Meditation is the way of developing the mind so that it may be a base for the arising of wisdom. Here the breath is a physical foundation. We call it ānāpānasati or mindfulness of breathing. Here we make breathing our mental object. We take this object of meditation because its the simplest and because it has been the heart of meditation since ancient times. Now fix your attention on the breath. Then breathe in and breathe out. In developing awareness of breathing, dont intentionally make the breath long or short. Neither make it strong or weak. Just let it flow normally and naturally. Mindfulness and self-awareness, arising from the mind, will know the in-breath and the out-breath. Be at ease. Dont think about anything. No need to think of this or that. The only thing you have to do is fix your attention on the breathing in and breathing out. You have nothing else to do but that! Keep your mindfulness fixed on the in-and out-breaths as they occur. Be aware of the beginning, middle and end of each breath. Focusing the attention on these three points will relieve all worries. Just dont think of anything else! Keep your attention on the breath. Perhaps other thoughts will enter the mind. It will take up other themes and distract you. Dont be concerned. Just take up the breathing again as your object of attention. The mind may get caught up in judging and investigating your moods, but continue to practice, being constantly aware of the beginning, middle and the end of each breath. Eventually, the mind will be aware of the breath at these three points all the time. When you do this practice for some time, the mind and body will get accustomed to the work. Fatigue will disappear. The body will feel lighter and the breath will become more and more refined. Mindfulness and self-awareness will protect the mind and watch over it. We practice like this until the mind is peaceful and calm. Then when the mind is peaceful, we fix our attention on the in-breath and out-breath at the nose tip only. We dont have to follow it up and down to the abdomen and back. Just concentrate on the tip of the nose where the breath comes in and goes out. This is called calming the mind, making it relaxed and peaceful. When tranquility arises, the mind stops; it stops with its single object, the breath. This is whats known as making the mind peaceful so that wisdom may arise. .... ....... Whether taken separately as earth, water, fire and wind, or taken together labeling what they form a human being, theyre all impermanent, subject to suffering and not-self. They are all unstable, uncertain and in a state of constant change - not stable for a single moment! Our body is unstable, altering and changing constantly. Hair changes, nails change, teeth change, skin changes - everything changes, completely! Our mind, too, is always changing. It isnt a self or substance. It isnt really us, not really them, although it may think so. Maybe it will think about killing itself. Maybe it will think of happiness or of suffering - all sorts of things! Its unstable. If we dont have wisdom and we believe this mind of ours, itll lie to us continually. And we alternately suffer and be happy. This mind is an uncertain thing. This body is uncertain. Together they are impermanent. Together they are a source of suffering. Together they are devoid of self. These, the Buddha pointed out, are neither a being, nor a person, nor a self, nor a soul, nor us, nor they. They are merely elements: earth, water, fire and wind. Elements only! When the mind sees this, it will rid itself of attachment which holds that I am beautiful, I am good, I am evil, I am suffering, I have, I this or I that. You will experience a state of unity, for youll have seen that all of mankind is basically the same. There is no I. There are only elements. When you contemplate and see impermanence, suffering and not-self, there will no longer be clinging to a self, a being, I or he or she. The mind which sees this will give rise to nibbidā, disenchantment and dispassion. It will see all things as only impermanent, suffering and not-self. The mind then stops. The mind is Dhamma. Greed, hatred and delusion will then diminish and recede little by little until finally there is only mind - just the pure mind. This is called practicing meditation.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:00:40 +0000
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