can examine how the hindrance is showing up in several dimensions – physical, energetic, emotional, cognitive and motivational aspects.

Here’s some of the dimensions as I experience them – what do you find?

Physically, when I experience desire, I notice a sensation of leaning forwards or reaching towards. Energetically, both desire and aversion have energy that is more focused, while restlessness is more a scattered energy that bounces around. Emotionally, sloth/torpor can range from contentment to boredom. Cognitively, restlessness/worry is off in the future or involved in conversations I’ll never have. Motivationally, desire and aversion have a strong urge to act – to fix whatever it is that needs fixing while restlessness/worry is paralyzed by everything.

Another important part of noticing hindrances is to notice when they are absent. With the mind’s negativity bias, I think we probably pay attention more to the times things are difficult or not going the way we want. If we can find moments when they are absent, and feel that in the body/heart/mind, then we can start to learn what that’s like and start training our systems to recognize it more. There’s usually some delight or ease in those moments, however brief.

Examining also involves watching the patterns associated with the hindrance. What causes them to arise? (e.g. Aversion is more likely when I’m “hangry”) What helps remove them? (It helps when I practice metta). How can they be prevented? (For me, physical things like getting a good sleep, or developing a gratitude practice.)

And examining may also help us uncover what a hindrance might be masking. Gil gives some examples, many of which I find relatable: “desire can cover loneliness, ill will may conceal frustrated desire, sloth and torpor can hide fear, restlessness and worry may cover wanting approval, and doubt can mask a reluctance to commit. Uncovering what’s underneath the hindrances is effective for overcoming them.”

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Lessen

One way of lessening the strength of a hindrance is to invite the body and mind to relax. We can also remove ourselves from situations that reinforce the hindrance. (I noticed a lot less desiring for things when I cancelled the weekly flyers at my house.) Or we can work with antidotes – like practicing kindness and compassion, connecting to nature.

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Let Go

Once we understand a hindrance and see how this pattern doesn’t really serve us, we can let go of it.

I find it useful to consider what we are letting go into, so this doesn’t feel like I’m cutting myself off from all the “fun stuff” that I used to do. I might “let go” having that caffeinated beverage late in the day and instead remember how much better I sleep when I do that – so I’m letting go into that sense of caring for this body.

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Appreciate

As we go through this process of BELLA, we can appreciate the ways that we get less caught in the habitual tendencies, that we have a bit more space to respond. We might appreciate how the intensity has lessened and what’s available instead.

When there is a little taste of ease, we can appreciate that, and the body/heart/mind can learn that “yeah, this is good.” When the next hindrance comes up, we can start to say, “I don’t need to go that way – I’m learning some new ways of relating.”

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Gil gave a talk and led a meditation that explored BELLA. The meditation runs from about 25 to 48 minutes into the recording:
https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/11243

Let me know if you try practicing with BELLA and what you notice.

May we enjoy moments of beauty in our practice,
Andrea