The Practice Which leads to Nibbana - A Buddhist Library

one at a time. Usually the beginner must be taught the characteristicswhich are easier to discern first and leave the more difficult ones forlater. They are usually taught in this order: pushing, hard, rough,heavy, supporting, soft, smooth, light, hot, cold, cohesion, flowing.Each characteristic must be firstly discerned in one place in thebody and then it must be tried to be discerned thoughout the wholebody.1. To discern pushing you may begin by being aware, throughthe sense of touch, of the pushing in the center of the head as youbreathe in. Then when you can discern pushing there you shouldmove your awareness to another part of the body nearby to thatplace and look for it again there. In this way you will slowly be ableto discern pushing firstly in the head, then the neck, the trunk of thebody, the arms, and the legs and feet. You must do this again andagain many times until wherever you place your awareness in thebody you can see pushing easily.If the pushing of the breath in the back of the throat is not easy todiscern then try being aware of pushing as the chest expands whenbreathing or as the abdomen moves. If these are not clear then try todiscern the pulse beat as the heart pumps or any other obvious formof pushing. Wherever there is movement there is also pushing.Wherever you begin you must continue to slowly develop yourunderstanding so that you can discern pushing throughout the body.In some places it will be obvious and in other places subtle, but it ispresent everywhere throughout the body.2. When you are satisfied that you can do this then try to discernhardness. Begin by discerning hardness in the teeth. Bite your teethtogether and feel how hard they are. Then relax your bite and feelthe hardness of the teeth. After you can feel this then try to discernhardness throughout the body in a systematic way from head tofeet in the same way as you used to discern pushing. Care shouldw 107