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Dharmette: Tech-Sati (1 of 5): Anchoring in Body & Intention

Good day friends. Delighted to be with you this week supporting the Sangha, supporting Gil. If we have not met, my name is Nikki Mirghafori and I'm part of the IMC and IRC^[3] teacher Sangha. And if we have met, good to be with you again.

The theme for this week is mindfulness of technology. How to mindfully be with technology. And as a way of introduction for this topic, also as introducing me if you haven't met me before, as I serve as a Buddhist teacher, my background is also in computer science. I got my PhD in computer science and I'm an AI scientist. So technology has been a big part of my life and I thought, given all the ways that technology really pervades our lives, it would be nice to have some clear teachings about how to work with technology. Because I imagine if the Buddha were alive today, he would give teachings on how to engage with technology.

If you look at, for example, the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta^[4], the four establishments, the four foundations of mindfulness discourse, the Buddha talks about the various foundations of mindfulness. Especially, say, in the first foundation, which is different aspects of attending to the body. The Buddha says, for example, when one sits, one knows one is sitting. When one is walking, one knows one is walking. When one is eating, one knows one is eating. When one is peeing, one knows one is peeing. It's very specific, like you are mindful no matter what you do. Nothing is excluded.

So I imagine the Buddha would have also added: if you're typing, one knows one is typing. If you're scrolling, one knows one is scrolling. One is tapping, one knows one is tapping. So all these ways that we engage with technology, with scrolling and tapping and clicking and all these ways to be aware, to be aware of the activity, in addition to, of course, the mind states and various things I will get to the rest of this week.

So I want to share this week as tech-sati. Sati^[5] meaning mindfulness, awareness, and tech short for technology, of course. So tech-sati, mindfulness of technology. The same way that there's maraṇassati^[6], or mindfulness of death; kāyagatāsati^[7], mindfulness of the body. Sati is always awareness of. So, awareness of how we engage with technology. And that is the invitation for our practice this week.

So the first day, besides introducing the topic, I [Laughter] want to invite us to notice that the body tends to disappear. Not always, but the body tends to disappear when we engage with technology. This is maybe an everyday scene that you perhaps insert your own version into, but I know that this has happened for me. For example, I pick up my smartphone to check something, like a calendar event, and then, oh, I have a notification. I have an email. And then I'm checking my email, and then I'm reading my email, and then it's 15 minutes later. I'm planning this thing, and I completely forgot the reason why, the intention I had when I picked up the phone. The body disappears, intention disappears.

And again, this is the wholesome version of it. The even less wholesome version of it is getting lost in scrolling and various videos, and various ways that technology unfortunately has been designed to grab our awareness. But again, that's for another day. I'll talk about attention, what attention is, and the different aspects of attention another day, not to get ahead of myself.

So, I want to invite you to see if you recognize yourself in this scenario, your version of it. What happens is the body disappears. We miss our posture, any tension that there might be in the body, in the chest, and the neck. We ignore the fatigue, our surroundings, perhaps even the people around us.

Let's recognize this with some humor and kindness. "Oh, this is not me... yeah, this is me." I fessed up to you! And I know this happened. So, pay attention to the first step. The first step of mindfulness of technology is to become aware, or mindful, of the places where we forget the body. The body disappears.

Why is the body so important? Well, the body, as I mentioned earlier, is the first part of the first establishment of mindfulness. It is the first satipaṭṭhāna, the first foundation, the first establishment of mindfulness. When we pay attention to the body, the body serves as an anchor. And it's very straightforward, nothing complicated: feeling our feet, feeling our sit bones sitting on the cushion or the chair—maybe the chair when we're typing—noticing our hands, the sensations on our hands.

The body both serves as an anchor, as a way to stabilize and settle our mind that goes here and there and everywhere, and also it serves as a tuning fork. If there are emotions, if there is tightness, if there's agitation, if there is stress, it shows up in the body. You might be, for example, not even noticing that you're typing like this because you're so stressed. You're holding the tension all in your shoulders, or you're holding your breath while you are checking some piece of information. So all the ways that the body disappears—it gets tight, it gets agitated. The agitation of the mind definitely shows up in the body. It always shows up in the body. And that is one invitation I had for us during the guided meditation.

The invitation was to notice the impulse. Notice the impulse to move, to think, to plan, to go to what's next, and see that impulse showing up in the body. And as I gave you that invitation, I could see it for myself. Because my mind, at some point, went to, "Oh yeah, the presentation, what I was going to share," and then I noticed a little bit of tightness in my chest. Okay. Yeah, of course. Thoughts always have a manifestation in our bodies. And if you haven't seen it, this is one of the insights that practitioners tend to have. And it's not like you have that insight once and then you're done. You have that insight over and over and over again, as I did again this morning. Like, "Oh yeah, here it is. Okay." [Sighs]

Mindfulness of the body, and bringing the awareness back to the body, also supports us to keep our intention in mind. So bringing the attention back to the body while we're engaging with technology, and keeping in mind our intention. For the longest time—well, actually, it's still now, it's not past—whenever somebody asks me, "How do I bring my practice into my life?" (and I work in technology, so many people have asked how I bring it), I share how I've done it, and that is through mindfulness of the body. When I'm sitting at the desk, when I'm typing, when I'm seeing, I keep bringing attention to the body. Before I send an email, and while I'm doing especially interactive or relational practices, sending an email, or in a meeting: What is my intention? Why am I sending this email? Do I really want to send this? What is the intention? Or as you open, for example, a document or open a website, why am I opening this? How will I know when I'm finished? So, clear comprehension and intention.

The invitation is—I'll create a list: Awareness of our bodies. Keeping in touch with your body. You will lose it, and it's okay. Keep coming back to the body. Body sensations: sensations in the feet, and the hands, and the chest, and the breath, and the belly. And clear comprehension of your intention: Why am I opening this? What do I intend to do? Why am I doing this? So those two awarenesses.

Maybe another invitation I'll give is today, just today, experiment with this: before one chosen digital activity, like before you open your phone or before you open your email or something, feel your feet and take three natural breaths, and name the purpose. Feel your feet, take three natural breaths, and name the purpose.

Again, as a summary, I talked about staying with the body and intention. And as a daily practice today, do it once, maybe more than once: Pause. Feel your feet. Take three natural breaths. Name your purpose. We can use our digital devices while continuing to inhabit our lives. May it be so.

So notice your body right now at the end of this practice period. How is the body feeling? Feel your feet. Take three natural breaths because, after all, we are interacting through technology right here. After this session is over, you will be turning your YouTube off or going to do something else. So feel your feet. Take three natural breaths. Name your purpose.

All right. Thank you all for practicing together today, and I look forward to practicing together tomorrow and continuing the series on tech-sati. All right, have a good day. Engage mindfully. Bye. [Laughter]