The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science

by Culadasa (John Yates)

sensations with equal clarity in large body regions. Any time you realize you’re in a state

Buddhadhamma,

Dharma Treasure Buddhist Sangha in Tucson, Arizona.

Meditation: The Science and Art of Living

Fully-developed meditation skills also give rise to unique and wonderful mental states characterized by physical comfort and pleasure, joy and happiness, deep satisfaction, and profound inner peace—states that can open the mind to an intuitive appreciation of our interconnectedness and dispel the illusion of separateness created by our egos. Furthermore, these fruits of meditation can be enjoyed all day long, for many days at a time, and we can renew them whenever we like just by sitting down and practicing. I will describe these mental states in detail, and the systematic training presented here will lead to them with unfailing certainty. But even so, these peak experiences aren’t the ultimate benefit of meditation. While bliss, joy, tranquility, and equanimity are delightful, they are also transitory and easily disrupted by sickness, aging, and difficult life circumstances. They also offer no protection from the corrupting influences of lust, greed, and aversion, nor their consequences. Therefore, these states are not an end in themselves, but only a means to a higher goal. That higher goal is Awakening. Other commonly used terms include Enlightenment, Liberation, or Self-Realization

Each of these refers to a complete and lasting freedom from suffering unaffected by aging, disease, or circumstance. True happiness, the bliss of perfect contentment, follows upon liberation from suffering. Awakening isn’t some transient experience of unity and temporary dissolution of ego. It’s the attainment of genuine wisdom; an enlightened understanding that comes from a profound realization and awakening to ultimate truth.

This is a cognitive event that dispels ignorance through direct experience. Direct knowledge of the true nature of reality and the permanent liberation from suffering describes the only genuinely satisfactory goal of the spiritual path. A mind with this type of Insight experiences life, and death, as a great adve...

Meditation is the art of fully conscious living.

The beauty and significance of a life well lived consists not in the works we leave behind, or in what history has to say about us. It comes from the quality of conscious experience that infuses our every waking moment, and from the impact we have on others.

In other words, for your personal reality to be created purposefully, rather than haphazardly, you must understand your mind.

Awakening. This should be the goal of your practice.

Although pain and pleasure are an inevitable part of human life, suffering and happiness are entirely optional.

A fully Awake, fully conscious human being has the love, compassion, and energy to make change for the better whenever it’s possible, the equanimity to accept what can’t be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Therefore, make the aim of your meditation the cultivation of a mind capable of...

A Modern RoadMap for Meditation

Ānāpānasati Sutta.

Asanga,

Stages of Meditation

Path of Purification

Putting this Practice into Context

meditative

the goal of Awakening8. These terms are: śamatha9 (tranquility or calm abiding), vipassanā10 (Insight), samādhi (concentration or stable attention), and sati (mindfulness).

Awakening from our habitual way of perceiving things requires a profound shift in our intuitive understanding of the nature of reality. Awakening is a cognitive event, the culminating Insight in a series of very special Insights called vipassana. This climax of the progress of Insight only occurs when the mind is in a unique mental state called śamatha.11 Śamatha and vipassana are both generated using stable attention (samādhi) and mindfulness (sati). Although it’s possible to cultivate either śamatha or vipassanā independently of one another, both are

Śamatha has five characteristics: effortlessly stable attention (samādhi),13 powerful mindfulness (sati), joy, tranquility, and equanimity.14 The complete state of śamatha results from working with stable attention and mindfulness until joy emerges. Joy then gradually matures into tranquility, and equanimity arises out of that tranquility. A mind in śamatha is

Vipassanā refers specifically to Insight into the true nature of reality that radically transforms our understanding of ourselves and our relationship to the world

These useful insights are not vipassanā, however, because they neither transform us personally, nor our understanding of reality, in any profound way. The Insights called vipassanā are not intellectual. Rather, they are experientially based, deeply intuitive realizations that transcend, and ultimately shatter, our commonly held beliefs and understandings.

The five most important of these are Insights into impermanence, emptiness, the nature of suffering, the causal interdependence of all phenomena, and the illusion of the separate self (i.e.

For both śamatha and vipassana, you need stable attention (samadhi) and mindfulness (

śamatha

vipassanā

“Śamatha-Vipassanā me...

“the practice of Tranquility a...

Together the Stages and Interludes will lead you on a profound adventure of self-discovery and mental cultivation. If you take your time, studying the ideas and putting them into practice, you’ll overcome psychological challenges, experience extraordinary states, and learn to use your mind with amazing proficiency. You’ll discover an unprecedented inner calm and gain a deep understanding—even a direct experience—of ultimate truth.

The Ten Stages of Meditation

The Stages and Milestones form a broad map to help you figure out where you are and how best to continue.

The Stages and Milestones, considered together, form a broad map to help you figure out where you are and how best to continue.

the route your spiritual journey takes will always be at least slightly different from that of somebody else.

how fast or slow you may experience progress, and about what kind...

Revisit this chapter from time to time so that you keep the big picture fresh in your mind.

How the Process Unfolds

Diligence is all you need to make the fastest progress possible. Taking shortcuts just creates problems and ultimately prolongs the process—so they’re not really shortcuts.

The secret to progress is working with the specific obstacles and goals appropriate to your current skill level.

The Rate of Progress through the Ten Stages

What you need is a regular daily sitting practice of one to two hours per day in combination with some of the supplemental practices described in the appendices.

The most important factor for improving quickly is a clear understanding of each Stage. That means recognizing the mental faculties you need to cultivate, as well as the correct methods to overcome specific obstacles.

Finesse and patience pay off.

The Ten Stages of Meditative Training

Diligence means engaging whole-heartedly in the practice rather than spending your time on the cushion planning or daydreaming.

Goals: Develop a regular meditation practice.

Mastery: Never missing a daily practice session.