RIGHT MINDFULNESS
Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling
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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)
When feeling a common painful feeling, one is aware: “Feeling a
common painful feeling.” When feeling an uncommon painful feeling, one
is aware: “Feeling an uncommon painful feeling”. . . One is just aware,
just mindful: “There is feeling.” And one abides not clinging to
anything in the world. (MN 10)
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Common feelings
are those that come with ordinary experience, while uncommon feelings
are connected with more subtle psychological and meditative experience.
Remember, feelings in this context are not what we commonly think of as
emotions; rather feelings refer to physical and mental sensations of
pleasure and pain. Here we are directed to take note of the painful
sensations with the equanimity of mindfulness.
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Pay close
attention to what it feels like when something is painful, both
physically and mentally, as a way of practicing the second foundation of
mindfulness. This means you are not resenting or resisting the pain but
merely taking an interest in it and investigating its nuances with a
balanced mind. Pain need not be seen as “bad,” but rather can be
explored as a different texture on the continuum of lived experience.
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RIGHT CONCENTRATION
Approaching and Abiding in the Second Phase of Absorption (2nd Jhāna)
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With the stilling of applied and
sustained thought, one enters upon and abides in the second phase of
absorption, which has inner clarity and singleness of mind, without
applied thought and sustained thought but with joy and the pleasure born
of concentration. (MN 4)
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Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering
One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third Jhāna
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