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January 26 - January 26, 2018
The second is called “momentary rapture,” which is felt as a sudden jolt of energy, like a flash of lightning.
The third kind of pīti is called “wavelike or showering rapture.”
The fourth kind is “uplifting rapture.” When
The fifth kind of pīti is called “pervading rapture.
Our mind can become so elated and excited by what it is seeing and how it feels that we can lose sight of right understanding. This is when we can get caught up in what are called the “corruptions” or “imperfections” of insight.
this interest-arousing factor plays an important role both in the first two states of concentrated absorption and as one of the essential factors of awakening.
Following the precepts is a decision, a commitment, to refrain from certain things we know to be harmful to others or ourselves. We arouse the energy to undertake this training based on our understanding. And contrary to possible apprehensions that this will be burdensome and difficult, we often find it to be just the opposite.
The strength and energy of our commitment to the precepts bring a feeling of joy and confidence.
The enlightenment factor of rapture is born from the freedom from remorse that comes from practicing the precepts of nonharming, and the increasing momentum of awareness that comes from sustained, balanced energy.
It is just the opposite of boredom, which is a lack of attention; so when we’re feeling bored or disinterested, that feeling itself is a very useful feedback that our attention has become halfhearted. In
the enlightenment factor of calm or tranquility. The Pali word for this factor, passaddhi, can be translated as “calm,” “tranquility,” “serenity,” or “composure.”
is the soothing factor of mind that quiets the disturbances. It manifests as peacefulness or coolness in both the mind and body.
Passaddhi encompasses both physical composure and mental tranquility.
Buddhist psychology describes how it brings along with it other wholesome states, such as lightness, wieldiness, proficiency, and sincerity.
It is mindfulness that knows whether tranquility is present or not.
And investigation, energy, and interest—what we might call “meditative intelligence
lead onward to its development and fullness, but without becoming identified ...
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“Bhikkhus, as to internal factors, I do not see any other factor that is so helpful for the arising of the seven factors of enlightenment as this: careful attention.
Yoniso manasikara
“Bhikkhus, as to external factors, I do not see any other factor that is so helpful for the arising of the seven factors of enlightenment as this: good friendship.
Kalyanna mitta
There is often a subtle, or not so subtle, striving or efforting even with something as simple as the breath. Repeatedly reminding ourselves to relax, to calm the formations of body and mind, actually brings about a letting go, a settling back into a more tranquil state, free of wanting, of getting. We
The Buddha said that frequently giving attention to calm is the nutriment for the arising and fulfillment of this factor of enlightenment.
We can also practice tranquility as w...
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When standing, just stand. When seeing, just see.
Teaching to Bahiya
“When tranquility is developed, what purpose does it serve? The mind is developed. And when the mind is developed, what purpose does it serve? Passion is abandoned. “When insight is developed, what purpose does it serve? Discernment is developed. And when discernment is developed, what purpose does it serve? Ignorance is abandoned.”
it is this happiness of tranquility that, in turn, becomes the conditioning factor for concentration and liberating wisdom.
In the thirty-seven principles of enlightenment, concentration appears four different times—as a spiritual faculty, a spiritual power, a factor of awakening, and as the last step of the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Pali word for concentration is samādhi, and it refers to two different but related activities of mind: the mental factor of one-pointedness and the meditative states of concentration.
One-pointedness serves to unify all the different factors of mind on a single object or on moment-to-moment changing objects.
The Pali word for meditation is bhāvanā, and it literally means “causing to be developed.”
two types of concentration that help settle the flighty mind. The first is fixed-object concentration.
There are forty traditional subjects, including the breath, the brahmavihāras, kasinas or colored discs, thirty-two parts of the body, the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, generosity, morality, peace, and so on.
A strong one-pointedness directed to changing objects moment after moment leads to momentary concentration, the second type of samādhi.
The second meaning of samādhi is more general and refers to the whole range of meditative states of concentration.
jhāna. The term literally means “to meditate,” and it is used to describe different levels of samādhi.
contemplation of a single object, which leads to the states of absorption, and contemplation of the characteristics of phenomena, which is concentration leading to meditative insights.
deepening states of concentration, of unification, of steadiness and nondistractedness of mind, are skillful in themselves and necessary supports for the development of wisdom.
The first development of concentration, as the first jhāna, leads to a pleasant abiding here and now, what the Buddha called “a blameless kind of happiness.”
it is secluded from the hindrances and can be the basis for awakening.
The second development of concentration leads to the attainment of what is called “knowledge and vision.”
The third development of concentration leads us into the realm of insight and wisdom.
using the concentrated mind in the service of clear comprehension,
The fourth development of concentration leads to the ending and uprooting of the defilements, the culmination of the path, by remaining focused on the arising and falling away of all the aggregates.
“the path of dry insight”—that is, without jhanic attainment.
it’s not an either-or situation or that one way excludes the other. At different times, one or another approach might be appropriate.
The first step in developing concentration is having the confidence that we can do it.
begin by simply being mindful of whether concentration is present or not.
the Buddha taught that the foundation for concentration is sīla, or ethical conduct, and that if there is no virtue, the basis for concentration is destroyed.
sīla is the cause for nonremorse, nonremorse the condition for happiness, happiness the cause for concentration, and concentration the condition for liberating wisdom.
One of the most basic and easily applied methods is mindfulness of breathing.
As we develop the art of concentration, we each need to find for ourselves the right balance of investigation, tranquility, and method.
