A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and the Third Jhāna
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 desire, one is aware: "The mind is
devoid of desire." One is just aware, just mindful: "There is mind." And
one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)
Reflection
The mind is
merely aware of an object, either a sensory or mental object, much like a
mirror reflecting accurately whatever comes before it. Emotional
states, such as desire, co-arise every moment and flood the mind, often
distorting or coloring what is seen, heard, felt, or cognized. Sometimes
desire is present, sometimes it is not. Here we are being encouraged to
notice when it is not.
Daily Practice
Our emotional
life flickers moment by moment as quickly as our mental life does, and
the stream of consciousness is permeated by a stream of attitudes,
intentions, and views. By noticing when desire is present and absent, we
learn to recognize that it is just a passing state that sometimes
occurs and sometimes does not. Practice "not clinging to anything in the
world," including the presence or absence of sensory desire.
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)
Reflection
Remember that
jhāna practice is not something that can be undertaken lightly or
sporadically and usually requires the protected conditions of a retreat
center and the guidance of an experienced teacher. The jhānas are
mentioned a lot in the early texts and form the core discussion of right
concentration. But mostly we just hear the standard formula repeated in
various contexts without much detail on how to practice.
Daily Practice
The transition
from the second to the third phase of absorption has to do with the
mellowing of joy, which is an almost effervescent energetic upwelling of
pleasant bodily sensation into an experience of mental and emotional
equanimity. The body still experiences pleasure, but the mind settles
into an even and balanced awareness of the pleasant feeling tone that is
not attached to it in any way.
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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