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”
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The Breath of Love - Five Aggregates
The Breath of Love
Author
Most Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahàthera
Five Aggregates
This psycho-physical process is made up of five different
aggregates which are affected by craving and clinging. The
meditator has a physical body, feeling (both mental and
physical), perception (a process of naming things), thoughts,
and consciousness. Knowing this, you can clearly see that feeling
is one thing and thoughts are another.
Unfortunately, all of us have developed the habit of trying to
think feeling away. This only makes the feeling bigger and more
intense. As a result, more pain and suffering arise.
When you practice the Buddha’s meditation method, you begin
to understand and let go of this old habit of thinking the feeling.
Thus, when a feeling arises, no matter whether it is physical or
emotional, first, let go of any thoughts about the feeling and
relax the tightness in your head caused by that movement of
mind’s attention.
Next, let go of that tight mental hold around that feeling. Now
relax the tightness in the head and feel mind expand. Notice
it becomes calm and tranquil. Next, smile and redirect mind’s
attention back to the breath and relaxing.
When you do this, you are seeing the true nature of that feeling:
It wasn’t there. Then, it arose by itself, i.e. this is change or
impermanence. You certainly do not request for this incredibly
painful sensation to arise, nor do you ask at that time to feel
angry, sad, fearful, depressed, doubtful or whatever the “catch
of the day” happens to be.
A feeling arises by itself, without your desire for it to arise. They
last as long as they last. The more you try to control, fight with,
or push away a feeling or you try to think the feeling away, the
longer it stays and becomes much bigger and extra intense.
This is because whenever you want to control a feeling, you
are identifying with that sensation or emotion as being yours
personally (craving)! You tend to think about how much it hurts,
where it came from, why it has to bother you now? “Oh! I hate
that feeling and I want it to go away.”
Every thought about the feeling is the ego-identification (which
is craving and then clinging) with that feeling. Every time you
try to resist what is happening in the present moment, you are
fighting with the “Dhamma of the Present Moment”. You are
fighting with the Truth!
When a painful or even a pleasant feeling arises, the Truth is—it
is there. Any resistance, trying to control it, wishing it away with
thoughts, or fighting that feeling in any way, only causes more
suffering to arise. Actually whenever a feeling arises, you open
mind, let go of the want to control, lovingly accept the fact that
this feeling is there, and relax and smile—allow it to be there by
itself.
“Don’t Resist Or Push. Soften and Smile”. This DROPSS is the
key to having an accepting open mind which later develops into
equanimity. Any slight resistance or tightness means that there
is some craving or ego-identification still attached to it.
Let’s say that a friend or a boss came up and scolded you in
the early morning after you went to work. What happened to
your mind? If you were like most people—you would have
scolded them back because you were angry and ready to fight
back. When the friend or boss went away, what did you think
about? What you said? What your friend, or boss said? What
you should have said? “I’m right for feeling the way I do and for
what I said. They are wrong for what they said and did.“ And so
it goes on in your mind. This feeling of anger is strong and there
were thoughts which were attached to that feeling.
After a little while you distract yourself with some other activities.
But the anger is still there and if someone comes to talk to you,
chances are good that you will complain about your other friend
or boss who scolded you.
So, at that time you are giving your dissatisfaction and anger to
someone else and that affects them in a negative way. At different
times during the day, these feelings and the thoughts that are
attached to them arise. As a matter of fact, these thoughts are
just like they were recorded on a cassette tape with a permanent
loop going around and around.
They come back in the same order and with exactly the same
words. After the end of the day you would have distracted
yourself so much that this feeling doesn’t come up so often. Then
comes the time to sit in meditation and purify mind. But what
arises? This feeling of anger, and the associated thoughts come
up! Thus, here we go again.
But this time, you 6R as you let go of getting involved with those
feelings and thoughts, you begin to relax. Seeing that these
thoughts cause the feeling to grow, you then begin to soften
mind’s attention. “Never mind! It just isn’t that important.” You
Soften... “Let it be”... open mind and let go of that tight mental
knot around these thoughts and gently relax the tightness in your
head. You let go of the aversion to the feeling and you feel mind
begin to relax, then expand, become calm, and you smile, and
then redirect mind’s attention back to the breath and relaxing.
What a relief!
Now gently go back to the breath and, on the in-breath relax
the tightness in the head; on the out-breath relax the tightness
in the head. Always you are feeling mind open up, expand, and
become tranquil, and then you smile.
Then, the anger comes up again, and so, again you do the same
thing. You let it be there by itself without getting involved with
the thinking about it... open and relax the mental hold on it...
relax the tightness in the head... smile… softly re-direct mind’s
attention back to the breath and relaxing again. This is the
process of the 6R’s.
It doesn’t matter how many times mind’s attention goes back to
that feeling of anger. It is treated in the same way every time. You
are not taking that feeling personally when you let the feeling be
there by itself and relax.
Thus, there is no ego-identification (craving or clinging) with
that feeling. This is seeing the true nature of that feeling, isn’t
it? The feeling wasn’t there before, but now it is. This is seeing
impermanence. When that feeling arises, it takes away the
tranquility and peace. That is definitely painful, a true form of
suffering. When you allow the feeling to be there by itself without
getting involved or thinking about it and you open your mind
and relax the tightness away and smile, you are experiencing the
impersonal nature (anattà) at that time.
Thus, when you practice “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation”
(TWIM), you continually experience the Three Characteristics of
Existence: impermanence, suffering, and the impersonal nature
of everything (anicca, dukkha, anattà).
As you continue to relax mind’s attention and let go of any
distraction, attachment (craving) becomes smaller and weaker.
Finally it doesn’t have enough strength to arise anymore. When
this happens, mind becomes filled with relief and joy arises.
Letting go of attachment (craving) means you become secluded
from unwholesome states. When you let go and joy arises, it lasts
for a period of time. After that, mind becomes very tranquil and
happy (sukha). Now, you will experience a mind which stays on
the object of meditation very easily. When this is done repeatedly,
mind will naturally become calm and collected by itself. At that
time, you begin to develop some equanimity and balance of
mind.
“The monk enters upon and abides in the first Jhàna (meditation
stage), which is accompanied by thinking and examining
thought, with joy and happiness born of seclusion.”
All of these different factors make up what is commonly called
the first Jhàna (meditation stage of understanding). At that time
there can still exist some very small wandering thoughts. If mind
wanders away from the breath and relaxing, you can easily let
that distraction go and relax mind, then smile. The wandering
thoughts are noticed very quickly.
Simply let go. Relax the tightness and smile before coming back
to the breath and relaxing. Some meditation teachers call this
‘access concentration’. But actually they are looking at things
from the viewpoint of “concentration meditation” and not
“Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation” (TWIM).
Thinking and examining thought are descriptions of the thinking
mind and discursive thinking (wandering thoughts). Some
translations call this initial and sustained thought, thinking and
pondering.
There can still be directed thoughts in each one of the different
Jhànas (meditation stages of understanding). The difference
between directed thought and wandering thoughts is: Directed
thought is about what is happening to you in the present moment.
With wandering thoughts, you think about what happened in
the past or what will happen in the future, or daydream about
what you would like to see.
Observation thoughts are a little different. For instance, ‘mind
feels very happy right now’, ‘mind is very calm’, ‘body feels very
still and peaceful right now’, etc. This is another way of looking
at examining thought.
Thinking thought is mind that notices when mind’s attention
is distracted and brings the attention back to the breath and
relaxing. Examining thought is mind that stays on the breath
and relaxing without slipping away again and it also has the
thoughts of what is happening in the present moment.
When mind’s attention begins to stay on the object of meditation
for longer and longer periods of time, relief and joy will become
quite strong. You will naturally feel like smiling because the joy
is such a pleasurable feeling in both mind and body.
At that time, the body and the mind feel very light until it is
almost like floating. This is quite a pleasant experience. Some
meditation teachers tell their students that when joy arises,
“Don’t Be Attached!” So, these students become fearful of that
joy and try to push it away so that they won’t possibly have the
chance to become attached.
However, this is not the correct thing to do because it doesn’t
matter what kind of feeling arises, either pleasurable, painful,
or neutral, your job is to see that mind stays on the breath and
relaxing and allow those feelings to be there by themselves.
If mind’s attention is pulled away by a feeling, simply let it be
there by itself and relax the tightness in the head, feel mind open
and expand, then go back to the breath. Attachment or “craving”
comes from personally getting involved with liking or disliking
what arises in the present moment. “Clinging” is the thinking
mind where concepts, opinions, ideas, and the story about
why you like or dislike that feeling arises. You will not become
attached when you allow whatever arises to be there by itself,
relax and smile, and then come back to the object of meditation.
After the joy fades away, mind will become very calm, peaceful
and comfortable. It is this comfortable and tranquil feeling that
is called “happiness born of seclusion”.
At first, you can sit in this stage of meditation for 5 or 6 minutes.
You can do this for longer periods as mind becomes quieter. This
is the first Jhàna (meditation stage of understanding) and it will
arise when you have let go of sensual pleasure for a period of
time, and have also let go of unwholesome habits or states of
mind (the craving and clinging) which stop the meditator from
having a mind without distractions in it.
Once you have experienced this state of calm, you will begin to
realize the reasons that you are meditating. At that time, mind is
nicely composed and happy with very few distractions. There is
more peace of mind than has ever been experienced before.
Then, after that experience, you become enthusiastic and want
it to happen every time you sit. BUT, that very desire to have
those calm states of mind is the very thing which stops them
from arising! You then try even harder and put in more effort.
Unfortunately, mind only becomes more and more restless and
unsettled.
This is due to the desire for something to happen in a particular
way. When it doesn’t happen that way, you have the tendency
to push harder and try to force things to become calm and
tranquil.
As a result of your attachment (craving and clinging), your desire
to have this occur as you want it to be, you can’t experience this
calm stage of meditation again. This desire causes you to lean
out of the present moment and to try to make the next present
moment the way you want it to be. When that present moment
isn’t right, you try even harder.
However, this calm state of mind will occur again when mind is
relaxed and at ease and you don’t try to push it. Just relax and
let go of that strong desire, calm down and stop expecting things
to work according to your own desires and attachments. After
the first experience of Jhàna (meditation stage of understanding),
mind may become quite active the next time you sit in meditation.
So, laugh and let it be!
But, now your mindfulness is sharp and is able to recognize
when mind’s attention goes away quickly. Then you simply let it
go, open mind up, relax, smile, and return mind’s attention back
to the breath and relaxing.
Calming and relaxing on the in-breath, calming and relaxing
mind on the out-breath helps the meditation. Before long, mind
will settle down again and the joy will arise again. When this joy
fades away, you will again experience a tranquil mind that is a
very comfortable and happy feeling, as well as a mind that is still
and at ease.
At this time, you still have the experience of all the five aggregates
(these aggregates are not affected by craving or clinging). You can
still hear things, or have feelings arise in the body. For example,
you would know when a mosquito or an ant lands on you. You
may have some thoughts about that mosquito or ant, but you
quickly recognize that this is a distraction, you 6R, and you let
it go, relax the tension in the head and mind, smile, then softly
come back to the breath and relaxing.
As you continue to relax, open and calm mind on the in and out-
breath, eventually you will arrive at a stage where there are no
more wandering thoughts and this is when you let go of all of
your thinking thoughts. This is commonly called Noble Silence.
The joy is a little stronger here, and it lasts a little longer. When it
fades away, the comfortable feeling of happiness is stronger and
the calm mind goes deeper into the breath and relaxing.
This state is described:
“again with the stilling of thinking and examining thought, the
monk, enters and abides in the second Jhàna (meditation stage
of understanding), which has self-confidence and singleness
of mind without thinking and examining thought, with joy
and happiness born of stillness of mind.”
The stilling of thinking and examining thought means that at
that time, mind becomes very still and stays on the object of
meditation quite nicely. There is no discursive thinking about the
past or future. However, there can still be observation thoughts.
Remember that true meditation is silent, open observation.
There is still feeling in the body as all of the sense doors are
working and the five aggregates are present. But, for example, if
a sound arises, it doesn’t make mind shake or move. You know
where you are and what you are doing.
The self-confidence mentioned in the sutta, comes from the
confidence you gain when you see clearly for yourself how well
the meditation works. The self-confidence not only arises when
you are sitting in meditation but, also during daily activities. The
singleness of mind means that mind is very calm and doesn’t run
around. Mind is very contented to stay on the breath and relaxing
and keep opening and relaxing on the in and out-breaths. These
are the descriptions of the first two Jhànas (meditation stages).
We now return to the ânàpànasati Sutta.
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in experiencing happiness’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out experiencing happiness.’
As you continue onwards with your practice and keep calming
and relaxing mind, eventually you will reach a stage where the
feeling of joy becomes too coarse and it won’t arise naturally
anymore. This is always a rather comical time for the teacher
because the meditator comes to the teacher and says:
Student: ‘There’s something wrong with my meditation!’
Teacher: ‘Why do you say that?’
Student: ‘I don’t feel any more joy’,
Teacher: ‘Is that bad?’
Student: ‘No, of course not, but still I don’t feel any more joy.
Why?’
Teacher: ‘Do you feel comfortable and more calm than ever
before and does your mind have a strong sense of balance in it
and you feel very much at ease?’
Student: ‘Yes, I feel all of that, but I don’t feel any more joy!’
Teacher: ‘Good, continue. Everything is going along just fine.
Relax and stop demanding that joy arises when you want it to.’
The joy fades away by itself, and a very strong sense of equanimity
and calm becomes apparent. You can still hear sounds, and feel
contact with the body even though eventually the body seems
to disappear. If someone were to touch you during your sitting
meditation, you would know it. It someone made a sound, you
would hear it but, your mind would not go to it. This is what is
meant when the sutta says the meditator has full awareness. It is
described as follows:
“Again, with the fading away of joy, a monk abides in
equanimity, and mindful and fully aware, still feeling
happiness (or pleasure) with the body, he enters upon and
abides in the third Jhàna (meditation stage), on account of
which noble ones announce: ‘He has a pleasant abiding who
has equanimity and is mindful’.
With the description above, you can plainly see that being in the
third Jhàna (meditation stage of understanding); mind is very
clear, alert and balanced. You are aware of what is happening
around you, but mind stays on the object of meditation easily
and comfortably.
Being alert (being mindful) and having equanimity in mind is
an unusual thing to experience because this state of meditation
is the highest and best feeling that you have ever experienced in
your whole life. Furthermore, you are not attached to it due to
the strong equanimity.
At the same time, both body and mind are exceptionally relaxed
and at ease. What a nice state to be in! This is why this state
is praised by noble ones. Besides this easing of the tightness in
the head, the body looses tension and the feeling of sensations
begin to disappear. This is because the tightness in mind causes
tension in the body. But now, mind is so comfortable and tension
free that the tension in the sensation of the body goes away.
When this happens, the body becomes so soft and comfortable
that there is nothing to feel. However, you become aware of it if
anyone were to touch you. This is the meaning of being mindful
and fully aware. Mind knows what is happening around it but it
does not shake or become disturbed.
This is what we call experiencing happiness on the in and out-
breath.
Some “Fixed Concentration Meditation” teachers say that
when one is in this state of Jhàna, the meditator can no longer
experience the body or any of the sense doors. They claim that
the meditator will not know if someone were to hit them with a
stick or someone were to change their positions of their hands
and feet. This is because their minds are so deeply absorbed
into the object that they can’t be fully aware. This is clearly not
true in the meditation described within the suttas or if one were
practicing “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation” (TWIM).
Author
Most Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahàthera
Five Aggregates
This psycho-physical process is made up of five different
aggregates which are affected by craving and clinging. The
meditator has a physical body, feeling (both mental and
physical), perception (a process of naming things), thoughts,
and consciousness. Knowing this, you can clearly see that feeling
is one thing and thoughts are another.
Unfortunately, all of us have developed the habit of trying to
think feeling away. This only makes the feeling bigger and more
intense. As a result, more pain and suffering arise.
When you practice the Buddha’s meditation method, you begin
to understand and let go of this old habit of thinking the feeling.
Thus, when a feeling arises, no matter whether it is physical or
emotional, first, let go of any thoughts about the feeling and
relax the tightness in your head caused by that movement of
mind’s attention.
Next, let go of that tight mental hold around that feeling. Now
relax the tightness in the head and feel mind expand. Notice
it becomes calm and tranquil. Next, smile and redirect mind’s
attention back to the breath and relaxing.
When you do this, you are seeing the true nature of that feeling:
It wasn’t there. Then, it arose by itself, i.e. this is change or
impermanence. You certainly do not request for this incredibly
painful sensation to arise, nor do you ask at that time to feel
angry, sad, fearful, depressed, doubtful or whatever the “catch
of the day” happens to be.
A feeling arises by itself, without your desire for it to arise. They
last as long as they last. The more you try to control, fight with,
or push away a feeling or you try to think the feeling away, the
longer it stays and becomes much bigger and extra intense.
This is because whenever you want to control a feeling, you
are identifying with that sensation or emotion as being yours
personally (craving)! You tend to think about how much it hurts,
where it came from, why it has to bother you now? “Oh! I hate
that feeling and I want it to go away.”
Every thought about the feeling is the ego-identification (which
is craving and then clinging) with that feeling. Every time you
try to resist what is happening in the present moment, you are
fighting with the “Dhamma of the Present Moment”. You are
fighting with the Truth!
When a painful or even a pleasant feeling arises, the Truth is—it
is there. Any resistance, trying to control it, wishing it away with
thoughts, or fighting that feeling in any way, only causes more
suffering to arise. Actually whenever a feeling arises, you open
mind, let go of the want to control, lovingly accept the fact that
this feeling is there, and relax and smile—allow it to be there by
itself.
“Don’t Resist Or Push. Soften and Smile”. This DROPSS is the
key to having an accepting open mind which later develops into
equanimity. Any slight resistance or tightness means that there
is some craving or ego-identification still attached to it.
Let’s say that a friend or a boss came up and scolded you in
the early morning after you went to work. What happened to
your mind? If you were like most people—you would have
scolded them back because you were angry and ready to fight
back. When the friend or boss went away, what did you think
about? What you said? What your friend, or boss said? What
you should have said? “I’m right for feeling the way I do and for
what I said. They are wrong for what they said and did.“ And so
it goes on in your mind. This feeling of anger is strong and there
were thoughts which were attached to that feeling.
After a little while you distract yourself with some other activities.
But the anger is still there and if someone comes to talk to you,
chances are good that you will complain about your other friend
or boss who scolded you.
So, at that time you are giving your dissatisfaction and anger to
someone else and that affects them in a negative way. At different
times during the day, these feelings and the thoughts that are
attached to them arise. As a matter of fact, these thoughts are
just like they were recorded on a cassette tape with a permanent
loop going around and around.
They come back in the same order and with exactly the same
words. After the end of the day you would have distracted
yourself so much that this feeling doesn’t come up so often. Then
comes the time to sit in meditation and purify mind. But what
arises? This feeling of anger, and the associated thoughts come
up! Thus, here we go again.
But this time, you 6R as you let go of getting involved with those
feelings and thoughts, you begin to relax. Seeing that these
thoughts cause the feeling to grow, you then begin to soften
mind’s attention. “Never mind! It just isn’t that important.” You
Soften... “Let it be”... open mind and let go of that tight mental
knot around these thoughts and gently relax the tightness in your
head. You let go of the aversion to the feeling and you feel mind
begin to relax, then expand, become calm, and you smile, and
then redirect mind’s attention back to the breath and relaxing.
What a relief!
Now gently go back to the breath and, on the in-breath relax
the tightness in the head; on the out-breath relax the tightness
in the head. Always you are feeling mind open up, expand, and
become tranquil, and then you smile.
Then, the anger comes up again, and so, again you do the same
thing. You let it be there by itself without getting involved with
the thinking about it... open and relax the mental hold on it...
relax the tightness in the head... smile… softly re-direct mind’s
attention back to the breath and relaxing again. This is the
process of the 6R’s.
It doesn’t matter how many times mind’s attention goes back to
that feeling of anger. It is treated in the same way every time. You
are not taking that feeling personally when you let the feeling be
there by itself and relax.
Thus, there is no ego-identification (craving or clinging) with
that feeling. This is seeing the true nature of that feeling, isn’t
it? The feeling wasn’t there before, but now it is. This is seeing
impermanence. When that feeling arises, it takes away the
tranquility and peace. That is definitely painful, a true form of
suffering. When you allow the feeling to be there by itself without
getting involved or thinking about it and you open your mind
and relax the tightness away and smile, you are experiencing the
impersonal nature (anattà) at that time.
Thus, when you practice “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation”
(TWIM), you continually experience the Three Characteristics of
Existence: impermanence, suffering, and the impersonal nature
of everything (anicca, dukkha, anattà).
As you continue to relax mind’s attention and let go of any
distraction, attachment (craving) becomes smaller and weaker.
Finally it doesn’t have enough strength to arise anymore. When
this happens, mind becomes filled with relief and joy arises.
Letting go of attachment (craving) means you become secluded
from unwholesome states. When you let go and joy arises, it lasts
for a period of time. After that, mind becomes very tranquil and
happy (sukha). Now, you will experience a mind which stays on
the object of meditation very easily. When this is done repeatedly,
mind will naturally become calm and collected by itself. At that
time, you begin to develop some equanimity and balance of
mind.
“The monk enters upon and abides in the first Jhàna (meditation
stage), which is accompanied by thinking and examining
thought, with joy and happiness born of seclusion.”
All of these different factors make up what is commonly called
the first Jhàna (meditation stage of understanding). At that time
there can still exist some very small wandering thoughts. If mind
wanders away from the breath and relaxing, you can easily let
that distraction go and relax mind, then smile. The wandering
thoughts are noticed very quickly.
Simply let go. Relax the tightness and smile before coming back
to the breath and relaxing. Some meditation teachers call this
‘access concentration’. But actually they are looking at things
from the viewpoint of “concentration meditation” and not
“Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation” (TWIM).
Thinking and examining thought are descriptions of the thinking
mind and discursive thinking (wandering thoughts). Some
translations call this initial and sustained thought, thinking and
pondering.
There can still be directed thoughts in each one of the different
Jhànas (meditation stages of understanding). The difference
between directed thought and wandering thoughts is: Directed
thought is about what is happening to you in the present moment.
With wandering thoughts, you think about what happened in
the past or what will happen in the future, or daydream about
what you would like to see.
Observation thoughts are a little different. For instance, ‘mind
feels very happy right now’, ‘mind is very calm’, ‘body feels very
still and peaceful right now’, etc. This is another way of looking
at examining thought.
Thinking thought is mind that notices when mind’s attention
is distracted and brings the attention back to the breath and
relaxing. Examining thought is mind that stays on the breath
and relaxing without slipping away again and it also has the
thoughts of what is happening in the present moment.
When mind’s attention begins to stay on the object of meditation
for longer and longer periods of time, relief and joy will become
quite strong. You will naturally feel like smiling because the joy
is such a pleasurable feeling in both mind and body.
At that time, the body and the mind feel very light until it is
almost like floating. This is quite a pleasant experience. Some
meditation teachers tell their students that when joy arises,
“Don’t Be Attached!” So, these students become fearful of that
joy and try to push it away so that they won’t possibly have the
chance to become attached.
However, this is not the correct thing to do because it doesn’t
matter what kind of feeling arises, either pleasurable, painful,
or neutral, your job is to see that mind stays on the breath and
relaxing and allow those feelings to be there by themselves.
If mind’s attention is pulled away by a feeling, simply let it be
there by itself and relax the tightness in the head, feel mind open
and expand, then go back to the breath. Attachment or “craving”
comes from personally getting involved with liking or disliking
what arises in the present moment. “Clinging” is the thinking
mind where concepts, opinions, ideas, and the story about
why you like or dislike that feeling arises. You will not become
attached when you allow whatever arises to be there by itself,
relax and smile, and then come back to the object of meditation.
After the joy fades away, mind will become very calm, peaceful
and comfortable. It is this comfortable and tranquil feeling that
is called “happiness born of seclusion”.
At first, you can sit in this stage of meditation for 5 or 6 minutes.
You can do this for longer periods as mind becomes quieter. This
is the first Jhàna (meditation stage of understanding) and it will
arise when you have let go of sensual pleasure for a period of
time, and have also let go of unwholesome habits or states of
mind (the craving and clinging) which stop the meditator from
having a mind without distractions in it.
Once you have experienced this state of calm, you will begin to
realize the reasons that you are meditating. At that time, mind is
nicely composed and happy with very few distractions. There is
more peace of mind than has ever been experienced before.
Then, after that experience, you become enthusiastic and want
it to happen every time you sit. BUT, that very desire to have
those calm states of mind is the very thing which stops them
from arising! You then try even harder and put in more effort.
Unfortunately, mind only becomes more and more restless and
unsettled.
This is due to the desire for something to happen in a particular
way. When it doesn’t happen that way, you have the tendency
to push harder and try to force things to become calm and
tranquil.
As a result of your attachment (craving and clinging), your desire
to have this occur as you want it to be, you can’t experience this
calm stage of meditation again. This desire causes you to lean
out of the present moment and to try to make the next present
moment the way you want it to be. When that present moment
isn’t right, you try even harder.
However, this calm state of mind will occur again when mind is
relaxed and at ease and you don’t try to push it. Just relax and
let go of that strong desire, calm down and stop expecting things
to work according to your own desires and attachments. After
the first experience of Jhàna (meditation stage of understanding),
mind may become quite active the next time you sit in meditation.
So, laugh and let it be!
But, now your mindfulness is sharp and is able to recognize
when mind’s attention goes away quickly. Then you simply let it
go, open mind up, relax, smile, and return mind’s attention back
to the breath and relaxing.
Calming and relaxing on the in-breath, calming and relaxing
mind on the out-breath helps the meditation. Before long, mind
will settle down again and the joy will arise again. When this joy
fades away, you will again experience a tranquil mind that is a
very comfortable and happy feeling, as well as a mind that is still
and at ease.
At this time, you still have the experience of all the five aggregates
(these aggregates are not affected by craving or clinging). You can
still hear things, or have feelings arise in the body. For example,
you would know when a mosquito or an ant lands on you. You
may have some thoughts about that mosquito or ant, but you
quickly recognize that this is a distraction, you 6R, and you let
it go, relax the tension in the head and mind, smile, then softly
come back to the breath and relaxing.
As you continue to relax, open and calm mind on the in and out-
breath, eventually you will arrive at a stage where there are no
more wandering thoughts and this is when you let go of all of
your thinking thoughts. This is commonly called Noble Silence.
The joy is a little stronger here, and it lasts a little longer. When it
fades away, the comfortable feeling of happiness is stronger and
the calm mind goes deeper into the breath and relaxing.
This state is described:
“again with the stilling of thinking and examining thought, the
monk, enters and abides in the second Jhàna (meditation stage
of understanding), which has self-confidence and singleness
of mind without thinking and examining thought, with joy
and happiness born of stillness of mind.”
The stilling of thinking and examining thought means that at
that time, mind becomes very still and stays on the object of
meditation quite nicely. There is no discursive thinking about the
past or future. However, there can still be observation thoughts.
Remember that true meditation is silent, open observation.
There is still feeling in the body as all of the sense doors are
working and the five aggregates are present. But, for example, if
a sound arises, it doesn’t make mind shake or move. You know
where you are and what you are doing.
The self-confidence mentioned in the sutta, comes from the
confidence you gain when you see clearly for yourself how well
the meditation works. The self-confidence not only arises when
you are sitting in meditation but, also during daily activities. The
singleness of mind means that mind is very calm and doesn’t run
around. Mind is very contented to stay on the breath and relaxing
and keep opening and relaxing on the in and out-breaths. These
are the descriptions of the first two Jhànas (meditation stages).
We now return to the ânàpànasati Sutta.
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in experiencing happiness’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out experiencing happiness.’
As you continue onwards with your practice and keep calming
and relaxing mind, eventually you will reach a stage where the
feeling of joy becomes too coarse and it won’t arise naturally
anymore. This is always a rather comical time for the teacher
because the meditator comes to the teacher and says:
Student: ‘There’s something wrong with my meditation!’
Teacher: ‘Why do you say that?’
Student: ‘I don’t feel any more joy’,
Teacher: ‘Is that bad?’
Student: ‘No, of course not, but still I don’t feel any more joy.
Why?’
Teacher: ‘Do you feel comfortable and more calm than ever
before and does your mind have a strong sense of balance in it
and you feel very much at ease?’
Student: ‘Yes, I feel all of that, but I don’t feel any more joy!’
Teacher: ‘Good, continue. Everything is going along just fine.
Relax and stop demanding that joy arises when you want it to.’
The joy fades away by itself, and a very strong sense of equanimity
and calm becomes apparent. You can still hear sounds, and feel
contact with the body even though eventually the body seems
to disappear. If someone were to touch you during your sitting
meditation, you would know it. It someone made a sound, you
would hear it but, your mind would not go to it. This is what is
meant when the sutta says the meditator has full awareness. It is
described as follows:
“Again, with the fading away of joy, a monk abides in
equanimity, and mindful and fully aware, still feeling
happiness (or pleasure) with the body, he enters upon and
abides in the third Jhàna (meditation stage), on account of
which noble ones announce: ‘He has a pleasant abiding who
has equanimity and is mindful’.
With the description above, you can plainly see that being in the
third Jhàna (meditation stage of understanding); mind is very
clear, alert and balanced. You are aware of what is happening
around you, but mind stays on the object of meditation easily
and comfortably.
Being alert (being mindful) and having equanimity in mind is
an unusual thing to experience because this state of meditation
is the highest and best feeling that you have ever experienced in
your whole life. Furthermore, you are not attached to it due to
the strong equanimity.
At the same time, both body and mind are exceptionally relaxed
and at ease. What a nice state to be in! This is why this state
is praised by noble ones. Besides this easing of the tightness in
the head, the body looses tension and the feeling of sensations
begin to disappear. This is because the tightness in mind causes
tension in the body. But now, mind is so comfortable and tension
free that the tension in the sensation of the body goes away.
When this happens, the body becomes so soft and comfortable
that there is nothing to feel. However, you become aware of it if
anyone were to touch you. This is the meaning of being mindful
and fully aware. Mind knows what is happening around it but it
does not shake or become disturbed.
This is what we call experiencing happiness on the in and out-
breath.
Some “Fixed Concentration Meditation” teachers say that
when one is in this state of Jhàna, the meditator can no longer
experience the body or any of the sense doors. They claim that
the meditator will not know if someone were to hit them with a
stick or someone were to change their positions of their hands
and feet. This is because their minds are so deeply absorbed
into the object that they can’t be fully aware. This is clearly not
true in the meditation described within the suttas or if one were
practicing “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation” (TWIM).
The Breath of Love - Mindfulness of Breathing
The Breath of Love
Author
Most Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahàthera
Mindfulness of Breathing
15] “Monks, when mindfulness of breathing is developed
and cultivated, it is of great fruit and great benefit. When
Mindfulness of Breathing is developed and cultivated, it
fulfills the “Four Foundations of Mindfulness”. When the
“Four Foundations of Mindfulness” are developed and
cultivated, they fulfill the “Seven Awakening Factors”. When
the “Seven Awakening Factors” are developed and cultivated,
they fulfill true knowledge and deliverance.
Please observe that the “Four Foundations of Mindfulness” are
in this sutta and they are fulfilled through the practice of Jhàna
and “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation” (TWIM) which lead
to wise meditative states of mind.
This is decidedly different from the current theory that you
can’t observe the “Four Foundations of Mindfulness” while
experiencing Jhànas [meditative stages of understanding].
The Buddha only taught one kind of meditation and that is
serenity/insight or tranquility/insight meditation. That is
Samatha/Vipassanà meditation or you can say he taught Samàdhi
which literally means “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation”
(TWIM).
16] And how, monks, is mindfulness of breathing developed
and cultivated, so that it is of great fruit and great benefit?
17] “Here a monk, gone to the forest or to the root of a tree or
an empty hut, sits down; having folded his legs crosswise, set
his body erect, and established mindfulness in front of him,
ever mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out.
The phrase “gone to the forest or to the root of a tree or an empty
hut” means that you go to a reasonably quiet place where there
will be few distractions while learning the meditation. A suitable
location would be a place that is away from road noises, loud and
persistent music or sounds of people, as well as animals.
The thing that happens with many absorption concentration
practitioners is that even the smallest sound turns into a “thorn
in their side”. This occurs because concentration is out of
balance with your mindfulness. Many students complain about
a fan being on and how it makes noise, or when someone opens
and shuts a door. The absorption practitioner will jump because
the noise kind of shocks them. Again, this occurs because the
meditators mindfulness is weak and their concentration is out
of balance. This is one of the disadvantages of doing absorption
concentration.
During the time of the Buddha, most people sat on floor. Hence,
the phrase “sits down; having folded his legs crosswise, sets
his body erect”. But today, sitting on the floor can be very
painful and a trying experience because people mostly sit on
chairs, stools, or couches. If you want to sit on the floor, it may
help if you sit on a cushion high enough so there is no pain in
your back or knees.
In actual fact, it is far more important to observe what is happening
in mind than it is to sit with uncomfortable or painful sensations.
Remember that there is no magic in sitting on the floor. The
magic comes from a clear, calm mind that has fun watching how
mind’s attention moves from one thing to another and learning
to 6R any distraction and gently be at ease, as much as possible.
Thus, if sitting on the floor is a very painful experience, then, it
is alright to sit on a stool or a chair.
However, if you do sit on a chair, there is an extremely important
factor to consider. You need to sit without leaning hard against
the back of the chair. Leaning is good for sleeping but not for
meditation! “Sets his body erect” means you sit with a nicely
straight back which is not rigid and uncomfortable. A nicely
straight back has all of the vertebrae stacked one upon another.
This is to ensure that energy can flow up and down the back
without any blockages. Leaning into a chair can stop the energy
flow and can cause sleepiness to arise. Thus, please do not lean
against anything when sitting. Very often, when you first start
out, your back is not used to being straight and some of the
muscles can rebel and complain. However, with patience and
perseverance, these unused muscles will gradually adjust and
they will strengthen.
There is another important aspect to sitting meditation. You must
not move! You must sit without moving the body for any reason.
Please do not wiggle the toes or fingers or move the hands to rub
or scratch or change the posture in any way until after the sitting
is over. Any movement breaks the continuity of the practice and
this can cause you to have to start all over again.
Some meditation teachers tell their students that it is quite alright
to move as long as they are “mindful”. But if the students are
truly mindful, they would be able to watch mind and its dislike
of the sensations and then, let go of the sensation and relax mind
around them. Thus, there would be no reason to move!
Mindfulness also means to lovingly-accept what is happening in
the present moment, without trying to control, resist or change
it. To be truly mindful means to open up and allow whatever
presents itself in the present moment. While sitting, if you move,
this means that you are not being mindful at that time. When
you “give in” to the desire to move, you are identifying with that
desire and there is no mindfulness at that time .
Thus, when you are ready and begin to meditate, you must remain
still and keep relaxing mind whenever there is a distraction. To sit
as still as a Buddha image is the best! Actually the only allowable
movement during meditation is to straighten the back when it
starts to curve or slump, as long as it is not done too often.
The phrase “establishing mindfulness in front of him” means
that you put aside all other worldly affairs and involvement with
sensual pleasures. Then you softly close your eyes and whenever
there is a distracting sound, smell, taste, sensation, or thought,
you are aware of that and simply let it go. You then relax the
tightness in your head, smile and redirect mind’s attention back
to the object of meditation and relax.
“Ever mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out.”
This tells us the way to practice mindfulness of breathing. Being
aware of the breath means to know when you are experiencing
the in-breath, then relaxing, and to know when you are
experiencing the out-breath and relaxing. You use the breath as a
reminder to relax on both the in and out-breath. It simply means
to open up your awareness and to be attentive to the breath as
much as possible and at the same time, relax the tightness in the
head (this will be explained more thoroughly in a little while).
Meditation Instructions
18] “Breathing in long, he understands: ‘I breathe in long’; or
breathing out long, he understands: ‘I breathe out long.’
Breathing in short, he understands: ‘I breathe in short’; or
breathing out short he understands ‘I breathe out short’.
The words “he understands” is emphasized to show that you
do not focus with strong attention on the breath to the exclusion
of everything else. You merely ‘understand’ what the breath
is doing in the present moment. That’s all there is to this! You
simply know when you breathe in long or short! There is no
controlling of the breath at any time. Instead, there is only
understanding of what you are doing in the present moment.
If you try to “over-focus” or “concentrate” on the breath to the
exclusion of anything else, you will develop a headache due to
this “wrong concentration”.
Whenever you hold tightly onto the meditation object and try to
force mind to “concentrate” or push away distractions, the head
will develop a very tight and painful tension. This tightness or
tension in the head also occurs when the meditator attempts to
control the sitting by throwing down any distracting thoughts
and feelings and quickly rushing back to the meditation object.
This happens with ‘momentary concentration’ as well as any
other kind of ‘absorption concentration’ technique. This doesn’t
happen when you relax on the in-breath and on the out-breath.
Many meditation teachers tell their students to put their attention
right in the middle of the sensation and see its true nature. This
will cause a few different things to occur.
Firstly, you will develop a stronger pain and this becomes
a distraction instead of an investigation. It is because these
meditation teachers tell their students to stay with that pain until
it goes away. Unfortunately, this can take an unbelievably long
time. In addition, you naturally need to tighten and toughen
mind in order to observe the sensation.
Actually, this tightening and toughening of mind is not being
mindful. You begin to develop a mind that hardens itself when
pain arises. It is only natural for this to happen as it takes a lot
of courage and fortitude to watch pain in this way. At that time,
a type of aversion is naturally developed and this hardening of
mind is not being noticed as anicca, dukkha, anattà or the links
of Dependent Origination and you are not noticing the craving
which is this tightening of mind and body.
Consequently, even when you are not meditating, this suppression
can cause personality hardening, and that causes true problems
to arise. Without the relax step, mind has a tendency to become
critical and judgmental and the personality development of the
meditator becomes hard.
Many people say they need to do a Loving-kindness retreat
after doing other types of meditation because they discovered
that they do and say things in daily life which are not so nice
to other people. When this happens, there appears a question,
“Is this really a type of meditation technique which leads to my
happiness and to the happiness of others?” If the answer is yes,
then why do I need to practice another form of meditation to
balance my thinking?”
Eventually you are able to suppress this aversion by practicing
‘concentration’, which is considered to be the “correct method”
by most meditation teachers. But the method taught by the
Buddha was never to suppress anything. His method was to
keep mind open and relaxed and to allow everything that arises
in the present moment.
Thus, whenever a painful sensation arises in the body, you first
recognize that mind’s attention has gone to the sensation and
you begin to think about that feeling. You then let go of any
thoughts about that sensation, open mind and let go of the tight
mental fist that is wrapped around the sensation, or you can let
the sensation be there by itself without any mental resistance or
aversion to it. This is done by telling yourself, “Never mind, it is
alright for this pain to be there.”
Next, relax the tightness in the head ... feel mind expand and
become calm ... then smile and re-direct mind’s attention back to
the object of meditation i.e. the breath and relaxing on both the
in and out-breath.
If you get caught by thinking about the sensation or pain, the
sensation will get bigger and become more intense. Eventually,
you can’t stand it anymore and you feel like you have to move.
This thinking or internal verbalizing about the sensation and
wishing it would go away, is the ‘ego identification’ and the very
beginning of craving and clinging. This getting involved with, ...
trying to control, ... fighting with the sensation, ... resisting the
sensation etc., is only fighting with the Dhamma, which is the
Truth of the present moment.
Whenever you fight and try to control or harden mind to the
“Dhamma of the present moment”, you cause yourself undue
suffering and pain. Another way of fighting with the Dhamma
is by taking the sensation personally and trying to control feeling
with your thoughts. This worsens the pain and, as a result, it
hurts even more. Thus, you must learn to open and lovingly-
accept the present moment without that ‘ego-identification’ and
the thinking or internal verbalization about it, or taking it as “I
am that”.
By letting go and relaxing, then smiling, this is how you gain
calmness and collectedness of mind as well as equanimity, full
awareness, and mindfulness. The Buddha taught us three kinds of
actions while meditating or during our daily activities. They are,
“Love Where We Are At…
Love What We Are Doing in the Present Moment…
and Love Who We Are With”.
These simple explanations allow you to be completely accepting
of the present moment. “To Love Where We Are At” means to
accept the fact that when you are sitting in meditation, things are
not always like you want them to be.
“To Love What We Are Doing” means to open up mind and allow
whatever arises in the present moment to present itself without
our getting attached to it (craving) or criticizing ourselves for not
being as good as we think we should be.
A good acronym for this is “DROPSS” which means “Don’t
Resist Or Push. Soften and Smile”. Whatever arises, do not resist
or push. Just soften into it and smile, open mind and accept it. In
other words “Love What We Are Doing”.
“To Love Who We Are With”, means to love yourself enough so
that you see and let go of all kinds of attachments which cause
pain to arise in your body and mind.
The recognition that you cause your own suffering is a major
realization. When you truly love yourself, you will see the pain and
sorrow and lovingly let it go, then relax and smile. This is done by
letting go of the thinking about. Thus, you will eventually let go of
the attachment (craving) and the ego identification with it.
“He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in experiencing the whole
body’;
he trains thus ‘I shall breathe out experiencing the whole
body’’;
This part of the sutta means that you know when the breath is
starting and stopping on the in-breath, then relax. You don’t have
to over-focus mind or ‘concentrate’ on the breath, or take this
breathing as the object of extreme ‘absorption concentration’.
You simply know what the breath is doing in the present moment
and relax on both the in and out-breath. Your mindfulness is
sharp enough to know what the breath and relaxing is doing at
all times, without controlling the breath in any way.
Just let the breath and relaxing become a natural process!
“He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in tranquilizing the bodily
formation’;
he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out tranquilizing the bodily
formation’.”
This simple statement is the most important part of the meditation
instructions. It instructs you to notice the tightness which arises
in the head with every arising of a consciousness and to relax
that tightness while on the in-breath and out-breath. Then you
feel your mind open up, expand, relax, become tranquil. and
then you smile.
This process occurs because there is a membrane that is wrapped
around the brain called the “meninges”. This membrane tightens
every time a thought, feeling, or sensation arises. Every time you
see that mind is distracted away from the breath and relaxing,
you simply let go of the distraction by not keeping mind’s
attention on it, then relax the tightness in the head or brain, feel
mind become open and expanded. Feel it become relaxed, calm
and clear.
Next, you softly smile and re-direct mind’s attention back to
the breath. On the in-breath relax, feel it expand and become
calm. On the out-breath relax, feel the meninges expand, feel
mind become alert, and pure. In this way the tension in the head
(meninges, brain) and mind gently goes away.
For example, when a thought arises, just let the thought go. Don’t
continue thinking, even if you are in mid-sentence. Just softly let
go of the thought. If the distraction is a sensation, firstly open
mind and let go of the aversion to the sensation and relax the
tightness caused by that distraction. Then feel open and expand
before smiling and then re-direct mind’s attention back to the
breath and relaxing. This opening up, relaxing and letting go of
the tightness in the head is actually letting go of the subtle ‘ego
identification’ (craving) which attaches itself to everything as it
arises.
Thus, in this way, when you let go of this tension, you are actually
letting go of all craving and ignorance which causes rebirth.
This is the actual experience of the “Third Noble Truth” or the
cessation of suffering.
Many times a teacher of ‘absorption concentration’ will tell their
students that this last part of the instructions means that you
become tranquil when you focus mind’s attention just on the
breath. But, this is not the way this is to be read. The Pàli presents
us with the word “pas-sambaya”. This word is interesting
because it can be a verb, an adverb, a noun, or an adjective. Words
which preceed it or follow it change the meaning of this word.
The words before this state “He trains thus:”. This means that
this Pàli word is an “action verb”. This makes sense because you
are relaxing (letting go of subtle craving) in the body and mind
on both the in and out-breaths.
When you follow this sutta’s instructions, this small step
of relaxing in the instructions actually says that when you
meditate, you are not strongly focusing just on the breath itself
to the exclusion of everything else. You are using the breath to
remind yourself to relax on both the in and out- breaths. This
changes the entire meditation moving it away from “absorption
concentration” and instead, developing the “Tranquil Wisdom
Insight Meditation” (TWIM)!
When the meditation instructions here are followed closely,
there will be no ‘sign or nimitta’ arising in mind. A nimitta is a
kind of mind-made object, which arises when one is practicing
‘absorption concentration meditation’. In the practice of TWIM,
the Mind naturally becomes calm and your understanding of
HOW mind’s attention actually moves continues to develop.
This also means that you will be able to discern how the links
of Dependent Origination occur and this is where deep insights
and understanding really happen.
You need not “try” to force mind to stay on the object of
meditation through strong concentration which can cause tension
and pain (craving) in the head and body. Eventually you begin to
realize the true nature of all phenomenon as being impermanent
(anicca), unsatisfactory (dukkha), and not-self (anattà) as well as
beginning to see for yourself how the impersonal process of
Dependent Origination occurs.
Thus, when you practice “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation”
(TWIM), you are aware of the in-breath and at the same time, the
relaxation of the tension caused by craving in your head because
of the tightening of the meninges, the membrane around the
brain, and you feel this tightening in your mind as well. You
are also aware of the out-breath and again, at the same time, the
relaxation of the tension in the head and mind.
Please use the breath as your reminder to relax all tightness
because then you are letting go of the craving, which always
manifests as tension and tightness in both mind and body.
This is actually an incredibly easy practice and a simple way to
develop mind. It is alright if you happen to miss one in-breath or
one out-breath at first. You should not put unnecessary pressure
on yourself or criticize yourself. This might cause you to think
how difficult this practice is. It does take some getting used to
before your practice becomes proficient. Thus, if you occasionally
miss the in-breath and relaxing, or, an out-breath and relaxing,
just let it go and catch the next in-breath or out-breath. Simple
and easy, isn’t it?
At first, the breath may seem to be very fast and difficult
to notice. However, as you continue with your practice, the
meditation becomes easier and you will not miss the in-breath
and relaxing or the out-breath and relaxing that much. After all,
this is a gradual training. There is no need to put undue pressure
on yourself, so, have fun and smile more. This is the way to gain
the fastest results. Please remember that the Buddha teaches us
to have a happy wholesome uplifted mind all of the time! Simply
relax into the meditation and smile. Smiling is a way to have an
alert uplifted mind!
When you practice “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation”
(TWIM), the breath does not become subtle and difficult to
observe. If this happens, then the meditator is ‘concentrating’ too
much on the breath and not smiling enough. Also, the tightness in
the head is not relaxed enough. If the breath seems to disappear
again, the meditator is focusing their ‘concentration’ and not
tranquilizing mind enough.
The Jhànas (meditation stages of understanding) will appear by
themselves as mind becomes calm and peaceful. You do not have
to push, force, or ‘concentrate with a fixed mind’. Actually, the
Buddha taught this most natural form of meditation to work for
every type of personality or individual.
19] “He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in experiencing joy’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out experiencing joy’.”
This refers to the attainment of the first two Jhànas (meditation
stages of understanding). The description of these stages is a set
formula that is repeated many times in the suttas.[12] We will
now look into the description of these first two Jhànas:
Here, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, ...
When you start your meditation session, you first close your
eyes. This is being secluded from the sensual pleasure of seeing.
Whenever a sound distracts mind, the instructions are to let the
sound be there by itself, without thinking about whether you like
the sound or not. Simply let the sound go. Let go of the mental
fist around the sound. Relax the craving or tightness in the head
and feel mind become calm and at ease. Now smile and redirect
(happy) mind’s attention back to the object of meditation, i.e.,
the breath. Relax the tightness in the head, feel mind open up,
expand, and become tranquil. Smile and on the in-breath, relax
the tightness in the head on the out-breath, feel mind become
alert, peaceful, and pure because there is no more craving in it.
You stay with the breath and relax the tension in mind until the
next distraction appears by itself.
As a meditator you do this with smelling, tasting, bodily
sensations, and thoughts or any kind of sensual pleasure which
distracts mind’s attention away from the breath and relaxing.
Whenever there is a distraction at one of the sense-doors you
simply and softly let it go, relax that mental fist around the
distraction, relax the tightness in the head, feel mind expand,
and redirect mind’s attention back to the breath and relaxing
again. It doesn’t matter how many times the sensual pleasure
arises. You have to allow it to be there every time it arises. Just
remember to let it go, relax the tightness in the head, feel mind
expand and smile, then come back to the breath and relaxing.
secluded from unwholesome states...
When mind’s attention is distracted from the breath and
relaxing, and it begins to think about a feeling that arises, then
there is a tendency for mind to like or dislike that feeling. This
thinking about and trying to control feeling by thinking about
what arises, causes the feeling to get bigger and more intense.
Thus, more pain arises.
Author
Most Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahàthera
Mindfulness of Breathing
15] “Monks, when mindfulness of breathing is developed
and cultivated, it is of great fruit and great benefit. When
Mindfulness of Breathing is developed and cultivated, it
fulfills the “Four Foundations of Mindfulness”. When the
“Four Foundations of Mindfulness” are developed and
cultivated, they fulfill the “Seven Awakening Factors”. When
the “Seven Awakening Factors” are developed and cultivated,
they fulfill true knowledge and deliverance.
Please observe that the “Four Foundations of Mindfulness” are
in this sutta and they are fulfilled through the practice of Jhàna
and “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation” (TWIM) which lead
to wise meditative states of mind.
This is decidedly different from the current theory that you
can’t observe the “Four Foundations of Mindfulness” while
experiencing Jhànas [meditative stages of understanding].
The Buddha only taught one kind of meditation and that is
serenity/insight or tranquility/insight meditation. That is
Samatha/Vipassanà meditation or you can say he taught Samàdhi
which literally means “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation”
(TWIM).
16] And how, monks, is mindfulness of breathing developed
and cultivated, so that it is of great fruit and great benefit?
17] “Here a monk, gone to the forest or to the root of a tree or
an empty hut, sits down; having folded his legs crosswise, set
his body erect, and established mindfulness in front of him,
ever mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out.
The phrase “gone to the forest or to the root of a tree or an empty
hut” means that you go to a reasonably quiet place where there
will be few distractions while learning the meditation. A suitable
location would be a place that is away from road noises, loud and
persistent music or sounds of people, as well as animals.
The thing that happens with many absorption concentration
practitioners is that even the smallest sound turns into a “thorn
in their side”. This occurs because concentration is out of
balance with your mindfulness. Many students complain about
a fan being on and how it makes noise, or when someone opens
and shuts a door. The absorption practitioner will jump because
the noise kind of shocks them. Again, this occurs because the
meditators mindfulness is weak and their concentration is out
of balance. This is one of the disadvantages of doing absorption
concentration.
During the time of the Buddha, most people sat on floor. Hence,
the phrase “sits down; having folded his legs crosswise, sets
his body erect”. But today, sitting on the floor can be very
painful and a trying experience because people mostly sit on
chairs, stools, or couches. If you want to sit on the floor, it may
help if you sit on a cushion high enough so there is no pain in
your back or knees.
In actual fact, it is far more important to observe what is happening
in mind than it is to sit with uncomfortable or painful sensations.
Remember that there is no magic in sitting on the floor. The
magic comes from a clear, calm mind that has fun watching how
mind’s attention moves from one thing to another and learning
to 6R any distraction and gently be at ease, as much as possible.
Thus, if sitting on the floor is a very painful experience, then, it
is alright to sit on a stool or a chair.
However, if you do sit on a chair, there is an extremely important
factor to consider. You need to sit without leaning hard against
the back of the chair. Leaning is good for sleeping but not for
meditation! “Sets his body erect” means you sit with a nicely
straight back which is not rigid and uncomfortable. A nicely
straight back has all of the vertebrae stacked one upon another.
This is to ensure that energy can flow up and down the back
without any blockages. Leaning into a chair can stop the energy
flow and can cause sleepiness to arise. Thus, please do not lean
against anything when sitting. Very often, when you first start
out, your back is not used to being straight and some of the
muscles can rebel and complain. However, with patience and
perseverance, these unused muscles will gradually adjust and
they will strengthen.
There is another important aspect to sitting meditation. You must
not move! You must sit without moving the body for any reason.
Please do not wiggle the toes or fingers or move the hands to rub
or scratch or change the posture in any way until after the sitting
is over. Any movement breaks the continuity of the practice and
this can cause you to have to start all over again.
Some meditation teachers tell their students that it is quite alright
to move as long as they are “mindful”. But if the students are
truly mindful, they would be able to watch mind and its dislike
of the sensations and then, let go of the sensation and relax mind
around them. Thus, there would be no reason to move!
Mindfulness also means to lovingly-accept what is happening in
the present moment, without trying to control, resist or change
it. To be truly mindful means to open up and allow whatever
presents itself in the present moment. While sitting, if you move,
this means that you are not being mindful at that time. When
you “give in” to the desire to move, you are identifying with that
desire and there is no mindfulness at that time .
Thus, when you are ready and begin to meditate, you must remain
still and keep relaxing mind whenever there is a distraction. To sit
as still as a Buddha image is the best! Actually the only allowable
movement during meditation is to straighten the back when it
starts to curve or slump, as long as it is not done too often.
The phrase “establishing mindfulness in front of him” means
that you put aside all other worldly affairs and involvement with
sensual pleasures. Then you softly close your eyes and whenever
there is a distracting sound, smell, taste, sensation, or thought,
you are aware of that and simply let it go. You then relax the
tightness in your head, smile and redirect mind’s attention back
to the object of meditation and relax.
“Ever mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out.”
This tells us the way to practice mindfulness of breathing. Being
aware of the breath means to know when you are experiencing
the in-breath, then relaxing, and to know when you are
experiencing the out-breath and relaxing. You use the breath as a
reminder to relax on both the in and out-breath. It simply means
to open up your awareness and to be attentive to the breath as
much as possible and at the same time, relax the tightness in the
head (this will be explained more thoroughly in a little while).
Meditation Instructions
18] “Breathing in long, he understands: ‘I breathe in long’; or
breathing out long, he understands: ‘I breathe out long.’
Breathing in short, he understands: ‘I breathe in short’; or
breathing out short he understands ‘I breathe out short’.
The words “he understands” is emphasized to show that you
do not focus with strong attention on the breath to the exclusion
of everything else. You merely ‘understand’ what the breath
is doing in the present moment. That’s all there is to this! You
simply know when you breathe in long or short! There is no
controlling of the breath at any time. Instead, there is only
understanding of what you are doing in the present moment.
If you try to “over-focus” or “concentrate” on the breath to the
exclusion of anything else, you will develop a headache due to
this “wrong concentration”.
Whenever you hold tightly onto the meditation object and try to
force mind to “concentrate” or push away distractions, the head
will develop a very tight and painful tension. This tightness or
tension in the head also occurs when the meditator attempts to
control the sitting by throwing down any distracting thoughts
and feelings and quickly rushing back to the meditation object.
This happens with ‘momentary concentration’ as well as any
other kind of ‘absorption concentration’ technique. This doesn’t
happen when you relax on the in-breath and on the out-breath.
Many meditation teachers tell their students to put their attention
right in the middle of the sensation and see its true nature. This
will cause a few different things to occur.
Firstly, you will develop a stronger pain and this becomes
a distraction instead of an investigation. It is because these
meditation teachers tell their students to stay with that pain until
it goes away. Unfortunately, this can take an unbelievably long
time. In addition, you naturally need to tighten and toughen
mind in order to observe the sensation.
Actually, this tightening and toughening of mind is not being
mindful. You begin to develop a mind that hardens itself when
pain arises. It is only natural for this to happen as it takes a lot
of courage and fortitude to watch pain in this way. At that time,
a type of aversion is naturally developed and this hardening of
mind is not being noticed as anicca, dukkha, anattà or the links
of Dependent Origination and you are not noticing the craving
which is this tightening of mind and body.
Consequently, even when you are not meditating, this suppression
can cause personality hardening, and that causes true problems
to arise. Without the relax step, mind has a tendency to become
critical and judgmental and the personality development of the
meditator becomes hard.
Many people say they need to do a Loving-kindness retreat
after doing other types of meditation because they discovered
that they do and say things in daily life which are not so nice
to other people. When this happens, there appears a question,
“Is this really a type of meditation technique which leads to my
happiness and to the happiness of others?” If the answer is yes,
then why do I need to practice another form of meditation to
balance my thinking?”
Eventually you are able to suppress this aversion by practicing
‘concentration’, which is considered to be the “correct method”
by most meditation teachers. But the method taught by the
Buddha was never to suppress anything. His method was to
keep mind open and relaxed and to allow everything that arises
in the present moment.
Thus, whenever a painful sensation arises in the body, you first
recognize that mind’s attention has gone to the sensation and
you begin to think about that feeling. You then let go of any
thoughts about that sensation, open mind and let go of the tight
mental fist that is wrapped around the sensation, or you can let
the sensation be there by itself without any mental resistance or
aversion to it. This is done by telling yourself, “Never mind, it is
alright for this pain to be there.”
Next, relax the tightness in the head ... feel mind expand and
become calm ... then smile and re-direct mind’s attention back to
the object of meditation i.e. the breath and relaxing on both the
in and out-breath.
If you get caught by thinking about the sensation or pain, the
sensation will get bigger and become more intense. Eventually,
you can’t stand it anymore and you feel like you have to move.
This thinking or internal verbalizing about the sensation and
wishing it would go away, is the ‘ego identification’ and the very
beginning of craving and clinging. This getting involved with, ...
trying to control, ... fighting with the sensation, ... resisting the
sensation etc., is only fighting with the Dhamma, which is the
Truth of the present moment.
Whenever you fight and try to control or harden mind to the
“Dhamma of the present moment”, you cause yourself undue
suffering and pain. Another way of fighting with the Dhamma
is by taking the sensation personally and trying to control feeling
with your thoughts. This worsens the pain and, as a result, it
hurts even more. Thus, you must learn to open and lovingly-
accept the present moment without that ‘ego-identification’ and
the thinking or internal verbalization about it, or taking it as “I
am that”.
By letting go and relaxing, then smiling, this is how you gain
calmness and collectedness of mind as well as equanimity, full
awareness, and mindfulness. The Buddha taught us three kinds of
actions while meditating or during our daily activities. They are,
“Love Where We Are At…
Love What We Are Doing in the Present Moment…
and Love Who We Are With”.
These simple explanations allow you to be completely accepting
of the present moment. “To Love Where We Are At” means to
accept the fact that when you are sitting in meditation, things are
not always like you want them to be.
“To Love What We Are Doing” means to open up mind and allow
whatever arises in the present moment to present itself without
our getting attached to it (craving) or criticizing ourselves for not
being as good as we think we should be.
A good acronym for this is “DROPSS” which means “Don’t
Resist Or Push. Soften and Smile”. Whatever arises, do not resist
or push. Just soften into it and smile, open mind and accept it. In
other words “Love What We Are Doing”.
“To Love Who We Are With”, means to love yourself enough so
that you see and let go of all kinds of attachments which cause
pain to arise in your body and mind.
The recognition that you cause your own suffering is a major
realization. When you truly love yourself, you will see the pain and
sorrow and lovingly let it go, then relax and smile. This is done by
letting go of the thinking about. Thus, you will eventually let go of
the attachment (craving) and the ego identification with it.
“He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in experiencing the whole
body’;
he trains thus ‘I shall breathe out experiencing the whole
body’’;
This part of the sutta means that you know when the breath is
starting and stopping on the in-breath, then relax. You don’t have
to over-focus mind or ‘concentrate’ on the breath, or take this
breathing as the object of extreme ‘absorption concentration’.
You simply know what the breath is doing in the present moment
and relax on both the in and out-breath. Your mindfulness is
sharp enough to know what the breath and relaxing is doing at
all times, without controlling the breath in any way.
Just let the breath and relaxing become a natural process!
“He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in tranquilizing the bodily
formation’;
he trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out tranquilizing the bodily
formation’.”
This simple statement is the most important part of the meditation
instructions. It instructs you to notice the tightness which arises
in the head with every arising of a consciousness and to relax
that tightness while on the in-breath and out-breath. Then you
feel your mind open up, expand, relax, become tranquil. and
then you smile.
This process occurs because there is a membrane that is wrapped
around the brain called the “meninges”. This membrane tightens
every time a thought, feeling, or sensation arises. Every time you
see that mind is distracted away from the breath and relaxing,
you simply let go of the distraction by not keeping mind’s
attention on it, then relax the tightness in the head or brain, feel
mind become open and expanded. Feel it become relaxed, calm
and clear.
Next, you softly smile and re-direct mind’s attention back to
the breath. On the in-breath relax, feel it expand and become
calm. On the out-breath relax, feel the meninges expand, feel
mind become alert, and pure. In this way the tension in the head
(meninges, brain) and mind gently goes away.
For example, when a thought arises, just let the thought go. Don’t
continue thinking, even if you are in mid-sentence. Just softly let
go of the thought. If the distraction is a sensation, firstly open
mind and let go of the aversion to the sensation and relax the
tightness caused by that distraction. Then feel open and expand
before smiling and then re-direct mind’s attention back to the
breath and relaxing. This opening up, relaxing and letting go of
the tightness in the head is actually letting go of the subtle ‘ego
identification’ (craving) which attaches itself to everything as it
arises.
Thus, in this way, when you let go of this tension, you are actually
letting go of all craving and ignorance which causes rebirth.
This is the actual experience of the “Third Noble Truth” or the
cessation of suffering.
Many times a teacher of ‘absorption concentration’ will tell their
students that this last part of the instructions means that you
become tranquil when you focus mind’s attention just on the
breath. But, this is not the way this is to be read. The Pàli presents
us with the word “pas-sambaya”. This word is interesting
because it can be a verb, an adverb, a noun, or an adjective. Words
which preceed it or follow it change the meaning of this word.
The words before this state “He trains thus:”. This means that
this Pàli word is an “action verb”. This makes sense because you
are relaxing (letting go of subtle craving) in the body and mind
on both the in and out-breaths.
When you follow this sutta’s instructions, this small step
of relaxing in the instructions actually says that when you
meditate, you are not strongly focusing just on the breath itself
to the exclusion of everything else. You are using the breath to
remind yourself to relax on both the in and out- breaths. This
changes the entire meditation moving it away from “absorption
concentration” and instead, developing the “Tranquil Wisdom
Insight Meditation” (TWIM)!
When the meditation instructions here are followed closely,
there will be no ‘sign or nimitta’ arising in mind. A nimitta is a
kind of mind-made object, which arises when one is practicing
‘absorption concentration meditation’. In the practice of TWIM,
the Mind naturally becomes calm and your understanding of
HOW mind’s attention actually moves continues to develop.
This also means that you will be able to discern how the links
of Dependent Origination occur and this is where deep insights
and understanding really happen.
You need not “try” to force mind to stay on the object of
meditation through strong concentration which can cause tension
and pain (craving) in the head and body. Eventually you begin to
realize the true nature of all phenomenon as being impermanent
(anicca), unsatisfactory (dukkha), and not-self (anattà) as well as
beginning to see for yourself how the impersonal process of
Dependent Origination occurs.
Thus, when you practice “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation”
(TWIM), you are aware of the in-breath and at the same time, the
relaxation of the tension caused by craving in your head because
of the tightening of the meninges, the membrane around the
brain, and you feel this tightening in your mind as well. You
are also aware of the out-breath and again, at the same time, the
relaxation of the tension in the head and mind.
Please use the breath as your reminder to relax all tightness
because then you are letting go of the craving, which always
manifests as tension and tightness in both mind and body.
This is actually an incredibly easy practice and a simple way to
develop mind. It is alright if you happen to miss one in-breath or
one out-breath at first. You should not put unnecessary pressure
on yourself or criticize yourself. This might cause you to think
how difficult this practice is. It does take some getting used to
before your practice becomes proficient. Thus, if you occasionally
miss the in-breath and relaxing, or, an out-breath and relaxing,
just let it go and catch the next in-breath or out-breath. Simple
and easy, isn’t it?
At first, the breath may seem to be very fast and difficult
to notice. However, as you continue with your practice, the
meditation becomes easier and you will not miss the in-breath
and relaxing or the out-breath and relaxing that much. After all,
this is a gradual training. There is no need to put undue pressure
on yourself, so, have fun and smile more. This is the way to gain
the fastest results. Please remember that the Buddha teaches us
to have a happy wholesome uplifted mind all of the time! Simply
relax into the meditation and smile. Smiling is a way to have an
alert uplifted mind!
When you practice “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation”
(TWIM), the breath does not become subtle and difficult to
observe. If this happens, then the meditator is ‘concentrating’ too
much on the breath and not smiling enough. Also, the tightness in
the head is not relaxed enough. If the breath seems to disappear
again, the meditator is focusing their ‘concentration’ and not
tranquilizing mind enough.
The Jhànas (meditation stages of understanding) will appear by
themselves as mind becomes calm and peaceful. You do not have
to push, force, or ‘concentrate with a fixed mind’. Actually, the
Buddha taught this most natural form of meditation to work for
every type of personality or individual.
19] “He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe in experiencing joy’;
He trains thus: ‘I shall breathe out experiencing joy’.”
This refers to the attainment of the first two Jhànas (meditation
stages of understanding). The description of these stages is a set
formula that is repeated many times in the suttas.[12] We will
now look into the description of these first two Jhànas:
Here, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, ...
When you start your meditation session, you first close your
eyes. This is being secluded from the sensual pleasure of seeing.
Whenever a sound distracts mind, the instructions are to let the
sound be there by itself, without thinking about whether you like
the sound or not. Simply let the sound go. Let go of the mental
fist around the sound. Relax the craving or tightness in the head
and feel mind become calm and at ease. Now smile and redirect
(happy) mind’s attention back to the object of meditation, i.e.,
the breath. Relax the tightness in the head, feel mind open up,
expand, and become tranquil. Smile and on the in-breath, relax
the tightness in the head on the out-breath, feel mind become
alert, peaceful, and pure because there is no more craving in it.
You stay with the breath and relax the tension in mind until the
next distraction appears by itself.
As a meditator you do this with smelling, tasting, bodily
sensations, and thoughts or any kind of sensual pleasure which
distracts mind’s attention away from the breath and relaxing.
Whenever there is a distraction at one of the sense-doors you
simply and softly let it go, relax that mental fist around the
distraction, relax the tightness in the head, feel mind expand,
and redirect mind’s attention back to the breath and relaxing
again. It doesn’t matter how many times the sensual pleasure
arises. You have to allow it to be there every time it arises. Just
remember to let it go, relax the tightness in the head, feel mind
expand and smile, then come back to the breath and relaxing.
secluded from unwholesome states...
When mind’s attention is distracted from the breath and
relaxing, and it begins to think about a feeling that arises, then
there is a tendency for mind to like or dislike that feeling. This
thinking about and trying to control feeling by thinking about
what arises, causes the feeling to get bigger and more intense.
Thus, more pain arises.
The Breath of Love - 5 Faculties & 5 Powers
The Breath of Love
Author
Most Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahàthera
The Five Faculties
“Again Udayin, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way to
develop the five spiritual faculties. Here a monk develops the
faculty of faith which leads to peace, leads to awakening.”
The faculty of faith is also called the faculty of confidence. As you
become interested in letting go of the pain of living, your curiosity
becomes stronger. Thus, you begin to look for a meditation teacher.
If you are fortunate enough to learn from a competent guide, you
will begin to see some slight changes in the way you perceive
the world. As you begin to see this through direct practice, your
confidence begins to grow. As a result, enthusiasm towards the
practice increases so that you will want to practice more!
“He develops the faculty of energy, which leads to peace, leads
to awakening.”
When your confidence grows, you will naturally put more
energy into your practice. You begin to sit a little longer and
mind becomes a little clearer. For the beginner it is recommended
to sit not less than 30-45 minutes at a time.
When a sitting is good, please stay with that sitting for as long
as it lasts. A good sitting might last for one hour, one hour-ten
minutes, or longer. It is good to sit progressively for longer periods
of time and not worry about becoming attached to the sitting.
The only way you become attached is by the thinking about
the meditation instead of doing the meditation in the correct
manner. There is nothing wrong in sitting for long periods of
time as long as you do not hurt yourself physically and you have
enough exercise.
Sitting for one or two or three hours is fine only when you are
ready to sit comfortably for such long periods. If you sit in a
way which causes pain to arise every time, then you are causing
yourself unnecessary physical discomfort. This is not a wise
thing to do, because the sitting posture should be comfortable. It
is alright if you use a stool or chair, as long as you do not lean too
much into anything. Leaning is good for sleeping and dullness,
but not for meditating! Thus, the more confidence you have, the
more energy you put into your practice. Your enthusiasm will
naturally increase as you continue practicing.
“He develops the faculty of mindfulness which leads to peace,
leads to awakening.”
As your energy improves, your awareness and mindfulness will
naturally become stronger. This is a very natural “non-forced”
process. Let’s take a look at the mind of an ordinary person, a
person like you or me. What you find is a grasshopper mind, a
butterfly mind, or one could also say, a mad monkey mind. It
is always moving, ever-jumping around. It changes its fantasies
and impulses at every moment.
Mind’s attention is prey for all stimuli and its own emotional
reaction to them. This is actually a reaction that is mostly re-
acting to conditions the way you always act when a certain stimuli
arises. It is a chain of linked associations, hopes, fears, memories,
fantasies, or regrets that are streaming constantly through mind.
These are triggered by memories of the outside world.
Mind’s attention is blindly moving, never-stopping, never-
satisfied in its search for pleasure and satisfaction. It is no wonder
that mind becomes so crazy and filled with un-satisfactoriness
and was described by the early monks as a restless mad monkey
swinging from branch-to-branch in the quest for satisfying fruit
through the endless jungle of conditional events.
Thus, when you first begin to meditate, mind’s attention
naturally runs all over the place and it stays away from the object
of meditation for a long time. Sometimes it even takes two or
three minutes before you are able to recognize that it is being
pulled away and then, you gently let it go, relax the tension in
the head, calm mind, smile and re-direct mind’s attention back
to the breath and relaxing.
When this happens, this is only natural, because mind is used to
running wherever it likes to go. When it does happen, please don’t
criticize yourself or beat yourself up because mind’s attention
is so unruly. Instead, release the distraction, relax, smile as you
return back to the object of meditation and continue on.
As your practice develops and you are able to recognize and let
go more quickly, your mindfulness gradually becomes sharper.
Mind might only stay away from the breath and relaxing for
one minute before recognizing that it is not on the breath and
relaxing. It then lets go, relaxes, smiles, and comes back to the
breath and relaxes again.
At this time mind’s attention begins to stay on the breath
and relaxing for longer periods of time, perhaps, as long as
thirty seconds, before it goes off again. However, you are now
becoming better at seeing when mind’s attention goes away. Your
mindfulness becomes sharper and you are able to recognize
what mind is doing. Thus, when your confidence becomes better,
energy improves, and as a result, the alertness of mind naturally
develops and this is sharpening your mindfulness. One of the
most important parts of this meditation is to realize that the
‘breath and relaxing’ should be your re-centering point for each
cycle.
“He develops the faculty of collectedness or stillness, which
leads to peace, leads to awakening.”
When your mindfulness of the present moment improves,
mind will naturally stay on the object of meditation for much
longer periods of time. Most people would describe this as
‘concentration’ but this is not an accurate description because
this is not that kind of concentration. Mind is not absorbed into or
fixed on just the breath. Instead, it is very still, relaxed, composed
and stays on the breath and relaxing very well. Remember that
the breath is the reminder for the RELAX step and that is very
important.
At this time a strong feeling of joy arises and the body becomes
very light and this feels like floating. When joy fades away, a
powerful feeling of tranquility, equanimity, and comfort arises.
Due to your sharp awareness, you do not become involved with
these feelings. But if you begin to think or internally verbalize
about how nice this state is, and how much you like it, you will
lose that state and sleepiness very often comes into mind. This
is because you are caught by the attachment to those feelings
(craving and clinging) and it slips off the object without coming
back to the breath and relaxing.
Mindfulness fades away when you start to think or internally
verbalize about things and you become involved in wanting
to control these things and thoughts. This also happens when
you crave for the experience of joy and tranquility to arise. This
desire makes mind try too hard so that it can’t get back to that
experience!. But when you try harder and put in more energy,
the restlessness becomes bigger. Often times, you will put even
more energy into overcoming this hindrance when what is really
needed is to put in less energy and relax and smile more. Turn
your meditation into a fun game to play with instead of making
the hindrance an enemy to fight with.
These arising combinations of hindrances will stop all spiritual
practice from occurring because the desire for things to be in
a particular way (craving) makes all the spiritual development
fade away. Therefore, you must be more mindful of the thoughts
about these pleasant abidings.
As your confidence and smiling increases, your energy grows
naturally. This improves your mindfulness which enables the
collectedness and stillness of mind to become stronger and last
longer.
“A monk develops the faculty of wisdom (or understanding
of how Dependent Origination occurs), which leads to peace,
leads to awakening . And thereby many disciples of mine
abide having reached the consummation and perfection of
direct knowledge.”
As your mind becomes more calm and still, you are able to see the
true nature of things. This development of wisdom or intelligence
is gained by personally seeing things arise and pass away by
themselves. For instance, even while you are sitting in a Jhàna [a
meditation stage of understanding] you see how joy arises. It is
there for a while, then fades away. You then see how tranquility
and happiness arise. You are there for a while and then, they
fade away. You are able to see the true nature of impermanence,
even in the beginning of your practice, by observing thoughts
arising and passing away.
You begin to observe feeling and emotions arising and passing
away. You will also notice that these things that arise and pass
away are un-satisfactory and these feelings and emotions
are a form of suffering, especially when they don’t behave
in the way you want them to. When you see how truly un-
satisfactory this process is, you can then clearly see that it is an
“impersonal process” (anattà). No one controls the appearance
and disappearance of these things.
Even while in Jhàna [a meditation stage of understanding] you
have no real control over joy arising because joy arises when
the conditions are right for it to come up. At the same time, you
simply cannot force joy to stay because it will fade away when
the conditions are right. Whatever arises, passes away.
This causes more un-satisfactoriness to arise, because joy is such
a nice feeling! In this way, you are able to see the characteristics
of existence very clearly, i.e. anicca (impermanence), dukkha
(suffering), and the impersonal nature of these things (anattà).
This is how to develop wisdom which gradually leads us to the
seeing of Dependent Origination both arising and ceasing (that
is, seeing and realizing The Four Noble Truths). An interesting
observation found in the Vinaya is that you can see the three
characteristics of existence without ever seeing the links
of Dependent Origination, but you can never see the links of
Dependent Origination without seeing the three characteristics
of existence (i.e., impermanence, suf fering and the impersonal
nature of everything) at the same time. We will discuss this in
more detail at a later time.
The Five Powers
“Again Udayin, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way to
develop the Five Spiritual Powers.
Here a monk develops the Power of Faith, which leads to peace,
leads to awakening.
He develops the Power of Energy, which leads to peace, leads
to awakening.
He develops the Power of Mindfulness, which leads to peace,
leads to awakening.
He develops the Power of Collectedness, which leads to peace,
and leads to awakening.
He develops the Power of Wisdom (which means seeing and
understanding the links of Dependent Origination), which
leads to peace, and leads to awakening.
And thereby many disciples of mine abide having reached the
consummation and perfection of direct knowledge.”
These are the same as the five faculties but, they are called powers
because of their ability to purify mind and make it wholesome
and clean.
We will now continue with the ânàpànasati Sutta.
14] “In this saïgha of monks there are monks who abide devoted
to the development of loving-kindness ... of compassion ... of
joy ... of equanimity ... of the meditation of foulness ... of the
perception of impermanence—such monks are there in this
saïgha of monks. In this saïgha of monks there are monks
who abide devoted to the development of mindfulness of
breathing.
Loving-kindness, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity are known
as the Four “Brahmà Vihàras” or the Four Boundless states of
mind, or the Limitless or Immeasurable states of mind. This is
because there are no boundaries or limitations on mind when
they are practiced.
The meditation of foulness is suitable for those who have a strong
affinity for lust arising in their minds. It is practiced by reflecting
on the elements and the disgusting nature of our body parts. For
example, when you look at a beautiful person and thoughts of lust
arise, you can imagine how desirable that person would be if all
of their body parts were to be turned inside-out! Will your mind
then think, “Oh! what a lovely intestine or liver!” or “Wow! What
beautiful bile, pus and phlegm that person has!” How much lust
is there in mind at that time? Thus, this meditation helps people
with a lustful personality to come more into balance.
The perception of impermanence does not actually refer to sitting
down and thinking about how everything changes. (Remember,
“Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation” (TWIM) is about seeing
with a silent and spacious mind). It is referring to the meditation
states of “infinite space” and “infinite consciousness” where mind
sees just how fleeting these mental and physical phenomenon
truly are and you realize just how unsatisfactory this is. Plus,
the biggest insight is when you realize all states of existence are
just a part of an impersonal process. In other words, you see and
understand that there is no controller and that there is no self-
making these things to arise. They arise by themselves. They are
there for a brief moment and they go away without you having
any control over what happens.
We will now proceed to the next section of the sutta which speaks
about “Mindfulness of Breathing”.
Author
Most Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahàthera
The Five Faculties
“Again Udayin, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way to
develop the five spiritual faculties. Here a monk develops the
faculty of faith which leads to peace, leads to awakening.”
The faculty of faith is also called the faculty of confidence. As you
become interested in letting go of the pain of living, your curiosity
becomes stronger. Thus, you begin to look for a meditation teacher.
If you are fortunate enough to learn from a competent guide, you
will begin to see some slight changes in the way you perceive
the world. As you begin to see this through direct practice, your
confidence begins to grow. As a result, enthusiasm towards the
practice increases so that you will want to practice more!
“He develops the faculty of energy, which leads to peace, leads
to awakening.”
When your confidence grows, you will naturally put more
energy into your practice. You begin to sit a little longer and
mind becomes a little clearer. For the beginner it is recommended
to sit not less than 30-45 minutes at a time.
When a sitting is good, please stay with that sitting for as long
as it lasts. A good sitting might last for one hour, one hour-ten
minutes, or longer. It is good to sit progressively for longer periods
of time and not worry about becoming attached to the sitting.
The only way you become attached is by the thinking about
the meditation instead of doing the meditation in the correct
manner. There is nothing wrong in sitting for long periods of
time as long as you do not hurt yourself physically and you have
enough exercise.
Sitting for one or two or three hours is fine only when you are
ready to sit comfortably for such long periods. If you sit in a
way which causes pain to arise every time, then you are causing
yourself unnecessary physical discomfort. This is not a wise
thing to do, because the sitting posture should be comfortable. It
is alright if you use a stool or chair, as long as you do not lean too
much into anything. Leaning is good for sleeping and dullness,
but not for meditating! Thus, the more confidence you have, the
more energy you put into your practice. Your enthusiasm will
naturally increase as you continue practicing.
“He develops the faculty of mindfulness which leads to peace,
leads to awakening.”
As your energy improves, your awareness and mindfulness will
naturally become stronger. This is a very natural “non-forced”
process. Let’s take a look at the mind of an ordinary person, a
person like you or me. What you find is a grasshopper mind, a
butterfly mind, or one could also say, a mad monkey mind. It
is always moving, ever-jumping around. It changes its fantasies
and impulses at every moment.
Mind’s attention is prey for all stimuli and its own emotional
reaction to them. This is actually a reaction that is mostly re-
acting to conditions the way you always act when a certain stimuli
arises. It is a chain of linked associations, hopes, fears, memories,
fantasies, or regrets that are streaming constantly through mind.
These are triggered by memories of the outside world.
Mind’s attention is blindly moving, never-stopping, never-
satisfied in its search for pleasure and satisfaction. It is no wonder
that mind becomes so crazy and filled with un-satisfactoriness
and was described by the early monks as a restless mad monkey
swinging from branch-to-branch in the quest for satisfying fruit
through the endless jungle of conditional events.
Thus, when you first begin to meditate, mind’s attention
naturally runs all over the place and it stays away from the object
of meditation for a long time. Sometimes it even takes two or
three minutes before you are able to recognize that it is being
pulled away and then, you gently let it go, relax the tension in
the head, calm mind, smile and re-direct mind’s attention back
to the breath and relaxing.
When this happens, this is only natural, because mind is used to
running wherever it likes to go. When it does happen, please don’t
criticize yourself or beat yourself up because mind’s attention
is so unruly. Instead, release the distraction, relax, smile as you
return back to the object of meditation and continue on.
As your practice develops and you are able to recognize and let
go more quickly, your mindfulness gradually becomes sharper.
Mind might only stay away from the breath and relaxing for
one minute before recognizing that it is not on the breath and
relaxing. It then lets go, relaxes, smiles, and comes back to the
breath and relaxes again.
At this time mind’s attention begins to stay on the breath
and relaxing for longer periods of time, perhaps, as long as
thirty seconds, before it goes off again. However, you are now
becoming better at seeing when mind’s attention goes away. Your
mindfulness becomes sharper and you are able to recognize
what mind is doing. Thus, when your confidence becomes better,
energy improves, and as a result, the alertness of mind naturally
develops and this is sharpening your mindfulness. One of the
most important parts of this meditation is to realize that the
‘breath and relaxing’ should be your re-centering point for each
cycle.
“He develops the faculty of collectedness or stillness, which
leads to peace, leads to awakening.”
When your mindfulness of the present moment improves,
mind will naturally stay on the object of meditation for much
longer periods of time. Most people would describe this as
‘concentration’ but this is not an accurate description because
this is not that kind of concentration. Mind is not absorbed into or
fixed on just the breath. Instead, it is very still, relaxed, composed
and stays on the breath and relaxing very well. Remember that
the breath is the reminder for the RELAX step and that is very
important.
At this time a strong feeling of joy arises and the body becomes
very light and this feels like floating. When joy fades away, a
powerful feeling of tranquility, equanimity, and comfort arises.
Due to your sharp awareness, you do not become involved with
these feelings. But if you begin to think or internally verbalize
about how nice this state is, and how much you like it, you will
lose that state and sleepiness very often comes into mind. This
is because you are caught by the attachment to those feelings
(craving and clinging) and it slips off the object without coming
back to the breath and relaxing.
Mindfulness fades away when you start to think or internally
verbalize about things and you become involved in wanting
to control these things and thoughts. This also happens when
you crave for the experience of joy and tranquility to arise. This
desire makes mind try too hard so that it can’t get back to that
experience!. But when you try harder and put in more energy,
the restlessness becomes bigger. Often times, you will put even
more energy into overcoming this hindrance when what is really
needed is to put in less energy and relax and smile more. Turn
your meditation into a fun game to play with instead of making
the hindrance an enemy to fight with.
These arising combinations of hindrances will stop all spiritual
practice from occurring because the desire for things to be in
a particular way (craving) makes all the spiritual development
fade away. Therefore, you must be more mindful of the thoughts
about these pleasant abidings.
As your confidence and smiling increases, your energy grows
naturally. This improves your mindfulness which enables the
collectedness and stillness of mind to become stronger and last
longer.
“A monk develops the faculty of wisdom (or understanding
of how Dependent Origination occurs), which leads to peace,
leads to awakening . And thereby many disciples of mine
abide having reached the consummation and perfection of
direct knowledge.”
As your mind becomes more calm and still, you are able to see the
true nature of things. This development of wisdom or intelligence
is gained by personally seeing things arise and pass away by
themselves. For instance, even while you are sitting in a Jhàna [a
meditation stage of understanding] you see how joy arises. It is
there for a while, then fades away. You then see how tranquility
and happiness arise. You are there for a while and then, they
fade away. You are able to see the true nature of impermanence,
even in the beginning of your practice, by observing thoughts
arising and passing away.
You begin to observe feeling and emotions arising and passing
away. You will also notice that these things that arise and pass
away are un-satisfactory and these feelings and emotions
are a form of suffering, especially when they don’t behave
in the way you want them to. When you see how truly un-
satisfactory this process is, you can then clearly see that it is an
“impersonal process” (anattà). No one controls the appearance
and disappearance of these things.
Even while in Jhàna [a meditation stage of understanding] you
have no real control over joy arising because joy arises when
the conditions are right for it to come up. At the same time, you
simply cannot force joy to stay because it will fade away when
the conditions are right. Whatever arises, passes away.
This causes more un-satisfactoriness to arise, because joy is such
a nice feeling! In this way, you are able to see the characteristics
of existence very clearly, i.e. anicca (impermanence), dukkha
(suffering), and the impersonal nature of these things (anattà).
This is how to develop wisdom which gradually leads us to the
seeing of Dependent Origination both arising and ceasing (that
is, seeing and realizing The Four Noble Truths). An interesting
observation found in the Vinaya is that you can see the three
characteristics of existence without ever seeing the links
of Dependent Origination, but you can never see the links of
Dependent Origination without seeing the three characteristics
of existence (i.e., impermanence, suf fering and the impersonal
nature of everything) at the same time. We will discuss this in
more detail at a later time.
The Five Powers
“Again Udayin, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way to
develop the Five Spiritual Powers.
Here a monk develops the Power of Faith, which leads to peace,
leads to awakening.
He develops the Power of Energy, which leads to peace, leads
to awakening.
He develops the Power of Mindfulness, which leads to peace,
leads to awakening.
He develops the Power of Collectedness, which leads to peace,
and leads to awakening.
He develops the Power of Wisdom (which means seeing and
understanding the links of Dependent Origination), which
leads to peace, and leads to awakening.
And thereby many disciples of mine abide having reached the
consummation and perfection of direct knowledge.”
These are the same as the five faculties but, they are called powers
because of their ability to purify mind and make it wholesome
and clean.
We will now continue with the ânàpànasati Sutta.
14] “In this saïgha of monks there are monks who abide devoted
to the development of loving-kindness ... of compassion ... of
joy ... of equanimity ... of the meditation of foulness ... of the
perception of impermanence—such monks are there in this
saïgha of monks. In this saïgha of monks there are monks
who abide devoted to the development of mindfulness of
breathing.
Loving-kindness, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity are known
as the Four “Brahmà Vihàras” or the Four Boundless states of
mind, or the Limitless or Immeasurable states of mind. This is
because there are no boundaries or limitations on mind when
they are practiced.
The meditation of foulness is suitable for those who have a strong
affinity for lust arising in their minds. It is practiced by reflecting
on the elements and the disgusting nature of our body parts. For
example, when you look at a beautiful person and thoughts of lust
arise, you can imagine how desirable that person would be if all
of their body parts were to be turned inside-out! Will your mind
then think, “Oh! what a lovely intestine or liver!” or “Wow! What
beautiful bile, pus and phlegm that person has!” How much lust
is there in mind at that time? Thus, this meditation helps people
with a lustful personality to come more into balance.
The perception of impermanence does not actually refer to sitting
down and thinking about how everything changes. (Remember,
“Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation” (TWIM) is about seeing
with a silent and spacious mind). It is referring to the meditation
states of “infinite space” and “infinite consciousness” where mind
sees just how fleeting these mental and physical phenomenon
truly are and you realize just how unsatisfactory this is. Plus,
the biggest insight is when you realize all states of existence are
just a part of an impersonal process. In other words, you see and
understand that there is no controller and that there is no self-
making these things to arise. They arise by themselves. They are
there for a brief moment and they go away without you having
any control over what happens.
We will now proceed to the next section of the sutta which speaks
about “Mindfulness of Breathing”.
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