RIGHT MINDFULNESS
Establishing Mindfulness of Body
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A person goes to the forest
or to the root of a tree or to an empty place and sits down. Having
crossed the legs, one sets the body erect. One establishes the presence
of mindfulness. (MN 10) One is aware: "Ardent, fully aware, mindful, I
am content." (SN 47.10)
Breathing in and out, tranquilizing bodily activities … one is just
aware, just mindful: "There is a body." And one abides not clinging to
anything in the world. (MN 10)
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Sunday is a
good day to get in the habit of spending some time in mindful
meditation. When the quality of mind called mindfulness is nurtured and
developed, the mind inclines toward contentment, as this passage points
out. This might even be a good definition of mindfulness: feeling
content with whatever is happening by not wanting it to be anything
other than it is.
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The text that
teaches meditation begins with learning to breathe in and out, long and
short, mindfully, but here it shifts with a more intentional directive.
The instruction is to "tranquilize"—calm or relax—the breathing and all
bodily activity. In other words, we are now not simply being aware of
what is happening but also trying to direct our experience toward deeper
and deeper states of calm. With each breath, relax.
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RIGHT CONCENTRATION
Approaching and Abiding in the First Phase of Absorption (1st Jhāna)
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Having abandoned the five
hindrances, imperfections of the mind that weaken wisdom, quite secluded
from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, one enters
and abides in the first phase of absorption, which is accompanied by
applied thought and sustained thought, with joy and the pleasure born of
seclusion. (MN 4)
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We dedicate
Sundays to practicing mindfulness and concentration. Concentration
practice involves focusing the mind on a single object, such as the
breath, and returning attention to this focal point whenever it wanders
off (which it will surely do often). All forms of meditation involve
some level of concentration, so it is a good thing to practice.
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Formal
concentration practice, involving absorption (Pali: jhāna) in four
defined stages, requires more time and sustained effort than occasional
practice generally allows and would benefit from careful instruction by a
qualified teacher. You may begin on your own, however, simply by
practicing to abandon the five hindrances, since jhāna practice only
really begins when these temporarily cease to arise.
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Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin Suffering
One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna
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