Noting Question

I have been using noting for 2 months now. As I gain more experience and notice more distinctions I find myself using more generic words. For instance, I sometimes get a sensation in the back of my throat. It doesn't' fit any of the categories that Kenneth has listed or I have seen on any journal reports so I just note it as sensation. Or, during this morning's sit, my stomach growled. After noting hearing, I noticed a sensation in my gut that didn't fit a category so I noted it as sensation.

I don't notice much variance in terms used in all your journal reports. Are you using them as generic? I don't have a real problem and am quite comfortable during a sit with picking the closest word I can. I also think searching for a word doesn't hinder and might help in dis-embeding. Just curious.

Jack

I get where you're coming from, Jack. I'd say that taking a generic approach to labelling sensation is probably the easiest thing to do, unless you find using specific labels to be more beneficial to you. Sticking to the Four Foundations and noting in doubles, triples and quads was the most effective technique for me and helped me make the most obvious progress.

Hope that helps!

"I get where you're coming from, Jack. I'd say that taking a generic approach to labelling sensation is probably the easiest thing to do, unless you find using specific labels to be more beneficial to you. Sticking to the Four Foundations and noting in doubles, triples and quads was the most effective technique for me and helped me make the most obvious progress.

Hope that helps!"

Tommy, thanks for the reply. I too stick to the 4 Foundations and noting in doubles, triples and quads. Let me restate my question. I would guess that you have posted an experience where you have noted pressure, unsatisfactory, pain, unsatisfactory, aversion, etc. As I gain more experience in noting, a term such as "pressure" doesn't fit the experience but it is easier to use that term than to really look beneath to see all the complex, threads that make up that sensation. Pressure for me in many cases is a generic term. Its use in some cases seemed to stop my investigation. When you note "pressure", is it sometimes generic?

I have been using a practice (non-Buddhist) called Focusing for over 16 years now. In that, words attached to an inner experience can be very important in many but not all cases. A word can change an inner experience by making what is implicit, explicit. If interested go to www.focusing.org/gendlin.html .

By the way, I have enjoyed and learned from your posts and new video. Thanks

jack

Ah right, my apologies for not being more specific.

Yeah, noting "pressure" is usually just a generic label when I notice a particular part of the body in contact with something else, or maybe a sense of internal pressure within the body or whatever. I get what you mean about how it doesn't exactly fit the experience sometimes though, but I consider that to be a good sign of progress as it means that you're penetrating these complexities and seeing how that word only describes the explicit aspect of the sensation when, on closer inspection, you begin to note stuff like "warmth", "tingling", "jagged", "painful" and so forth are arising too. If you're noticing that level of phenomena then you're right on track so use whatever words fit the sensation for you, although don't get too hung up on the specifics. If you do, note it as something like "searching thought" or whatever works for you. Most importantly, stay at the sensate level!

I've heard of Focusing, but I'll definitely have a look at that link and get back to you. I'm interested in learning as much as I can about various traditions and this is one which I hadn't even thought about so thanks for the link! Thanks very much also for your comments, if I can ever do anything to help others with this stuff then I'm more than happy with that.

Hopefully that's a bit more useful to your questions than before, but please don't hesitate to chastise and berate me if it's not....Ha!