Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and the Third Jhān

 

RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Mind

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)   When the mind is devoid of aversion, one is aware "the mind is devoid of aversion" … One is just aware, just mindful: "There is mind." And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection

Mindfulness can be established and sustained by focusing on the quality of consciousness itself. Consciousness is colored in every moment by subtle or obvious emotional tones, in particular by various forms of greed, hatred, and delusion. These states are toxic, but the mind is often free of them for fleeting moments. Here we are invited to notice when the mind is free from hatred in its many forms.

Daily Practice

Aversion is a quality of mind that comes and goes. Sometimes we are annoyed at something, and sometimes we are not. Sometimes we hate something and wish it would go away, and sometimes we do not. This is a practice of noticing the flickering moods of the mind, of becoming aware of the emotional strands that arise in the mind and then vanish. In particular, notice when your mind is free of any trace of aversion.

RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Third Phase of Absorption (3rd Jhāna)

With the fading away of joy, one abides in equanimity; mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body, one enters upon and abides in the third phase of absorption, on account of which noble ones announce: "One has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful." (MN 4) When one sees oneself purified of all these unhealthy states and thus liberated from them, gladness is born. When one is glad, joy is born; in one who is joyful, the body becomes tranquil; one whose body is tranquil feels pleasure; in one who feels pleasure, the mind becomes concentrated. (MN 40)

Reflection

Pleasure is as natural and inevitable a part of human experience as pain, and like pain it is not to be feared or avoided. The challenge is to not be carried away by either, and to abide with both with equanimity. The unhealthy pursuit of pleasure can lead to all sorts of problems, but there are some cases, like this one, when pleasure is an ally. There is a healthy pleasure that comes simply from the experience of a tranquil body.

Daily Practice

Pleasure can be a gateway leading from tranquility to concentration. Allow yourself to feel how pleasant it is to be calm. Temporarily free from the rush of restlessness, and not, for the moment, driven by all kinds of pressures to do and accomplish things, take some time to allow yourself to fully feel the deep pleasure of a calm and tranquil moment. This is the pleasure of being, not doing.

Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering
One week from today:  Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna

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