Kindle Notes & Highlights
We will discuss the samādhi-bhāvanā specifically introduced and recommended by Lord Buddha himself: ānāpānasati. This method appears in both brief references and detailed explanations in the Pali Tipiṭika. Ānāpānasati is the Buddha’s system, “the Buddha’s samādhi-bhāvanā.”
ānāpānasati,
Ānāpānasati
samādhi-bhāvanā
The paccaya for the mind is what amuses and coaxes the mind into contentment.
contemplate the breath as it moves between the nose and the navel without leaving any chances for the mind to wander elsewhere.
kāya.
we must have correct prāṇa. Prāṇa is a Sanskrit word, the Pali equivalent is pāṇa. Ordinarily, this word means “life” or “life force” or “that which preserves and nurtures life.” We must understand it correctly; our prāṇa should be healthy and correct. Then our lives will be correct.
prāṇāyāma,
Prāṇāyāma is the first subject of ānāpānasati.
The last item of this tetrad is calming the body-conditioner, that is, making the preservers of the body peaceful and calm.
kāya. It is important to note that the more you understand these facts, the more benefits this training will bring; you will become able to make this the best life possible. So we begin with learning about the kāya as the first tetrad.
the prāṇa-body is the conditioner of the flesh-body.
there are these two kāya or levels of kāya.
We know about the first level, the flesh-body, but we hardly kn...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
it is very important to understand the prāṇa-body, as it can condition the flesh-...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
We need to study and train the breath in order to use it to condition the flesh-body.
By learning to regulate the prāṇa-body, we regulate the flesh-body, making it calm and peaceful.
The first tetrad, the kāya, has these characteristics, this objective and method of practice.
There are four steps in the practice of the kāya tetrad: knowing the long breath, knowing the short breath, knowing how the breath regulates the body, and contemplating the breath in order to calm the body.
In order to know the nature of the long breath, we study all the secrets and attributes of the long breath. We are able to contemplate its long duration, learning to protect and maintain it. In fact, we become expert in all matters concerned with the long breath. Practicing with the long breath is lesson one.
The breath is a body in that it is a group, a collection. The flesh-body is also a kāya because it too is a group or collection. Thus, there are two groups, two bodies. One group is the breath that conditions the flesh-body group. We should analyze this experience to see clearly that there are two groups and that they condition each other. Contemplate this thoroughly until it becomes obvious.
We use the same word for the subject of the conditioning, “the concocter,” as well as the object, “the concoction.” We even use it for the activity, “the concocting,” itself.
If you study the meaning of sankhāra in this comprehensive way, you will find it possible to realize more and more profound Dhamma.
Thus, in the practice of step three we see the conditioner, the condition, and the process of conditioning.
Step three is the work of seeing these three elements together, simultaneously and continuously, within the mind. In this way we see everything concerning the term, especially as it relates to the kāya and its activity.
The essence of practicing step three is to know that there are two kāya and to regulate one kāya through the other. That is, we regulate the flesh-body through the breath-body. Once we have understood this clearly and are convinced by our experience of this process with each in-breath and out-breath, then we have realized success in our practice of step three.
selecting one image and contemplating it in a most concentrated way until the breath becomes truly calm and peaceful.
These are our five techniques, or skillful means: following, guarding, raising a mental image, playing with the different mental images, and choosing one image to be the specific object of samādhi (concentration, collectedness) until there is complete calmness.
We take a spot that is easy to contemplate and does not stir up any thoughts. We choose such an image and focus all of the mind on it, for the purpose of developing concentration. We focus on just this simple point so that the citta does not wander anywhere else.
five factors:
noting (vitakka),
experiencing (...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
contentment ...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
joy (s...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
one-pointedness (e...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
factors of jhāna.
We shall need the feelings of pīti and sukha in the next steps of our study. If we can progress further into jhāna, into the material absorptions (rupa-jhāna), that will be useful;
Every time you sit down to practice ānāpānasati—every sitting and every session—you must begin with step one, experiencing the long breath. It does not matter which step you were doing yesterday, today you must start again at the very beginning. Each session is brand new. From the long breath, move on to the short breath, and so on. Progress from one step to the next, completely fulfilling each step before moving on, until you come to the step where you left off the last time.
see that they are just thus, just like that. Impermanence is just thus, just like that, thusness. And so, tathatā is seen as well.
A complete realization of impermanence must include unsatisfactoriness, not-self, voidness, thusness, and the law of causality. When we see all of these, then we have seen impermanence completely and in the most profound way. This is how we fully realize the impermanence of the sankhāra.
Remember that there are three meanings to this word: the conditions that are concocted, the concocters that condition other things, and the activity of conditioning or concocting. Various causes, conditions, and ingredients must be concocted and compounded in order to use the term sankhāra.
The characteristic of conditioners is impermanence.
The characteristic of things conditioned i...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
The characteristic of the activity or process of conditioni...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
To see all three aspects like this is to realize impermanence in the most pro...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
The essential point is that seeing aniccaṁ alone is not enough. We must see aniccaṁ such that it shines onto dukkhaṁ, anattā, suññatā, tathatā, and idappaccayatā—the entire string of realization.
whether we call it satipaṭṭhāna or ānāpānasati there are only four matters of importance: kāya, vedanā, citta, and Dhamma.
It is possible to condense the sixteen down to two steps. One—train the citta (mind) to be adequately and properly concentrated. Two—with that samādhi, skip over to contemplate aniccaṁ, dukkhaṁ, and anattā right away. Just these two steps, if they are performed with every inhalation and exhalation, can also be considered ānāpānasati.
Concentrate the citta by contemplating the breath. When you feel that there is sufficient samādhi, examine everything that you know and experience so that you realize how they are impermanent, how they are unsatisfactory, and how they are not-self.
