Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Mindfulness and Concentration: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and the Second Jhāna

 

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RIGHT MINDFULNESS Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling 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 feeling a pleasant feeling, one is aware: "Feeling a pleasant feeling." . . . One is just aware, just mindful: "There is feeling." And one abides not clinging to anything in the world. (MN 10)

Reflection The second basis on which mindfulness is established is feeling tone. This does not refer to our emotional life—feelings of affection or anger or dismay—but rather to the valence of feeling as pleasant or unpleasant or neutral (not obviously pleasant or unpleasant). The practice is to sit down deliberately for some time—even five minutes, if that is all you can manage—and simply notice pleasant and unpleasant sensations as they occur. Daily Practice As with mindfulness of breathing, the attitude with which you are aware of feeling tone is of great importance. The text is guiding us to be fully aware of a painful feeling, for example, without analyzing it or wishing it was not happening. Simply notice it as a brief episode of a particular feeling tone, without clinging in any way either to its going away if it is painful or to its coming again if it is pleasant. Just be aware of it. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Approaching and Abiding in the Second Phase of Absorption (2nd Jhāna) With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, one enters upon and abides in the second phase of absorption, which brings inner clarity and singleness of mind, without applied thought and sustained thought but with joy and the pleasure born of concentration. (MN 4) Reflection The teachings around right concentration have to do with four phases of absorption, also known as jhānas. When the mind rests steadily on a single object of attention—which is quite difficult to do at first—it gradually disentangles itself from the various hindrances and becomes unified, peaceful, and stable. With this comes inner clarity and the dropping away of the internal use of language. Daily Practice You will know when you have entered into absorption of the jhānas because the state is accompanied at first by a great deal of physical and mental pleasure. The physical pleasure is described as being fundamentally different from any sensual gratification, and the mental pleasure comes naturally when the mind is free of the hindrances (phase one) and when it becomes concentrated or one-pointed (phase two). Tomorrow: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering One week from today: Establishing Mindfulness of Mind and Abiding in the Third Jhāna Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Daily Dharma: Be Curious, Not Furious

 

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Be Curious, Not Furious Skillfully engaging in the practice “be curious, not furious” means to feel and act with a sense of greater safety instead of scanning for threats. It means to feel more satisfied instead of focusing on what is lacking or needed. Marc Lesser, “How to Deal with Difficult People” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Wonhyo’s Middle Path By Tommy Tran, edited by Frederick M. Ranallo-Higgins Learn how to use skillful means to harmonize truths across Buddhist traditions. Read more » Making Sense of Yogacara A Premium Event with William Waldron Join professor William Waldron to learn more about Yogacara, the highly influential but often misunderstood mind-only school of Mahayana Buddhism. Sign up » Follow Us Forward today's wisdom to a friend »

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Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States

 

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RIGHT EFFORT Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States Whatever a person frequently thinks about and ponders, that will become the inclination of their mind. If one frequently thinks about and ponders unhealthy states, one has abandoned healthy states to cultivate unhealthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to unhealthy states. (MN 19) Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives to abandon arisen unhealthy mental states. One abandons the arisen hindrance of sense desire. (MN 141)

Reflection Unhealthy states arise in human experience all the time. This is not your fault; you are not to be blamed for it or to feel guilty about it. What is important is first of all to notice when an unhealthy state is arising—hence the value of mindfulness training—and then to understand that it is unhealthy, which comes gradually with wisdom, and finally to let go of it—not suppress it or ignore it but simply let it pass through the mind and go away.  Daily Practice One of the most persistent and common of the unhealthy states is sense desire. There is a natural tendency for the senses to lean in to experience, to subtly seek out and attach to things that give us a sense of gratification. Make an effort to recognize when this is happening, and respond with letting go. Notice, understand, and release. Repeat often. Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna One week from today: Developing Unarisen Healthy States Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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