The Breath of Love
Author
Most Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahàthera
“He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in experiencing the mental
formation’;
he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out experiencing the mental
formation’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in tranquilizing the mental
formation.’
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out tranquilizing the mental
formation.’”
As you continue calming, expanding and relaxing mind, it
naturally begins to go deeper. Finally, the feeling of pleasure
in the body/mind becomes too coarse and mind experiences
exceptional equanimity and balance of mind. It is described thus
in the sutta:
“Here with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with
the previous disappearance of joy and grief a bhikkhu enters
upon and abides in the fourth Jhàna (meditation stage), which
has neither pain or pleasure and purity of mindfulness due to
equanimity.’”
When mind’s attention becomes very calm and still, you will
experience deep tranquility and equanimity of mind. You can
still hear sounds and feel sensations with the body, but these
things do not shake or move mind at all. Another description of
this stage of meditation (Jhàna) is:
“My composed mind was purified, bright, unblemished, rid
of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady and attained to
imperturbability.”
This gives the serious meditator an idea of what to expect when
they attain this stage. Mind’s attention is exceptionally clear,
bright and alert. Mind can even see when a distraction begins
to arise, then let it go and relax, expand mind, and calm down
again before smiling and coming back to the breath.
The abandoning of pain and pleasure does not mean that
occasionally pain or pleasure won’t arise. They will arise, but
mind’s attention is in such a state of balance that it won’t shake
or become involved with the distractions. At that time mind is
very aware when pain or pleasure arises but the mindfulness
and equanimity are so strong that it does not become concerned
with it.
With the previous disappearance of joy and grief means your
mind’s attention has let go of the lower emotional states of liking
and disliking. All of the stages of the lower Jhànas (meditation
states of understanding) involve letting go of emotional states of
mind. At first, when you begin to learn about meditation, you
let go of very low coarse states which frequently move mind’s
attention.
After you begin to learn how to calm mind, you can sit for
longer periods of time without any distractions arising. You
then experience the thinking and examining applications of
mind’s attention and the other Jhàna factors. When mind settles
deeper, the thinking and examining of mind disappears. The
joy becomes stronger for a while, but gradually it becomes too
coarse and mind has too much movement in it.
At that point, mind will naturally go even deeper into the object
of meditation and the joy fades away by itself. At this time there
is equanimity, happiness, mindfulness and full awareness in
mind. All these states of mind are very pleasant experiences.
But eventually, the happiness is too coarse a feeling. So, mind
goes deeper into the breath and at the same time, continues
opening, expanding, and relaxing. At this point the breath and
the relaxing of mind begin to arise together.
Then the happiness fades away and all that remains is strong
equanimity, exceptional mindfulness, and composure of mind.
This is how one experiences and tranquilizes the mental
formations.
As Krishnamurti describes the true meditative state, “A
meditative mind is silent. It is not the silence which thoughts can
conceive of; it is not the silence of a still evening; it is the silence
when thoughts, with all their images, words and perceptions have
entirely ceased. This meditative mind is the religious mind—the
religion that is not touched by the church, the temples, or by
chants.”
20] “He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in experiencing mind’;
he trains thus ‘I shall breathe out experiencing mind.’”
At this time, your mind’s attention is very calm and any slight
disturbance is noticed and is let go of quickly and easily.
First, mind lets go of tightness... now it relaxes and smiles then
goes back to the breath and relaxing while expanding and
calming on the in-breath and the out-breath.
“He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in gladdening mind’;
he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out gladdening mind.’”
When you reach this stage of meditation, you begin to experience
a finer and more exalted type of joy, which is described as the Joy
(pharanapiti) Awakening Factor.
Mind becomes peacefully happy and at ease like never before.
This is called gladdening mind because it is such a pleasurable
state to be in. At that time, mind is exceptionally uplifted,
very clear, and mindfulness is sharper than ever before. The
equanimity is even more balanced and composed.
“He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in stilling mind’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out stilling mind.’”
At this time, mind becomes more subtle and calm, with very few
distractions. When they do arise, they are quickly noticed, let go
of, relaxed and then you smile and return back to the breath and
relaxing.
Naturally, the breath and the relaxing of mind’s attention become
easier and more serene. They begin to happen together at the
same time.
“He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in liberating mind’;
he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out liberating mind.’”
Liberating mind means that you stay on the breath and relaxing
with enough joyful interest so that when mind begins to move
or go away from the breath and relaxing, you are aware of it and
you let the distractions go without any identification. You then
relax mind before smiling and coming back to the breath and
relaxing. When a hindrance arises, you see it quickly and let it go
without hesitation. At this point sloth and torpor, or restlessness
and anxiety, are the biggest obstacles to your practice. Whenever
a hindrance arises, it will knock you out of the Jhàna and can
cause all kinds of disturbances.
The phrase liberating mind also means to let go of the lower
Jhànas (meditation stages of understanding) and all of the Jhàna
factors by not being attached (thinking about and identifying
with) them in any way. This is the liberating way of relaxing
craving and experiencing the Third Noble Truth!
“He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in contemplating
impermanence’;
he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out contemplating
impermanence.’”
As you continue with your practice of meditation on the breath
and relaxing, eventually mind’s attention becomes very deep and
then you begin to notice that mind is expanding and getting bigger.
Silence and spaciousness of mind go together. The immensity of
silence is the immensity of mind in which a center does not exist.
Actually, at this time, there is no center and there is no outer
edge. Mind continually grows and expands. You begin to see that
there are no boundaries, and space and mind are infinite.
The Anupada Sutta, sutta number 111 in Majjhima Nikàya,
described this as;
“Again, by passing beyond [gross] perceptions of form, with
the disappearance of all [gross] sense of, aware that space is
infinite, the monk enters into and abides in the base of infinite
space.
And the states in the base of infinite space—the perception of
the base of infinite space and the unification of mind.”
You still have the five aggregates affected by craving and clinging,
contact, feelings, perception, formations, and mind.
Passing beyond [gross] perceptions of form, means that
even though you know that you have a body at that time, this
awareness would not readily pull our mind towards it unless
there would be contact at one of the sense doors. In this state of
Jhàna (meditation stage of understanding), you are very aware of
mind’s attention and what it is doing.
The disappearance of all sense resistance and non-attraction to the
[gross] perceptions of change means, even though a pain arises in
the body, you know it but do not get involved with that sensation.
You feel mind’s attention growing, changing and expanding, but,
you are not distracted from the breath or the relaxing of mind.
Mind’s attention is continually moving and expanding but mind
accepts this as it truly is. Seeing impermanence and how mind’s
attention changes and expands, you realize that this phenomena
is part of an impersonal process and you have no control over it.
This is a true anattà experience.
As you continue on with the practice of opening and returning
to the object of meditation, you will eventually start to see
individual consciousnesses arising and passing away. It is
continually coming up and going away, arising and passing
away, without a break! Consciousness keeps coming into being,
then vanishing at all the sense doors.
This is described in the Anupada Sutta as:
“Again, by completely surmounting the base of infinite space,
aware that consciousness is infinite, a monk enters upon and
abides in ‘the realm of infinite consciousness’.
And the states in the base of infinite consciousness—the
perception of the base of infinite consciousness and the
unification of mind.”
You still have the five aggregates, contact, feeling, perception,
formations, and mind.
When you are in this state of ‘infinite consciousness’ and your
mindfulness gets weak or distracted, there will arise some
hindrances like torpor or dullness of mind, or restlessness.
These hindrances arise because the energy that you put into
your practice isn’t quite correct.
When there is too little energy, you can experience a kind of
contraction of mind’s attention which is commonly called
dullness (rarely does the meditator have sleepiness at this time).
On the other hand, if you try too hard or put too much energy
into the practice, a distractedness or restlessness will arise. Both
of these hindrances will knock you out of the Jhàna.
When you are in this state of ‘infinite consciousness’, you see
change happen so rapidly and continually, that it becomes very
tiresome. You begin to see just how much un-satisfactoriness
(dukkha) arises with each consciousness.
Thus, you see up-close and personal, impermanence (anicca),
suffering (dukkha), and you know that you have no control over
these events (anattà).
You see how these consciousnesses happen by themselves. As
a result, you see the not-self or impersonal (anattà) nature of
this psycho-physical process. This is how you contemplate the
‘Three characteristics of all existence’ (anicca, dukkha, anattà). It
is not done by thinking about it but by realizing it through your
own personal experience.
We return now to the ânàpànasati Sutta.
“He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in contemplating fading away’;
he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out contemplating fading away.’”
As you continue on with your practice on the in-breath, letting
go and relaxing mind, and on the out-breath, letting go and
relaxing mind, mind naturally lets go of all consciousnesses
which were so readily seen before. Mind then gets into the
“realm of nothingness”. This is when there is no external thing
for mind to see. Mind is not looking at anything outside of itself
at this time.
The Anupada Sutta says this:
“Again, by completely surmounting the base of infinite
consciousness, aware that there is ‘nothing’; the Bhikkhu
enters upon and abides in the base of nothingness.
And the states in the base of ‘nothingness’—the perception
of the base of nothingness and the unification of mind, again
there are still the five aggregates, contact, feeling, perception,
formations, and mind.”
As odd as this may sound, it is an exceptionally interesting state to
be in. There are still many things to watch and observe although
there is nothing to see outside of mind and mental factors. You
still have the five aggregates, and some of the hindrances will still
pop-up whenever you become either too lax or too energetic.
It is here that the “Seven Awakening Factors” become very
important. They can be seen one by one as they occur. When
torpor arises, you must put mind’s attention back into balance
by arousing the “Awakening Factor of Mindfulness” (Sati),
the “Awakening Factor of Investigation of your experience”
(Dhammaviyama), the “Awakening Factor of Energy” (viriya),
and the “Awakening Factor of Joy” (pharanapiti). This is the way
to overcome the hindrance of torpor.
If restlessness arises, you must bring up the feeling of the
“Awakening Factor of Mindfulness” (Sati), the “Awakening
Factor of Tranquility (passadhi), the “Awakening Factor of
Collectedness” (samàdhi), and the “Awakening Factor of
Equanimity” (upekkhà). (More will be discussed later.) This is the
way to overcome the hindrance of restlessness.
At this time, mind becomes very stricky. It becomes very interesting
to see the subtle ways it distracts you from your meditation object.
However, your mindfulness is quite strong and these tricks can be
seen very easily and they can be 6Red very easily.
Back to the ânàpànasati Sutta:
“He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in observing cessation’;
he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out observing cessation.’”
You still continue on relaxing mind on the in and out-breath. At
this time, mind’s attention begins to get smaller and it seems to
shrink. Mind becomes very subtle and still. This is described in
the Anupada Sutta as:
“Again, by completely surmounting the base of nothingness, the
monk enters upon and abides in the base of ‘neither-perception
nor non-perception (which is also neither feeling nor non-feeling,
and neither consciousness nor non-consciousness)”.
Mind’s attention becomes so subtle and small, and has such
little movement or vibration in it, that it is sometimes difficult to
know whether there is mind’s attention or not. It is also difficult
to know if there is perception for mind. This extremely fine state
of mind is not easy to attain. Yet, it is attainable if you continue
on with the instructions given by the Buddha of staying with the
6R’s.
At this time, you cannot see the breath any longer, but there are
still some things that can arise. This state is like being in the state
of sleep but being aware at the same time. At first, it will only
last for a few minutes. When you come out of that state, you have
to reflect on what happened while you were in that state. Some
of the things you can remember are shapes, colors, or forms. As
soon as you remember anything, you must 6R it immediately.
This is when you begin to sit for long periods of time. The
meditation is the total tranquilizing and releasing of all energy.
This is where you are purifying your mind at its finest. Also you
become unconscious of time. The longer you sit in this exquisite
peacefulness, the better. You might begin to sit for three, four or
five hours and this can be extended during retreats or at home if
you have the time.
At this time, you can still experience an occasional subtle
vibration of mind’s attention. As you continue on with your
practice and keep opening, relaxing and calming your mind,
in a very subtle way, mind becomes very fine and it does not
move at all. Eventually you will experience the state called “the
Cessation of Perception, Feeling and Consciousness” (nirodha-
samapatti).
“He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in observing relinquishment’;
he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out observing relinquishment.’”
This state of meditation is not the experience of the Supramundane
Nibbàna yet. But, it is very close to that time. When you come out
of the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, you will
next see very clearly the arising of all of the links of Dependent
Origination. That is because when formations arise, then
consciousness arises; when consciousness arises, then mentality/
materiality arises; when mentality/materiality arises, then 6 sense
doors arise; when the 6 sense doors arise, then contact arises;
when contact arises, then feeling arises; when feeling arises, then
craving arises; when craving arises, then clinging arises; when
clinging arises, then habitual tendency arises; when habitual
tendency arises, then birth arises; when birth arises, then ageing
and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain grief and despair arise. This
is the arising of this whole mass of suffering.
Then you will see that when formations do not arise, then
consciousness doesn’t arise; and so on and when ignorance does
not arise, there are no more conditions and that is the cessation
of all of this whole mass of suffering.
You will experience the Supramundane Nibbàna when you see
all of this arising and passing away and you will understand so
deeply that the big “OH WOW!” of Nibbàna occurs. This happens
after the perception, feeling, and consciousness comes back and
is noticed.
Upon observing the final letting go of all conditioned things,
there is a huge shift in your mind. It becomes dispassionate, and
completely lets go of the belief in a permanent unchanging self
or soul.
This is the only way you will experience the supramundane state
of Nibbàna, that is, by seeing directly all of the links of Dependent
Origination through the eyes of the Four Noble Truths and the
Three Characteristics of all Existence.
This is why it is called the ‘Doctrine of Awakening’. The Anupada
Sutta description is as follows:
“Again, by completely surmounting the base of neither-
perception nor non-perception, the monk enters upon and abides
in the cessation of perception, feeling and consciousness. And
his taints are destroyed by his seeing with wisdom.”
When you are in the state of the “Cessation of Perception, Feeling,
and Consciousness, you will not know that you are in that state.
Why? It is because you do not have any perception, feeling, or
consciousness at all!
It is like all the lights were turned off on a very dark night. At
that time you can not see anything at all, not even if you were to
put your hands in front of your face.
Now, you may sit in this state for a period of time. When the
perception, feeling and consciousness comes back, and if your
mindfulness is sharp enough, you will see directly all of the
Links of Dependent Origination, and the Four Noble Truths
quickly and automatically.
It does not matter whether you have studied the links of
Dependent Origination or not. This is direct knowledge, not
memorized or studied knowledge.
The statement: ‘And his taints are destroyed by his seeing with
wisdom’ means seeing and realizing all of the links of Dependent
Origination and the Four Noble Truths directly.
It was said many times in the texts that, “One who sees Dependent
Origination sees the Dhamma and one who sees the Dhamma sees
Dependent Origination.” But in order to see the origin of suffering
you have to know what suffering is! Thus, if you see the ceasing
of the suffering i.e., the Third Noble Truth, you will naturally see
the Fourth Noble Truth.
You must practice the way leading to the cessation of the
suffering in order to see the other three Noble Truths. And this
is the Fourth Noble Truth. Thus, seeing Dependent Origination
directly means that you see and realize all of the Four Noble
Truths. This is how you observe relinquishment.
Back to the ânàpànasati Sutta:
22] “Monks, that is how mindfulness of breathing is developed
and cultivated so that it is of great fruit and great benefit”
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