According to the VISUDDHI MAGGA, there are nine ways to sharpen these five faculties which a meditator must follow.
1. The first way is that the meditator must keep in mind that he will realise the dissolution of mental and physical processes or compounded things when he observer them as they really are. This should be the attitude of a meditator. Sometimes he does not believe that every mental and physical process is impermanent, subject to arising and passing away (anicca). Because of this preconception he may not be able to realise the true nature of the mind-body processes. Though he may gain deep concentration, it would only enable him to attain peace and happiness to a limited extent. The commentary says:
A meditator must keep in mind that he see
only the destruction of arisen formations.
2. The second way is, he must practise mindfulness meditation seriously. If he lacks respect for the technique or the result of meditation, then he will not put enough effort into his practice. Consequently, he cannot concentrate his mind well on the object of meditation. He will not be able to realise the true nature of nama and rupa.
3. The third way is that his mindfulness of mental and physical processes must be uninterrupted, continuous, constant and sustained. Only then can he attain the deep concentration upon which he can build insight knowledge which penetrates into the true nature of mental and physical processes. This is a very important point which every meditator must follow. While you are awake, you must constantly and continuously be aware of whatever arises in your mind and body as it really is. Be mindful for the whole day without a break.
4. The fourth way is the seven kinds of suitability which a meditator should depend upon: a suitable abode or meditation hall, resort for alms, speech, co-meditator, food, climate and posture. Whether or not the conditions are suitable, you should make enough effort in your practice.
5. The fifth way is that a meditator must remember the way by which he attained deep concentration. By practising itrepeatedly he thereby acquires the skill to enable him to attain deep concentration.
6. The sixth way is that a meditator must develop the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (bojjhanga). He must develop them as and when they are needed; they are: mindfulness, investigation of dhamma, energy, rapture, tranquility, concentration and equanimity.
When the mind is sluggish he should develop the enlightenment-factors of mindfulness, investigation of dhamma, energy and rapture. While the mind is too active he must develop the factors of tranquility, concentration and equanimity.
7. The seventh way is he must not worry about his body or even his life. Sometimes a meditator who strives very hard in his meditative practice from four o' clock in the morning to ten at night without rest, may worry that his body is weak. He may not put forth enough effort in his practice and his mindfulness will not be constant, continuous and sustained. When mindfulness is weak, it cannot bring about deep concentration. When concentration is weak, insight knowledge of the true nature of bodily and mental processes will not unfold. That is why the VISUDDHI MAGGA says that to sharpen these five mental faculties the meditator must not be concerned about his body and health. He must strive to the utmost, practising strenuously for the whole day without taking rest or a break and without concern for the body.
8. The eighth way is that whenever mental or physical pain arises, he should strive to note it by putting more effort into his practice. When pain arises, there is a tendency or desire to change position so that it will disappear, but he must not do so. Instead, he must put more effort in his practice to overcome the pain by being aware of it more energetically, attentively and precisely. The pain will become his 'friend' because it enables him to attain deep concentration and clear insight.
9. The ninth way is that he must not stop half-way to his goal. He must not stop his practice of mindfulness meditation before he attains Arahantship. He must strive his best, putting persistent effort in his practice until he has achieved his goal.
There are the mind ways of sharpening five mental faculties. We can summarize them as follows:
1. Keep in mind the aim to realise the impermanence of the mental-physical processes.
2. Practise the Dhamma seriously and with respect.
3. Maintain constant, uninterrupted and continuous mindfulness by being aware of all daily activities.
4. Seven kinds of suitability must be followed
5. Remember how to achieve the concentration that was attained previously
6. Develop the seven Factors of Enlightenment
7. Do not worry about your bodily health and life during meditation
8. Overcome physical pain through strenuous effort in your practice
9. Do not stop half-way to your goal. You must always be striving so long as you have not yet attained Arahantship.
Sadhu......3
Thursday, September 15, 2011
NINE WAYS TO SHARPEN THE MENTAL FACULTIES (1)
The Five Mental faculties of a meditator are saddhã, vîriya, sati, samãdhi, and paññã. These five are known as Pañcindriyã ('panca' means five, 'indriya' means faculties) as well as Pañcabala (Five Mental Powers).
1. Saddhã means faith through right understanding of Dhamma.
2. Vîriya means strenuous effort or energy.
3. Sati means continuous, constant and sustained mindfulness.
4. Samãdhi means deep concentration.
5. Paññã means wisdom, insight and enlightenment.
For a meditator, these five mental faculties must be strong, powerful and balanced as stated in the VISUDDHI MAGGA. Saddhã must be firm and unwavering vîriya must be powerful and strong, sati must be sharp and paññã must be penetrating.
BALANCING THE MENTAL FACULTIES
To make these five faculties strong, powerful and balanced, there are nine guidelines which a meditator must follow. If these faculties are strong but they are not in balance, a meditator cannot attain insight, enlightenment and the cessation of suffering. Saddhã (faith) must be in balance with paññã (wisdom), and samãdhi (concentration) must be in balance with vîriya (effort or energy). The main mental faculty, Sati (mindfulness), need not be in balance with any faculties; it must be uninterrupted, constant and sustained.
If saddhã is weak and paññã is stronger, a meditator may analyse his experience in the course of meditation. While experiencing a mental or physical process, he may analyse it, especially if he has a wide knowledge of Dhamma. When he does so, this analytical knowledge impedes his concentration, causing it be broken or weakened.
In Vipassana meditation, there is no room for reflection, analysing, logical reasoning or philosophical thinking which are not in accordance with the right understanding of the natural process of mental and physical phenomena. When a dhamma is not rightly penetrated, comprehende or realised, a meditator's faith may be lessened or disbelief develop in the doctrine as a result of his analytical knowledge of the Dhamma or experience. Only after he has completed the practice of meditation and experienced enlightenment, should he analyse it in any way. He will then have unwavering confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sanghã because of his experiential knowledge.
If a meditator believes in the Buddha and his doctrine then his wisdom or insight knowledge is in balance with firm faith (saddhã). He can then proceed with his practice without the disturbance of analytical knowledge or reasoning, or philosophical thinking. Some meditators want to display their knowledge of Buddhism or Dhamma. They, therefore, sometimes analyse what they experience in their meditation and talk about something which is contrary to dhamma. According to the Visuddhi magga, saddhã (faith) must be in balance with paññã (wisdom, insight knowledge) and vice versa.
However, the contemplation of the abdominal movement is very straightforward to those who have learnt the meditation technique from the Buddhist scriptures. I accepted the technique as true and correct because I knew that the abdominal movement is air element (vãyo-dhãtu), and the other three elements: fire element (tejo-dhãtu), water element (apo-dhãtu) and earth element (pathavi-dhãtu) are also included in the abdominal movement. As we can contemplate the four elements, this technique must be correct because it is in conformity with the chapter, DHÃTUMANASIKÃRA (contemplation of elements) in the discourse of MAHA SATIPATTHANA SUTTÃ.
If paññã (wisdom) is weak and saddhã (faith) is strong, then a meditator may be credulous or gullible. If he is either as he will tend to easily believe in any theory or doctrine. He may fall into a doctrine or theory which leads him down the wrong path. Therefore, saddhã must be in balance with paññã, knowledge or wisdom. And in this way, the faculty of faith (saddhindriya) and wisdom (paññindriya) must be in balance.
Then again, samãdhi (concentration) and vîriya (energy) must also be in balance. If vîriya is more powerful and stronger than samãdhi, you cannot concentrate well on the object of meditation. The commentary says:
If vîriya is stronger than samãdhi, a meditator's mind will become distracted and restless (uddhacca).
In the beginning of the practice his concentration is usually weak and the mind often wanders. So, he should follow the mind and watch it as it is. If a meditator is enthusiastic for the achievement of insight, he may put too must effort in his practice, thereby causing the mind to become distracted and restless. Effort must be kept in balance with concentration.
If concentration is too strong and effort is too weak, then the concentration changes into sloth and torpor or sleepiness (thina-middha).
So concentration must be kept in balance with effort (vîriya). When concentration is deep, insight will unfold naturally and you will be able to clearly realise the true nature of mind-body processes (nama and rupa).
Continue.....
1. Saddhã means faith through right understanding of Dhamma.
2. Vîriya means strenuous effort or energy.
3. Sati means continuous, constant and sustained mindfulness.
4. Samãdhi means deep concentration.
5. Paññã means wisdom, insight and enlightenment.
For a meditator, these five mental faculties must be strong, powerful and balanced as stated in the VISUDDHI MAGGA. Saddhã must be firm and unwavering vîriya must be powerful and strong, sati must be sharp and paññã must be penetrating.
BALANCING THE MENTAL FACULTIES
To make these five faculties strong, powerful and balanced, there are nine guidelines which a meditator must follow. If these faculties are strong but they are not in balance, a meditator cannot attain insight, enlightenment and the cessation of suffering. Saddhã (faith) must be in balance with paññã (wisdom), and samãdhi (concentration) must be in balance with vîriya (effort or energy). The main mental faculty, Sati (mindfulness), need not be in balance with any faculties; it must be uninterrupted, constant and sustained.
If saddhã is weak and paññã is stronger, a meditator may analyse his experience in the course of meditation. While experiencing a mental or physical process, he may analyse it, especially if he has a wide knowledge of Dhamma. When he does so, this analytical knowledge impedes his concentration, causing it be broken or weakened.
In Vipassana meditation, there is no room for reflection, analysing, logical reasoning or philosophical thinking which are not in accordance with the right understanding of the natural process of mental and physical phenomena. When a dhamma is not rightly penetrated, comprehende or realised, a meditator's faith may be lessened or disbelief develop in the doctrine as a result of his analytical knowledge of the Dhamma or experience. Only after he has completed the practice of meditation and experienced enlightenment, should he analyse it in any way. He will then have unwavering confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sanghã because of his experiential knowledge.
If a meditator believes in the Buddha and his doctrine then his wisdom or insight knowledge is in balance with firm faith (saddhã). He can then proceed with his practice without the disturbance of analytical knowledge or reasoning, or philosophical thinking. Some meditators want to display their knowledge of Buddhism or Dhamma. They, therefore, sometimes analyse what they experience in their meditation and talk about something which is contrary to dhamma. According to the Visuddhi magga, saddhã (faith) must be in balance with paññã (wisdom, insight knowledge) and vice versa.
However, the contemplation of the abdominal movement is very straightforward to those who have learnt the meditation technique from the Buddhist scriptures. I accepted the technique as true and correct because I knew that the abdominal movement is air element (vãyo-dhãtu), and the other three elements: fire element (tejo-dhãtu), water element (apo-dhãtu) and earth element (pathavi-dhãtu) are also included in the abdominal movement. As we can contemplate the four elements, this technique must be correct because it is in conformity with the chapter, DHÃTUMANASIKÃRA (contemplation of elements) in the discourse of MAHA SATIPATTHANA SUTTÃ.
If paññã (wisdom) is weak and saddhã (faith) is strong, then a meditator may be credulous or gullible. If he is either as he will tend to easily believe in any theory or doctrine. He may fall into a doctrine or theory which leads him down the wrong path. Therefore, saddhã must be in balance with paññã, knowledge or wisdom. And in this way, the faculty of faith (saddhindriya) and wisdom (paññindriya) must be in balance.
Then again, samãdhi (concentration) and vîriya (energy) must also be in balance. If vîriya is more powerful and stronger than samãdhi, you cannot concentrate well on the object of meditation. The commentary says:
If vîriya is stronger than samãdhi, a meditator's mind will become distracted and restless (uddhacca).
In the beginning of the practice his concentration is usually weak and the mind often wanders. So, he should follow the mind and watch it as it is. If a meditator is enthusiastic for the achievement of insight, he may put too must effort in his practice, thereby causing the mind to become distracted and restless. Effort must be kept in balance with concentration.
If concentration is too strong and effort is too weak, then the concentration changes into sloth and torpor or sleepiness (thina-middha).
So concentration must be kept in balance with effort (vîriya). When concentration is deep, insight will unfold naturally and you will be able to clearly realise the true nature of mind-body processes (nama and rupa).
Continue.....
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