From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=bSVt-O7tF4Y

Context: Throughout this transcript, Bhante Vimalaramsi is the speaker unless otherwise indicated.

the following reading is of the book the

path to Nirvana her mindfulness of

loving-kindness progresses through the

tranquil aware Jonah's to awakening by

David C Johnson chapter 5 progress in

the aware Twi M Jonah's beginning Twi M

now let us see how the Twi a meditation

practice takes us through the four

tranquil aware Jonah's including the

full formula spaces contained in the

fourth jhana culminating with the

attainment of Nibin are if you follow

what the Sutter's say without any added

interpretation then this is what will

happen this is the progress of tranquil

aware inside meditation a Twi M the

Jonah's described from here of the

tranquil aware Jonah's in this type of

Jonah

you are aware of both mind and body the

Buddha said we cannot ever understand

ourselves unless we look at the totality

of who we are and see the impersonal

nature of everything that arises we

can't control anything by pushing it

away trying to stop what comes up only

through acceptance of what is in the

present not fighting a controlling it

seeing it clearly without mental noise a

craving can we achieve release a word

here about morality the Buddha's system

is built on a moral view of the world if

you do unwholesome actions then painful

results and mental states like

hindrances follow the whole sment

wholesome follows meditation is

completely wholesome if you wish to be

successful in your meditation you should

be following the five precepts as a

minimum to achieve the best progress

what do they not killing not stealing

not lying a cursing not being involved

in sexual misconduct like adultery and

not taking in toxicants or alcohol it

isn't hard and it said that following

these simple guidelines brings you a

prosperous and happy existence in this

life and the next

following these five precepts prescribed

by the Buddha as your moral baseline

will help your meditation to go very

deep by not committing any further

harmful acts you will become free of

guilt and remorse and your mind will be

peaceful and tranquil for retreats there

are an additional three precepts to help

you fine-tune including not eating after

noon not engaging in entertainment and

not using perfumes or makeup the six

rupees and the meditation instructions

the beginning meditator will spend a few

days a week scale to vaiting

loving-kindness toward themselves and a

spiritual friend by using phrases to

help bring up the feeling of

loving-kindness may I be happy may I be

peaceful as I am happy I wish you to be

happy a spiritual friend is someone who

is alive the same sex and someone you

admire and like it might be a teacher a

neighbor or a friend it is best to avoid

family members because that can be

overly complicated it must be someone

who can generate a smile when you think

about them you remember a time when you

were happy you bring that feeling up and

radiate it to your cells first ten

minutes out of a 30-minute sitting you

will send it to yourself and the rest of

the session

at least 20 minutes you'll send loving

and kind thoughts to a spiritual friend

see full instructions in a guide to

tranquil wisdom inside meditation which

is included at the back of this book you

now take your spiritual friend and put

them in your heart and surround and

radiate to them that feeling and stay

with that feeling as long as you can

this is a feeling meditation you were

cultivating the feeling of

loving-kindness a matter this is also a

smiling meditation while you are sitting

put a little smile on your lips and feel

that smile in your heart and in your

mind the smile helps to bring up the

feeling and when the smile disappears it

is an early warning signal that the

feeling has disappeared with it

then just bring it up again and keep

your smile going for the meditation

session there is research that proves

that smiling even if you don't feel like

it triggers your brain to feel better

when you turn up your mouth you turn up

your attitude and if you don't believe

the Buddha talked about smiling he did

describe his monks being happy in MN

SATA 89 we have the happy ones but first

you can only stay with your object of

meditation for five seconds or so and

then the attention wanders away you get

lost in thought or you are listening to

a sound or your attention goes to a

feeling in the body as hindrances

subside the attention and awareness stay

longer with your object for a few

seconds to a minute the practice is

improving it is the same as someone who

is out of shape must train themselves to

get stronger gradually with practice the

feeling and the collected nurse go

deeper a process called the six R's

which comes from your attention being

focused in the right way uses the

Eightfold Path right effort or as bantay

Vimy larum she likes to call it

harmonious practice to let go of

hindrances as they arise when mind

starts to wander you are immediately

recognize that you have gone off into

thought when you realize you aren't with

your spiritual friend anymore just stop

right there it is like you're driving a

car and a dog runs out in the middle of

the street you recognize he is there

then you release your attention from the

thought and thereby stop feeding it you

just stop paying attention to the

thought and allow it to be there by

itself without keeping your attention on

it

in our example of the dog running out in

the street you now take your foot off

the gas release it is very different

from the Vipassana noting practice in

which you mentally note that distraction

that arises until it goes away

you relax any tension and tightness

still left as the thought fades away

this tension or tightness is how you can

recognize there is craving in your mind

this is what pulled your attention to

the distraction all thoughts have a

certain amount of tension and tightness

in them therefore we think and think and

think this craving process keeps mind

active going from one thing to another

when you relax this tightness you'll

notice that mind becomes very clear

bright and alert without any other

distracting thoughts in our example with

the car we now put our foot on the brake

to stop any further forward momentum

relax your mind at that time has let go

of craving and becomes pure why is it

pure it is pure because there is no more

tension and tightness in your mind this

is how you purify your mind and start to

see your personality change for example

let us say you have fear a sadness in

your mind then you recognize this and

let it be there without trying to make

it go away next you relax the tightness

in your mind mind then becomes clear and

bright every time you relax this

tightness you were cleansing your mind

until eventually this fear as sadness

has lost all its energy and no longer

arises thus you have purified mind of

the old habitual tendencies that have

caused so much suffering in the past

then you re smile put a little smile on

your lips and radiate that smile from

your eyes your heart and your mind

smiling is an important part of the

practice it helps to keep your mind

light and keeps you from becoming too

serious tense and tight

you use smiling as a tool to bring up a

wholesome feeling replacing the thought

process that had taken you away from

your meditation object and with the car

example you are now stopped and relaxed

now put your foot on the gas again re

smile you then return to your object of

meditation and repeat continuing to send

loving-kindness to yourself in a

spiritual friend every distraction is

treated in this way just continue to

drive to your destination and watch out

for dogs gradually you'll become more

experienced with this procedure and it

even begins to happen automatically

running the six rupees becomes almost

rolling of the R's it becomes a fluid

motion in the six rupees the two most

important parts of the process after you

recognize you have wandered off is to

release and just stop what you were

thinking about just stop what your mind

is doing don't force it to stop just

don't pay attention anymore let it fade

away the second thing is to relax any

forward motion that keeps pulling you to

think about that subject some more that

is the craving to think that is grasping

at your attention release it and then

relax the tension and tightness then

return with a smiling mind to your

object of meditation developing

loving-kindness with a spiritual friend

is unusual compared to most other

methods of developing loving-kindness

why do we not immediately start sending

loving-kindness out to all beings why

just this one person sending matter out

to all beings as you begin this practice

scatters the mind too much staying with

only a single spiritual friend helps you

to develop your collectiveness and focus

learning the six rupees and perfecting

them with just this one person helps you

effortlessly to advance to the higher

stages when the feeling of

loving-kindness has strengthened and

stabilized you can then spread it to all

beings in all directions

in the suttas this is called pervading

the feeling of mater and with the six

directions of the brahma vihara practice

are there any subtle references for this

preliminary technique of using a

spiritual friend

yes there are they are in Sutter MN 21

simile of the saw no matter the course

of speech in which you are addressed you

should train thus my mind will remain

unaffected utter no evil words abide

compassionate for the welfare abide with

her mind of loving-kindness abide

without in a hate pervade the person

with a mind imbued with loving kindness

and starting with them pervade the

all-encompassing world with a mind

imbued with loving kindness our abundant

how exalted are immeasurable Oh without

hostility and ill-will the Sutter states

that we start with one person whom we

feel kindness for and pervade the person

with a mind imbued with loving kindness

and starting with them we then continue

on to pervade the all-encompassing world

with a mind imbued with loving kindness

in other words we continue to practice

in the way the Sutter's say to practice

the brahma vihara practiced by a

pervading Metta to the six directions as

we will delayed her as the practice

advances chapter 6 first jhana joy when

your attention stays with the feeling of

loving kindness and your spiritual

friend for about three to five minutes

then joy will arise congratulations you

have arrived at the first tranquil aware

jhana how does it jhana

arise first a distraction arises fueled

by one or more of the hindrances

whatever it happens to be greed hatred

or restlessness as you let it go relax

and come back to your object of

meditation the hindrance begins to

weaken when a hindrance arises it is not

your enemy to fight with rather it is a

friend for you to invite in allowing it

to show you where your attachments are

every time you six are the hindrance it

grows weaker why because you have

released the craving which is embedded

in the distraction arising finally you

do one last six our process and

hindrance completely disappears it just

has no further energy for this release

and resulting relief the first jhana

arises and mind enters into a pure state

when the hindrance runs out of energy

you have the real sense of relief you

feel joy rising which is an exciting

happy feeling you will feel light in

both your mind and body quite nice

hindrances are constantly tightening

down on our awareness and pulling our

mood down they lead to a lot of frowning

and stress now you see the beginning of

real happiness arising it is like you

have been in a course painful state your

whole life and someone just switches it

off you feel joy Petey in the head in

the chest and throughout the body it may

feel fuller warmer light it may be like

bubbles popping it may be subtle or for

some it may be felt as more extreme joy

there might be some mental and visual

activities or even fireworks going on

behind your closed eyes this will settle

down after a period of time a few hours

or a day the mental state will be

energized and joyful and it will

definitely be a pleasant feeling there

will be no hindrances at this time this

is a big relief right after the joy

fades away mind will become very

tranquil and comfortable this is called

happiness a Sukkah mind just stays on

its object with almost no effort at all

you have never experienced happiness and

clarity like this before what is joy

excitement and a happy feeling of the

nature of joy at this beginning stage a

man in a desert who is dying of thirst

spots in the distance an oasis and a

pool of cool water he becomes very

excited and happy this is the feeling of

joy the moment he sees it joy Rises this

is what happens in the first jhana the

joy in the first jhana

is followed by a feeling of tranquility

and relaxation

you are still in the first jhana but it

is changing you will feel this you'll be

smiling and radiant the Jannah will last

for a while until another hindrance pops

up sometimes the joy is not strong a

meditators are not sure they have

achieved anything so they don't mention

it on a retreat over the course of the

daily interviews the teacher will

inquire about what is happening to you

they will ask you is there any joy the

teacher will get a hint when you say you

can stay on your meditation object for a

longer period of time let's follow this

simile a bit longer and do a brief

explanation of the next three Jonah's so

you can see how the practice develops as

you continue meditating your joy from

the first jhana will deepen there will

arise a feeling of strong confidence

this is a quarter deeper joy where both

mind and body become very light almost

like floating both mind and body become

very tranquil comfortable and peaceful

this is the second jhana when the man

finally arrives at the pool of cool

water and jumps into the temperature of

the water is just right both his mind

and body kind of give a gentle sigh of

relief this is where he experiences

happiness and contentment this is the

feeling of happiness suka and a

developing sense of mental balance that

occurs in the third jhana this happiness

will fade away just leaving a stability

of mind that is a feeling of equanimity

a Pecha which is the fourth jhana the

suttas explain the jonna's the ANU pada

sutter one by one is they occurred

number 111 from the mad ji min nicaya

mn explains the entire process and all

the characteristics of the jhanas up to

the attainment of Nirvana I will use

this Sutter to explain throughout the

rest of the book the Jonah's one by one

and the subsequent progress to awakening

the Sutter MN 111 starts and the states

in the first jhana the thinking and

examining the

the joy the happiness and the

unification of mind you have let go of a

hindrance and joy Rises there are five

different kinds of joy

the first kind of joy is like goosebumps

it is there for just a moment and then

it goes away the next kind of joy is

like a flash of lightning

it's very intense for a very short

period and then that fades away the

third kind of joy is as if you are

standing in the ocean and you of these

waves of joy washing over you

it's just wave after wave these three

kinds of joy can happen to anyone for

any reason when the conditions are right

the last two types of joy only arise

from mental development the fourth kind

of joy is called uplifting joy you feel

very light in your mind and light in

your body you feel very happy and there

is excitement in it this is the joy of

the first and second jhanas the fifth

and last kind of joy is called

all-pervading joy it just kind of comes

out of everywhere it bubbles out all

over and pervades your whole mind this

kind of joy is also called the awakening

factor of joy this is the joy you feel

when you attain nirvana

so the fourth type of joy rises and

right after that when it fades away you

feel very tranquil and comfortable in

your mind and in your body this feeling

is what the Buddha calls suka which is

the Pali word for happiness your mind

does not wander very much in your

meditation it doesn't get lost there is

still the thinking and examining mind

you still can internally verbalize

thoughts about your experience you are

still thinking but now only wholesome

states are there though it is still a

bit noisy as compared to the states that

come later

you are not carried away by unwholesome

thoughts there is no craving now

thoughts that occur if thinking and

examining thoughts that have to do with

what you're feeling right now in the

present

you feel very peaceful and collected in

Pali the word for this state does eka

garter and if you look up the word in

the Pali dictionary ICAO means

tranquility peacefulness and stillness

of mind it doesn't mean one pointed or

absorption but rather collected and

unified the satyr explains there are

five factors in the first jhana thinking

and examining thought joy happiness and

unification of mind the satyr goes on to

explain what else is there air men the

contact feeling perception volition and

mind the five aggregates body feeling

perception formations Volition's and

consciousness are also present in this

jhana this means that all the

foundations of mindfulness theorem will

be observed these comprise who you are

and you can see all the aggregates there

without the veil of craving you see with

little dust in your wise then the satyr

says quote opening square bracket t he

enthusiasm decision energy mindfulness

equanimity and attention these states

were defined by him one by one as they

as occurred known to him those states

arose known they were present known they

disappeared what are we talking about

here we're talking about impermanence

you begin to see impermanence while you

are in the jhana you see these things

arise and pass away one by one as they

occur the factors listed in the sutter

don't necessarily follow the order that

they're given here they come up whenever

the going to come up these are the first

initial insights or understandings

Vipassana in pali that arise for you

amen he understood thus so indeed these

states not having been come into being

having been they vanish

an obstacle that sometimes comes here is

that some meditators will try to 6r the

joy and happiness that arises thinking

that they might get attached to it they

think they should try to suppress it and

not allow it to be there you do not need

to do this you should let this happy

feeling be there with full acceptance

but still go back to your spiritual

friend and continue the meditation this

joy is a fruit of the practice and is

wholesome just let it be it is okay for

you to have joy it's okay to be happy

it's kind of a new idea to let happiness

be there and not push it away and to

even develop it and keep the happy state

going which is the last part of right

effort if you have excessive thoughts

and start thinking about what just

happened the joy rising you can six are

those thoughts and let them go as you've

started to take the joy personally and

become attached to it that is craving

and that keeps us on the wheel of

samsara the wheel of suffering again you

should never push the joy away just 6i

it allow it but don't get involved in it

it is a wholesome state and wholesome

states are what we are striving for the

Buddha said it is part of right effort

to notice an unwholesome state and bring

up a wholesome state he didn't say to

replace a wholesome state with an even

more wholesome state wholesome is

wholesome just let it be

it is enough gradually this happy

feeling will subside or possibly had

make him up again and again over a few

days it will be there as long as it is

there there was a fellow who had tears

rolling down his cheeks and everyone

thought he was upset it was joy and

finally he was told just to get a towel

and let the tears fall on that no need

to make it stop it will stop on its own

after some time you'll lose this happy

feeling and the hindrances will come

back you will certainly start to think

no if I could just get that experience

again this is craving and should be 6r d

often at this stage if you fail to

follow the teachers instructions to six

out you might go around trying to figure

out how to get that state back and you

weren't subsequently you might crash and

burn and the next day you'll be

frustrated at not being able to bring

back the experience some meditators are

smarter than others they just go back to

the meditation as they had practiced it

before and continue following the

instructions some may take an extra day

and that's okay we all have to learn

wanting something only creates

frustration in mind we need to six are

the two meditation instruction on a

retreat the teacher will now give you

further instructions for those of you

using this book on your own please pay

attention to this next instruction after

you feel this joyful feeling arising you

can drop the verbalization for your

spiritual friend may you be happy may

you be peaceful etc just feel the wish

for the happiness without mentally

verbalizing there is no further need for

the phrases as they may cause tension

and tightness in your head and we

certainly don't wish to create more

tightness this is a sign of progress in

your meditation your thoughts have

quieted down and you are starting to

experience the quieting presence of the

second jhana more about this jhana in

the next chapter the teacher will not

tell you what jhana you are in until you

have gotten to the fourth jhana at that

stage you will have a firm grip on the

technique and how to 6r distractions you

understand that these are just levels of

understanding and tranquility that you

are going through as your meditation

progresses you start to develop some

equanimity and weren't care so much what

state you are in

at that point the teacher will tell you

that you have become an advanced

meditator and congratulate you on your

progress but there is more to do walking

meditation and the Gianna's walking is

an important part of this meditation as

it helps to sustain energy overcome

sloth and torpor and maintain health

generally when you are sitting for long

periods of time however one of the most

important purposes of walking meditation

is to enable you to practice integrating

TWRA meditation into your daily life the

purpose of meditation is to bring change

to all parts of your life all the time

not just while you are sitting walking

meditation will help you to accomplish

this while you were sitting you were

staying with your spiritual friend and

six ring distractions now the only

difference is that you are walking just

strolling normally and keeping your mind

on radiating kind thoughts to your

spiritual friend in the same way when

you were sitting see a guide to Twi M

for an in-depth discussion of how to do

walking meditation one of the mistakes

many people make when they are talking

about jhanas is to think that ajahn only

arises while you're doing your sitting

meditation however you can take any one

of these jhanas and stay with it while

you get up and do your walking

meditation you can also be in this state

when you're washing the dishes you could

even be taking a bath for standing in

the checkout line at the store staying

with your object of meditation while you

are walking and during all your

activities will help you to progress

further unlike being in absorption jhana

any one of the tranquil aware jhanas can

arise during your daily activities this

is one of the reasons that you keep your

meditation going all the time it doesn't

matter what you are doing it's all part

of the practice

everything you do is practice if you

train in this way

then you will make progress be aware of

what your mind is doing all the time

remember to stay with the meditation

practice as much as possible that's the

first part of mindfulness remembering to

practice remember what observing -

attention moving from one thing to

another chapter 7 second jhana noble

silence M and 111 section 5 again monks

with the stilling of thinking and

examining thought Sara put her entered

and abided in the 2nd jhana which has

self-confidence and stillness of mind

without thinking and examining thought

with joy and happiness born of

collectiveness the joy that arises in

the second jhana is stronger than the

first and deeper you feel much lighter

in your mind much lighter in your body

sometimes it feels like you are floating

in your chair there are students that

say they felt so light that they had to

open their eyes because they thought

they were going to hit the ceiling this

is the uplifting type of joy from

attaining a meditative state the

happiness you experience is a

comfortable peacefulness there is a calm

feeling in your mind and in your body

mind quiets down like when a

refrigerator turns off you hadn't even

noticed it was on and then the

compressor kicks off it's a level of

quiet that you never thought possible

confidence appears you feel you are

really starting to understand the

meditation you feel like you have no

more doubts about how to do this

practice you are starting to understand

the six rupees when you're in the first

jhana you can still have thoughts and

you can still have thinking and

examining mind which means a wholesome

observing mind that is thinking about

the experience when you enter the second

jhana this is where true noble silence

begins this is real noble silence it is

not writing notes

retreat instead of talking all the while

your mind is speeding along it is noble

silence because your internal

verbalizing her has essentially stopped

while you are in the state if you try to

make a wish like may I be happy

this will cause more tension and more

phrases mentally repeated will cause

your head to get tight you then are

advised to stop making verbal wishes as

it explains below meditation instruction

again for meditators using this book as

a guide now let go of internal

verbalizing of the wishes simply wish

loving-kindness for your spiritual

friend bring up the feeling without the

phrases when you are in the second jhana

and you repeat phrases you will find it

causes tension in your head and mind and

you can't do it comfortably that is your

signal to let go of internal

verbalization chapter 8 third jhana

happiness

MMN 111 section 7 again monks with the

fading away of joy sariputra bodied in

equanimity and mindful and fully aware

still feeling pleasure happiness with

the body still feeling happiness with

the body he entered upon and abided in

the third jhana on AC count of which

noble ones announced he has a pleasant

abiding who has equanimity and is

mindful when you get into to the third

jhana you start losing body awareness

this is a way to mark your progress

you'll be sitting and all of a sudden

you think I don't feel my hands

or I don't feel my leg or my shoulder

disappeared unless you consciously put

your attention there and then you feel

them you feel very tranquil and

sometimes it can be a heavy yet Pleasant

feeling this is a sign that you are

starting to truly understand the use of

the six rupees this is not a state of

absorption where if someone pokes you

you would not feel it this is a state

where your attention is not on the body

unless there is contact it

can be an outside force demanding your

attention as in the teacher calls you or

someone taps your shoulder whenever the

attention is drawn somewhere it is

because there is craving there when a

feeling that rises you want to feel it

and check it out there is a little

craving in every part of the mental

stream if a pleasant feeling arises

craving rises and we launch into liking

and disliking that feeling then the

thoughts and stories come up about the

feeling what a feeling is about the

perception that comes with the feeling

and the story about the feeling again we

six are and continue when you get into

to the third jhana you let go of a lot

of mental tension when you let go of

that mental tension you start letting go

of physical tension as well

bhante said that one meditator came to

him and told him she felt just like her

head was sitting on the floor there was

nobody that just a head rolling around a

loud noise like a motorcycle might be

heard outside and you know that this

happened you have a balanced mind about

it there is much more equanimity in the

third jhana sounds don't make your mind

shake they don't make your mind flutter

your mind just says okay there was a

sound never mind

relax come back to your object of

meditation there is this strong balance

that occurs you feel more comfortable

than you've ever felt very much at ease

in your body

bodily tension has all but disappeared

whereas in the first and second jhanas

you had joy coming up now it starts to

fade away

you will ask where has the joy gone I

like that I want it back you have gone

beyond that course a level of excitement

and arrived at her deeper more content

state the word used here is happiness

suka along with contentment this is not

joy anymore sometimes the student needs

to be reassured it's okay not to have

joy this is progress your mind is going

deeper

mind becomes very tranquil and very

unified not in a one-pointed way where

the sensors are shut out but it stays on

one object it just sits there and there

is no need for control it is happy there

everything is ok you are starting to see

with a quieter mind you can notice when

mental movements first start to arise

you can let them go and relax you'll

start to see that mind begins to flutter

a little bit and then it flutters faster

and faster and then it gets completely

distracted away you'll begin to observe

how that process works when you first

notice this fluttering if you relaxed

right then your mind stays on your

object of meditation as you go deeper

your wandering mind is 6rz sooner meta

takes you to the fourth jhana in the sam

yot Anika there is a section on

loving-kindness meditation that refers

to the factors of awakening this sutta

is a real revelation because it is

talking about practicing loving-kindness

in the fourth jhana the reason that this

is a revelation is that it is widely

held that loving-kindness can only take

you to the third jhana but there it is

in the sutter talking about experiencing

the feeling of Metta in the fourth jhana

the suttas disagree with the vissa D

Marga about this in reading the Sutter

accompanied by loving-kindness number 46

section 54 for from the sam yot Anika it

says that on the other hand matter or

loving-kindness goes to the fourth jhana

compassion goes to the base of infinite

space the first arrow / jhana joy goes

to the base of infinite consciousness

the second area jhana and equanimity

goes to the base of nothingness the

third arrow pajeon a'

the practice that is being taught here

is not only loving-kindness it is the

complete practice of the brahma vihara

z' therefore about a divine abiding z'

of brahma that make up the brahma vihara

as which a loving-kindness Metta

compassion Karuna joy mudita and

equanimity are Pecha loving-kindness is

the first part of this larger system

that eventually leads to the experience

of Nibbana the loving-kindness

meditation that we are talking about

here is not just a side meditation to

help us calm down after a long day at

the office or to prepare for our

meditation on the breath it is a

powerful system in its own right as part

of the brahma vihara meditation path and

does indeed culminate in full awakening

fontava malarum she talks about some of

his malaysian students who would come

off a difficult Vipassana retreat and

request to take him at a retreat with

him he said that they said the minds had

been hardened by those retreats and that

they needed to return to a more balanced

happy state who could think that a

method that Buddha taught would cause

hardness not lead directly to the goal

and need Metta to recover from it were

these other retreats being taught in the

way the Buddha instructed if they had

added the relaxed step then this could

have been avoided matter is a very

important practice that the Buddha

taught which can take you directly to

Nirvana that misunderstanding that it

will not take you to the goal needs to

be corrected matter is just the first

part of the brahma vihara system that

you experience as you go deeper into

your practice it automatically leads to

the other four Vere's but you have to

continue the practice Metta is indeed

the doorway to the unconditioned after

all the definition of right effort is to

one recognize there is an unwholesome

state - to let go of that unwholesome

state 3 bring up a wholesome state 4

keep it going for parts and what is more

wholesome than matter you just keep it

going and it will lead

Nibbana with no other methods needed

this is what it says right in the text

themselves

chapter nine fourth jhana the beautiful

MN 111 section nine again monks with the

abandoning of pleasure and pain and with

the previous disappearance of joy and

grief sauropod rented upon and abided in

the fourth jhana which has neither pain

nor pleasure and purity of mindfulness

due to equanimity in the fourth jhana

the loving-kindness energy moves from

the chest and heart area up to your head

it is like the feeling of matter is

starting to radiate from the top of the

head the spiritual friend smiles back

and there is no more warmth in the chest

area from the loving-kindness in no

circumstances should you try to push the

feeling back down to your heart area

again it should be allowed to go where

it wants to based on the sincerity of

your loving-kindness some meditators

make the mistake of trying to make a

feeling arise by focusing on the heart

and chest area that's not right they

should be bringing up sincere wishes of

loving-kindness which they really mean

and honestly believe then the feeling

appears on its own and it goes where it

needs to in the fourth jhana the

contentment turns into a deeper peaceful

feeling full of equanimity

it is a nonreactive state of balance it

doesn't mean that there cannot be a

painful or a pleasurable feeling arising

it means that it doesn't make your mind

shake you see it for what it is and you

have this beautiful balance towards it

the fourth jhana in some texts is called

the beautiful you don't notice

sensations arising inside your body but

you do notice external contact if an ant

walks on you you know it you have such

balance that nothing bothers you a

mosquito comes around and he bites you

it's okay so what no big deal mind is in

balance to all feeling in the fourth

jhana

pain in your body will disappear as your

mind no longer reacts with an I don't

like it mind of course when the next

hindrance occurs you can fall out of

that state and the pain will come back

also

there are reports of golden light

pervading your mind and this wonderful

feeling pouring out of the top of the

head in the fourth jhana because there

is contact with the ground while you're

walking

you'll feel sensation from your feet

this is because of contact with the

ground bodily sensations will not draw

your attention your sense of self

awareness will have moved up to your

head area now you have now given up your

beginner status you're not a novice

anymore you've become an advanced

meditator but interestingly you are

balanced and not overexcited with that

it's just more self-discovery and you

don't get a big head about it whereas at

the first jhana you might have thought

you were pretty good now it is just

another step on the path with no looking

back

advancing breaking down the barriers you

are now told that you have developed the

meditation skills to a higher level you

are told this so that you have

confidence in the practice and gain more

enthusiasm previously you weren't

informed of what was happening because

it would just lead to more mental

wanderings now that you have some more

equanimity and your mind has calmed you

were told where you are day by day what

exact jhana you are in as it happens if

you ask about it you see that Sutter MN

111 Israel and like Sarah put her you

are just watching the progress step by

step as it occurs

meditation instruction now you were to

change your spiritual friend you have

completed the practice to this point and

have now advanced it's time to move the

head let go of the friend you have been

working with and changed to the people

listed below go through each group one

at a time until you see them smiling and

happy pick three more spiritual friends

any gender living and not a family

member and one by one radiates

loving-kindness to them until they smile

back can you feel there is a connection

of loving kindness with them for living

family members either male a female

gender no longer matters one by one

radiates loving-kindness to them until

they smiled back for neutral people

either male or female one by one

radiates loving-kindness to them until

they smiled back a neutral person is a

casual acquaintance that you

occasionally see like the bus driver of

the cashier at the store you don't

really know them but you say hello every

now and then enemies a last cent matter

to any troublesome people whoever arises

enemies are those people we don't like

we may hold a grudge or we know they

don't care for us it might be public

figures or any person who comes to your

mind when you do this one by one

radiates metter two people who pop into

your mind until you can't think of

anyone else

if hatred or even dislike arises while

radiating meted to an enemy go back to a

neutral person until you can let go of

the aversion and come back to that

feeling of loving-kindness then begin

again radiate matter to your enemy and

continue until the tossed all energy is

dissipated and they smiled back it

doesn't have to be that deep just have a

friendly feeling for them or even in

neutral feeling in which they don't

bother you remember everyone has some

good qualities you can focus on those

you can do the process above in as

little as twenty to thirty minutes but

you should spend no more than an hour on

this if you cannot get beyond this step

then perhaps some forgiveness meditation

will be suggested by the teacher

information and directions for

forgiveness meditation may be found on

the Dharma suka website and practiced

from the book on this topic by bhante

vimal Arum she forgiveness is a very

powerful practice by itself and is

highly recommended to everyone but

especially to those who cannot bring up

a genuine feeling of loving-kindness for

any of these groups of people radiating

to the six directions meditation

instruction after the process of

breaking down the barriers is complete

you will report back to the teacher or

if you are working on your own then

simply continue below you'll be now

instructed to radiate loving-kindness

from the head not from the third eye or

forehead but from the area in the middle

of at the top of your head you radiate

to each of the six directions forward

backward right left above and below for

five minutes apiece that is 30 minutes

total for the rest of the sitting you

then radiate through all beings in all

directions at once to the whole universe

without limitations sit and glow with

this feeling of loving-kindness and let

it warm the whole cosmos and beyond

like a candle let the feeling radiate to

all beings don't push a force just let

it radiate and Seija just going out by

itself now the fun begins

you should sit for more than one hour if

you can you are encouraged to sit even

longer if you are comfortable don't stop

when you feel good a think you have made

progress go longer don't stop if you get

edgier want to cram try another five

minutes just to see if you can do it

many times a few more minutes will get

you through that short period of

restlessness radiating the full brahma

vihara x' successively as they arise to

all directions will now be your practice

into the highest states of the

meditation please note that I am

describing the technique because it is

presented in the texts I am only

explaining the text here and not

creating a new sort of meditation you

are now practicing the brahma vihara

practice exactly as it is described and

taught by the Buddha in the texts this

practice of metter and the rest of the

brahma vihara so are actually mentioned

much more frequently in twelve suttas in

the match ji min nicaya versus the

breath or anna pan as RT practice which

is only found in force utters which one

do you think the Buddha taught more

often he did appear to favor the brahma

vihara over the breath practice fontava

malarum she states the meta is six times

quicker than breath and gets you to the

goal much faster he says it takes six

weeks for someone to experience jhana

with breath verses a week or less with

matter this has been our experience and

thus we always recommend Mehta first he

will teach breath to certain personality

types that have a hard time with the

feeling of loving kindness but he does

add to relax a tranquilized step chapter

10 the base of infinite space compassion

the Buddha taught that there are four

major jhanas but he broke up the fourth

jhana into four more parts the suttas

call

the last four parts basis or realms we

will primarily use the term basis but

will shift back and forth four times

between race and aru pajara just to make

sure you understand the connection now

you have arrived at the era Roop

immaterial Jonah's the first for Jonah's

it called Rupa or material Jonah's Rupa

means realm of the body and Aruba means

realm of mind more precisely the a in

arupa means no so not of the body the

word realm is also used in addition to

Bey's for these higher parts of the

fourth jhana this is because the Buddha

stated that if one were to attain any of

these four journals including the four

immaterial realms

then the power merit of that act would

cause them to be reborn into a realm of

existence that corresponds to the

meditation level attained there are 31

planes of existence and the jhana based

Brahma realms are the highest most

pleasant and longest lasting the higher

the jhana

the longer the lifetime in the

corresponding realm and the more sublime

the state amen

111 section 11 again monks with the

complete surmounting of gross

perceptions of form with the

disappearance of gross perceptions of

sensory impact aware that space is

infinite sorry put her interred upon and

divided in the base of infinite space

this means you have surmounted the

physical in our entering the subtler

mental realms you are no longer paying

attention to the five senses and are

paying attention to what's in your mind

only you start feeling a quieter

loving-kindness now you will realize

that there is less warmth less movement

of the meta it is softer like cotton

this is coronary compassion you have

gone beyond the course of state of

loving-kindness and entered a more

sublime tranquil state you report back

that the feeling of loving kindness has

no limit but is very big

it is as immense as the sky your head

feels like it gets larger you feel like

things are expanding outward maybe you

feel as if the floor drops away and you

are suspended in space you may even feel

like you were flying up into a space

this is a very pleasurable kind of

feeling it is pretty awesome there is a

continuous expansion outward there is no

center point to be seen there may be an

exclamation of oh wow when explaining

this delightful state to the teacher

meditation instruction you will now

change from Metta to compassion as your

new object of meditation you expand this

new feeling outward with no limits to

the six directions as you have been

doing with loving-kindness begin each

meditation session radiating compassion

for five minutes in each direction and

then radiate compassion to all beings in

all directions at the same time for the

remainder of the sitting loving-kindness

has now automatically switched to the

state of compassion fontava malarum she

tells us that this is the state that

some many teachers refer when they talk

about the Buddha's infinite compassion

vantes opinion is that when the Buddha

refers to compassion the state but he is

talking about is the base of infinite

space of the first arrow pleasure no it

is not just a general state of caring

and nurturing but actually the Janik

state of compassion

Vontae further explains that the Buddha

did this practice every morning getting

into the jhana of infinite space with

compassion as his object of meditation

for the state the Buddha would then

survey the world for people who needed

his compassion and were ready to

understand his teachings he would then

go to them and instruct them in the

Dharma he saw people who had little dust

in their eyes and were ready to attain

awakening

a pen 111 section 12 and the states in

the base of infinite space the

perception of the base of infinite space

and the unification of mind the contact

feeling perception volition and mind you

still experience the five aggregates

even though you're in a narrow Pimentel

jhana this says that you're still

practicing the four foundations of

mindfulness even while you are in the

arrow pajama state you are now in a

mental realm and awareness of your body

has faded away unless there is contact

notice that the SATA quoted above no

longer includes experiencing pleasure in

the body now you are told you have

nobody so please don't pay attention to

it anymore six are any tugs and pulls

back into any awareness of the body now

you know your body is still there

sitting quietly but your awareness is

very much focused on mind mmm 111

section 12 cont opening square bracket t

he enthusiasm decision energy

mindfulness equanimity and attention

these states were defined by him one by

one as they occurred known to him those

states arose known they were present

known they disappeared

he understood thus dot and with the

cultivation of that attainment he

confirmed that there is still more

meditation instruction continued sending

your compassion to the six directions to

see how it expands outward the brahma

vihara meditation develops in sequence

through the for divine abiding x'

automatically these states will arise on

their own when you are ready don't bring

them up they will come up just keep

going and see what happens next chapter

11 the base of infinite consciousness

joy MN 111 section 13 again monks by

completely surmounting the base of

infinite space aware that consciousness

is infinite Sara put her into the pond

and abided in the base of infinite

just Ness this is a fascinating state

for one thing the compassionate feeling

automatically changes again to a feeling

of altruistic joy but that's not as

clear a definition as it could be barn

tear hasn't run across one yet it is a

feeling that's very different from the

compassion experience previously it is a

feeling that bhante prefers to call just

joy joyful Ness regardless you now go

from a feeling of compassion to a

feeling of joy mudita meditation

instruction now you start radiating joy

in all directions instead of compassion

joy is now your object of meditation

what happens is your awareness starts to

be so good and so sharp you begin to see

individual consciousnesses arise and

pass away continually you see firsthand

how truly impermanent everything is

there's no doubt in your mind anymore

that everything just comes into

existence and then fades away sometimes

your eyes just pop open there can be so

much energy if you try to close them

they just stay open so you just let them

be open after you sit with this insight

into impermanence and impersonality for

a little while something interesting

happens

some students report well yes

I see all these conscious nurses the eye

at the air at the nose the tongue the

body and mind I see these

consciousnesses arise and pass away and

it's really tiresome what you see now is

not only impermanence but suffering and

you're seeing there's nobody home

there's no control over this process it

happens all by itself

you see Anika impermanence darker

suffering and an utter nonsense all

while you're in the air oh pledged Ana's

in Buddhism these are the three signs of

existence anything that exists has this

nature and now you see it

it isn't on a thinking level but in a

direct way you know it fontava malarum

she tells a story of a monk who is a

famous monk in Burma he is invited to a

person's home for lunch and is offered

the finest of curries and rice the

entire time the monk eats he says darker

darker suffering suffering he is trying

to think his way to see the signs of

existence and that doesn't work all it

does it is to create an aversion to

whatever you are labeling and noting in

that's developing an unwholesome state

not in sight at all this experience

answers a lot of questions that you may

have had brewing before this everybody

was talking about things happening so

fast but now your awareness is so sharp

that you actually see each part of the

experience the twelve links of dependent

origination are starting to come into

focus and you are beginning to see

separate links moreover you are

beginning to see that they follow each

other and that each link is dependent on

the link before it after a while it does

appear this constant arising and passing

away of consciousness has become

tiresome you wonder will it ever end is

this all there is it doesn't matter

whether you're doing your walking

meditation or eating or going to the

toilet you see all these consciousnesses

continually is there a way out of this

meditation instruction small pinpoint

lights may arise like little stars that

twinkle and then fade away these are the

start of craving there are indications

of Tanna just starting to arise these

are thoughts that are just starting to

form you feel a pull from those lights a

tightness you realize that if you six

are them the moment they arise then

thoughts don't rise you see the relief

in this the six rupees will return you

to a state of balance and tranquility

be sure to 6ar them or as soon as they

arise these lights are sticky as their

little seeds of

craving coming into existence you now

see the craving bird exists in all

thinking and you see that is why

constant thinking is so tiring and

annoying to your mind consider the other

night when you couldn't get to sleep

because you were thinking so much

it was suffering being successful with

this meditation practice brings you to

the benefit of getting to sleep easily

and having no bad dreams this is one of

the eleven benefits of Metta meditation

you might see illuminations expanding

out like small Suns these are called

nimita no we are not talking about the

limiter our Watts and practices call

signs that are used as focus points in

concentration meditation but these are

merely forms and shapes that arise this

is the true meaning of nimita let go of

these and 6ar them you do not switch

over and start focusing on them they're

just interesting phenomena that might

distract you don't get involved with

them if you were to take these lights as

your meditation object then that would

be a concentration absorption meditation

practice and that is not in the suttas

the buddha had previously tried all

these types of meditation and he

rejected that practices leading to true

awakening when you practice

concentration with the breath meditation

lights can arise as well and if you take

these lights and concentrate on them

then again you are not practicing what

is in the suttas please 6ar them this is

the influence of the commentaries like

the viscid emag er the viscid omega has

included many practices that are not in

the suttas this conflict should cause us

to question which one is right in the

base of infinite consciousness

some people have visions of Davers Quan

Yin Buddha Jesus War Muhammad this is

based on the belief systems that all

needs to be 6 Rd so you can progress if

you feel very happy and joyful sometimes

there will be tears of joy

allow the tears to come out that is the

sign of the mood eater a joyful state in

which you are abiding you may feel like

things are slowing down like watching a

movie in slow motion you may see each

frame of consciousness arising and

passing away whether it is at the idle

or ear door you may want feel like you

are woozy don't get attached to any of

this six are all of it none of these

experiences are to be taken personally

as mere mine

they should just be allowed your

mindfulness is now getting very sharp

sharp enough to see individual

consciousnesses meditation instruction

you'll then be asked to start noticing

the spaces between the conscious nurses

try to become more aware of the silence

and the tranquility that is there and

dwell in this quiet let everything else

go you will think there is nothing

patiently let this state deepen this

will lead you to the next base and the

last of the brahma vihara x' this is a

Pecha or equanimity sometimes around

this level the meditator may have the

thought if I have no self then I should

just die fear can arise I have no

control over anything what can I do you

just do what you always have you never

had herself in the first place so

nothing has changed

this is inside it isn't suicidal

thoughts by any means so don't worry the

teacher will remind you that this is

just your mind playing games have a good

laugh and lighten up

you won't die not even close

soon you were moving into even deeper

more interesting territory chapter 12

the base of nothingness equanimity

MMN 111 section 15 again monks by

completely surmounting the base of

infinite consciousness aware that there

is nothing Sara put her interred upon

and divided in the base of nothingness

previously you saw the world existing as

outside of yourself now you see things

as all in mind only

you still see different movements of

mind but they're not outside of mind you

have had a concept of yourself being in

the world which is constantly in the

background of your thinking we all see

ourselves in relationship to the world

as a separate self or entity taking

things personally means we see ourselves

doing things in our mind we see

ourselves having done things in the past

we see ourselves doing things now and we

see ourselves doing things in the future

we only exist in our minds this idea a

concept of itself only exists in our

mind and now we see it outside of the

thinking mind there is only seeing

hearing touching tasting and smelling

just sensations that are arising in

passing away yet we identify these as

having this self this existence laid

over the top of it this meat that is

doing this planning to do that

thinking about this being a part of a

team to create that you are an actor in

this dream of existence it is all in

your head you are constantly creating

this illusion of self moment-to-moment

they are just images now you finally

start to come out of the dream and only

see what is there gross thinking stops

conceptual engagement stops now in the

seeing there is only seeing in the

hearing only hearing etc nothing happens

in the past and nothing happens in the

future it is all happening now and in

this clear present there is no self

there is only awareness of what happens

at the sensed doors moment to moment it

becomes very quiet you have never

experienced this before this is the

awareness and experience of the base of

nothingness this jhana is like the part

in the matrix movie where Keanu Reeves

wakes up from his dream existence in

this machine created mental world and

realizes that he is in a pod just

dreaming his life expiry

hence like him we are waking out of our

dream of self to find nothing but an

impersonal process our never-ending

stream of events now it's like your

consciousness stops paying attention to

general body awareness and sensations

and jumps up into your head you are no

longer paying attention to the awareness

that has anything to do with the body

you see everything is happening from

mind and physically from the head area

you are only attentive to mind concepts

stop thoughts are now just observing

thoughts are not being taken personally

they're not defining your world anymore

in fact most thoughts simply stopped

since concepts come from thoughts and

things come from concepts know things

leads us to the realm of no thingness

you are now seeing clearly without the

noise and without creating stories about

everything some people will say it even

feels like being in the desert all alone

in total desolation there is nothing

around but sand it is pleasant yet

different from anything you have ever

felt you start to understand the link of

dependent origination called nama Rupa

mentality of materiality name and form

there is mine that is dependent upon the

body both four distinct yet work

together one cannot be without the other

but now you see with direct insight that

there is the body itself separate from

mind for example there is the breath

going in and out and then the mentality

of mind which is made up of feeling

perception and consciousness there is

the physical breath and there is the

knowing the perception of the breath and

knowing what it is doing and how it

feels this is the mentality of

materiality link of dependent

origination with the dropping of the

concept of things outer and of your

perceived feeling of your separate

existence in the world your awareness

pulls in

the ever-present wiring dream of you

disappears no more thoughts that carry

you away and with a future of the past

no more thoughts are creating this or

that world you just exists in the

present your awareness is clear and free

of your conceptual self-image without

these concepts there is only the present

the arising and passing away of feeling

and sensations this is all that you see

no pass to future lives now this is

minds attention without craving embedded

in it without the overlaying of the idea

of self a soul in this silence of

nothingness you start a see much more

subtle phenomena that were hidden by our

noisy Minds very interesting things are

here there is definitely not nothing

amen 111 sections 16 and the states in

the base of nothingness before in the

second era pajara of infinite

consciousness you were a da ting joy in

all six directions where you were

feeling joy before now you're feeling

equanimity that is very very strong and

you have this very fine balance of mind

now you take this equanimity as your

object and radiate it to all beings in

all directions this particular level of

mind is by far one of the more

fascinating states that are experienced

in meditation now there is no sadness

nor happiness just balance when asked

how you feel you will always report that

you are fine everything is fine I have

nothing to say just fine others feel the

tranquility coming from you there seems

to be a glow in your face a radiance any

stress lines have all but disappeared if

you do not put quite enough energy into

watching the TEC winema tea your mind

gets dull you don't have sleepiness but

the dullness can occur if you put in a

little bit too much energy your mind

gets Restless

now you must steady your energy

this is where you are balancing the

seven factors of awakening we will go

through these later if restlessness

arises because you put in too much

energy you are no longer in the jhana

you're caught while hindrance and

because of the way the hindrances work

they don't just come one at a time for

example when you have restlessness it's

not just restlessness

it's the restlessness as well as the

dislike of the restlessness so you have

two hindrances that you get to work with

hindrances pile up on top of hindrances

it's quite easy to let restlessness go

and balance your energy by this time of

you a patient it's like walking the

finest tightrope you've ever seen like

walking on a spiderweb it's that fine

being in the kind of balance it just

takes a little tweak a little twerp and

whoop you could be knocked off balance

and then you should work with it again

bring in a little more energy so more

mindfulness if this is too much back off

again this is where working with the

energy is incredibly interesting and

subtle the most important thing here is

using your mindfulness to observe what

is there in mind and to balance it by

backing off or adding energy to your

practice by observing these states

you'll affect them naturally therefore

mindfulness is the most important factor

of awakening the investigation factor

arises when Minds movement is clearly

seen investigation balances both energy

and lack of energy automatically by

seeing what is out of balance and

changing it in quantum physics it is

posited that you can change a process by

observing it this is what mindfulness

does mind observes itself and change

takes place sometimes you may not make

progress because something is nagging at

the back of your mind it is a subtle

desire that you are identifying with you

were looking for something to happen

perhaps wanting Nibbana to comment

looking for it by thinking about it it

should be six Rd it can be a pair

skeeters

but eventually you'll get tired of it

Nibbana will never happen if there is

this craving there Nibbana will happen

when mind loses all its craving and

movement again you may have fear arise

and think that you don't exist as before

you should just six are that fear and

continue it will disappear soon enough

that is just more craving MN 111 section

16 and the states in the base of

nothingness the perception of the base

of nothingness and the unification of

mind the contact feeling perception

volition and mind equanimity gets very

deep here and this should be your object

of meditation now you should imagine

yourself surrounded and enveloped by the

feeling of equanimity you should radiate

this feeling outwit from your whole mind

keep a small smile going as this will

warn you of unwholesome states coming in

like a candle emits heat and light you

simply sit and let the equanimity

radiate out by itself you almost see it

go out if there is stress from sending

out the feeling then you are pushing too

hard you should just let it seep out

like a fog but point it to the direction

in which you intended to go if there is

tension then just six are it to not push

the feeling of equanimity out pushing it

will create more tension that is trying

to control feeling with your thoughts it

doesn't work a lighthouse emits light in

all directions it doesn't push anything

the light just shines output

all you do is switch on the light if you

were distracted by a sound or a touch

then six are it and come back to

radiating the feeling but only six are

if it draws your attention away from the

feeling if you see small movements or

there are wispy thoughts in the

background yet you are still aware of

and collected on your meditation object

radiating equanimity in the six

directions ignore those small

distractions that is just noise

don't 6r unless your attention is drawn

away meditation instruction now you are

starting your sitting using the feeling

equanimity as your object you radiate

the feeling of equanimity each of the

six directions for five minutes to each

and then to all directions at the same

time for the rest of the sitting when

you do the walking meditation you

radiate equanimity to all directions at

the same time and six are any

distractions sit longer now one hour one

and a half hours two hours three hours

if you feel like you want to get up then

sit to another five minutes and see if

that urge goes away mental activity gets

Squier to inquire to just observe what

is there at the moment mine will feel

bright and energetic with little

movement you will start to see the link

of consciousness arising and passing

away this is a potential you will see

the start of the movement and then it

blossoms into your awareness as

something weird seeing hearing or

tangible feeling it is like you know

that you are going to see something and

then you do gradually you will see all

the processes in the links of dependent

origination that occur before contact

you perceive that everything you

experience takes place within your mind

only what makes up the real you is mind

and mind objects coming and going do you

really have a body or do you just see

this image and call it a body are you

hearing a sound or is it only sound

consciousness arising and a perception

of you hearing it what is consciousness

you see now the consciousness knows

itself you stop identifying with it as

you it reflects the form that is in

front of it like seeing a red rose in a

mirror

bhiku Nana Nanda the author of concept

and reality

calls it a Hall of Mirrors in which the

mirror itself is self aware at that

moment with whatever sight a sound form

is cognized

there is nobody in the room itself but

it is the mirrors themselves that are

aware of being aware the mind overlays a

concept of self but there are only the

mirrors and the reflections the

consciousness arises and then it is gone

there was nothing before it and nothing

after it there was never anyone in the

hall except the mirrors you just thought

there was you now see what is there

directly without concepts you see the

consciousness only experiences itself

with no experience er the concept of

self is not there anymore there are

thousands of moments that make up each

event of hearing a seeing you exist for

that moment only then there is another

moment and you hear again there is a

space between these moments where there

is nothing now you are perceiving the

silence and the arising and passing away

of objects in that silence if the sound

had not arisen then you would not have

arisen you would not have been born into

consciousness had there been no sound as

a condition that is rebirth moment

moment right there and since there is

nothing between the consciousness is how

can there be an idea of an all-pervading

soul the self you live for a moment and

then die physical death is just one

moment from this body to another you

really die every moment your body dying

has nothing to do with you dying

meditation instruction when things get

quiet

you might try to add something adjust

something or try to watch something

since nothing is arising you might get a

little bored in this case notice the

craving mind wanting to make something

happen

wanting to control 6ar that mind right

there and let it go then just be there

with no movement six are the concept of

a controller just be in the feeling of

equanimity as it radiates do not move in

mind at all like the Beatles song let it

be let it be distractions that arise how

to it

too much energy you become Restless you

need to reduce your energy take

tranquility as your object of meditation

this will bring in calm six are your

desire to control the process added to

the feeling of equanimity not enough

energy you become sleep your doll you

need to add more effort and increase

your curiosity about what is happening

take more interest you can also get up

and walk to arouse energy did some fast

walking find some stairs to go up and

down the longer you sit the more you

should walk many meditators avoid the

walking but then wonder why there does

offer zoned out when they sit for long

periods you need to keep your blood

moving and your energy up the boarder

and his monks walked everywhere they

went and thus kept their bodies very

healthy arms rounds could be very long

and strenuous but it would pay off in

energy for the meditation six are any

boredom a subtle aversion reaction and

gets through it at times very little

happens and you must be very gentle and

patient then you'll go deeper you silent

under one of ban tazed teachers would

always tell him patience leads to new

bhana

there are seven awakening factors at

work these factors need to be adjusted

don't worry too much about doing the

balancing at this point just let the

mindfulness do its job

some meditators will control too much

and try to make their mind calm with

whatever factor they think they need but

too much of this will lead to

restlessness you must balance the desire

to balance by backing off in letting

things get into balance by themselves

venerable bantay vimal Arum she often

reminds his advanced students to

remember that their job as a meditator

is to simply observe how Minds attention

moves from one thing to another

mindfulness is not about controlling any

movements one of the most difficult

things to do is to just observe without

trying to control anything seven factors

of the wakening one sati mindfulness to

dam of Aqaba investigation of experience

three varriya energy four PT joy five

pasady tranquility relaxed Sein mind

six Samadhi collectiveness of mind seven

our Pecha equanimity some people may

complain about distractions happening in

the body they can feel pain somewhere in

the body this is not real pain but two

really subtle hindrance coming up in the

mind to not pay any attention to your

body anymore most pain will now be what

is known as meditation pain this is

different from a real pain an actual

pain comes because you are sitting too

long a sitting twisted in a weird way

and you are hurting your body this

meditation pain is the pain of the

hindrances coming up it most is the pain

of restlessness restlessness is a

painful feeling but it is in your mind

and you must determine to not be moved

by it but soften into it let it be and

relax the tension and tightness that is

there you are only concerned with mind

now you should sit for long periods of

time sit one are two hours and even

three and four hours the longer you sit

the more time mind has to calm down so

far the record for bonta's students is

two days in one sitting completed by a

man in Indonesia and recently a man in

the USA

and it really paid off the results were

phenomenal and he just got up and walked

away with no pain as stiffness he fell

just fine eventually mind will become

very calm and equanimity will become

very profound we then come to the next

arrow pajeon aware we leave all the

brahma vihara z' behind chapter 13 the

base of neither perception nor

non-perception MMN 111 section 17 again

biggest by completely surmounting the

base of nothingness sauropod rented upon

and divided in the base of neither

perception nor non-perception now you

will not be able to radiate the feeling

of equanimity anymore it will just

naturally stop it just isn't there

anymore and if you try to radiate it

then that will cause some tension to

arise if you noticed this happening then

just sit in the silence and observe if

you are unsure then try radiating

equanimity again and if it comes up then

continue it once again until it finally

fades on its own if you bring up the

feeling and now it causes a slight

tension in your head even radiating that

feeling then you can stop and just be in

this quiet mind meditation instruction

you should now take clear quiet mind as

your object of meditation notice the

stillness and the tranquil feeling that

is there let yourself sink into that now

the instructions will change a little 6

are any movements or vibrations as soon

as they start to arise and then go back

to a clear quiet state of mind you take

this empty silence as the object of

meditation and watch for any movements

arising 6 are as soon as they arise and

relax the tension out of any of the

movements and come back to just this

quiet and peaceful state you might see a

flicker or a light - some movement there

six are that as soon as they arise soon

that this exquisite stillness becomes

your object before in earlier sittings

mind was expanding now it becomes so

still and subtle that it is hard to tell

whether anything arises or not your

mindfulness now has come to a level

where there is nothing that escapes your

six our tool you have a sense of power

over the arising phenomena that you have

never felt before

by allowing things to arise and relax

into them you actually in a way have

achieved control over them no more

feeling you now have come to the end of

the meditation of the brahma vihara z--

which has the for divine abodes as its

objects you started with the meditation

objective matter or loving-kindness

progressed automatically to Karuna or

compassion and then to mudita or joy and

this finally transformed into a pecker a

deep equanimity now even that is gone

you begin the next phase of the

meditation just observation of movements

within mind as the feeling of equanimity

which brought you to this point fades

away you are now going to be mindful of

mind and mind objects you will start to

observe what is there in subsequently

see very small movements arise as soon

as you see any movement of vibration you

need to relax your mind will become very

very still for long periods of time

this deep quietness of mind and lack of

any distractions at all can last for 20

minutes or 30 minutes and even for an

hour this exquisite silence is where

mind is absolutely pure the longer you

can sit with this still mind the better

gradually the nothingness jhana gives

way to the realm of neither perception

nor non-perception the ful therapure

jhana mind is so subtle at this point

that the only way you know that you've

experienced that state is that when you

come out you can reflect on what you saw

there some feeling was still there

although it's subtle and perception is

kind of there and kind of not now your

instructions are to simply observe mind

objects that are arising and passing

away in this bright clear mind you don't

want to start this observation before

the time is right you began your sitting

by radiating the feeling of equanimity

to each direction however you may not be

able to if you try to generate any

feeling at all it may cause tension in

your mind

never create tension where there was

none before if you have doubt then you

can try generating a feeling of

stillness to see if stillness comes up

and will flow out on its own

this stillness can be likened to looking

up into the night sky

it's a tranquil and still if you feel

like you are forcing it then just stop

this means now that it is time just to

observe if on the other hand you can

radiate then just continue doing that

until it stops again as you watch mind

and six are any movements or vibrations

that start to arise all activity will

slow down mind's activity will almost

flat not to nothing at all there are

things in mind but they are no longer

pulling at your conscious awareness an

obstacle here can be a tendency to get

involved in everything that arises and

analyze where it came from why did it

arise where did it come from these

questions are not valid here that is

just more thinking a sort of

restlessness to do something let all the

analyzing go the analyzing is for the

therapists and psychologists and is not

a part of the Buddha's path there is no

end to it anyway there is an endless

amount of stuff coming and going and you

can never analyze it all one of

Venerable bantay vim alarum she's

teachers the most venerable sia door.you

panditah told him that analysing things

is a Western disease one meditator

reported the past lives would arise as

little bubbles he would go off and

investigate them to see what was there

in the end this was harmful to his

practice and he was letting craving get

the better of him it took many years for

him to get tired of this and finally six

are these memory bubbles dispassionately

psychologists will want to look at where

these thoughts come from but we don't we

are just observing the process and how

it arises if you look at it this way

when you start meditating your mind has

big jerky kinds of movements as you get

deeper into your meditation the

movements become less and less when you

get into the arrow pajamas the movements

start turning into just vibrations as

you go higher into the arrow pajamas the

vibrations become faster and finer when

you get to the state of neither

perception nor non-perception there are

only slight movements that are very

subtle it is hard to tell if they're

there or not your awareness will start

to go inward or some say mind appears to

grow smaller mind is there but it is

hard to perceive it is like a jigsaw

puzzle that is now starting to lose

pieces gradually there is only just a

glimmering of what was there so few

objects are arising now that it appears

there is less and less have you there at

all this is the time when you want to

make sure that you have developed that

habit of relaxing continually all the

time that way when you get into this

state you're doing this as an automatic

habit meditation instruction the only

way you know that you've experienced

this very subtle state is by reflecting

afterward what happened while you were

in that state when you come out take a

few minutes for reflection and 6ar

anything that arises don't get into

stories about it just reflect and let go

since you haven't experienced this

before your mind will naturally think

about what happened just six are those

thoughts don't stop them just let them

be and fade away relax into it them

what is this relaxing doing when you

relax the movement of mind becomes less

and less until you finally get to a

state in which you cannot see any gross

movement but there is still a little bit

of vibration the more you relax the more

the VY

raishin slows down because it is the

craving that is creating the movement

relaxing removes the craving and mind

settles further you still have those

small movements even when you get into

need the perception nor non-perception

if you are working with her teacher

you'll likely be asked were you in a

state that is like you were asleep but

you were awake movement of mind slows to

smaller and smaller activities you start

having gaps in your awareness there is

no longer a fully consistent conscious

awareness mind slows like ice freezing

there are levels of need the perception

at first mind may slow down like you are

in a dream there might be a story going

on yet like a dream when you come out of

that state it makes no sense though it

did make sense when you were

experiencing it for example it might

have made sense if a bird was talking

and you were completely fine with that

in the dream but when you come out of

this state you wonder why you thought

birds could talk in this state there can

be images that arise colors shapes

patterns

you should six are all of those if you

are aware enough at that moment but at

times your awareness just isn't strong

enough to notice them it's like telling

someone to be mindful in a dream later

in or after you're sitting if you start

to reflect on what happened you can 6r

at that time still your mindfulness gets

progressively sharper as you go in and

out of this deeper level and eventually

all of the dream images of patterns just

disappear there is barely anything left

at all there might even just be what

appears to be a blank screen just

blackness but you knew you were there

when you came out nothing actually

stopped since you were aware of time

passing during that state be aware that

during your sitting generally you may go

into a dream state and since you have

heard that the base of neither

perception nor non-perception is a

dreamlike space you may wonder whether

you are experiencing this jhana actually

this may only be sloth and torpor which

needs to be 6 Rd here you have confused

the state of darkness with the deeper

state of the arrow Pledge ona this vague

torpor like state can be completely

blank this is very definitely a low

energy low mindfulness state when you

wake up out of this state it's more like

waking up out of sleep there will be

some energy but it is weakened doesn't

last or you just may be drowsy you might

think this low energy state is special

but it's just an absence of awareness

the difference between these states is

that when you go into to the knee the

perception state it will be from a

bright and energetic clear space you'll

be very mindful and alert it might be

confusing to you later but going from a

low energy dull state into a faraway

torpor state is not the way to go deeper

be watchful in question yourself about

this you may be overestimating your

level of awareness when it is just a

torpor state if so then you need to

build up your mindfulness and use your

six rupees more when you go into the

fourth arupa jhana your energy will be

very high but the tranquility and

stillness will be even stronger you can

be guaranteed that coming out of this

deeper stage you will not be sleepy

you'll have more energy than ever before

if you do feel Low Energy

then it is time to get up and do some

brisk walking to get the body energy

restored as you said more and for longer

you may go into nee the perception

several times in a sitting and each time

you'll go deeper than before when you

come out of this state please don't get

up from your session just continue and

six are any disturbances that show up

keep sitting six are whatever you

remember that happened in that state

your mind will be more active and full

of energy coming out but you should just

let it settle back

each time you go into the Jharna it will

be deeper than the last ampednh 111

section 18 he emerged mindful from the

detainment having done so he

contemplated the states that had passed

seized and changed thus when you sit for

long periods in deeper meditation you'll

get into this neither perception nor

non-perception state you will feel very

silent in mind and energized there won't

be much movement of mind here at all

when you are at this level in your

meditation and you have your noonday

meal lunch you will not get drowsy just

a slight heaviness that passes or even

nothing at all

so strong now mind has become you may

sleep less and wake up often at night if

you do wake up then you can try doing a

sitting for as long as you can and then

go back to sleep when you get tired this

works for some people but not for others

it interrupts the sleep cycle in the

rest of the next day is sleepy and dull

be attentive and see what works for you

around this time some meditators on

retreat may want to get up earlier like

2 to 3 a.m. and sit longer in the

morning the teacher will encourage you

to sit longer you can ask the teacher to

allow you to sit through the lunch

period food can be put aside for you to

have later

thus it is called the noonday meal it is

a meal around noon meaning it can be

pushed how to 1 p.m. or perhaps 2 p.m.

or further but it still is your only

substantial meal of the day monks must

eat starting at 11:00 a.m. and finish by

12:00 p.m. but it's okay for laypeople

to bend this rule you are now at a point

in your meditation practice where

backing away from any movement in mind

is what your meditation has become

seeing states arising in personally as

important reacting now to states with

more dispersion and just observing

without any real interest loosens your

attachment to them

it is all just stuff nothing to be

followed or investigated let's review

here our preliminary methods and goal

for our practice we are using samatha

meditation as the means to tranquilize

and calm the mind like spreading oil on

water this is by using a variety of

different feelings the meta the

compassion joy and equanimity that arise

one by one when we start with matter

this is the brahma vihara practice we

are observing states arising in the

jhanas as they are rise on by 1/b they

wholesome or unwholesome and seeing

their impermanent soulless nature the

samantha part of this process calms down

the noise so that we can observe much

closer the arising phenomena this is the

inside part of it personna so this is

samatha Vipassana both working together

so now what happens is the gradually

movement slows down to the point where

we are no longer drowning in thoughts

and distractions and can now let go of

the brahma vihara as as our meditation

object in fact they just fade away now

we are observing movements against our

clear quiet mind is our meditation

object we are clear and balanced enough

not to be swayed by the now small

distractions and vibrations gradually

even these small movements will stop and

all mental activity will stop the bond

of our mind will not have one single

ripple there all of a sudden awareness

and consciousness will stop for a moment

there will be super clarity right after

this as now see deeper than we have ever

seen before we see the deepest aspect of

the mental process so this is where we

are headed

let's keep going there is this small

wrapper of craving around each state

that arises it is what you think of as

you it will take the feeling that is

arising as my feeling and there are a

tiny story and perception about what

that is when anything arises your mind

instantly perceived that object is being

observed by you there is the object and

the self perceiving the object this is

craving it is this sense you have of you

actually there is no uther at all there

is the object there is the sense base

and there is consciousness that is the

visual object the eye organ itself and

the eye consciousness mind interprets

these processes arising and passing away

as part of a permanent you but what is

really happening is that feeling arises

and there is this sense of a you feeling

it there is consciousness but there is

mistakenly the perception that this

little you is a self that is feeling it

some people even see this little image

of themselves and the deluded mind

identifies that as the real you but it

is only a picture you aren't there at

all self is only a concept think about

this for a moment at night you have

dreams and you definitely feel like you

exist in these dream fantasies you are

doing this and that under reacting with

horror a pleasure depending on the

situation isn't this just like your life

you know you don't really exist in the

dream but when you are awake you think

you exist and react just like when you

are dreaming isn't this the same in fact

the Buddha realized that the concept of

self was false and this is why we say

the Buddha awakened out of this dream of

self also by personalizing each arising

feeling by making each object arising

yours you could tend to think that you

made the experience happen

this is very important to notice this is

the delusion of itself controlling every

arising state you will feel that I made

this come into being or I control this

or that state that has arisen the fact

is that you do not control anything the

deep insight of dependent origination is

that everything arises from a cause

without there being any self doing it or

making it happen or controlling it you

have nothing to say about it with a deep

understanding of this you will feel

relief because you no longer have this

self-imposed burden of thinking you

control every mental state what a relief

to not feel responsible for every

thought you didn't think them there

alone are responsible for their

existence when something in mind arises

whether it is an image light or thought

just back away very very gently see the

state rise into existence from nowhere

it does not matter why it came up it

just did and you didn't make it happen

it arose based on conditions no King is

commanding this to arise and that to

arise there is no controller nobody in

charge you might be watching with too

much energy and bear down on objects

coming and going lighten up and come to

acquire

still point where your awareness is very

still there are simply vibrations that

arise and pass away don't think you are

controlling anything if you were

controlling things you could determine

when you would be happier sad and you

know you can't do that in fact try to

use your investigation to appear very

closely into that force that wedge that

wants to control it is constantly there

in the background with each arising of

feeling a subtle you arises that likes

the feeling or doesn't

that is the craving a sense of a

controller of the false belief in a

personal self so the moment that feeling

or even a little image review arises

relax and six are it don't lean into it

release and back away let the feeling

fade leaving only stillness and where

there is nothing except observation the

Sutter talks about the factor of

decision did you know that when you make

a decision it is yet another constituent

of mind that just arises that has no

controller behind it when you see this

factor arise in your meditation try six

ring it in your left just sitting there

no action occurs since you let go of the

decision if you somehow think you'll go

to sit and then you continue to think

about which pillow to use you might see

the precise deciding moment from where

you decide which pillow to use there is

a moment in which your decision arises

if you back away and gently just allow

everything to arise but very carefully

watch it with your investigation factor

you'll see the decision factor arrives

entirely on its own and it also then

passes away there appears a call to

action that arises from the craving

embedded in it this craving is the push

you feel to go into action you are now

unperturbed and content just to let go

of anything arising it's not yours it's

just stuff you see this with a mind that

is purified from craving not taking

things personally this is seeing things

with the eye of wisdom seeing things as

they really are and it feels very good

finally you come to an unparalleled

level of balance called disenchantment

followed by an even deeper state of

dispassion which will open the door to

the unconditioned the more time you

spend in neither perception nor

non-perception the more mind is purified

Bonte says that much merit is made in

this state merit is like a store of

wholesome action leading to very good

future results this is like your karmic

bank account

developing a pure and pure mind will

help you advance award the attainment as

you continue to sit in this state

movements of minds attention have

virtually is stopped as craving recedes

this is now the time to be patient and

persevere continued observance six art

relaxing into any movement of flickering

of mind if a sound arises in your

attention starts to move there

immediately back away from it relax and

come back to a bright clear mind if

there is any interest in the sound you

need to six other desire to see what it

is any desire to do anything at all is

to be six Rd you'll get to the point

where you feel like your awareness has

stopped you are just sitting quietly not

caught up in mind stream which is

constantly rushing forward the Buddha

talks about it as stopping in a river

with the water now seen going by you yet

you now have become an immovable rock

the sense of you isn't moving anymore it

has become detached from the stream of

events and there is a sublime relief in

this any movement you now observe as a

disturbance to your stillness you notice

that movement is suffering darker there

might be a desire to push away any

slight movements but six are the

diversion and let it be you can't push

away anything remember you have no

control over anything all you can do is

observe and six are any desire to

analyze what is happening and what is

arising should not be followed we are

only interested in the process the

arising and passing away questions about

why things come up can never be fully

resolved the reason may not even come

from this lifetime so you can never

really know what might be the cause of a

hindrance

you don't need to understand where

things come from we leave that to the

psychologists we just six are it and let

it go hindrances are karmically produced

by unwholesome actions that is the

previous breaking of precepts whether in

his life or others

all we can do is stop breaking precepts

now and six are any disturbance that

arises from when we broke them in the

past when you see a site based on that

contact to feeling arises Pleasant and

Pleasant or neither-pleasant-nor-painful

arising there is craving wanting to

enjoy what it is a to push it away you

understand as soon as you see something

that very seeing process has craving in

it 6r and relax into that seeing process

as soon as it catches your awareness

notice there is a very subtle tension as

soon as your eye locks onto the sight

that is what pulls your attention to see

it the moment your mind turns to

observing anything at all you should be

relaxing into it right there do not let

the craving get a foothold on your

attention let it go in most

circumstances craving is not that strong

but has bhante Vimy larom she says it is

definitely persistent actually there is

no such thing as mind pulling your

attention the sound rises and the

craving arises it seems like some sort

of view is being pulled to the sound but

that's not what is happening sand and

craving arise together of giving the

illusion that somebody is being pulled

to it that is the delusion of the

personal you in fact the sight a taste

or whatever arises has the craving

embedded in it in the you that arises is

right there in that sensation you don't

exist anywhere else at that moment other

than in hearing the sound

why do you arise at that moment you

arise because you wanted to hear it you

your so-called permanent self is

actually being born into existence at

that moment of identification before

that there was just the fading of the

last consciousness arising

then the new sound vibration arose which

triggered the craving to arise and a

personal you it was created once more

this is the process of dependent

origination causes and conditions are

constantly arising and passing away

perhaps we can say you were reborn again

dot and again and again the nature of

consciousness the five aggregates all

arise in each moment but they are

affected by craving and clinging this is

due to the being taken personally in

fact the aggregates all arise at the

same time creating your world at that

moment then they pass away you only

exist in each arising moment and then

you are gone completely until the next

contact and feeling arise and this all

happens thousands of times in the blink

of an eye which is why we appear to feel

like a continuous entity with no breaks

you had already seen this phenomenon

occur when you were in the second aruba

jhana the realm of infinite

consciousness then based on some outside

calls you are born yet again to see or

touch if not for that vibration a

contact at the sense door you would

simply not come into existence at all

you don't exist outside that sense

contact which sparks you into existence

this is quite an insight when it arises

there is no underlying self that

experiences the sense basis the sense is

only experienced themselves you do not

die when your body dies you are actually

dying every moment and then coming back

into existence only to disappear again

consciousness is like the bubbles

generated from a quickly flowing stream

the water hits the rocks like the sense

objects hit the sense doors the mist

that arises as the water splashes over

the rocks is like I formed sites

colliding with the eyes sense organ

creating the drops or mists of

consciousness this is your awareness

arising and passing away dependent on

the six fold sin

space which is your body this awareness

seems real and feels like a permanent

self at that moment but then in the next

moment the bubble of awareness pops and

disappears birth death birth death

millions of times in a single second

from a scientific viewpoint these are

just neurons firing in the brain and can

be explained but we see for ourselves

through meditation through direct

knowledge how this happens in mind then

we can know the truly impersonal nature

of the process that truly is scientific

view of impersonality science already

says there is no self there are only

body and mental elements and nothing

else but other scientists still argue

that there must be a deeper self assault

that does exist it is just beyond what

they can measure real insight into the

psychophysical process is defined by

actually believing the data you observe

in other words researchers say there are

only neurons firing inside a massive

gray matter and thus there can be no

real soul there yet these scientists

don't even believe their own data and

still think there is an underlying soul

present habitual opinions run deep we

will see that the actual fuel behind the

mental movement is craving there is a

bodily process going on and the mental

one the broadly parts of this process of

the chemicals in the brain reacting

together this is the body the result of

the chemical reaction is consciousness

which is mind body and mind arising from

where we don't know while we are

observing it with the Buddha's explained

this it's about karma and its results

the residue of past unwholesome a

wholesome actions which was caused by

the breaking at keeping the precepts the

mental process just arises from

conditions that are there this is seen

by direct knowledge through an

experiential understanding of these

insights mind itself is changed

understanding is the reason craving

ceases some neurons don't fire and you

craving doesn't come into being you hear

that your favorite uncle has died

previously you would have been

distraught but now because you see the

true nature of things you start to

understand that everything does die and

that okay

it isn't unexpected it is part of life

neuroscientists can observe how the

brain works but only understanding

attained by direct experience can

fundamentally change the conditioned

reaction in the brain it is doubtful

that observing electrical readouts on a

fMRI monitor functional MRI measures

blood and oxygen levels in the brain

will ever lead to awakening why because

only direct experience can give us deep

insight into how things really work the

Buddha said all mental phenomena have

mind as the forerunner thus we must look

at mine first and see this clearly then

we will understand the interplay between

mind and body when we see this properly

we see the impersonal aspect of the

process at that time delusion is

eliminated because we understand that

there was never anyone there in the

first place to experience the I like it

or I don't like it mind this is what

delusion means we know that self is only

a concept and it is the supreme concept

listing of the jhanas and the meditation

object first jhana loving-kindness mater

second jhana loving-kindness mater third

jhana loving-kindness mater fourth jhana

loving-kindness mater base of infinite

space compassion Karuna base of infinite

consciousness joy mudita base of

nothingness equanimity our pekka

base have need the perception nor

non-perception clear acquired mind

the following reading is of the book the

path to Nirvana her mindfulness of

loving-kindness progresses through the

tranquil aware Jonah's to awakening by

David C Johnson chapter 5 progress in

the aware Twi M Jonah's beginning Twi M

now let us see how the Twi a meditation

practice takes us through the four

tranquil aware Jonah's including the

full formula spaces contained in the

fourth jhana culminating with the

attainment of Nibin are if you follow

what the Sutter's say without any added

interpretation then this is what will

happen this is the progress of tranquil

aware inside meditation a Twi M the

Jonah's described from here of the

tranquil aware Jonah's in this type of

Jonah

you are aware of both mind and body the

Buddha said we cannot ever understand

ourselves unless we look at the totality

of who we are and see the impersonal

nature of everything that arises we

can't control anything by pushing it

away trying to stop what comes up only

through acceptance of what is in the

present not fighting a controlling it

seeing it clearly without mental noise a

craving can we achieve release a word

here about morality the Buddha's system

is built on a moral view of the world if

you do unwholesome actions then painful

results and mental states like

hindrances follow the whole sment

wholesome follows meditation is

completely wholesome if you wish to be

successful in your meditation you should

be following the five precepts as a

minimum to achieve the best progress

what do they not killing not stealing

not lying a cursing not being involved

in sexual misconduct like adultery and

not taking in toxicants or alcohol it

isn't hard and it said that following

these simple guidelines brings you a

prosperous and happy existence in this

life and the next

following these five precepts prescribed

by the Buddha as your moral baseline

will help your meditation to go very

deep by not committing any further

harmful acts you will become free of

guilt and remorse and your mind will be

peaceful and tranquil for retreats there

are an additional three precepts to help

you fine-tune including not eating after

noon not engaging in entertainment and

not using perfumes or makeup the six

rupees and the meditation instructions

the beginning meditator will spend a few

days a week scale to vaiting

loving-kindness toward themselves and a

spiritual friend by using phrases to

help bring up the feeling of

loving-kindness may I be happy may I be

peaceful as I am happy I wish you to be

happy a spiritual friend is someone who

is alive the same sex and someone you

admire and like it might be a teacher a

neighbor or a friend it is best to avoid

family members because that can be

overly complicated it must be someone

who can generate a smile when you think

about them you remember a time when you

were happy you bring that feeling up and

radiate it to your cells first ten

minutes out of a 30-minute sitting you

will send it to yourself and the rest of

the session

at least 20 minutes you'll send loving

and kind thoughts to a spiritual friend

see full instructions in a guide to

tranquil wisdom inside meditation which

is included at the back of this book you

now take your spiritual friend and put

them in your heart and surround and

radiate to them that feeling and stay

with that feeling as long as you can

this is a feeling meditation you were

cultivating the feeling of

loving-kindness a matter this is also a

smiling meditation while you are sitting

put a little smile on your lips and feel

that smile in your heart and in your

mind the smile helps to bring up the

feeling and when the smile disappears it

is an early warning signal that the

feeling has disappeared with it

then just bring it up again and keep

your smile going for the meditation

session there is research that proves

that smiling even if you don't feel like

it triggers your brain to feel better

when you turn up your mouth you turn up

your attitude and if you don't believe

the Buddha talked about smiling he did

describe his monks being happy in MN

SATA 89 we have the happy ones but first

you can only stay with your object of

meditation for five seconds or so and

then the attention wanders away you get

lost in thought or you are listening to

a sound or your attention goes to a

feeling in the body as hindrances

subside the attention and awareness stay

longer with your object for a few

seconds to a minute the practice is

improving it is the same as someone who

is out of shape must train themselves to

get stronger gradually with practice the

feeling and the collected nurse go

deeper a process called the six R's

which comes from your attention being

focused in the right way uses the

Eightfold Path right effort or as bantay

Vimy larum she likes to call it

harmonious practice to let go of

hindrances as they arise when mind

starts to wander you are immediately

recognize that you have gone off into

thought when you realize you aren't with

your spiritual friend anymore just stop

right there it is like you're driving a

car and a dog runs out in the middle of

the street you recognize he is there

then you release your attention from the

thought and thereby stop feeding it you

just stop paying attention to the

thought and allow it to be there by

itself without keeping your attention on

it

in our example of the dog running out in

the street you now take your foot off

the gas release it is very different

from the Vipassana noting practice in

which you mentally note that distraction

that arises until it goes away

you relax any tension and tightness

still left as the thought fades away

this tension or tightness is how you can

recognize there is craving in your mind

this is what pulled your attention to

the distraction all thoughts have a

certain amount of tension and tightness

in them therefore we think and think and

think this craving process keeps mind

active going from one thing to another

when you relax this tightness you'll

notice that mind becomes very clear

bright and alert without any other

distracting thoughts in our example with

the car we now put our foot on the brake

to stop any further forward momentum

relax your mind at that time has let go

of craving and becomes pure why is it

pure it is pure because there is no more

tension and tightness in your mind this

is how you purify your mind and start to

see your personality change for example

let us say you have fear a sadness in

your mind then you recognize this and

let it be there without trying to make

it go away next you relax the tightness

in your mind mind then becomes clear and

bright every time you relax this

tightness you were cleansing your mind

until eventually this fear as sadness

has lost all its energy and no longer

arises thus you have purified mind of

the old habitual tendencies that have

caused so much suffering in the past

then you re smile put a little smile on

your lips and radiate that smile from

your eyes your heart and your mind

smiling is an important part of the

practice it helps to keep your mind

light and keeps you from becoming too

serious tense and tight

you use smiling as a tool to bring up a

wholesome feeling replacing the thought

process that had taken you away from

your meditation object and with the car

example you are now stopped and relaxed

now put your foot on the gas again re

smile you then return to your object of

meditation and repeat continuing to send

loving-kindness to yourself in a

spiritual friend every distraction is

treated in this way just continue to

drive to your destination and watch out

for dogs gradually you'll become more

experienced with this procedure and it

even begins to happen automatically

running the six rupees becomes almost

rolling of the R's it becomes a fluid

motion in the six rupees the two most

important parts of the process after you

recognize you have wandered off is to

release and just stop what you were

thinking about just stop what your mind

is doing don't force it to stop just

don't pay attention anymore let it fade

away the second thing is to relax any

forward motion that keeps pulling you to

think about that subject some more that

is the craving to think that is grasping

at your attention release it and then

relax the tension and tightness then

return with a smiling mind to your

object of meditation developing

loving-kindness with a spiritual friend

is unusual compared to most other

methods of developing loving-kindness

why do we not immediately start sending

loving-kindness out to all beings why

just this one person sending matter out

to all beings as you begin this practice

scatters the mind too much staying with

only a single spiritual friend helps you

to develop your collectiveness and focus

learning the six rupees and perfecting

them with just this one person helps you

effortlessly to advance to the higher

stages when the feeling of

loving-kindness has strengthened and

stabilized you can then spread it to all

beings in all directions

in the suttas this is called pervading

the feeling of mater and with the six

directions of the brahma vihara practice

are there any subtle references for this

preliminary technique of using a

spiritual friend

yes there are they are in Sutter MN 21

simile of the saw no matter the course

of speech in which you are addressed you

should train thus my mind will remain

unaffected utter no evil words abide

compassionate for the welfare abide with

her mind of loving-kindness abide

without in a hate pervade the person

with a mind imbued with loving kindness

and starting with them pervade the

all-encompassing world with a mind

imbued with loving kindness our abundant

how exalted are immeasurable Oh without

hostility and ill-will the Sutter states

that we start with one person whom we

feel kindness for and pervade the person

with a mind imbued with loving kindness

and starting with them we then continue

on to pervade the all-encompassing world

with a mind imbued with loving kindness

in other words we continue to practice

in the way the Sutter's say to practice

the brahma vihara practiced by a

pervading Metta to the six directions as

we will delayed her as the practice

advances chapter 6 first jhana joy when

your attention stays with the feeling of

loving kindness and your spiritual

friend for about three to five minutes

then joy will arise congratulations you

have arrived at the first tranquil aware

jhana how does it jhana

arise first a distraction arises fueled

by one or more of the hindrances

whatever it happens to be greed hatred

or restlessness as you let it go relax

and come back to your object of

meditation the hindrance begins to

weaken when a hindrance arises it is not

your enemy to fight with rather it is a

friend for you to invite in allowing it

to show you where your attachments are

every time you six are the hindrance it

grows weaker why because you have

released the craving which is embedded

in the distraction arising finally you

do one last six our process and

hindrance completely disappears it just

has no further energy for this release

and resulting relief the first jhana

arises and mind enters into a pure state

when the hindrance runs out of energy

you have the real sense of relief you

feel joy rising which is an exciting

happy feeling you will feel light in

both your mind and body quite nice

hindrances are constantly tightening

down on our awareness and pulling our

mood down they lead to a lot of frowning

and stress now you see the beginning of

real happiness arising it is like you

have been in a course painful state your

whole life and someone just switches it

off you feel joy Petey in the head in

the chest and throughout the body it may

feel fuller warmer light it may be like

bubbles popping it may be subtle or for

some it may be felt as more extreme joy

there might be some mental and visual

activities or even fireworks going on

behind your closed eyes this will settle

down after a period of time a few hours

or a day the mental state will be

energized and joyful and it will

definitely be a pleasant feeling there

will be no hindrances at this time this

is a big relief right after the joy

fades away mind will become very

tranquil and comfortable this is called

happiness a Sukkah mind just stays on

its object with almost no effort at all

you have never experienced happiness and

clarity like this before what is joy

excitement and a happy feeling of the

nature of joy at this beginning stage a

man in a desert who is dying of thirst

spots in the distance an oasis and a

pool of cool water he becomes very

excited and happy this is the feeling of

joy the moment he sees it joy Rises this

is what happens in the first jhana the

joy in the first jhana

is followed by a feeling of tranquility

and relaxation

you are still in the first jhana but it

is changing you will feel this you'll be

smiling and radiant the Jannah will last

for a while until another hindrance pops

up sometimes the joy is not strong a

meditators are not sure they have

achieved anything so they don't mention

it on a retreat over the course of the

daily interviews the teacher will

inquire about what is happening to you

they will ask you is there any joy the

teacher will get a hint when you say you

can stay on your meditation object for a

longer period of time let's follow this

simile a bit longer and do a brief

explanation of the next three Jonah's so

you can see how the practice develops as

you continue meditating your joy from

the first jhana will deepen there will

arise a feeling of strong confidence

this is a quarter deeper joy where both

mind and body become very light almost

like floating both mind and body become

very tranquil comfortable and peaceful

this is the second jhana when the man

finally arrives at the pool of cool

water and jumps into the temperature of

the water is just right both his mind

and body kind of give a gentle sigh of

relief this is where he experiences

happiness and contentment this is the

feeling of happiness suka and a

developing sense of mental balance that

occurs in the third jhana this happiness

will fade away just leaving a stability

of mind that is a feeling of equanimity

a Pecha which is the fourth jhana the

suttas explain the jonna's the ANU pada

sutter one by one is they occurred

number 111 from the mad ji min nicaya

mn explains the entire process and all

the characteristics of the jhanas up to

the attainment of Nirvana I will use

this Sutter to explain throughout the

rest of the book the Jonah's one by one

and the subsequent progress to awakening

the Sutter MN 111 starts and the states

in the first jhana the thinking and

examining the

the joy the happiness and the

unification of mind you have let go of a

hindrance and joy Rises there are five

different kinds of joy

the first kind of joy is like goosebumps

it is there for just a moment and then

it goes away the next kind of joy is

like a flash of lightning

it's very intense for a very short

period and then that fades away the

third kind of joy is as if you are

standing in the ocean and you of these

waves of joy washing over you

it's just wave after wave these three

kinds of joy can happen to anyone for

any reason when the conditions are right

the last two types of joy only arise

from mental development the fourth kind

of joy is called uplifting joy you feel

very light in your mind and light in

your body you feel very happy and there

is excitement in it this is the joy of

the first and second jhanas the fifth

and last kind of joy is called

all-pervading joy it just kind of comes

out of everywhere it bubbles out all

over and pervades your whole mind this

kind of joy is also called the awakening

factor of joy this is the joy you feel

when you attain nirvana

so the fourth type of joy rises and

right after that when it fades away you

feel very tranquil and comfortable in

your mind and in your body this feeling

is what the Buddha calls suka which is

the Pali word for happiness your mind

does not wander very much in your

meditation it doesn't get lost there is

still the thinking and examining mind

you still can internally verbalize

thoughts about your experience you are

still thinking but now only wholesome

states are there though it is still a

bit noisy as compared to the states that

come later

you are not carried away by unwholesome

thoughts there is no craving now

thoughts that occur if thinking and

examining thoughts that have to do with

what you're feeling right now in the

present

you feel very peaceful and collected in

Pali the word for this state does eka

garter and if you look up the word in

the Pali dictionary ICAO means

tranquility peacefulness and stillness

of mind it doesn't mean one pointed or

absorption but rather collected and

unified the satyr explains there are

five factors in the first jhana thinking

and examining thought joy happiness and

unification of mind the satyr goes on to

explain what else is there air men the

contact feeling perception volition and

mind the five aggregates body feeling

perception formations Volition's and

consciousness are also present in this

jhana this means that all the

foundations of mindfulness theorem will

be observed these comprise who you are

and you can see all the aggregates there

without the veil of craving you see with

little dust in your wise then the satyr

says quote opening square bracket t he

enthusiasm decision energy mindfulness

equanimity and attention these states

were defined by him one by one as they

as occurred known to him those states

arose known they were present known they

disappeared what are we talking about

here we're talking about impermanence

you begin to see impermanence while you

are in the jhana you see these things

arise and pass away one by one as they

occur the factors listed in the sutter

don't necessarily follow the order that

they're given here they come up whenever

the going to come up these are the first

initial insights or understandings

Vipassana in pali that arise for you

amen he understood thus so indeed these

states not having been come into being

having been they vanish

an obstacle that sometimes comes here is

that some meditators will try to 6r the

joy and happiness that arises thinking

that they might get attached to it they

think they should try to suppress it and

not allow it to be there you do not need

to do this you should let this happy

feeling be there with full acceptance

but still go back to your spiritual

friend and continue the meditation this

joy is a fruit of the practice and is

wholesome just let it be it is okay for

you to have joy it's okay to be happy

it's kind of a new idea to let happiness

be there and not push it away and to

even develop it and keep the happy state

going which is the last part of right

effort if you have excessive thoughts

and start thinking about what just

happened the joy rising you can six are

those thoughts and let them go as you've

started to take the joy personally and

become attached to it that is craving

and that keeps us on the wheel of

samsara the wheel of suffering again you

should never push the joy away just 6i

it allow it but don't get involved in it

it is a wholesome state and wholesome

states are what we are striving for the

Buddha said it is part of right effort

to notice an unwholesome state and bring

up a wholesome state he didn't say to

replace a wholesome state with an even

more wholesome state wholesome is

wholesome just let it be

it is enough gradually this happy

feeling will subside or possibly had

make him up again and again over a few

days it will be there as long as it is

there there was a fellow who had tears

rolling down his cheeks and everyone

thought he was upset it was joy and

finally he was told just to get a towel

and let the tears fall on that no need

to make it stop it will stop on its own

after some time you'll lose this happy

feeling and the hindrances will come

back you will certainly start to think

no if I could just get that experience

again this is craving and should be 6r d

often at this stage if you fail to

follow the teachers instructions to six

out you might go around trying to figure

out how to get that state back and you

weren't subsequently you might crash and

burn and the next day you'll be

frustrated at not being able to bring

back the experience some meditators are

smarter than others they just go back to

the meditation as they had practiced it

before and continue following the

instructions some may take an extra day

and that's okay we all have to learn

wanting something only creates

frustration in mind we need to six are

the two meditation instruction on a

retreat the teacher will now give you

further instructions for those of you

using this book on your own please pay

attention to this next instruction after

you feel this joyful feeling arising you

can drop the verbalization for your

spiritual friend may you be happy may

you be peaceful etc just feel the wish

for the happiness without mentally

verbalizing there is no further need for

the phrases as they may cause tension

and tightness in your head and we

certainly don't wish to create more

tightness this is a sign of progress in

your meditation your thoughts have

quieted down and you are starting to

experience the quieting presence of the

second jhana more about this jhana in

the next chapter the teacher will not

tell you what jhana you are in until you

have gotten to the fourth jhana at that

stage you will have a firm grip on the

technique and how to 6r distractions you

understand that these are just levels of

understanding and tranquility that you

are going through as your meditation

progresses you start to develop some

equanimity and weren't care so much what

state you are in

at that point the teacher will tell you

that you have become an advanced

meditator and congratulate you on your

progress but there is more to do walking

meditation and the Gianna's walking is

an important part of this meditation as

it helps to sustain energy overcome

sloth and torpor and maintain health

generally when you are sitting for long

periods of time however one of the most

important purposes of walking meditation

is to enable you to practice integrating

TWRA meditation into your daily life the

purpose of meditation is to bring change

to all parts of your life all the time

not just while you are sitting walking

meditation will help you to accomplish

this while you were sitting you were

staying with your spiritual friend and

six ring distractions now the only

difference is that you are walking just

strolling normally and keeping your mind

on radiating kind thoughts to your

spiritual friend in the same way when

you were sitting see a guide to Twi M

for an in-depth discussion of how to do

walking meditation one of the mistakes

many people make when they are talking

about jhanas is to think that ajahn only

arises while you're doing your sitting

meditation however you can take any one

of these jhanas and stay with it while

you get up and do your walking

meditation you can also be in this state

when you're washing the dishes you could

even be taking a bath for standing in

the checkout line at the store staying

with your object of meditation while you

are walking and during all your

activities will help you to progress

further unlike being in absorption jhana

any one of the tranquil aware jhanas can

arise during your daily activities this

is one of the reasons that you keep your

meditation going all the time it doesn't

matter what you are doing it's all part

of the practice

everything you do is practice if you

train in this way

then you will make progress be aware of

what your mind is doing all the time

remember to stay with the meditation

practice as much as possible that's the

first part of mindfulness remembering to

practice remember what observing -

attention moving from one thing to

another chapter 7 second jhana noble

silence M and 111 section 5 again monks

with the stilling of thinking and

examining thought Sara put her entered

and abided in the 2nd jhana which has

self-confidence and stillness of mind

without thinking and examining thought

with joy and happiness born of

collectiveness the joy that arises in

the second jhana is stronger than the

first and deeper you feel much lighter

in your mind much lighter in your body

sometimes it feels like you are floating

in your chair there are students that

say they felt so light that they had to

open their eyes because they thought

they were going to hit the ceiling this

is the uplifting type of joy from

attaining a meditative state the

happiness you experience is a

comfortable peacefulness there is a calm

feeling in your mind and in your body

mind quiets down like when a

refrigerator turns off you hadn't even

noticed it was on and then the

compressor kicks off it's a level of

quiet that you never thought possible

confidence appears you feel you are

really starting to understand the

meditation you feel like you have no

more doubts about how to do this

practice you are starting to understand

the six rupees when you're in the first

jhana you can still have thoughts and

you can still have thinking and

examining mind which means a wholesome

observing mind that is thinking about

the experience when you enter the second

jhana this is where true noble silence

begins this is real noble silence it is

not writing notes

retreat instead of talking all the while

your mind is speeding along it is noble

silence because your internal

verbalizing her has essentially stopped

while you are in the state if you try to

make a wish like may I be happy

this will cause more tension and more

phrases mentally repeated will cause

your head to get tight you then are

advised to stop making verbal wishes as

it explains below meditation instruction

again for meditators using this book as

a guide now let go of internal

verbalizing of the wishes simply wish

loving-kindness for your spiritual

friend bring up the feeling without the

phrases when you are in the second jhana

and you repeat phrases you will find it

causes tension in your head and mind and

you can't do it comfortably that is your

signal to let go of internal

verbalization chapter 8 third jhana

happiness

MMN 111 section 7 again monks with the

fading away of joy sariputra bodied in

equanimity and mindful and fully aware

still feeling pleasure happiness with

the body still feeling happiness with

the body he entered upon and abided in

the third jhana on AC count of which

noble ones announced he has a pleasant

abiding who has equanimity and is

mindful when you get into to the third

jhana you start losing body awareness

this is a way to mark your progress

you'll be sitting and all of a sudden

you think I don't feel my hands

or I don't feel my leg or my shoulder

disappeared unless you consciously put

your attention there and then you feel

them you feel very tranquil and

sometimes it can be a heavy yet Pleasant

feeling this is a sign that you are

starting to truly understand the use of

the six rupees this is not a state of

absorption where if someone pokes you

you would not feel it this is a state

where your attention is not on the body

unless there is contact it

can be an outside force demanding your

attention as in the teacher calls you or

someone taps your shoulder whenever the

attention is drawn somewhere it is

because there is craving there when a

feeling that rises you want to feel it

and check it out there is a little

craving in every part of the mental

stream if a pleasant feeling arises

craving rises and we launch into liking

and disliking that feeling then the

thoughts and stories come up about the

feeling what a feeling is about the

perception that comes with the feeling

and the story about the feeling again we

six are and continue when you get into

to the third jhana you let go of a lot

of mental tension when you let go of

that mental tension you start letting go

of physical tension as well

bhante said that one meditator came to

him and told him she felt just like her

head was sitting on the floor there was

nobody that just a head rolling around a

loud noise like a motorcycle might be

heard outside and you know that this

happened you have a balanced mind about

it there is much more equanimity in the

third jhana sounds don't make your mind

shake they don't make your mind flutter

your mind just says okay there was a

sound never mind

relax come back to your object of

meditation there is this strong balance

that occurs you feel more comfortable

than you've ever felt very much at ease

in your body

bodily tension has all but disappeared

whereas in the first and second jhanas

you had joy coming up now it starts to

fade away

you will ask where has the joy gone I

like that I want it back you have gone

beyond that course a level of excitement

and arrived at her deeper more content

state the word used here is happiness

suka along with contentment this is not

joy anymore sometimes the student needs

to be reassured it's okay not to have

joy this is progress your mind is going

deeper

mind becomes very tranquil and very

unified not in a one-pointed way where

the sensors are shut out but it stays on

one object it just sits there and there

is no need for control it is happy there

everything is ok you are starting to see

with a quieter mind you can notice when

mental movements first start to arise

you can let them go and relax you'll

start to see that mind begins to flutter

a little bit and then it flutters faster

and faster and then it gets completely

distracted away you'll begin to observe

how that process works when you first

notice this fluttering if you relaxed

right then your mind stays on your

object of meditation as you go deeper

your wandering mind is 6rz sooner meta

takes you to the fourth jhana in the sam

yot Anika there is a section on

loving-kindness meditation that refers

to the factors of awakening this sutta

is a real revelation because it is

talking about practicing loving-kindness

in the fourth jhana the reason that this

is a revelation is that it is widely

held that loving-kindness can only take

you to the third jhana but there it is

in the sutter talking about experiencing

the feeling of Metta in the fourth jhana

the suttas disagree with the vissa D

Marga about this in reading the Sutter

accompanied by loving-kindness number 46

section 54 for from the sam yot Anika it

says that on the other hand matter or

loving-kindness goes to the fourth jhana

compassion goes to the base of infinite

space the first arrow / jhana joy goes

to the base of infinite consciousness

the second area jhana and equanimity

goes to the base of nothingness the

third arrow pajeon a'

the practice that is being taught here

is not only loving-kindness it is the

complete practice of the brahma vihara

z' therefore about a divine abiding z'

of brahma that make up the brahma vihara

as which a loving-kindness Metta

compassion Karuna joy mudita and

equanimity are Pecha loving-kindness is

the first part of this larger system

that eventually leads to the experience

of Nibbana the loving-kindness

meditation that we are talking about

here is not just a side meditation to

help us calm down after a long day at

the office or to prepare for our

meditation on the breath it is a

powerful system in its own right as part

of the brahma vihara meditation path and

does indeed culminate in full awakening

fontava malarum she talks about some of

his malaysian students who would come

off a difficult Vipassana retreat and

request to take him at a retreat with

him he said that they said the minds had

been hardened by those retreats and that

they needed to return to a more balanced

happy state who could think that a

method that Buddha taught would cause

hardness not lead directly to the goal

and need Metta to recover from it were

these other retreats being taught in the

way the Buddha instructed if they had

added the relaxed step then this could

have been avoided matter is a very

important practice that the Buddha

taught which can take you directly to

Nirvana that misunderstanding that it

will not take you to the goal needs to

be corrected matter is just the first

part of the brahma vihara system that

you experience as you go deeper into

your practice it automatically leads to

the other four Vere's but you have to

continue the practice Metta is indeed

the doorway to the unconditioned after

all the definition of right effort is to

one recognize there is an unwholesome

state - to let go of that unwholesome

state 3 bring up a wholesome state 4

keep it going for parts and what is more

wholesome than matter you just keep it

going and it will lead

Nibbana with no other methods needed

this is what it says right in the text

themselves

chapter nine fourth jhana the beautiful

MN 111 section nine again monks with the

abandoning of pleasure and pain and with

the previous disappearance of joy and

grief sauropod rented upon and abided in

the fourth jhana which has neither pain

nor pleasure and purity of mindfulness

due to equanimity in the fourth jhana

the loving-kindness energy moves from

the chest and heart area up to your head

it is like the feeling of matter is

starting to radiate from the top of the

head the spiritual friend smiles back

and there is no more warmth in the chest

area from the loving-kindness in no

circumstances should you try to push the

feeling back down to your heart area

again it should be allowed to go where

it wants to based on the sincerity of

your loving-kindness some meditators

make the mistake of trying to make a

feeling arise by focusing on the heart

and chest area that's not right they

should be bringing up sincere wishes of

loving-kindness which they really mean

and honestly believe then the feeling

appears on its own and it goes where it

needs to in the fourth jhana the

contentment turns into a deeper peaceful

feeling full of equanimity

it is a nonreactive state of balance it

doesn't mean that there cannot be a

painful or a pleasurable feeling arising

it means that it doesn't make your mind

shake you see it for what it is and you

have this beautiful balance towards it

the fourth jhana in some texts is called

the beautiful you don't notice

sensations arising inside your body but

you do notice external contact if an ant

walks on you you know it you have such

balance that nothing bothers you a

mosquito comes around and he bites you

it's okay so what no big deal mind is in

balance to all feeling in the fourth

jhana

pain in your body will disappear as your

mind no longer reacts with an I don't

like it mind of course when the next

hindrance occurs you can fall out of

that state and the pain will come back

also

there are reports of golden light

pervading your mind and this wonderful

feeling pouring out of the top of the

head in the fourth jhana because there

is contact with the ground while you're

walking

you'll feel sensation from your feet

this is because of contact with the

ground bodily sensations will not draw

your attention your sense of self

awareness will have moved up to your

head area now you have now given up your

beginner status you're not a novice

anymore you've become an advanced

meditator but interestingly you are

balanced and not overexcited with that

it's just more self-discovery and you

don't get a big head about it whereas at

the first jhana you might have thought

you were pretty good now it is just

another step on the path with no looking

back

advancing breaking down the barriers you

are now told that you have developed the

meditation skills to a higher level you

are told this so that you have

confidence in the practice and gain more

enthusiasm previously you weren't

informed of what was happening because

it would just lead to more mental

wanderings now that you have some more

equanimity and your mind has calmed you

were told where you are day by day what

exact jhana you are in as it happens if

you ask about it you see that Sutter MN

111 Israel and like Sarah put her you

are just watching the progress step by

step as it occurs

meditation instruction now you were to

change your spiritual friend you have

completed the practice to this point and

have now advanced it's time to move the

head let go of the friend you have been

working with and changed to the people

listed below go through each group one

at a time until you see them smiling and

happy pick three more spiritual friends

any gender living and not a family

member and one by one radiates

loving-kindness to them until they smile

back can you feel there is a connection

of loving kindness with them for living

family members either male a female

gender no longer matters one by one

radiates loving-kindness to them until

they smiled back for neutral people

either male or female one by one

radiates loving-kindness to them until

they smiled back a neutral person is a

casual acquaintance that you

occasionally see like the bus driver of

the cashier at the store you don't

really know them but you say hello every

now and then enemies a last cent matter

to any troublesome people whoever arises

enemies are those people we don't like

we may hold a grudge or we know they

don't care for us it might be public

figures or any person who comes to your

mind when you do this one by one

radiates metter two people who pop into

your mind until you can't think of

anyone else

if hatred or even dislike arises while

radiating meted to an enemy go back to a

neutral person until you can let go of

the aversion and come back to that

feeling of loving-kindness then begin

again radiate matter to your enemy and

continue until the tossed all energy is

dissipated and they smiled back it

doesn't have to be that deep just have a

friendly feeling for them or even in

neutral feeling in which they don't

bother you remember everyone has some

good qualities you can focus on those

you can do the process above in as

little as twenty to thirty minutes but

you should spend no more than an hour on

this if you cannot get beyond this step

then perhaps some forgiveness meditation

will be suggested by the teacher

information and directions for

forgiveness meditation may be found on

the Dharma suka website and practiced

from the book on this topic by bhante

vimal Arum she forgiveness is a very

powerful practice by itself and is

highly recommended to everyone but

especially to those who cannot bring up

a genuine feeling of loving-kindness for

any of these groups of people radiating

to the six directions meditation

instruction after the process of

breaking down the barriers is complete

you will report back to the teacher or

if you are working on your own then

simply continue below you'll be now

instructed to radiate loving-kindness

from the head not from the third eye or

forehead but from the area in the middle

of at the top of your head you radiate

to each of the six directions forward

backward right left above and below for

five minutes apiece that is 30 minutes

total for the rest of the sitting you

then radiate through all beings in all

directions at once to the whole universe

without limitations sit and glow with

this feeling of loving-kindness and let

it warm the whole cosmos and beyond

like a candle let the feeling radiate to

all beings don't push a force just let

it radiate and Seija just going out by

itself now the fun begins

you should sit for more than one hour if

you can you are encouraged to sit even

longer if you are comfortable don't stop

when you feel good a think you have made

progress go longer don't stop if you get

edgier want to cram try another five

minutes just to see if you can do it

many times a few more minutes will get

you through that short period of

restlessness radiating the full brahma

vihara x' successively as they arise to

all directions will now be your practice

into the highest states of the

meditation please note that I am

describing the technique because it is

presented in the texts I am only

explaining the text here and not

creating a new sort of meditation you

are now practicing the brahma vihara

practice exactly as it is described and

taught by the Buddha in the texts this

practice of metter and the rest of the

brahma vihara so are actually mentioned

much more frequently in twelve suttas in

the match ji min nicaya versus the

breath or anna pan as RT practice which

is only found in force utters which one

do you think the Buddha taught more

often he did appear to favor the brahma

vihara over the breath practice fontava

malarum she states the meta is six times

quicker than breath and gets you to the

goal much faster he says it takes six

weeks for someone to experience jhana

with breath verses a week or less with

matter this has been our experience and

thus we always recommend Mehta first he

will teach breath to certain personality

types that have a hard time with the

feeling of loving kindness but he does

add to relax a tranquilized step chapter

10 the base of infinite space compassion

the Buddha taught that there are four

major jhanas but he broke up the fourth

jhana into four more parts the suttas

call

the last four parts basis or realms we

will primarily use the term basis but

will shift back and forth four times

between race and aru pajara just to make

sure you understand the connection now

you have arrived at the era Roop

immaterial Jonah's the first for Jonah's

it called Rupa or material Jonah's Rupa

means realm of the body and Aruba means

realm of mind more precisely the a in

arupa means no so not of the body the

word realm is also used in addition to

Bey's for these higher parts of the

fourth jhana this is because the Buddha

stated that if one were to attain any of

these four journals including the four

immaterial realms

then the power merit of that act would

cause them to be reborn into a realm of

existence that corresponds to the

meditation level attained there are 31

planes of existence and the jhana based

Brahma realms are the highest most

pleasant and longest lasting the higher

the jhana

the longer the lifetime in the

corresponding realm and the more sublime

the state amen

111 section 11 again monks with the

complete surmounting of gross

perceptions of form with the

disappearance of gross perceptions of

sensory impact aware that space is

infinite sorry put her interred upon and

divided in the base of infinite space

this means you have surmounted the

physical in our entering the subtler

mental realms you are no longer paying

attention to the five senses and are

paying attention to what's in your mind

only you start feeling a quieter

loving-kindness now you will realize

that there is less warmth less movement

of the meta it is softer like cotton

this is coronary compassion you have

gone beyond the course of state of

loving-kindness and entered a more

sublime tranquil state you report back

that the feeling of loving kindness has

no limit but is very big

it is as immense as the sky your head

feels like it gets larger you feel like

things are expanding outward maybe you

feel as if the floor drops away and you

are suspended in space you may even feel

like you were flying up into a space

this is a very pleasurable kind of

feeling it is pretty awesome there is a

continuous expansion outward there is no

center point to be seen there may be an

exclamation of oh wow when explaining

this delightful state to the teacher

meditation instruction you will now

change from Metta to compassion as your

new object of meditation you expand this

new feeling outward with no limits to

the six directions as you have been

doing with loving-kindness begin each

meditation session radiating compassion

for five minutes in each direction and

then radiate compassion to all beings in

all directions at the same time for the

remainder of the sitting loving-kindness

has now automatically switched to the

state of compassion fontava malarum she

tells us that this is the state that

some many teachers refer when they talk

about the Buddha's infinite compassion

vantes opinion is that when the Buddha

refers to compassion the state but he is

talking about is the base of infinite

space of the first arrow pleasure no it

is not just a general state of caring

and nurturing but actually the Janik

state of compassion

Vontae further explains that the Buddha

did this practice every morning getting

into the jhana of infinite space with

compassion as his object of meditation

for the state the Buddha would then

survey the world for people who needed

his compassion and were ready to

understand his teachings he would then

go to them and instruct them in the

Dharma he saw people who had little dust

in their eyes and were ready to attain

awakening

a pen 111 section 12 and the states in

the base of infinite space the

perception of the base of infinite space

and the unification of mind the contact

feeling perception volition and mind you

still experience the five aggregates

even though you're in a narrow Pimentel

jhana this says that you're still

practicing the four foundations of

mindfulness even while you are in the

arrow pajama state you are now in a

mental realm and awareness of your body

has faded away unless there is contact

notice that the SATA quoted above no

longer includes experiencing pleasure in

the body now you are told you have

nobody so please don't pay attention to

it anymore six are any tugs and pulls

back into any awareness of the body now

you know your body is still there

sitting quietly but your awareness is

very much focused on mind mmm 111

section 12 cont opening square bracket t

he enthusiasm decision energy

mindfulness equanimity and attention

these states were defined by him one by

one as they occurred known to him those

states arose known they were present

known they disappeared

he understood thus dot and with the

cultivation of that attainment he

confirmed that there is still more

meditation instruction continued sending

your compassion to the six directions to

see how it expands outward the brahma

vihara meditation develops in sequence

through the for divine abiding x'

automatically these states will arise on

their own when you are ready don't bring

them up they will come up just keep

going and see what happens next chapter

11 the base of infinite consciousness

joy MN 111 section 13 again monks by

completely surmounting the base of

infinite space aware that consciousness

is infinite Sara put her into the pond

and abided in the base of infinite

just Ness this is a fascinating state

for one thing the compassionate feeling

automatically changes again to a feeling

of altruistic joy but that's not as

clear a definition as it could be barn

tear hasn't run across one yet it is a

feeling that's very different from the

compassion experience previously it is a

feeling that bhante prefers to call just

joy joyful Ness regardless you now go

from a feeling of compassion to a

feeling of joy mudita meditation

instruction now you start radiating joy

in all directions instead of compassion

joy is now your object of meditation

what happens is your awareness starts to

be so good and so sharp you begin to see

individual consciousnesses arise and

pass away continually you see firsthand

how truly impermanent everything is

there's no doubt in your mind anymore

that everything just comes into

existence and then fades away sometimes

your eyes just pop open there can be so

much energy if you try to close them

they just stay open so you just let them

be open after you sit with this insight

into impermanence and impersonality for

a little while something interesting

happens

some students report well yes

I see all these conscious nurses the eye

at the air at the nose the tongue the

body and mind I see these

consciousnesses arise and pass away and

it's really tiresome what you see now is

not only impermanence but suffering and

you're seeing there's nobody home

there's no control over this process it

happens all by itself

you see Anika impermanence darker

suffering and an utter nonsense all

while you're in the air oh pledged Ana's

in Buddhism these are the three signs of

existence anything that exists has this

nature and now you see it

it isn't on a thinking level but in a

direct way you know it fontava malarum

she tells a story of a monk who is a

famous monk in Burma he is invited to a

person's home for lunch and is offered

the finest of curries and rice the

entire time the monk eats he says darker

darker suffering suffering he is trying

to think his way to see the signs of

existence and that doesn't work all it

does it is to create an aversion to

whatever you are labeling and noting in

that's developing an unwholesome state

not in sight at all this experience

answers a lot of questions that you may

have had brewing before this everybody

was talking about things happening so

fast but now your awareness is so sharp

that you actually see each part of the

experience the twelve links of dependent

origination are starting to come into

focus and you are beginning to see

separate links moreover you are

beginning to see that they follow each

other and that each link is dependent on

the link before it after a while it does

appear this constant arising and passing

away of consciousness has become

tiresome you wonder will it ever end is

this all there is it doesn't matter

whether you're doing your walking

meditation or eating or going to the

toilet you see all these consciousnesses

continually is there a way out of this

meditation instruction small pinpoint

lights may arise like little stars that

twinkle and then fade away these are the

start of craving there are indications

of Tanna just starting to arise these

are thoughts that are just starting to

form you feel a pull from those lights a

tightness you realize that if you six

are them the moment they arise then

thoughts don't rise you see the relief

in this the six rupees will return you

to a state of balance and tranquility

be sure to 6ar them or as soon as they

arise these lights are sticky as their

little seeds of

craving coming into existence you now

see the craving bird exists in all

thinking and you see that is why

constant thinking is so tiring and

annoying to your mind consider the other

night when you couldn't get to sleep

because you were thinking so much

it was suffering being successful with

this meditation practice brings you to

the benefit of getting to sleep easily

and having no bad dreams this is one of

the eleven benefits of Metta meditation

you might see illuminations expanding

out like small Suns these are called

nimita no we are not talking about the

limiter our Watts and practices call

signs that are used as focus points in

concentration meditation but these are

merely forms and shapes that arise this

is the true meaning of nimita let go of

these and 6ar them you do not switch

over and start focusing on them they're

just interesting phenomena that might

distract you don't get involved with

them if you were to take these lights as

your meditation object then that would

be a concentration absorption meditation

practice and that is not in the suttas

the buddha had previously tried all

these types of meditation and he

rejected that practices leading to true

awakening when you practice

concentration with the breath meditation

lights can arise as well and if you take

these lights and concentrate on them

then again you are not practicing what

is in the suttas please 6ar them this is

the influence of the commentaries like

the viscid emag er the viscid omega has

included many practices that are not in

the suttas this conflict should cause us

to question which one is right in the

base of infinite consciousness

some people have visions of Davers Quan

Yin Buddha Jesus War Muhammad this is

based on the belief systems that all

needs to be 6 Rd so you can progress if

you feel very happy and joyful sometimes

there will be tears of joy

allow the tears to come out that is the

sign of the mood eater a joyful state in

which you are abiding you may feel like

things are slowing down like watching a

movie in slow motion you may see each

frame of consciousness arising and

passing away whether it is at the idle

or ear door you may want feel like you

are woozy don't get attached to any of

this six are all of it none of these

experiences are to be taken personally

as mere mine

they should just be allowed your

mindfulness is now getting very sharp

sharp enough to see individual

consciousnesses meditation instruction

you'll then be asked to start noticing

the spaces between the conscious nurses

try to become more aware of the silence

and the tranquility that is there and

dwell in this quiet let everything else

go you will think there is nothing

patiently let this state deepen this

will lead you to the next base and the

last of the brahma vihara x' this is a

Pecha or equanimity sometimes around

this level the meditator may have the

thought if I have no self then I should

just die fear can arise I have no

control over anything what can I do you

just do what you always have you never

had herself in the first place so

nothing has changed

this is inside it isn't suicidal

thoughts by any means so don't worry the

teacher will remind you that this is

just your mind playing games have a good

laugh and lighten up

you won't die not even close

soon you were moving into even deeper

more interesting territory chapter 12

the base of nothingness equanimity

MMN 111 section 15 again monks by

completely surmounting the base of

infinite consciousness aware that there

is nothing Sara put her interred upon

and divided in the base of nothingness

previously you saw the world existing as

outside of yourself now you see things

as all in mind only

you still see different movements of

mind but they're not outside of mind you

have had a concept of yourself being in

the world which is constantly in the

background of your thinking we all see

ourselves in relationship to the world

as a separate self or entity taking

things personally means we see ourselves

doing things in our mind we see

ourselves having done things in the past

we see ourselves doing things now and we

see ourselves doing things in the future

we only exist in our minds this idea a

concept of itself only exists in our

mind and now we see it outside of the

thinking mind there is only seeing

hearing touching tasting and smelling

just sensations that are arising in

passing away yet we identify these as

having this self this existence laid

over the top of it this meat that is

doing this planning to do that

thinking about this being a part of a

team to create that you are an actor in

this dream of existence it is all in

your head you are constantly creating

this illusion of self moment-to-moment

they are just images now you finally

start to come out of the dream and only

see what is there gross thinking stops

conceptual engagement stops now in the

seeing there is only seeing in the

hearing only hearing etc nothing happens

in the past and nothing happens in the

future it is all happening now and in

this clear present there is no self

there is only awareness of what happens

at the sensed doors moment to moment it

becomes very quiet you have never

experienced this before this is the

awareness and experience of the base of

nothingness this jhana is like the part

in the matrix movie where Keanu Reeves

wakes up from his dream existence in

this machine created mental world and

realizes that he is in a pod just

dreaming his life expiry

hence like him we are waking out of our

dream of self to find nothing but an

impersonal process our never-ending

stream of events now it's like your

consciousness stops paying attention to

general body awareness and sensations

and jumps up into your head you are no

longer paying attention to the awareness

that has anything to do with the body

you see everything is happening from

mind and physically from the head area

you are only attentive to mind concepts

stop thoughts are now just observing

thoughts are not being taken personally

they're not defining your world anymore

in fact most thoughts simply stopped

since concepts come from thoughts and

things come from concepts know things

leads us to the realm of no thingness

you are now seeing clearly without the

noise and without creating stories about

everything some people will say it even

feels like being in the desert all alone

in total desolation there is nothing

around but sand it is pleasant yet

different from anything you have ever

felt you start to understand the link of

dependent origination called nama Rupa

mentality of materiality name and form

there is mine that is dependent upon the

body both four distinct yet work

together one cannot be without the other

but now you see with direct insight that

there is the body itself separate from

mind for example there is the breath

going in and out and then the mentality

of mind which is made up of feeling

perception and consciousness there is

the physical breath and there is the

knowing the perception of the breath and

knowing what it is doing and how it

feels this is the mentality of

materiality link of dependent

origination with the dropping of the

concept of things outer and of your

perceived feeling of your separate

existence in the world your awareness

pulls in

the ever-present wiring dream of you

disappears no more thoughts that carry

you away and with a future of the past

no more thoughts are creating this or

that world you just exists in the

present your awareness is clear and free

of your conceptual self-image without

these concepts there is only the present

the arising and passing away of feeling

and sensations this is all that you see

no pass to future lives now this is

minds attention without craving embedded

in it without the overlaying of the idea

of self a soul in this silence of

nothingness you start a see much more

subtle phenomena that were hidden by our

noisy Minds very interesting things are

here there is definitely not nothing

amen 111 sections 16 and the states in

the base of nothingness before in the

second era pajara of infinite

consciousness you were a da ting joy in

all six directions where you were

feeling joy before now you're feeling

equanimity that is very very strong and

you have this very fine balance of mind

now you take this equanimity as your

object and radiate it to all beings in

all directions this particular level of

mind is by far one of the more

fascinating states that are experienced

in meditation now there is no sadness

nor happiness just balance when asked

how you feel you will always report that

you are fine everything is fine I have

nothing to say just fine others feel the

tranquility coming from you there seems

to be a glow in your face a radiance any

stress lines have all but disappeared if

you do not put quite enough energy into

watching the TEC winema tea your mind

gets dull you don't have sleepiness but

the dullness can occur if you put in a

little bit too much energy your mind

gets Restless

now you must steady your energy

this is where you are balancing the

seven factors of awakening we will go

through these later if restlessness

arises because you put in too much

energy you are no longer in the jhana

you're caught while hindrance and

because of the way the hindrances work

they don't just come one at a time for

example when you have restlessness it's

not just restlessness

it's the restlessness as well as the

dislike of the restlessness so you have

two hindrances that you get to work with

hindrances pile up on top of hindrances

it's quite easy to let restlessness go

and balance your energy by this time of

you a patient it's like walking the

finest tightrope you've ever seen like

walking on a spiderweb it's that fine

being in the kind of balance it just

takes a little tweak a little twerp and

whoop you could be knocked off balance

and then you should work with it again

bring in a little more energy so more

mindfulness if this is too much back off

again this is where working with the

energy is incredibly interesting and

subtle the most important thing here is

using your mindfulness to observe what

is there in mind and to balance it by

backing off or adding energy to your

practice by observing these states

you'll affect them naturally therefore

mindfulness is the most important factor

of awakening the investigation factor

arises when Minds movement is clearly

seen investigation balances both energy

and lack of energy automatically by

seeing what is out of balance and

changing it in quantum physics it is

posited that you can change a process by

observing it this is what mindfulness

does mind observes itself and change

takes place sometimes you may not make

progress because something is nagging at

the back of your mind it is a subtle

desire that you are identifying with you

were looking for something to happen

perhaps wanting Nibbana to comment

looking for it by thinking about it it

should be six Rd it can be a pair

skeeters

but eventually you'll get tired of it

Nibbana will never happen if there is

this craving there Nibbana will happen

when mind loses all its craving and

movement again you may have fear arise

and think that you don't exist as before

you should just six are that fear and

continue it will disappear soon enough

that is just more craving MN 111 section

16 and the states in the base of

nothingness the perception of the base

of nothingness and the unification of

mind the contact feeling perception

volition and mind equanimity gets very

deep here and this should be your object

of meditation now you should imagine

yourself surrounded and enveloped by the

feeling of equanimity you should radiate

this feeling outwit from your whole mind

keep a small smile going as this will

warn you of unwholesome states coming in

like a candle emits heat and light you

simply sit and let the equanimity

radiate out by itself you almost see it

go out if there is stress from sending

out the feeling then you are pushing too

hard you should just let it seep out

like a fog but point it to the direction

in which you intended to go if there is

tension then just six are it to not push

the feeling of equanimity out pushing it

will create more tension that is trying

to control feeling with your thoughts it

doesn't work a lighthouse emits light in

all directions it doesn't push anything

the light just shines output

all you do is switch on the light if you

were distracted by a sound or a touch

then six are it and come back to

radiating the feeling but only six are

if it draws your attention away from the

feeling if you see small movements or

there are wispy thoughts in the

background yet you are still aware of

and collected on your meditation object

radiating equanimity in the six

directions ignore those small

distractions that is just noise

don't 6r unless your attention is drawn

away meditation instruction now you are

starting your sitting using the feeling

equanimity as your object you radiate

the feeling of equanimity each of the

six directions for five minutes to each

and then to all directions at the same

time for the rest of the sitting when

you do the walking meditation you

radiate equanimity to all directions at

the same time and six are any

distractions sit longer now one hour one

and a half hours two hours three hours

if you feel like you want to get up then

sit to another five minutes and see if

that urge goes away mental activity gets

Squier to inquire to just observe what

is there at the moment mine will feel

bright and energetic with little

movement you will start to see the link

of consciousness arising and passing

away this is a potential you will see

the start of the movement and then it

blossoms into your awareness as

something weird seeing hearing or

tangible feeling it is like you know

that you are going to see something and

then you do gradually you will see all

the processes in the links of dependent

origination that occur before contact

you perceive that everything you

experience takes place within your mind

only what makes up the real you is mind

and mind objects coming and going do you

really have a body or do you just see

this image and call it a body are you

hearing a sound or is it only sound

consciousness arising and a perception

of you hearing it what is consciousness

you see now the consciousness knows

itself you stop identifying with it as

you it reflects the form that is in

front of it like seeing a red rose in a

mirror

bhiku Nana Nanda the author of concept

and reality

calls it a Hall of Mirrors in which the

mirror itself is self aware at that

moment with whatever sight a sound form

is cognized

there is nobody in the room itself but

it is the mirrors themselves that are

aware of being aware the mind overlays a

concept of self but there are only the

mirrors and the reflections the

consciousness arises and then it is gone

there was nothing before it and nothing

after it there was never anyone in the

hall except the mirrors you just thought

there was you now see what is there

directly without concepts you see the

consciousness only experiences itself

with no experience er the concept of

self is not there anymore there are

thousands of moments that make up each

event of hearing a seeing you exist for

that moment only then there is another

moment and you hear again there is a

space between these moments where there

is nothing now you are perceiving the

silence and the arising and passing away

of objects in that silence if the sound

had not arisen then you would not have

arisen you would not have been born into

consciousness had there been no sound as

a condition that is rebirth moment

moment right there and since there is

nothing between the consciousness is how

can there be an idea of an all-pervading

soul the self you live for a moment and

then die physical death is just one

moment from this body to another you

really die every moment your body dying

has nothing to do with you dying

meditation instruction when things get

quiet

you might try to add something adjust

something or try to watch something

since nothing is arising you might get a

little bored in this case notice the

craving mind wanting to make something

happen

wanting to control 6ar that mind right

there and let it go then just be there

with no movement six are the concept of

a controller just be in the feeling of

equanimity as it radiates do not move in

mind at all like the Beatles song let it

be let it be distractions that arise how

to it

too much energy you become Restless you

need to reduce your energy take

tranquility as your object of meditation

this will bring in calm six are your

desire to control the process added to

the feeling of equanimity not enough

energy you become sleep your doll you

need to add more effort and increase

your curiosity about what is happening

take more interest you can also get up

and walk to arouse energy did some fast

walking find some stairs to go up and

down the longer you sit the more you

should walk many meditators avoid the

walking but then wonder why there does

offer zoned out when they sit for long

periods you need to keep your blood

moving and your energy up the boarder

and his monks walked everywhere they

went and thus kept their bodies very

healthy arms rounds could be very long

and strenuous but it would pay off in

energy for the meditation six are any

boredom a subtle aversion reaction and

gets through it at times very little

happens and you must be very gentle and

patient then you'll go deeper you silent

under one of ban tazed teachers would

always tell him patience leads to new

bhana

there are seven awakening factors at

work these factors need to be adjusted

don't worry too much about doing the

balancing at this point just let the

mindfulness do its job

some meditators will control too much

and try to make their mind calm with

whatever factor they think they need but

too much of this will lead to

restlessness you must balance the desire

to balance by backing off in letting

things get into balance by themselves

venerable bantay vimal Arum she often

reminds his advanced students to

remember that their job as a meditator

is to simply observe how Minds attention

moves from one thing to another

mindfulness is not about controlling any

movements one of the most difficult

things to do is to just observe without

trying to control anything seven factors

of the wakening one sati mindfulness to

dam of Aqaba investigation of experience

three varriya energy four PT joy five

pasady tranquility relaxed Sein mind

six Samadhi collectiveness of mind seven

our Pecha equanimity some people may

complain about distractions happening in

the body they can feel pain somewhere in

the body this is not real pain but two

really subtle hindrance coming up in the

mind to not pay any attention to your

body anymore most pain will now be what

is known as meditation pain this is

different from a real pain an actual

pain comes because you are sitting too

long a sitting twisted in a weird way

and you are hurting your body this

meditation pain is the pain of the

hindrances coming up it most is the pain

of restlessness restlessness is a

painful feeling but it is in your mind

and you must determine to not be moved

by it but soften into it let it be and

relax the tension and tightness that is

there you are only concerned with mind

now you should sit for long periods of

time sit one are two hours and even

three and four hours the longer you sit

the more time mind has to calm down so

far the record for bonta's students is

two days in one sitting completed by a

man in Indonesia and recently a man in

the USA

and it really paid off the results were

phenomenal and he just got up and walked

away with no pain as stiffness he fell

just fine eventually mind will become

very calm and equanimity will become

very profound we then come to the next

arrow pajeon aware we leave all the

brahma vihara z' behind chapter 13 the

base of neither perception nor

non-perception MMN 111 section 17 again

biggest by completely surmounting the

base of nothingness sauropod rented upon

and divided in the base of neither

perception nor non-perception now you

will not be able to radiate the feeling

of equanimity anymore it will just

naturally stop it just isn't there

anymore and if you try to radiate it

then that will cause some tension to

arise if you noticed this happening then

just sit in the silence and observe if

you are unsure then try radiating

equanimity again and if it comes up then

continue it once again until it finally

fades on its own if you bring up the

feeling and now it causes a slight

tension in your head even radiating that

feeling then you can stop and just be in

this quiet mind meditation instruction

you should now take clear quiet mind as

your object of meditation notice the

stillness and the tranquil feeling that

is there let yourself sink into that now

the instructions will change a little 6

are any movements or vibrations as soon

as they start to arise and then go back

to a clear quiet state of mind you take

this empty silence as the object of

meditation and watch for any movements

arising 6 are as soon as they arise and

relax the tension out of any of the

movements and come back to just this

quiet and peaceful state you might see a

flicker or a light - some movement there

six are that as soon as they arise soon

that this exquisite stillness becomes

your object before in earlier sittings

mind was expanding now it becomes so

still and subtle that it is hard to tell

whether anything arises or not your

mindfulness now has come to a level

where there is nothing that escapes your

six our tool you have a sense of power

over the arising phenomena that you have

never felt before

by allowing things to arise and relax

into them you actually in a way have

achieved control over them no more

feeling you now have come to the end of

the meditation of the brahma vihara z--

which has the for divine abodes as its

objects you started with the meditation

objective matter or loving-kindness

progressed automatically to Karuna or

compassion and then to mudita or joy and

this finally transformed into a pecker a

deep equanimity now even that is gone

you begin the next phase of the

meditation just observation of movements

within mind as the feeling of equanimity

which brought you to this point fades

away you are now going to be mindful of

mind and mind objects you will start to

observe what is there in subsequently

see very small movements arise as soon

as you see any movement of vibration you

need to relax your mind will become very

very still for long periods of time

this deep quietness of mind and lack of

any distractions at all can last for 20

minutes or 30 minutes and even for an

hour this exquisite silence is where

mind is absolutely pure the longer you

can sit with this still mind the better

gradually the nothingness jhana gives

way to the realm of neither perception

nor non-perception the ful therapure

jhana mind is so subtle at this point

that the only way you know that you've

experienced that state is that when you

come out you can reflect on what you saw

there some feeling was still there

although it's subtle and perception is

kind of there and kind of not now your

instructions are to simply observe mind

objects that are arising and passing

away in this bright clear mind you don't

want to start this observation before

the time is right you began your sitting

by radiating the feeling of equanimity

to each direction however you may not be

able to if you try to generate any

feeling at all it may cause tension in

your mind

never create tension where there was

none before if you have doubt then you

can try generating a feeling of

stillness to see if stillness comes up

and will flow out on its own

this stillness can be likened to looking

up into the night sky

it's a tranquil and still if you feel

like you are forcing it then just stop

this means now that it is time just to

observe if on the other hand you can

radiate then just continue doing that

until it stops again as you watch mind

and six are any movements or vibrations

that start to arise all activity will

slow down mind's activity will almost

flat not to nothing at all there are

things in mind but they are no longer

pulling at your conscious awareness an

obstacle here can be a tendency to get

involved in everything that arises and

analyze where it came from why did it

arise where did it come from these

questions are not valid here that is

just more thinking a sort of

restlessness to do something let all the

analyzing go the analyzing is for the

therapists and psychologists and is not

a part of the Buddha's path there is no

end to it anyway there is an endless

amount of stuff coming and going and you

can never analyze it all one of

Venerable bantay vim alarum she's

teachers the most venerable sia door.you

panditah told him that analysing things

is a Western disease one meditator

reported the past lives would arise as

little bubbles he would go off and

investigate them to see what was there

in the end this was harmful to his

practice and he was letting craving get

the better of him it took many years for

him to get tired of this and finally six

are these memory bubbles dispassionately

psychologists will want to look at where

these thoughts come from but we don't we

are just observing the process and how

it arises if you look at it this way

when you start meditating your mind has

big jerky kinds of movements as you get

deeper into your meditation the

movements become less and less when you

get into the arrow pajamas the movements

start turning into just vibrations as

you go higher into the arrow pajamas the

vibrations become faster and finer when

you get to the state of neither

perception nor non-perception there are

only slight movements that are very

subtle it is hard to tell if they're

there or not your awareness will start

to go inward or some say mind appears to

grow smaller mind is there but it is

hard to perceive it is like a jigsaw

puzzle that is now starting to lose

pieces gradually there is only just a

glimmering of what was there so few

objects are arising now that it appears

there is less and less have you there at

all this is the time when you want to

make sure that you have developed that

habit of relaxing continually all the

time that way when you get into this

state you're doing this as an automatic

habit meditation instruction the only

way you know that you've experienced

this very subtle state is by reflecting

afterward what happened while you were

in that state when you come out take a

few minutes for reflection and 6ar

anything that arises don't get into

stories about it just reflect and let go

since you haven't experienced this

before your mind will naturally think

about what happened just six are those

thoughts don't stop them just let them

be and fade away relax into it them

what is this relaxing doing when you

relax the movement of mind becomes less

and less until you finally get to a

state in which you cannot see any gross

movement but there is still a little bit

of vibration the more you relax the more

the VY

raishin slows down because it is the

craving that is creating the movement

relaxing removes the craving and mind

settles further you still have those

small movements even when you get into

need the perception nor non-perception

if you are working with her teacher

you'll likely be asked were you in a

state that is like you were asleep but

you were awake movement of mind slows to

smaller and smaller activities you start

having gaps in your awareness there is

no longer a fully consistent conscious

awareness mind slows like ice freezing

there are levels of need the perception

at first mind may slow down like you are

in a dream there might be a story going

on yet like a dream when you come out of

that state it makes no sense though it

did make sense when you were

experiencing it for example it might

have made sense if a bird was talking

and you were completely fine with that

in the dream but when you come out of

this state you wonder why you thought

birds could talk in this state there can

be images that arise colors shapes

patterns

you should six are all of those if you

are aware enough at that moment but at

times your awareness just isn't strong

enough to notice them it's like telling

someone to be mindful in a dream later

in or after you're sitting if you start

to reflect on what happened you can 6r

at that time still your mindfulness gets

progressively sharper as you go in and

out of this deeper level and eventually

all of the dream images of patterns just

disappear there is barely anything left

at all there might even just be what

appears to be a blank screen just

blackness but you knew you were there

when you came out nothing actually

stopped since you were aware of time

passing during that state be aware that

during your sitting generally you may go

into a dream state and since you have

heard that the base of neither

perception nor non-perception is a

dreamlike space you may wonder whether

you are experiencing this jhana actually

this may only be sloth and torpor which

needs to be 6 Rd here you have confused

the state of darkness with the deeper

state of the arrow Pledge ona this vague

torpor like state can be completely

blank this is very definitely a low

energy low mindfulness state when you

wake up out of this state it's more like

waking up out of sleep there will be

some energy but it is weakened doesn't

last or you just may be drowsy you might

think this low energy state is special

but it's just an absence of awareness

the difference between these states is

that when you go into to the knee the

perception state it will be from a

bright and energetic clear space you'll

be very mindful and alert it might be

confusing to you later but going from a

low energy dull state into a faraway

torpor state is not the way to go deeper

be watchful in question yourself about

this you may be overestimating your

level of awareness when it is just a

torpor state if so then you need to

build up your mindfulness and use your

six rupees more when you go into the

fourth arupa jhana your energy will be

very high but the tranquility and

stillness will be even stronger you can

be guaranteed that coming out of this

deeper stage you will not be sleepy

you'll have more energy than ever before

if you do feel Low Energy

then it is time to get up and do some

brisk walking to get the body energy

restored as you said more and for longer

you may go into nee the perception

several times in a sitting and each time

you'll go deeper than before when you

come out of this state please don't get

up from your session just continue and

six are any disturbances that show up

keep sitting six are whatever you

remember that happened in that state

your mind will be more active and full

of energy coming out but you should just

let it settle back

each time you go into the Jharna it will

be deeper than the last ampednh 111

section 18 he emerged mindful from the

detainment having done so he

contemplated the states that had passed

seized and changed thus when you sit for

long periods in deeper meditation you'll

get into this neither perception nor

non-perception state you will feel very

silent in mind and energized there won't

be much movement of mind here at all

when you are at this level in your

meditation and you have your noonday

meal lunch you will not get drowsy just

a slight heaviness that passes or even

nothing at all

so strong now mind has become you may

sleep less and wake up often at night if

you do wake up then you can try doing a

sitting for as long as you can and then

go back to sleep when you get tired this

works for some people but not for others

it interrupts the sleep cycle in the

rest of the next day is sleepy and dull

be attentive and see what works for you

around this time some meditators on

retreat may want to get up earlier like

2 to 3 a.m. and sit longer in the

morning the teacher will encourage you

to sit longer you can ask the teacher to

allow you to sit through the lunch

period food can be put aside for you to

have later

thus it is called the noonday meal it is

a meal around noon meaning it can be

pushed how to 1 p.m. or perhaps 2 p.m.

or further but it still is your only

substantial meal of the day monks must

eat starting at 11:00 a.m. and finish by

12:00 p.m. but it's okay for laypeople

to bend this rule you are now at a point

in your meditation practice where

backing away from any movement in mind

is what your meditation has become

seeing states arising in personally as

important reacting now to states with

more dispersion and just observing

without any real interest loosens your

attachment to them

it is all just stuff nothing to be

followed or investigated let's review

here our preliminary methods and goal

for our practice we are using samatha

meditation as the means to tranquilize

and calm the mind like spreading oil on

water this is by using a variety of

different feelings the meta the

compassion joy and equanimity that arise

one by one when we start with matter

this is the brahma vihara practice we

are observing states arising in the

jhanas as they are rise on by 1/b they

wholesome or unwholesome and seeing

their impermanent soulless nature the

samantha part of this process calms down

the noise so that we can observe much

closer the arising phenomena this is the

inside part of it personna so this is

samatha Vipassana both working together

so now what happens is the gradually

movement slows down to the point where

we are no longer drowning in thoughts

and distractions and can now let go of

the brahma vihara as as our meditation

object in fact they just fade away now

we are observing movements against our

clear quiet mind is our meditation

object we are clear and balanced enough

not to be swayed by the now small

distractions and vibrations gradually

even these small movements will stop and

all mental activity will stop the bond

of our mind will not have one single

ripple there all of a sudden awareness

and consciousness will stop for a moment

there will be super clarity right after

this as now see deeper than we have ever

seen before we see the deepest aspect of

the mental process so this is where we

are headed

let's keep going there is this small

wrapper of craving around each state

that arises it is what you think of as

you it will take the feeling that is

arising as my feeling and there are a

tiny story and perception about what

that is when anything arises your mind

instantly perceived that object is being

observed by you there is the object and

the self perceiving the object this is

craving it is this sense you have of you

actually there is no uther at all there

is the object there is the sense base

and there is consciousness that is the

visual object the eye organ itself and

the eye consciousness mind interprets

these processes arising and passing away

as part of a permanent you but what is

really happening is that feeling arises

and there is this sense of a you feeling

it there is consciousness but there is

mistakenly the perception that this

little you is a self that is feeling it

some people even see this little image

of themselves and the deluded mind

identifies that as the real you but it

is only a picture you aren't there at

all self is only a concept think about

this for a moment at night you have

dreams and you definitely feel like you

exist in these dream fantasies you are

doing this and that under reacting with

horror a pleasure depending on the

situation isn't this just like your life

you know you don't really exist in the

dream but when you are awake you think

you exist and react just like when you

are dreaming isn't this the same in fact

the Buddha realized that the concept of

self was false and this is why we say

the Buddha awakened out of this dream of

self also by personalizing each arising

feeling by making each object arising

yours you could tend to think that you

made the experience happen

this is very important to notice this is

the delusion of itself controlling every

arising state you will feel that I made

this come into being or I control this

or that state that has arisen the fact

is that you do not control anything the

deep insight of dependent origination is

that everything arises from a cause

without there being any self doing it or

making it happen or controlling it you

have nothing to say about it with a deep

understanding of this you will feel

relief because you no longer have this

self-imposed burden of thinking you

control every mental state what a relief

to not feel responsible for every

thought you didn't think them there

alone are responsible for their

existence when something in mind arises

whether it is an image light or thought

just back away very very gently see the

state rise into existence from nowhere

it does not matter why it came up it

just did and you didn't make it happen

it arose based on conditions no King is

commanding this to arise and that to

arise there is no controller nobody in

charge you might be watching with too

much energy and bear down on objects

coming and going lighten up and come to

acquire

still point where your awareness is very

still there are simply vibrations that

arise and pass away don't think you are

controlling anything if you were

controlling things you could determine

when you would be happier sad and you

know you can't do that in fact try to

use your investigation to appear very

closely into that force that wedge that

wants to control it is constantly there

in the background with each arising of

feeling a subtle you arises that likes

the feeling or doesn't

that is the craving a sense of a

controller of the false belief in a

personal self so the moment that feeling

or even a little image review arises

relax and six are it don't lean into it

release and back away let the feeling

fade leaving only stillness and where

there is nothing except observation the

Sutter talks about the factor of

decision did you know that when you make

a decision it is yet another constituent

of mind that just arises that has no

controller behind it when you see this

factor arise in your meditation try six

ring it in your left just sitting there

no action occurs since you let go of the

decision if you somehow think you'll go

to sit and then you continue to think

about which pillow to use you might see

the precise deciding moment from where

you decide which pillow to use there is

a moment in which your decision arises

if you back away and gently just allow

everything to arise but very carefully

watch it with your investigation factor

you'll see the decision factor arrives

entirely on its own and it also then

passes away there appears a call to

action that arises from the craving

embedded in it this craving is the push

you feel to go into action you are now

unperturbed and content just to let go

of anything arising it's not yours it's

just stuff you see this with a mind that

is purified from craving not taking

things personally this is seeing things

with the eye of wisdom seeing things as

they really are and it feels very good

finally you come to an unparalleled

level of balance called disenchantment

followed by an even deeper state of

dispassion which will open the door to

the unconditioned the more time you

spend in neither perception nor

non-perception the more mind is purified

Bonte says that much merit is made in

this state merit is like a store of

wholesome action leading to very good

future results this is like your karmic

bank account

developing a pure and pure mind will

help you advance award the attainment as

you continue to sit in this state

movements of minds attention have

virtually is stopped as craving recedes

this is now the time to be patient and

persevere continued observance six art

relaxing into any movement of flickering

of mind if a sound arises in your

attention starts to move there

immediately back away from it relax and

come back to a bright clear mind if

there is any interest in the sound you

need to six other desire to see what it

is any desire to do anything at all is

to be six Rd you'll get to the point

where you feel like your awareness has

stopped you are just sitting quietly not

caught up in mind stream which is

constantly rushing forward the Buddha

talks about it as stopping in a river

with the water now seen going by you yet

you now have become an immovable rock

the sense of you isn't moving anymore it

has become detached from the stream of

events and there is a sublime relief in

this any movement you now observe as a

disturbance to your stillness you notice

that movement is suffering darker there

might be a desire to push away any

slight movements but six are the

diversion and let it be you can't push

away anything remember you have no

control over anything all you can do is

observe and six are any desire to

analyze what is happening and what is

arising should not be followed we are

only interested in the process the

arising and passing away questions about

why things come up can never be fully

resolved the reason may not even come

from this lifetime so you can never

really know what might be the cause of a

hindrance

you don't need to understand where

things come from we leave that to the

psychologists we just six are it and let

it go hindrances are karmically produced

by unwholesome actions that is the

previous breaking of precepts whether in

his life or others

all we can do is stop breaking precepts

now and six are any disturbance that

arises from when we broke them in the

past when you see a site based on that

contact to feeling arises Pleasant and

Pleasant or neither-pleasant-nor-painful

arising there is craving wanting to

enjoy what it is a to push it away you

understand as soon as you see something

that very seeing process has craving in

it 6r and relax into that seeing process

as soon as it catches your awareness

notice there is a very subtle tension as

soon as your eye locks onto the sight

that is what pulls your attention to see

it the moment your mind turns to

observing anything at all you should be

relaxing into it right there do not let

the craving get a foothold on your

attention let it go in most

circumstances craving is not that strong

but has bhante Vimy larom she says it is

definitely persistent actually there is

no such thing as mind pulling your

attention the sound rises and the

craving arises it seems like some sort

of view is being pulled to the sound but

that's not what is happening sand and

craving arise together of giving the

illusion that somebody is being pulled

to it that is the delusion of the

personal you in fact the sight a taste

or whatever arises has the craving

embedded in it in the you that arises is

right there in that sensation you don't

exist anywhere else at that moment other

than in hearing the sound

why do you arise at that moment you

arise because you wanted to hear it you

your so-called permanent self is

actually being born into existence at

that moment of identification before

that there was just the fading of the

last consciousness arising

then the new sound vibration arose which

triggered the craving to arise and a

personal you it was created once more

this is the process of dependent

origination causes and conditions are

constantly arising and passing away

perhaps we can say you were reborn again

dot and again and again the nature of

consciousness the five aggregates all

arise in each moment but they are

affected by craving and clinging this is

due to the being taken personally in

fact the aggregates all arise at the

same time creating your world at that

moment then they pass away you only

exist in each arising moment and then

you are gone completely until the next

contact and feeling arise and this all

happens thousands of times in the blink

of an eye which is why we appear to feel

like a continuous entity with no breaks

you had already seen this phenomenon

occur when you were in the second aruba

jhana the realm of infinite

consciousness then based on some outside

calls you are born yet again to see or

touch if not for that vibration a

contact at the sense door you would

simply not come into existence at all

you don't exist outside that sense

contact which sparks you into existence

this is quite an insight when it arises

there is no underlying self that

experiences the sense basis the sense is

only experienced themselves you do not

die when your body dies you are actually

dying every moment and then coming back

into existence only to disappear again

consciousness is like the bubbles

generated from a quickly flowing stream

the water hits the rocks like the sense

objects hit the sense doors the mist

that arises as the water splashes over

the rocks is like I formed sites

colliding with the eyes sense organ

creating the drops or mists of

consciousness this is your awareness

arising and passing away dependent on

the six fold sin

space which is your body this awareness

seems real and feels like a permanent

self at that moment but then in the next

moment the bubble of awareness pops and

disappears birth death birth death

millions of times in a single second

from a scientific viewpoint these are

just neurons firing in the brain and can

be explained but we see for ourselves

through meditation through direct

knowledge how this happens in mind then

we can know the truly impersonal nature

of the process that truly is scientific

view of impersonality science already

says there is no self there are only

body and mental elements and nothing

else but other scientists still argue

that there must be a deeper self assault

that does exist it is just beyond what

they can measure real insight into the

psychophysical process is defined by

actually believing the data you observe

in other words researchers say there are

only neurons firing inside a massive

gray matter and thus there can be no

real soul there yet these scientists

don't even believe their own data and

still think there is an underlying soul

present habitual opinions run deep we

will see that the actual fuel behind the

mental movement is craving there is a

bodily process going on and the mental

one the broadly parts of this process of

the chemicals in the brain reacting

together this is the body the result of

the chemical reaction is consciousness

which is mind body and mind arising from

where we don't know while we are

observing it with the Buddha's explained

this it's about karma and its results

the residue of past unwholesome a

wholesome actions which was caused by

the breaking at keeping the precepts the

mental process just arises from

conditions that are there this is seen

by direct knowledge through an

experiential understanding of these

insights mind itself is changed

understanding is the reason craving

ceases some neurons don't fire and you

craving doesn't come into being you hear

that your favorite uncle has died

previously you would have been

distraught but now because you see the

true nature of things you start to

understand that everything does die and

that okay

it isn't unexpected it is part of life

neuroscientists can observe how the

brain works but only understanding

attained by direct experience can

fundamentally change the conditioned

reaction in the brain it is doubtful

that observing electrical readouts on a

fMRI monitor functional MRI measures

blood and oxygen levels in the brain

will ever lead to awakening why because

only direct experience can give us deep

insight into how things really work the

Buddha said all mental phenomena have

mind as the forerunner thus we must look

at mine first and see this clearly then

we will understand the interplay between

mind and body when we see this properly

we see the impersonal aspect of the

process at that time delusion is

eliminated because we understand that

there was never anyone there in the

first place to experience the I like it

or I don't like it mind this is what

delusion means we know that self is only

a concept and it is the supreme concept

listing of the jhanas and the meditation

object first jhana loving-kindness mater

second jhana loving-kindness mater third

jhana loving-kindness mater fourth jhana

loving-kindness mater base of infinite

space compassion Karuna base of infinite

consciousness joy mudita base of

nothingness equanimity our pekka

base have need the perception nor

non-perception clear acquired mind