Sunday, July 28, 2024

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

 


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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 not composed, one is aware: “The mind is not composed”. . . One is just aware, just mindful: “There is mind.” And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)
Reflection
With the third of the four foundations of mindfulness, or practices on which mindfulness can be established, we learn to notice the effect of various mental and emotional states on the way consciousness manifests in our experience. A composed mind consists of a moment of coherence, unity, tranquility, and internal harmony. Sometimes this happens, and sometimes it does not. Simply be aware when it does and does not.

Daily Practice
When observing the many changing mental states in your experience, it is important to avoid getting attached to them. This is particularly difficult with thoughts, which have rich content that can draw us into the story and away from an attitude of neutral observation. This is why the instruction to just be aware, to just be mindful, is so important. This keeps the mind moving forward and not clinging to anything.


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)

One practices: “I shall breathe in concentrating the mind”; 
one practices: “I shall breathe out concentrating the mind.”
This is how concentration by mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated 
so that it is of great fruit and great benefit. (A 54.8)

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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