Page 12 - EH 73 May 2024

10 EASTERN HORIZON | TEACHINGS

A Rough Guide to Eating

Meditation – For Beginning

and Advanced Meditators

By Venerable Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Sayadaw U Tejaniya began
his Buddhist training as a
young teenager in Burma
under the late Shwe Oo Min
Sayadaw (1913–2002). After a
career in business and life as a
householder, he has become a
permanent monk since 1996.
He teaches meditation at Shwe
Oo Min Dhamma Sukha Forest
Meditation Center in Yangon,
Myanmar.

Sayadaw’s relaxed demeanor and
easy sense of humor can belie
a commitment to awareness he There are two basic ways to practice your mouth and tongue, and how it
encourages his students to apply eating meditation. changes from bite-to-bite.
in every aspect of their lives. The first is about being mindful You could use gentle mental labels
His earlier life as a householder of your sensory experience. to help with this, such as soft, bitter,
gives him a rare insight into pleasant, sour, crunchy.
Before the food even goes into
the challenges faced by his
your mouth, you take a moment Lots more could be said, but most
lay students. His books, “Don’t
to really look at it. You put your everything you’ll read about
Look Down on the Defilements, nose to it, and smell its various mindful eating focuses on the above,
They Will Laugh at You”, fragrances. Maybe you even feel it so today I’ll spend more time on the
“Awareness alone is not Enough” in your hands. second approach.
and “Dhamma Everywhere:
Welcoming each Moment with Once you place it in your mouth, The second is about being
Awareness+Wisdom” aptly you direct all your attention to the mindful of the mind.
sensory experience of eating. You
characterize his teachings— Personally, I’ve found this one to be
notice the textures and flavors. You
accessible and true to the considerably more transformative,
notice what it’s like to chew or
traditional teachings of the and today I’ll share a method of
swallow. You tune into whether
Buddha. or not you find this food pleasant, practicing it that I do at least once
a day. Sometimes I call it “gap-
unpleasant or neutral. You feel