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, December 22, 2024
Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna
RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects
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 sensual desire is internally present, one is aware: "Sensual
desire is present for me." When sensual desire is not present, one is
aware: "Sensual desire is not present for me." When the arising of
unarisen sensual desire occurs, one is aware of that. And when the
abandoning of arisen sensual desire occurs, one is aware of that. . . .
One is just aware, just mindful: "There is a mental object." And one
abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)
Reflection
The fourth
basis for the establishment of mindfulness is the mindfulness of mental
objects. While mindfulness of mind focuses on the quality of
consciousness, mindfulness of mental objects turns to the specific
contents of consciousness. Every moment is a moment of knowing something,
and the mind takes up one object after another just as a monkey takes
hold of one branch after another as it swings through the trees. Here we
notice this.
Daily Practice
The text does
not direct us to be aware of whatever random thoughts come to mind but
leads us through a number of specific mental objects as understood by
Buddhist psychology. We center here on the first of the five hindrances.
Notice when sensual desire is present in the mind and when it is
absent. Notice also how it arises and how you can decide to abandon or
let go of it. We are practicing observing mental flux.
RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Fourth Phase of Absorption (4th Jhāna)
With the abandoning of pleasure
and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, one
enters into and abides in the fourth phase of absorption, which has
neither-pain-nor-pleasure and purity of mindfulness as a result of
equanimity. The concentrated mind is thus purified, bright, unblemished,
rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to
imperturbability. (MN 4)
Reflection
The four stages of mental absorption described in the system of jhānas
culminate with the attainment of a profound and imperturbable
equanimity. In this state the mind is free of both craving and aversion,
neither favors nor opposes any mental object, and is able to simply
regard things as they actually are, undistorted by our projections and
fears. Notice also that such equanimity has the effect of purifying
mindfulness.
Daily Practice
Sitting quietly
and allowing the mind to become more and more peaceful, progressively
"more unified, and gradually steadier will eventually culminate in the
quality of mind described here. This is not a transcendent state but
rather a natural, immanent state of mind. See if you can allow your mind
to become still like tranquil water and watch the mind reflect whatever
comes before it without distortion.
Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in the First Jhāna
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