Q&A on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Contemplation: Part 3

Question: How should one handle the sensations experienced by consciousness during contemplation?
Answer: Initially in the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the primary focus should be on observing the breath. Other matters should be temporarily set aside, avoiding distraction; concentrate all energy solely on the breath. If bodily sensations such as pain, numbness, or itching arise, do not pay them any mind. Continuously anchor your attention on the breath without deviating from the subject. If the sensations like pain become truly unbearable and disrupt contemplation, adjust your body posture to make it more comfortable, then resume concentrating on the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. If the body experiences sensations of lightness, ease, comfort, pleasure, feelings of bodily expansion, or emptiness, do not attend to them or become attached. Continue directing the mind's focus onto the breath, observing the breath, and disregard everything else.
Only by persisting single-mindedly in contemplation, growing increasingly focused and clear, with awareness becoming progressively deeper and more penetrating, will the mental faculty gradually become more lucid. Ultimately, one will genuinely perceive the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of the breath and the physical body. Only then can one perceive the emptiness of the body and the self. This is the knowing born of wisdom. After knowing in this way, both body and mind undergo transformation; one is no longer the same ignorant and deluded person as before.