By: Sayadaw U Pandita
It is as if you are walking along a road and you meet a traveler, face to face, coming from the opposite direction. When you are meditating, the mind should meet the object in just this way. Only through direct confrontation with an object can true mindfulness arise.
They say that the human face is the index of character. If you want to size up a person, you look at his or her face very carefully and then you can make a preliminary judgment. If you do not examine the face carefully and instead become distracted by other parts of his or her body, then your judgment will not be accurate.
In meditation you must apply a similar, if not sharper, degree of care in looking at the object of observation. Only if you look meticulously at the object can you understand its true nature. When. you look at a face for the first time, you get a quick, overall view of it. If you look more carefully, you will pick up details--say, of the eyebrows, eyes, and lops. First you must look at the face as a whole, and only later will details become clear.
Similarly, when you are watching the rising and falling of your abdomen, you begin by taking an overall view of these processes. First you bring your mind face to face with the rising and falling. After repeated successes you will find yourself able to look closer. Details will appear to you effortlessly, as if by themselves. You will notice different sensations in the rise and fall, such as tension, pressure, heat, coolness, or movement.
From In This Very Life: The Liberation Teachings of the Buddha. Sayadaw U Pandita (1921-2016) was a towering figure in the Insight meditation tradition of Burma. He was a successor to Mahasai Sayadaw and taught many prominent American meditation teachers,