Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and the First Jhāna

 

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Body 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)

Reflection We often forget that the practice of mindfulness meditation is the practice of contentment. We are ardent because we are interested in what is happening, fully aware because we are looking openly at it, and mindful because we are examining our experience with equanimity rather than under the influence of desire. When we no longer desire what is happening to be any different than it is, we are content. Daily Practice Practice mindfulness as an exercise in contentment. Mindfulness begins with bringing deliberate attention to the objects of experience and thereby bringing heightened awareness to the moment. Mindfulness proceeds by disengaging the habit of favoring some things and opposing others, and then regarding all phenomena equally. When desire is replaced by an attitude of equanimity, contentment settles in the mind. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the First Phase of Absorption (1st Jhāna) 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) Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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