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, November 17, 2024
Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and the Third Jhāna
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
The third
foundation on which mindfulness is established, mindfulness of mind,
involves noticing the impact of various emotions and attitudes on the
mind. Consciousness simply reflects whatever object comes before it, but
then we respond to the object with love or hate, wanting or not
wanting, and all kinds of judgments favoring or opposing it. With
mindfulness we are content with watching this as it occurs.
Daily Practice
After you gain
skill in observing the bodily sensations that accompany breathing in and
out and then bringing mindfulness to bear on pleasant and unpleasant
feeling tones, next focus on the influence craving and aversion may or
may not have on your mind in any given moment. When you like something,
be aware of that. When you dislike something, be aware of that. This is
the starting point of mindfulness of mind.
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)
Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Way to the Cessation of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and Abiding in the Fourth Jhāna
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