Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The Breath of Love - The Anapanasati Sutta

The Breath of Love
Author
Most Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahàthera



The Anàpànasati Sutta

Introductory Section
1]  Thus  have  I  heard.  On  one  occasion  the  Blessed  One  was
living at Savatthi in the Eastern Park, in the Palace of Migara’s
Mother, together with many very well-known elder disciples—
the Venerable Sàriputta, the Venerable Mahà Moggallana, the
Venerable  Mahà  Kassapa,  the  Venerable  Mahà  Kaccana,  the
Venerable  Mahà  Kotthita,  the  Venerable  Mahà  Kappina,  the
Venerable  Cunda,  the  Venerable  Anuruddha,  the  Venerable
Revata,  the  Venerable  Ananda,  and  other  very  well  known
elder disciples.
2] Now on that occasion elder monks had been teaching and
instructing new monks; some elder monks had been teaching
and instructing ten new monks, some elder monks had been
teaching  and  instructing  twenty...  thirty...  forty  new  monks.
And the new monks, taught and instructed by the elder monks,
had achieved successive stages of high distinction.
3] On that occasion—the Uposatha day of the fifteenth, on the
full-moon night of the Pavarana ceremony, [9] The Blessed One
was seated in the open surrounded by the ‘samgha of monks’.
Then, surveying the silent ‘samgha of bhikkhus’, he addressed
them thus:
4]  “Monks,  I  am  content  with  this  progress.  My  mind  is
content  with  this  progress.  So,  arouse  still  more  energy  to
attain the unattained, to achieve the unachieved, to realize the
unrealized.  I  shall  wait  here  at  Savatthi  for  the  Komudi  full
moon of the fourth month.”


The monks can still practice their meditation or make new robes
and  prepare  to  go  out  wandering  or  teaching  the  Dhamma  to
other  monks  and  laypersons  during  this  extra  month.  The
Kathina  Ceremony  is  also  held  during  this  month.  This  is  the
time for laymen and laywomen to make extra merit by practicing
their  generosity  by  giving  robes  and  other  requisites  to  the
samgha members.
5] The monks of the countryside heard: “The Blessed One will
wait there at Savatthi for the Komudi full moon of the fourth
month.” And the monks of the countryside left in due course
for Savatthi to see the Blessed One.
6]  And  the  elder  monks  still  more  intensively  taught  and
instructed new monks; some elder monks taught and instructed
ten  new  monks,  some  elder  monks  taught  and  instructed
twenty... thirty... forty new monks. And the new monks, taught
and instructed by the elder monks, achieved successive stages
of high distinction.
7]  On  that  occasion—the  Uposatha  day  of  the  fifteenth,
the  full-moon  night  of  the  Komudi  full  moon  of  the  fourth
month—the Blessed One was seated in the open surrounded
by the ‘samgha of monks’. Then, surveying the silent ‘samgha
of monks’, he addressed them thus:
8] “Monks, this assembly is free from prattle; this assembly is
free from chatter.[10] It consists purely of heartwood.
Such is this ‘samgha of monks’, such is this assembly. Such an
assembly  as  is  worthy  of  gifts,  worthy  of  hospitality,  worthy
of offerings, worthy of reverential salutation, an incomparable
field  of  merit  for  the  world—Such  is  this  assembly.  Such  an
assembly that a small gift given to it becomes great and a great


gift becomes greater—such is this ‘samgha of monks’, such is
this assembly.
Such an assembly as is rare for the world to see—such is this
‘samgha of monks, such is this assembly. Such an assembly as
would be worthy journeying many leagues with a travel-bag
to see—such is this ‘samgha of monks’, such is this assembly.
9] “In this ‘samgha of monks’, there are monks who are Arahats
with taints destroyed, who have lived the holy life, done what
had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal,
destroyed  the  fetters  of  being,  and  are  completely  liberated
through  final  knowledge—such  monks  are  there  in  this
‘samgha of monks’.

This is the stage where all of the fetters are destroyed such that
they will not ever arise anymore.
The ten fetters (samyojana) are:
1.Belief in permanent self or soul (sakkàyaditthi),
2.Doubt in the correct path (vicikicchà),
3.Belief that chanting, or rites and rituals lead one to Nibbàna
(silabbatapàràmàsa),
4.Lust or greed (kàmaràga),
5.Hatred or aversion (patigha),
6.Greed  for  fine-material  existence   (ruparàga),
7.Greed  for immaterial  existence (aruparàga),
8.Conceit or pride (màna),
9.Restlessness or agitation of mind (uddhacca),
10.Ignorance (avijjà).
The final stage of an Arahat is described as follows:  
(Taken from the Majjhima Nikàya sutta number 70, section 12.)


#12]  “They  are  the  ones  who  have  lived  the  Holy  Life,
laid  down  the  burden,  reached  the  true  goal,  destroyed
the  fetters  of  being,  and  are  completely  liberated  through
final  knowledge,  they  have  done  their  work  with  diligence;
they are no longer capable of being negligent”   
Anàpànasati Sutta:
10]  “In  this  ‘samgha  of  monks’  there  are  monks  who,  with
the  destruction  of  the  five  lower  fetters,  are  due  to  reappear
spontaneously  (in  the  pure  abodes)  and  there  attain  final
Nibbàna, without ever returning from that world—such monks
are there in this ‘samgha of monks’.
This stage of sainthood is called Anàgàmi where lust and hate no
longer even arise in one’s mind. The five lower fetters have been
destroyed but there is still work to be done.
11] “In this ‘samgha of monks there are monks who, with the
destruction  of  three  fetters  and  with  the  attenuation  of  lust,
hate  and  delusion,  are  once-returners,  returning  once  to  this
world to make an end of suffering—such monks are there in
this ‘samgha of monks’.
This  stage  of  sainthood  is  called  being  a  Sakadàgàmi  or  once-
returner. They have given up the belief in a permanent self, belief
that one can attain enlightenment by chanting and practicing rites
and rituals, and they have given up doubt in the path. Also, the
person who has attained this stage has tremendously weakened
lust and hatred, together with all of the other fetters.
12] “In this ‘samgha of monks’ there are monks who, with the
destruction of the three fetters, are stream-enterers, no longer
subject  to  perdition,  bound  [for  deliverance],  headed  for


awakening—such monks are there in this ‘samgha of monks’.
The person who has attained this stage of awakening is called a
Sotàpanna or stream-enterer. They have given up the three lower
fetters mentioned above; they are never going to be reborn in a
low existence again. Their lowest rebirth will be as a human being,
and the most lives that they will experience before attaining final
Nibbàna, is seven.
13]  “In  this  ‘samgha  of  monks’  there  are  monks  who  abide
devoted  to  the  development  of  the  four  foundations  of
mindfulness  [11]—such  monks  are  there  in  this  ‘samgha  of
monks’. In this ‘samgha of monks’ there are monks who abide
devoted  to  the  four  right  kinds  of  strivings  (efforts)...  to  the
four  bases  for  spiritual  power...  to  the  five  faculties...  to  the
five  powers...  to  the  seven  enlightenment  factors...  to  the
Noble  Eightfold  Path—such  monks  are  there  in  this  ‘samgha
of monks’
The four right kinds of striving, the four bases for spiritual power,
the five faculties, the five powers, the seven awakening factors and
the Noble Eightfold Path are described in Mahàsakuludayi Sutta,
sutta number 77, section 16 of the Majjhima Nikàya. This shows
us  how  to  develop  wholesome  states.  (This  sutta  describes  the
qualities of Buddha which his disciples repeat to honor, respect,
revere and venerate him and live in dependence on him.)
We  will  now  look  into  the  meanings  of  these  terms.  The  Four
Foundations of Mindfulness, the Seven Awakening Factors and
the Noble Eightfold Path will be discussed later in the sutta.
The Four Right Kinds of Striving
“Again  Udayin,  I  have  proclaimed  to  my  disciples  the  way
to develop the four right kinds of striving. A monk awakens


enthusiasm, for the non-arising of unarisen evil unwholesome
states,  and  he  makes  effort,  arouses  energy,  exerts  his  mind,
and strives.”
Besides  enthusiasm,  the  Pàli  word  “chanda”  also  means  joyful
interest  or  enthusiasm.  A  mind  which  points  towards  a
wholesome object like joy has this quality of joyful interest.
Thus, the first right kind of striving is to cultivate a mind that has
joyful interest and enthusiasm so that mind becomes clear and
free from unwholesome states. Joy grows when mind is smiling
and  happy  during  our  daily  life  as  well  as  during  meditation.
As a result, mind will be uplifted and wholesome at that time.
Nowadays, these four kinds of striving are usually called the four
right efforts. Some meditation teachers request the meditator to
put out strenuous effort to note what is happening in the present
moment. But this sutta clearly shows us that this is not that kind
of mindfulness.
Mindfulness  of  joyful  interest  and  enthusiasm,  i.e.,  having  a
smiling  mind  leads  to  a  mind  which  is  light,  open,  accepting,
and without any tension. This is the proper definition of right
effort  and  according  to  the  sutta,  it  actually  has  nothing  to  do
with noting a phenomena until it goes away.
“He  awakens  enthusiasm  for  the  abandoning  of  arisen  evil
unwholesome  states,  and  he  makes  effort,  arouses  energy,
exerts his mind, and strives.”
The second right kind of right striving teaches one to abandon
heavy  emotional  states  like  anger,  sadness,  jealousy,  anxiety,
stress,  depression,  fear,  etc.,  and  replace  them  with  a  smiling
mind which relaxes away even the subtlest tension. This is the
wholesome state of joyful interest and enthusiasm. By cultivating


such a smiling mind, one overcomes the ego-identification with
these  states  as  being  “Mine”.  A  good  sense  of  humor  about
oneself is a skillful tool to develop when treading the spiritual
path.
“He  awakens  zeal  for  the  arising  of  unarisen  wholesome
states,  and  he  makes  effort,  arouses  energy,  exerts  his  mind,
and strives.”
This  means  seeing  that  mind  brings  up  joyful  interest  and
enthusiasm  when  these  wholesome  states  are  not  in  mind.  In
other words, the cultivation of mindfulness means cultivating joy
and a smiling mind. Even when there is a neutral mind that is
merely thinking this and that, this is the time to practice smiling
in mind and experiencing joyful interest and enthusiasm.
“He awakens enthusiasm for the continuous, non-disappearance,
strengthening,  increase,  and  fulfillment  by  development  of
arisen wholesome states, and he makes effort, arouses energy,
exerts  his  mind,  and  strives.  And  thereby  many  disciples  of
mine abide having reached the consummation and perfection
of direct knowledge.”
The fourth right kind of striving refers to a continuous practice,
not only during the formal practice of meditation but also during
the daily activities.
At  one  time  the  author  was  approached  by  some  questioning
students  asking:  “How  can  one  attain  Nibbàna  by  practicing
smiling and having joyful interest?” They thought that they had
made a very profound statement because they think Nibbàna is
attained by looking at pain and suffering all of the time. These
students are not practicing how to be light and happy as taught
by the Buddha. The author replied to them by asking some cross


questions:  “How  can  you  get  to  Nibbàna  without  smiling  and
having joyful interest in your mind?
Isn’t  joy  one  of  the  awakening  factors?  Didn’t  the  Buddha  say
‘We are the Happy Ones’?
Here you can see the importance of developing a mind that smiles
and has joyful interest. There arises a true change of perspective
in your mind when you have joyful interest and a smile. You are
not so heavy and grumpy when things become difficult. This is
because there is not so much ego-attachment and the meditator
can see a situation clearly.
When mind does not smile and has no joyful interest, everything
becomes  heavy  and  all  mental  states  and  thoughts  become
depressing. Mind becomes overly serious and takes everything
negatively.
For example, let’s say that you are very happy and I come along
and  give  you  a  rose.  You  might  take  that  rose  and  admire  the
color, the shape, and the fragrance. You think, “What a beautiful
flower!  Just  seeing  it  makes  me  even  happier”.  But,  if  you  are
in a depressed or angry mood and I come along and gave you
that  same  rose,  your  mind  would  see  the  thorns  instead.  You
might even think, “Ugh! This rose is so ugly. I hate it!” At that
time, all that is seen is the thorns. But, in actual fact, the rose is
the same. The only difference is your mood. Joyful interest and
smiling  helps  to  make  the  world  around  you  a  better  place  to
live. This, however, is not to say that we won’t go through trials
and tribulations. We will! However, the perspective of having joy
in mind changes a big problem into a small one.


The Four Bases for Spiritual Power
“Again,  Udayin,  I  have  proclaimed  to  my  disciples  the  way
to  develop  the  four  bases  for  spiritual  power.  Here  a  monk
develops the basis for spiritual power consisting in composure
of mind, due to joy and determined striving.”
The first spiritual power refers to joy. It is as explained above.
“He  develops  the  basis  for  spiritual  power  consisting  of
collectedness  (here  meaning  stillness)  due  to  energy  and
determined striving.”
This is the second spiritual power energy. You cannot slack or
become lazy when you are on the Buddha’s Path. It takes a lot of
energy to stay on the path especially when you realize that this
is a lifetime practice! This is talking about the energy that it takes
to recognize when your mind is tight and tense, followed by the
energy  to  let  go  of  the  thinking  and  relax  the  tightness  in  the
head and mind, before coming back to the breath.
“He  develops  the  basis  for  spiritual  power  consisting  of
collectedness (here meaning serenity) due to purity of [i.e. no
craving] mind and determined striving.”
The third spiritual power refers to the purity of mind which is
developed  when  one  stays  on  the  object  of  meditation  as  long
as possible. Whenever a hindrance arises and knocks you out of
the  meditation,  you  simply  allow  the  hindrance  to  be,  without
getting involved with the thinking mind. You proceed to run the
6R’s  cycle.  That  is  RECOGNIZING  you  are  not  on  your  object
of  meditation,  RELEASING  your  distraction  by  not  keeping
your  attention  on  it,  RELAXING  the  tension  and  tightness  in
your  head  caused  by  that  distraction,  SMILING  to  lighten  up


mind and sharpen awareness, and RETURNING to your object
of meditation. Then you REPEAT this cycle as needed and you
develop this cycle into one flowing motion that mind learns to
do.

It  doesn’t  matter  how  many  times  mind  goes  back  to  that
distraction or hindrance. If mind’s attention is pulled away, you
then run this cycle.
You simply repeat the 6R’s, allowing, relaxing, and coming back to
the breath and relaxing again. This is the method to purify mind
of all defilements and hindrances. Remember, meditation is not
about thinking. It’s about expanding your understanding mind
and awareness into the present moment and then going beyond
that to the true expression of loving acceptance. Meditation is the
silence  when  thoughts—with  all  their  images  and  words  have
entirely stopped pulling mind’s attention away. But meditation
is  not  now,  nor,  has  it  ever  meant  to  be  ‘concentration’  in  the
conventional sense.
‘Concentration’,  the  one-pointed  or  absorption  type,  contracts
mind  and  is  a  form  of  exclusion,  a  type  of  cutting  off,  a
suppression  of  hindrances,  a  resistance.  It  is  also  a  kind  of
conflict. A meditative mind can be very still and composed, and
yet,  not  have  exclusion  or  suppression,  or  resistance  in  it.  An
absorbed  concentrated  mind  cannot  meditate  according  to  the
Buddhist practice.
“He  develops  the  basis  for  spiritual  power  consisting  in
collectedness (here meaning composure of mind, or serenity)
due to investigation and determined striving.”
The habit of investigation of one’s experience is a very important
aspect  of  your  spiritual  growth.  When  you  are  caught  by  a


hindrance, a pain, or any distraction, you must be able to see how
mind’s attention reacts to that particular situation. For example,
sleepiness arises while you are meditating. The way to overcome
sleepiness  is  by  staying  more  attentive,  with  joyful  interest,  on
the object of meditation. You must try to see directly how your
mind’s attention slips back to the sleepiness.
In  other  words,  you  must  put  more  effort  and  energy  into  the
practice  so  that  you  see  how  things  happen.  When  you  notice
how mind first starts to be caught by the hindrance, you will let
go of it more quickly and not be caught for too long a time.
However,  if  you  are  totally  caught  by  sleepiness,  it  may  take
some  time  to  overcome  this  hindrance  because  this  is  the  last
thing mind wants to do! Thus, mind may ‘ping pong’ back and
forth from the meditation object back to the sleepiness. The more
light  and  joyful  interest  towards  how  mind’s  attention  works,
the more quickly you will let go of the hindrance and begin to
meditate again.
Similarly,  when  pain  arises,  you  do  not  direct  mind’s  attention
into  the  pain.  You  can  see  how  mind  has  resistance  to  that
sensation only when your attention is pulled to the pain. If you
start to think about the pain, it will get bigger and more intense.
So, first you let go of the thinking mind, which verbalizes about
the distraction (pain, hindrance, heavy emotion etc.).
Next, relax mind and release the tight mental knot around the
sensation, relax the tightness in the head, calm mind, and then
smile  before  redirecting  mind’s  attention  back  to  the  object  of
meditation. This is done continually until the pain doesn’t pull
mind’s attention to it again.
This  is  decidedly  different  from  some  other  meditation


instructions where meditators are told to put their attention into
the middle of the pain and note it as ‘pain... pain... pain’. All the
while, they are trying to see it’s true nature and watch it change.
But  pain,  by  nature,  is  repulsive  and  thus,  the  meditators  have
the tendency to tighten and harden mind so that they are able to
continue watching the pain. This hardening of mind’s attention
is  never  noted  by  the  meditators.  This  is  never  seen  clearly
when  it  arises.  The  meditators  will  eventually  develop  enough
concentration (fixed attention) to be able to overcome the pain.
However, this is achieved by suppressing and tightening mind.
You can clearly observe that the spiritual base of investigation of
your experience (Dhamma-vicaya) is to purify mind by allowing
everything  that  happens  in  the  present  moment  to  be  there
without  trying  to  fight  it,  control  it,  or  even  disturb  it  in  any
way. Loving-acceptance and patience (as defined in the English
dictionary  means  ‘non-aversion’)  of  the  present  moment.  This
is  the  way  to  attain  Nibbàna.  It  is  not  attained  by  absorption
concentration, tightness, or suppression.

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