From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=AxuK-56YOzM

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

the path to Nirvana her mindfulness of

loving-kindness progresses through the

tranquil aware Jonah's to awakening by

David C Johnson

copyright 2018 David C Johnson third

edition 4-16

2018 published by BTS publishing

Annapolis Missouri the following is part

two of three parts and here we are

starting with chapter six for the first

five chapters please refer back to part

one chapter six 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 the 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 a real sense

of relief you feel joy arising 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 coarse

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 full a 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 asuka mind just stays on its

object with almost no effort at all you

have never experienced happiness and

clarity like this before I will insert

some comments from past students taking

a physical or online retreat with this

practice I was able to generate

loving-kindness and radiate the feeling

to my spiritual friend within a few

seconds I felt an overwhelming wave of

joy it was like my spiritual friend was

radiating Metta back to me I cried out

of joy again I returned to my meditation

object spiritual friend but again I felt

the wave of joy this time I just felt

tremendously grateful TM California what

is joy excitement and the happy feeling

of the nature of joy 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 jhana will last

for a while until another hindrance pops

ah

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

journalists 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 explained

the jonna's the ANU pada Sutter one by

one is they occurred number 111 for the

match Dominica 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 thought 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 jonna's 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 are tame

Nibbana

so the fourth type of joy arises 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 in thinking and

examining the thoughts that have to do

with what you are feeling right now in

the present you feel very peaceful and

collected in Pali

the word for this state is eka gata and

if you look up the word in the Pali

dictionary ako means tranquility

peacefulness and stillness of mind it

doesn't mean one pointed or absorption

but rather collected and unified the

sutter explains there are five factors

in the first

thinking and examining thought joy

happiness and unification of mind the

satyr goes on to explain what else is

there

mmm 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 are

there and 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

eyes then the satyr says te enthusiasm

decision energy mindfulness equanimity

and attention these states were defined

by him one by one as they as he curd

known to him those states arose known

they were present known they disappeared

what are we talking about here we are

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

they're going to come up these are the

first initial insights or understandings

Vipassana in pali that arise for you mn

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 thought since

start thinking about what just happened

the joy rising you can six are those

thoughts and let them go has 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 of what we are striving for the

Buddha said it is part of right effort

to notice an unwholesome state and bring

up the 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 it may

come 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 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 6 or 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 thee 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 6r that

to 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'll 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 won'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 jonna'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 Twi

and 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

walking meditation one of the mistakes

many people make when they're talking

about jhanas is to think that a jar 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 or 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 in 111

Section 5 again monks with the stilling

of thinking and examining thought

Serapis rented and abided in E 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 were

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 a 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 on 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

this 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

eight third jhana happiness MN 111

section seven again monks with a 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 any 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 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 arises 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 arises

and we launch into liking or disliking

that feeling then the thoughts and

stories come up about the feeling what

the feeling is about the perception that

comes with the feeling and the story

about the feeling again we six hour and

continue when you get into 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

Vontae said that one meditator came to

him and told him she felt just like her

head was sitting on the floor there was

nobody there at just a head rolling

around at one point I couldn't feel my

extremities not because they were asleep

or anything they just disappeared I was

much less distracted and was able to

focus more I've studied the six rupees

more and was able to really use them

when needed CG Mussoorie

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 a 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

okay 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 Bub's Irv

how that process works when you first

notice this fluttering if you relax

right then your mind stays on your

object of meditation as you go deeper

your wandering mind is 6 Rd sooner

matter 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 satyr

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 3rd jhana but there it is in

thee saturd talking about experiencing

the feeling of matter in the fourth

jhana the suttas disagree

the viscid emag er about this in reading

the Sutter accompanied by

loving-kindness number 46 section 54 a

fort from the sam yot Anika it says that

on the other hand Metta or loving

kindness goes to the fourth jhana

compassion goes to the base of infinite

space

the first aruba jhana joy goes to the

base of infinite consciousness the

second aruba jhana

and equanimity goes to the base of

nothingness the third arrow peddanna the

practice that is being taught here is

not only loving-kindness it is the

complete practice of the brahma vihara

z-- there a four abodes a divine abiding

z' of brahma that make up the brahma

vihara as which a loving-kindness Metta

compassion Karuna joy mudita

and equanimity a Pecha loving-kindness

is the first part of this larger system

that eventually leads to the experience

of Nirvana 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

ought 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 mines 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 matter 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 Metta 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

Vera's but you have to continue the

practice Mehta is indeed the doorway to

thee unconditioned afterall the

definition of right effort is to one

recognize there is an unwholesome state

to to let go of that unwholesome state

three bring up a wholesome state a four

keep it going four parts and what is

more wholesome than matter you just keep

it going and it will lead you to nirvana

with no other methods needed this is

what it says right in the text

themselves

chapter nine a 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 Sara put

are entered 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

thei

beautiful ultra strong balance when I

finished the meditation I was

blissed-out not intense joy just very

relaxed a strong feeling of equanimity

total is still in silent and lots of

automatic smiling in the meditation

itself it was very easy to see the

people I sent Televi in kindness to

smile the loving-kindness stayed in the

head and once again I lost perception a

sense of body consciousness just felt

floaty light and expansive SD California

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 and 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 life

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 if what was happening

cuz 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 m

and 111 Israel and like Sarah Potter you

are just watching the progress step by

step as it occurs meditation instruction

now you would to change your spiritual

friend you have completed the practice

to this point and have now advanced it's

time to move ahead let go of the friend

you have been working with and change 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 you feel there is a

connection of loving kindness with them

for living family members either male or

female gender no longer matters one by

one radiates loving-kindness to them

until they smile back for neutral people

either male or female one by one

radiates loving-kindness to them until

they smile 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 said hello

every now and then enemies a last cent

matter to any troublesome people who

ever 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 matter to people who pop into

your mind until you can't think of

anyone else

if hatred or even the slight arises

while radiating Metta 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 better to your enemy and

continue until the toe style energy is

dissipated and they smiled back it

doesn't have to be the 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 Dhamma sukha website and practiced

from the book on this topic by Bart Ava

malarum 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 this

morning I did my first breaking down the

barriers sitting it went so well I saw

everyone smiling at me pretty quickly

then I got to my enemies there is a

woman I'm quite jealous of I forgave

myself for it I wished her love peace

and happiness then I saw the smile the

second one is my niece's husband I've

never seen him smile in real life so I

don't even know what that would look

like but as I was wishing peace for both

of us it felt like a lightning bolt went

through my heart I knew then I am wrong

for the hate I'm feeling toward him only

love can beat hate Seiji Mussoorie

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 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 see it

just going out by itself now the fun

begins

I was completely immersed at one point

there was no me all I saw was the light

going in all directions it was like a

fountain going up down and in all

directions I was so absorbed when my Tim

I went off I jumped my husband said I

looked like I was radiating full of joy

and peace

CGT Mussoorie 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 or think you have made progress go

longer don't stop if you get edgier want

to quit try another five minutes just to

see if you can do it many times a few

more minutes will get you through the

short period of restlessness radiating

the four brahma vihara 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 texts 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 matter and the rest of the

brahma vihara so are actually mentioned

much more frequently in twelve suttas in

the match demon nicaya versus the breath

or and a panas 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

z-- over the breath practice

bhante vimal Arum 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 versus a week or less with

matter this has been our experienced and

thus we always recommend Mehta first he

will teach breath to certain personality

types that have a hard time with e

feeling of loving kindness but he does

add the relax a tranquilize step chapter

ten 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 sutter is called the last four parts

basis or realms we will primarily use

the term basis but will shift back and

forth at times between base and our uper

jhana

just to make sure you understand the

connection now you have arrived of the

arupa or immaterial jonna's the first

four jhanas are called rupa or material

jonna's rupa means realm of the body and

parapa means realm of mind more

precisely the a in Aruba means no so not

of e body the word realm is also used in

addition to base for these higher parts

of the 4th jhana this is because the

Buddha stated that if one were to attain

any of these four jhanas 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 of the highest most pleasant and

longest lasting a higher the jhana

the longer the lifetime in the

corresponding realm and the more sublime

the state MMN 111 section 11 again monks

with a complete surmounting of gross

perceptions of form with the

disappearance of gross perceptions of

sensory impact aware that space is

infinite

sorry put rented upon and divided in the

base of infinite space this means you

have surmounted the physical and now our

entering the subtle

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 soft up like cotton

this is coronary compassion you have

gone beyond the coarser 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 as

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 her WOW when explaining

this delightful state to thee teacher

well as I progress through the for

meditation sittings today each and our a

so long it was like the spaciousness

became larger larger and larger I did

the radiating of matter for the five

minutes in each of the six directions

and then radiated outward throughout the

rest of the meditation to all six

directions at the same time the sphere

of Metta grew in size and just kept

growing without stopping the matter

itself also transformed it was magnetic

as if intensifying and creating a strong

energetic force field floating feeling

intensified never felt such spaciousness

and expansiveness before there was

insight into how awareness of feeling

and perceptions arose and ceased

infinitely in town I was not in control

SD California 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

radiating compassion for five minutes in

each direction and then radiates

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 so

many teachers refer to when they talk

about the Buddha's infinite compassion

Dante's 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 aruba jhana it is not

just a general state of caring and

nurturing but actually the Janik state

of compassion bhante 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 mmm 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 / a mental jhana this says

that you're still practicing the four

foundations of mindfulness even while

you are in the arupa jhana state you are

now in a mental realm and awareness of

your body has faded away unless there is

contact notice that the sutter 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 are sitting quietly

but your awareness is very much focused

on mind mmm 111 section 12 cond te

enthusiasm does

energy mindfulness equanimity and

attention these states were defined by

him one by one is 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 to tainment 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

Sarah Potter entered upon and divided in

the base of infinite consciousness 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 it is a feeling that's

very different from the compassion

experienced previously it is a feeling

that bhante prefers to call just joy

joyful miss whereas before joy was an

exciting type of joy apt now it becomes

sublime and tranquil this is Peter

versus mudita regardless you now go from

a feeling of compassion to a feeling of

joy 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

than they just stay open so you just let

them be

open the arising of awareness was

automatic and at ceasing to was

automatic it was all impersonal and

uncontrollable be sense of I disappeared

and reappeared over and over and over

there were moments where awareness

ceased completely there was nothing in

between the arising and ceasing the

elapsed in awareness grew in frequency

and length as well as far as I could

tell but as soon as I saw this I was

back to seeing the arising and ceasing

and then the spaciousness when I

finished the final sitting meditation my

mind was still clear and sharp mind and

emotions never felt so pristine calm and

pure before nothing I can say here

except excellent SD Calif 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 consciousnesses the eye the ear

the nose the tongue the body and mind I

see these consciousness is 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 annika impermanence darker

suffering and an utter nonsense and

personal while you're in the Aero

pajamas 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

bhante Vimy larom she tells the 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 in 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 as you

instructed

I first radiated joy in all directions

beginning with sending it out to

individual directions five minutes each

then expanding the sublime joy outward

it grew larger and larger without

stopping there was once again inside

into the impermanent some of I as it

arose and passed away the gaps in

between each arising and passing away

grew larger and my focus shifted subtly

to those blanks where then the joy

radiating in all directions was shifted

to equanimity there was total

disinterest in the impermanent sum of I

and inside into the silliness of

identifying a non-existent permanent eye

with ev'ry feeling thought and action

deeper experience all realization that

feelings and thoughts were not under my

control and that thoughts in mind

objects in general were like what ideas

were to the nose or sounds rare to thee

ears they came and went without me being

involved I continued to six are non the

less SD California meditation

instruction

small pinpoint lights may arise like

little stars that twinkle and then fade

away these are the start of craving they

are indications of Tanna just starting

to arise these are thoughts that are

just starting to form you feel a pull

from those lights are tightness you

realize that a few six are them the

moment they arise then thoughts don't

arise you see the relief in this the six

rupees will return you to a state of

balance and tranquility be sure to 6ar

them as soon as they arise these lights

are sticky as their little seeds of

craving coming into existence you now

see the craving that 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 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 limiter

no we are not talking about the limiter

a Watts and practices call signs that he

used as focus points in concentration

meditation but these are merely forms

and shapes that arise this is the true

meaning of limiter 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 practice is leading for

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 vissa d mega 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 or Muhammad this is

based on the belief systems that all

needs to be six rdc 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 air 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 will then be asked to start noticing

the spaces between the consciousnesses

try to become more aware at 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 in the

last of the brahma vihara z' 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 is

and 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 in lighten up

you won't die

not even close soon you are moving into

a deeper even more exciting territory

I was able to get more solidly into the

realm of infinite consciousness in which

I observed various things such as

swelling colored geometric patterns

interrupted by strobe lights sometimes I

saw mill liens of tiny colored lights

flashing randomly the swirling patterns

with strobe lights we're the most common

I remembered you ad vist mid to pay

attention to the stillness between

consciousness as I looked between the

strobes and six red the colors came to a

halt and disappeared but I found if I

looked closely there were subtle ripples

in the black nothingness I six read

these and found thee slowed had

disappeared but never for long my mind

was in an incredibly still state and yet

I was not quite sure why I was still in

the meditative state I reasoned that if

I was still meditating that I should be

able to return to radiating joy so I

brought up joy and the colored patterns

and strobe lights returned again pi/6

read that and returned to stillness RM

Japan there was once again inside into

the impermanence of high has it arose

and passed away the gaps in between each

arising and passing away grew larger and

my focus shifted subtly to those blanks

then the joy radiating in all directions

was shifted to equanimity SD California

Chapter 12 the base of nothingness

equanimity mmm 111 section 15 again

monk's bike completely surmounting the

base of infinite consciousness aware

that there is nothing

sariputra rented 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 the not had side

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 mind this idea a

concept of self 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 and

passing away yet we identify these as

having this self this existence laid

over the top of it this me 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 adjust 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 Sense 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 experience like him we

are waking out of our dream if self

define 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 as happening from mind and

physically from the head area

you are only attentive to my

and concepts stop thoughts are now just

observing thoughts and not being taken

personally they are 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 about sand it is pleasant yet

different from anything you have ever

felt you start to understand the links

of dependent origination called nama

Rupa a mentality of materiality

name-and-form there his mind that is

dependent upon the body both are

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 out there and

of your perceived feeling of your

separate existence in the world your

awareness pools in the ever-present

wiring dream of you disappears no more

thoughts that carry you away into the

future are the past

no more thoughts are creating this or

that world you just exist 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 or cell in this silence of

nothingness you start to see much more

subtle phenomena that were hidden by our

noisy minds

very interesting things are here there

is definitely not nothing mmm 111

section 16 and the states in the base of

nothingness before in the second era

pajama if 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 from an online

retreat report sitting number one one

our joy for 19 minutes

I saw patterns and glowing balls I six

rode these then went into equanimity

I saw buildin stupas Buddhist statues

and a celestial being emitting a

brilliant light I 6r dealies as they

came up next 30 minutes was with sending

equanimity in all directions with golden

light emitting from my crown I 6r D

whatever came up 15 minutes was the best

with keeping my mind on the object of my

meditation C be Sri Lanka from an online

retreat report after about 10 minutes I

could feel myself going deeper before

the descent stopped after 5 minutes or

so at that level I started to descend

again to the next level my notes record

got deeper in plateau like steps and

that was what it was like I must have

gone down in three or four steps

spending five minutes or so before

moving down to the next plateau at one

plateau I recall seeing a Vista like a

black clear night sky with thousands of

tiny pinpricks of light twinkling away

on the next level down I saw what I can

only describe as a really big area

covered with rosin

of ball-shaped translucent shapes the

skirts of which were gently rippling I

described them as jellyfish because of

the translucent nature the oddball

jellyfish would occasionally speed off

away from this Vista but mainly the

visual field was still and quiet after

the jellyfish the next descent was

longer at the bottom of which the

blackness was unmoving absolutely still

I can remember wondering whether I was

dead whether I was or wasn't was of no

interest that possibility certainly

didn't upset me around this point at the

deepest level I didn't move down for

this level what I described as tingles

moved throughout the body in waves after

a couple of passes this stopped and the

absolute still quad remained at this

point of the sit the quiet was quite

solid not the quiet when you turned off

a radio and think that's quiet but

rather required where there's absolutely

in no point from which any noise could

originate an absence of anything that

could disturb a quiet stillness that is

not capable at being broken LM Australia

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

tear Qin emiti your mind gets dull you

don't have sleepiness but a darkness 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 by a 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 pan up on top of hindrances

it's quite easy to let restlessness go

and balance your energy by this time a

few a patient it's like walking the

finest tightrope you've ever seen like

walking on a spiderweb it's that fine

being in that 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 we're working with e

energy is incredibly interesting and

subtle the most important thing here is

using your mindfulness 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 Nirvana to come and

looking for it by thinking about it it

should be six Rd it can be a pesky

desire but eventually you'll get tired

of it Nirvana 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 outward 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 intend it to go if there is

tension then just six are it do not push

the feeling of the Qin Amati 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

outward all you do is switch on the

light if you are distracted by a sound

or a touch then six are it and come back

to radiating the feeling but only six

aye 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

six are 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 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 at one are one and a half

hours two hours three hours if you feel

like you want to get up then sit

another five minutes and see if that

herd goes away mental activity gets

choir two in quieter 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 be it seeing hearing or a

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 in the perception

of you hearing it what is consciousness

you see now that 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 Bakunin ananda 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 are 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 conscious

awareness had there been no sound as a

condition that is rebirth moment moment

right there and since there is nothing

between thee consciousnesses how can

there be an idea of an all-pervading

solar 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 six are 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 adjust 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 add it to the feeling of

equanimity not enough energy you become

sleepy a 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 do 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 they dos offer zoned out when

they sit for long periods you need to

keep your blood moving and your energy

up the border 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 any

for the meditation six are any boredom a

subtle aversion reaction and get 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

bond taste teachers would always tell

him patience leads to Nirvana 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 the 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 and letting

things get into balance by themselves

venerable ban TV malarum she often

reminds his advanced students to

remember that their job as a meditator

is to simply observe her 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 awakening one sati mindfulness - damn

of Aqaba investigation of experience

three Varia energy for PT joy five

pasady tranquility relaxed see in mind

six Samadhi collectiveness of mind

seven are pekka 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 the really

subtle hindrance coming up in the mind

do 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 mostly is the

pain of restlessness restlessness is a

painful feeling but it is in your mind

and you must determine to not to 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

mine 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 ban taze 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 or

stiffness he felt just fine eventually

mind will become very calm and

equanimity will become very profound we

then come to the next star oopah jhana

where we leave all the brahma vihara z'

behind chapter 13 the base of neither

perception nor non-perception MN 111

section 17 again biggis by completely

surmounting the base of nothingness

Cera put are entered upon and divided in

the base of neither perception nor

non-perception now you will not be able

to radiate the feeling of equanimity any

more 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 notice 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 chair

little six are any movements of

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 six 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 alight to 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 had

achieved control over them no more

feeling you now have come to the end of

the meditation of the brahma vihara

which has the for divine abodes as its

objects you started with a meditation

objective matter or loving-kindness

progressed automatically the Karuna or

compassion to hand then to mudita or joy

and this finally transformed into a

beggar 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 and 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

twenty 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 from an online

treat at sitting number three I went

straight into equanimity I saw some

images initially 6r dealies as they came

up i radioed equanimity from my crown i

6r d whatever came up it felt like

things were coming up fast I felt a

little restless because of this

eventually thee equanimity stopped

radiating what I noticed was golden

energy from the base of my spine rose up

to my crown

buildin light all around eventually it

dissipated after some time I was in

quietness for around 20 minutes the time

felt like 8 p.m. as it was very quiet

even from my noisy surroundings we live

in Koh lombo near a noisy main road

lots of horns etc but it felt like 8

p.m. when there is little traffic and

noise CB Sri Lanka gradually the

nothingness jhana gives way to the realm

of neither perception nor non-perception

the fourth arupa 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 Buddhist 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 a venerable

Bond TV malarum 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 a 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 arupa jhana x' the

movements start turning into just

vibrations as you go higher into the air

OPA Jonah's the vibrations become faster

and finer when you get to the state if

neither perception nor non-perception

there are only slight movements that are

very subtle it is hard to tell if they

there are 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

of 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 six are 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 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 vibration 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 neither perception nor

non-perception if you are working with

her teacher you'll likely be asked were

you in a state that is likely 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 neither 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 six are at that time still your

mindfulness gets progressively sharper

as you go in and out of this deeper

level and eventually all of these dreamy

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

newly 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 6r d here you

have confused the state of darkness with

thee deepest state of the aruba jhana

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 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 girl 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 for

therapy Jana 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 use

it more and for longer you may go into

hooni 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 jhana it will be deeper than the

last MN

111 Section 18 he emerged mindful from

the detainment having done so he

contemplated the states that had passed

ceased unchanged 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 and 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

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 noon a meal it is

a meal around noon meaning it can be

pushed out to 1 p.m. of perhaps 2 p.m. a

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 is

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

matter the compassion joy and equanimity

that arise one by one when we start with

Metta this is the brahma vihara practice

we are observing states arising in the

jhanas as they are rise on by one be

they wholesome or unwholesome on seeing

their impermanent soulless nature the

samantha part of this process calms down

the noise so that we can observe much

closer thee a rising 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 canal ago

of the brahma vihara zazz 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 imbalanced enough

not to be swayed by the now small

distractions and vibrations gradually

even these small movements will stop and

all mental activity

we'll stop the pond 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 is 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 it

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 mistaken only

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 a 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 to rising yours you

could tend to think that you made the

experience happen this is very important

to notice this is the delusion of a self

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 course without there being any

self doing it or making it happen to

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

they 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 arisin 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 a quiet

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 happy or sad and you

know you can't do that

in fact try to use your investigation to

pair very closely into that force that

urge that wants to control it is

constantly there in the background with

each rising of feeling a subtle you

arises that likes the feeling it doesn't

that is the craving a sense of a

controller the false belief in a

personal self so the moment that feeling

or even a little image of you arises

relax and 6r 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 sex

ring it

you are left just sitting there now

action occurs since you let go of thee

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 arise

entirely on its own and it also then

passes away there appears our 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 thee 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

a very good future results this is like

your karmic bank account developing a

pure and pure mind will help you advance

a ward thee attainment as you continue

to sit in this state movements of minds

attention have virtually stopped his

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 and 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

the mind stream which is constantly

rushing forward the Buddha talks about

it as stopping in a river with the water

now seen gang by you yet you now have

become an immovable rock the center 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 that

aversion 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

for 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 this 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 sight based on that contact of

feeling arises Pleasant and pleasant

only the pleasant nor unpleasant neutral

immediately upon the feeling arising

there is craving wanting to enjoy what

it is or to push it away you understand

as soon as you see something that very

seeing process as craving in it

6r and relax into that searing process

as soon as it catches your awareness

notice there is a very subtle tension as

soon as your eye locks onto thee

site that is what pulls your attention

to see it the moment your mind turns

observing anything at all you should be

relaxing into it right there do not let

the craving gain a foothold on your

attention let it go in most

circumstances craving is not that strong

but as fontava malarum she says it is

definitely persistent actually there is

no such thing as mind pulling your

attention the sound arises and the

craving arises it seems like some sort

of you 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 of taste

or whatever arises has the craving

embedded in it in Viet 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 the

you arise at that moment you are rise

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 the personal you

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

pinging 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

cause you are born yet again to hear see

or touch if not for that vibration a

contact chat the sense door you would

simply not come into existence at all

you don't exist outside of 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 traces the senses

only experience 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 I sense organ

creating the drops or mists of

consciousness this is your awareness

arising and passing away dependent on

the six-fold sense base 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 that truly impersonal nature

of e process that truly a 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 Rennell inside 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 under mental one

the bodily parts of this process are the

chemicals in the brain reacting together

this is the body the result of e

chemical reaction is consciousness which

is mind body and mind arising from where

we don't know while we are observing it

but the Buddha has explained this it's

about karma and its results the residue

of past unwholesome a wholesome actions

which was caused by the breaking of

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's 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 Gianna's 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 Pecha base of

neither perception nor non-perception

clear quiet mind no jhana

characteristics meditative progress time

on object AVG sitting time zero worldly

none wandering mind unable to stay on

object 5 sec 2 minutes 30 minutes or

less 1 first jhana joy excitement

happiness tranquility only wholesome

observation thoughts 3 to 5 minutes 30

minutes to 45 minutes to second jhana

bigger but more subtle joy confidence

floating feeling verbalizing causes

tension in head 3 to 6 minutes

45 minutes to 60 minutes three third

jhana joy turns to contentment and

happiness increasing equanimity lose

bodily feeling my hands are missing

three to ten min 45 minutes to 60

minutes 4/4

Jan equanimity happy feeling fades just

balance remains feeling of

loving-kindness rises to the head five

to 10 min 60 minutes one point to five

hours five bass of infinite space mind

starts to expand outward loving-kindness

now turns to compassion five to ten

minutes one hour to 1.5 hours six base

of infinite consciousness see moments of

consciousness arise seeing in

personality feeling of compassion turns

to joy 10 to 15 minutes one hour to 1.5

hours 7 base of nothingness awareness in

head lights flickers no thoughts at all

feeling of joy turns the feeling of

equanimity 15 to 30 minutes 1.5 to 2

hours 8 base of neither perception nor

non-perception subtle vibrations dreamy

no thoughts at all for long periods the

feeling of equanimity just stops observe

quiet mind object 20 to 60 minutes 1.5

to 3 hours

cessation no perception feeling a

consciousness like a light switch

turning off a space will blackout in the

mental stream Nirvana seeing links

moment of relief then joy perceived

world differently bright colours etc

chart of jhanas and characteristics

chapter 14 the daughter Nibbana as you

continue sitting there will be the

experience of strong stillness and

balance happening and you'll be able to

sit for long periods of time without

many distractions arising the mental

activity is very quiet notice especially

the movement of attention in your head

remember your brain is the seat of the

mind and tension and tightness are

arising right there release and relax in

one gentle motion just a touch of the

six rupees is enough back away quickly

from any movement of mind it can even be

the slightest sensation that draws your

attention relax right then at this stage

mind will be serene and bright there is

a brightness of mind with clear

energetic mindfulness you are

progressing well you easily see anything

arising you relax into any distractions

and six are automatically your mind

simply has no thoughts and your

attention never wanders the subtlest

links of dependent origination will

start to appear in your awareness first

there are the consciousnesses arising

from the deep inner mind there even

deeper are the formations which are the

cause of those consciousnesses you are

not this phenomenon arising don't

identify with it it is craving now just

peace of mind without these vibrations

and movements of mind is what you are

now finding more desirable there is less

suffering in this quiet tranquil mind

less is better

what are formations they are defined as

bodily verbal and mental formations they

are very small movements barely

potentials of actions to arise and not

the full-fledged results these are the

little seeds out of which consciousness

arises these in turn lead to mentality

materiality and then to the arising at

the sense bases then with contact they

explode into a conscious awareness we

won't mention here how they appear

because we want you to tell the teacher

what you think you are seeing the

teacher will decide if you are right we

don't want to put any expectation here

it is important for you to see deeply on

your own without preconceptions if there

is no teacher available it still doesn't

matter as to whatever arises the

instruction is to always 6r and go back

to your meditation object you still must

let go of everything when you see what

you think are the formations or some

deeper links 6ar them as you would any

other phenomena by six ring any link

that arises this will uncover the next

link deeper in the chain we're removing

tension and tightness from the craving

in the links as they arise and when we

do this reveals the next deeper part how

do you use six our ignorance you don't

it is an understanding of the four noble

truths in SATA m and 128 imperfections

the buddha states that the meditator may

have the brightness and light fall away

what would be the reason for the loss of

brightness but of course it would be

those pesky hindrances arising they are

dark clouds gathering over this bright

clear mind sometimes mind is so clear

that it can be described as luminous

many times sitting in this state

restlessness might come up since there

is not much to observe you may want

something to watch and might want to

start to control things boredom can

arise along with a corresponding

lessening of mindfulness because of this

the light recedes balancing the factors

of energy tranquility mindfulness and

the other awakening factors once again

will bring that radiant mind back

continue to use the clear mind as your

object of meditation if your mindfulness

is strong there will mostly be the quiet

now and then some slight activity will

arise mind will start to vibrate and

there will be a pulling away from the

quiet mind this balance still point

where your awareness resides six are

right then and come back to the quiet

your object of meditation continues to

be that quiet mind itself be on the

lookout for any activity that arises if

you feel you're losing the quiet you can

bring up that feeling of stillness and

notice this when your mind quiets down

again then you can let go of that

feeling and go back to just observing

and relaxing into mind subtle movements

the neutral zone gradually even the

smallest bits of mental activity will

subside it will be as if there is

nothing to 6r at all you may get

restless and want to get up

it is like you feel there is nothing

left to do do not do that 6r that

restlessness and keep sitting now is the

time for patience and persistence very

little happens you have to be okay with

that mind will settle down more and more

if you just continue you might not even

realize progress is being made but it is

if restlessness or any hindrance starts

to get the upper hand just observe with

the intention I don't care what happens

next my job is just to observe what is

there you will see the subtlest aspects

of mind in it of the seeds or potentials

that ultimately lead to birth old age

and death the teacher will ask questions

to find out what you are seeing you'll

be advised to be very watchful as to

hobby movements arise and how they

appear and you should not take them

personally they are not your movements

arising they just a phenomena coming

from mind we don't know why and we don't

care our only job is to allow and relax

into them as they fade away it is

important for mindfulness and

tranquility to continue to develop so

that these very slight phenomena can be

seen and understood eventually you'll

see all of the links except ignorance

which is just something that you will

come to

understand and as well you'll see all

the four noble truths you are working

your way backward letting go of each

link by going deeper and deeper you will

see the link mentality materiality and

continue backward to consciousness and

then the formations you'll be advised to

six are these objects when they appear

uncovering the next link there is the

separate and big craving link itself

after feeling and before cleaning in the

twelve links but there is also a small

amount of craving in each individual

link keeping the wheel of samsara

turning you'll be able to see all of

that you will see the entire process of

mind as you six are deeper and deeper

you'll be advised to keep backing away

from each object that arises every time

there is a sound the chain of dependent

origination fires off and you will want

a six are all of that look at the links

rising closer and closer to see how each

tiny part of it arises there is craving

there to let go you need to let

everything that arises come by itself

don't look for it in this way you can

see how there might be a craving to go

look for more experience your mind

constantly wants to go forward and like

pac-man engage in more and more senses

to see what is there to live more to

experience more this happens because

whatever is experienced passes away so

mind is constantly looking for more to

replace the phenomena that have just

passed see if you can see this jumping

from object to object by taking a mental

standpoint of a full stop just mentally

standing still and letting all

experienced pass through your

imperturbable state of mind which

doesn't react not even to the slightest

puff of vibration we are exiting this

rounder about existence samsara we do

this by letting go by seeing clearly

each link as it arises at hand

by seeing it as impersonal impermanent

and unsatisfactory mmm 111 section 18

can't so indeed these states not

come into being having been a vanish

regarding those states he abided

unattracted unrep old independent

detached free dissociated with a mind

rid of barriers he understood there is

an escape beyond and with the

cultivation of that to tainment he

confirmed that there is disenchantment

while in this quiet and clear state of

mind there comes first the knowledge of

disenchantment up to now you have

continued boobs Irv phenomena arising

and passing away with some interest you

notice who are getting deeper so you

keep going there is less and less to six

are as you go along mind becomes quiet

when quieter as you continue you notice

this constant arising and passing away

of objects you notice the silence space

between the objects that arise and pass

away you think to yourself what if I

could get rid of these objects coming

and going then there would be just the

peace you think that then there would be

only silenced and not all these annoying

objects and vibrations you see the lack

of ease as suffering this trying to

control has an aspect of longing in it

wanting to have something happen is the

very thing that will stop it

the teacher will remind the student that

their job is simply to observe you

realize that now you are beginning to

develop a whole new perspective on the

world you had never thought that the

lack if mental activity would be good

but now you do you see the many mental

activity and movement is unsatisfactory

silence is better now you see any

vibration and even any consciousness as

unsatisfactory you even try to stop

things from arising and you can't you

were never in control at all it just

keeps coming your mind starts to go

towards silence but there is a problem

the mental stream doesn't stop and just

keeps on rolling a subtle sort of

observation arises I am really tired of

these sensations disturbing my peace of

mind dissatisfaction arises along with a

realization that it would be best

to see all these arising phenomena just

stop let me please have some peace you

are starting to become disenchanted you

look for a reason why these constant

sensations and mental objects arise but

there seems to be none if you could find

the reason then you might be able to

understand why it comes or a way to turn

it off you want to analyze and solve the

problem but you don't see a solution

finally you just give up looking

interest in watching this constant

stream starts to wane you realize there

really is no end to it this is an

arising state of knowledge about your

mind on the life process it will never

end there is no peace here there was

total disinterest in the impermanent sum

of I and inside into the silliness of

identifying a non-existent permanent eye

with every feeling thought and action

deeper experience all realization that

feelings and thoughts were not under my

control that thoughts of mind objects in

general were like what ideas were to the

nose or sounds were to thee ears they

came and went without me being involved

I continued to 6r nonetheless SD

California you are energetic continually

watching every little vibration thought

form etc and you can be very determined

to relax and let go of everything that

arises by doing that you think you'll

get to the end of the process but it

doesn't work you now understand all that

arises to be a disturbance it upsets the

quiet state of mind that you are

starting to enjoy enjoy not in a craving

sort of way but with appreciation you

are starting to relish the quiet you

understand that balance is better than

chasing more objects this realization

will lead to contentment contentment

will arise without a cascade of

vibrations and movements constantly

assaulting you you may have some desire

for Nirvana to arise and might think you

are close then you might put too much

energy in and start too lenient with a

future hoping for the attainment to

arise

you need to 6r this desire this is the

arising of more craving this is longing

you may think that you need to have the

desire to reach the goal no you have

already pointed your mind there let the

meditation to the rest you make a

determination about getting somewhere

and then you just go you don't think

about the destination the whole time you

are on the way there you just continue

trusting that it will happen as planned

because you are on the right path

this is determination is the desire for

Nibin or something that we should not

have in these final sessions of sitting

before attaining awakening we need to

let go of even the desire for Nibbana

when we first start however we won't

even begin the meditation without some

intentional desire to get us on the path

so it is a positive desire a wholesome

desire because after all it is a desire

for no desire it is not like a desire

for chocolate ice cream or a new car it

is a desire to stop and be still and no

peace this kind of wholesome desire is

called chandran pali as was stated above

you don't know how to stop this stuff

from coming and coming you want it to

stop there is nothing but vibration at

all different levels now you see peace

as a more desirable goal now you wish to

be void of these sensations finally

there comes the point where you just

stopped caring about all these arising

phenomena you can't come on this stream

to stop you start to give up and see

that by paying heed to the phenomena you

were feeding them they will never stop

if you are interested in what is there

you realize that all this movement and

vibration is disturbing your

collectiveness and peace my now becomes

disinterested in what arises and there

is a deeper feeling of disenchantment

there are endless risings this is

suffering this is Ducker which is pali

for suffering a disease the Buddha said

the first noble truth of existence is

suffering now you see it you see how you

pay attention to

and like and dislike everything that

arises there by keeping it going through

craving the second noble truth now you

see the goal the cessation of craving is

the cessation of suffering the third

noble truth dispassion this leads to an

even deeper letting go dispassionate

Rises disenchantment made you more and

more aware of how your interest in these

things just leads to more suffering now

you just don't care anymore it doesn't

matter what comes it goes your mind

draws back it doesn't look outward

anymore everything that arises is okay

it doesn't matter

it no longer pulls your attention you

know you can't stop it you don't even

care about Nirvana anymore

this is a state where there are no more

hindrances your mind has just stopped

throwing up obstacles it has no more

interest in any arising experience now

you no longer try to control anything

you are now close to the unconditioned

why because you don't care through

disenchantment with all conditioned

existence are wholly balanced mind

arises it neither likes nor dislikes

there are only consciousnesses and

mental objects are rising and passing

away there is no interest in any of it

it is just there there is now the

tendency toward deep peace of mind your

mind now has barely any movement at all

you are very aware and very energetic

but again it's like nothing is happening

and the thought comes up where you

wonder if you should do

anything the answer is definitely no

just observe see that very question

arising in your mind as impersonal and

six are it it is just a matter of time

watching and observing carefully for any

movement like flickers lights are just

vibrations be six rupees are on

automatic and you aren't putting in much

effort it just rolls off in front of you

you will observe this lack of hindrances

but it won't make you excited it is just

part of what is happening it is

nonetheless amazing to have no

unwholesome states at all to be free of

craving completely this realization has

all come through your own deep insights

into watching yourself coming into and

out of existence when dispassion there

Rises you'll be very close you think

there is nothing left to do because

there is nothing to six out sir you want

to get up and do something else there

are no more barriers to the meditation

why I continue you think everything has

been completed but just continue and be

patient with this sublimely quiet mind

continue to observe without even caring

about what comes up anymore you have

realized now there is nothing that you

can do about it patience leads to

Nibbana this path is not just one step

after another until you reach the goal

you will have doubts you'll get out of

balance with your observational power

then you will figure it out two steps

forward and one step back if you are not

progressing further and you seem to hit

a wall you should ask yourself your

intuition what is stopping my meditation

from going deeper the answer may come

the next hour or the next day

sometimes there are blockages that are

hidden and simply not discoverable by

the teacher if you are working with one

or by you

hopefully an answer will come back you

may be applying too much energy you may

need to back away further from

everything or you may not be observant

enough in seeing how the links arise how

you take things personally and identify

with them you may be leaning into the

process too much bhante Vimy larum she

speaks about one student who asked

himself this question he just posed it

to himself later the answer came back

that he was waiting waiting for what

waiting for Nibbana the waiting was the

problem there was craving there and that

had to be released

whatever is stopping you will eventually

yield as your knowledge deepens

sometimes this blockage can go on for a

long time gradually even if it takes

years of retreats you mature your

technique and knowledge of how to do the

practice some people will understand

easily follow the instructions and apply

them in only a matter of days or weeks

they break through to awakening they

fall into the stream of the noble ones

patience and following the instructions

precisely does lead to Nirvana at a

certain point mind was very still and

there was drifting into a deep lucid

sleep mind was fully aware and alert

however then towards the end I blanked

out completely like I lost consciousness

and there was no feeling or perception I

only seem to be aware that I blanked out

after coming out from it but the

blanking out was only for a little time

before I came back to this loose a deep

sleep state emerging from this

meditation mind was totally still alert

and automatically radiating equanimity

everything I did

after the meditate Ian had a very calm

smooth and mindful quality people

noticed I took time with my words and

responses to them and seemed very

relaxed

indeed I felt very relaxed mind was

totally balanced very strong equanimity

throughout the day SD California let's

go to the match Gemma nicaya to see even

more clearly how the Buddha described

this process in SATA 100 and

forty-eight the six sets if sex in the

first 80% of the text the Buddha

describes the impersonality of each sent

space as it arises and passes away

nothing is you consciousness is not you

your body is not you and so on toward

the end he tells the students that as

they observe they will come to

understand certain insights as well as

why they arise liberation from Sutter m

and 148 m n 148 section 40 seem vast

monks a well taught disciple becomes

disenchanted with the art disenchanted

with forms disenchanted with I

consciousness disenchanted with eye

contact disenchanted with I feeling

disenchanted with I craving it says that

now the student starts to pull away

starts to understand there is nothing in

this arising and passing show in which

to delight what does the student really

see here the Sutter tells us MN 148

section 39 students dependent on mind

and mind objects mind consciousness

arises the meeting of the three is

mind-contact with mind-contact his

condition there arises a mind feeling

felt as pleasant a painful or

neither-pleasant-nor-painful when one is

touched by a pleasant mind feeling if

one does not delight in it welcome it

and remain holding to it then the

underlying tendency to lust does not lie

within one when one is touched by a

painful mind feeling if one does not

soro grieve and lament does not weep

beating one's breast and become

distraught then the underlying tendency

to aversion does not lie within one when

one is touched by neither

pleasant-nor-painful mind feeling if one

understands it as it is the origination

the disappearance the gratification the

danger and the escape in regard to that

mind feeling then the underlying

tendency to ignorance does not lie

within one as you watch mind and mind

objects coming and going you are

interested in this process you are

delighting in this

observation in seeing how it all works

the feeling of delight is so subtle you

may not understand it as such but you do

like watching it and trying to figure

out why the process arises and what this

all means at times mind is kind of fun

to watch through this gratification

which is defined as source of pleasure

you watch and try to get to the goal but

you can't there is the tendency to lust

after these arising and disappearing

objects or you push them in a way as

interfering with your calm or you have

indifference and don't care about them

it is the craving mind that takes this

indifference personally it is your

indifference it is not a clear pure mind

in other words you see the arising and

passing of many objects and you are

attracted then only if you see that

these objects are sources of pleasure or

a version will you see the danger to

your mind by chasing and lusting after

them as this leads to suffering old age

and death when disenchantment arises the

Buddha goes on to say mn 148 sections 35

to 39 monks that one shall here and now

make an end of suffering by abandoning

the underlying tendency to lust for

pleasant mind feeling by abolishing the

underlying tendency to aversion for

painful mind feeling by extirpating

uprooting the underlying tendency to

ignorance in regard to neither

pleasant-nor-painful mind feeling by

abandoning ignorance and arousing true

knowledge this is possible by giving up

your tendency toward the lighting in

this a that and your tendency to lust

after these delights by seeing the

danger in it and so on you come to the

end of desire you no longer want to keep

chasing these feelings as they only lead

to suffering and it's not because you

are forcing restraint on yourself it is

because you are no longer delighted by

this passing show you no longer care

thus dispassion to all phenomena arises

through the knowledge of craving the

Four Noble Truths and how craving leads

to

suffering freedom from the wheel of

samsara is experienced all that had to

be done is done

the daughter nirvana is opening entering

the stream now we arrive at the

attainments and hana banda is

experienced first i will describe the

four levels of noble attainment to be

experienced you must go through all four

to be fully awakened and free of craving

craving drops away in stages in total

there are four stages of sainthood

so tarpana sakagami inugami and pear

event each of the four stages has two

components the path knowledge mega and

the fruition knowledge fala path

knowledge is the first glimpse of

Nirvana but still may be lost if precept

- not followed

once the frood knowledge is gained the

attainment is locked in and cannot be

lost there are eight attainments in all

two final awakening - for each of the

major stages of sainthood path and fruit

at the last one the last fetter of all

ten fetters of craving is destroyed

three are eliminated at sotapanna

two more a loosened at saqqara gommi and

finally all of the first five fetters

are let go at a Nogami

the balance of the ten is eliminated at

Aravind what are the fetters with

awakening the hindrances are abandoned

once and for all but there remain

subtler an act unwholesome tendencies in

all of us that are born from craving the

word fetter is defined as something that

restrains us these are the final chains

that bind us to this endless round of

existences the fetters are the last

potentials of unwholesome states I will

list them as we go through the noble

paths and note where they are eliminated

chapter 15 first stage of awakening sir

tarpana mmm 111 section 19 again monks

buy completely surmounting the base of

neither perception nor non-perception

Sarah Porter entered upon and abided in

the cessation of perception and feeling

attaining Nibbana path knowledge mega

finally after staying with this quiet

energetic imperturbable mind of the base

of neither perception nor non-perception

and six ring every tiny movement until

mind is barely moving at all you'd let

go of the last condition the last link

of ignorance and all activity ceases

everything stops at an unconditioned

state arises there is the cessation of

perception feeling and consciousness for

a few moments of minutes you don't know

you're in that state until after you

come out some will say they experienced

at lag spot or a gap in consciousness

this is nothing like any of you previous

johner experiences it isn't a gap with a

sense of time because there is nothing

missing time doesn't exist when nothing

is happening there is just the stopping

of the stream of consciousness a halting

you only know it after you come out of

it the world stops you are no longer in

samsara and it will last as long as it's

going to last there's life still exist

vitality and your life continuum still

go on your autonomic functions like your

heart beating and blood pumping continue

but your mental process has stopped

completely

when I finished radiating equanimity to

each of the points something extremely

new happened a feeling I had felt in a

meditation a couple of days ago but it

was now much clearer and more defined in

a second It was as if a membrane around

me totally broke and release me one

second for there a huge space opened up

before me the feeling that there was so

much room there were no barriers at the

same moment my face begins to fade as if

something was literally erasing it had

left me without Skinner muscles there

was happiness

but without excitement tranquility and a

very very refined attention Barcelona

Spain before there just existed slight

movements of mind but now with this

temporary cessation of all mental

activity there arises right after that a

powerful clarity of mind you have just

had the deepest rest of your life when

you come back you are now seeing the

subtlest movements deeper than you have

ever experienced mind appears like it

totally erased blackboard nothing is on

it then when mine turns back on the

first mental process is clearly seen

against this inky black background

coming out of cessation mind is radiant

and observant you have arrived at full

stop the effect of the cessation is so

powerful that whereas before the pond of

your mind had tiny little ripples on it

now it is so still and placid that you

can see anything there you can see to

any depth what is below there is no

craving at all there is no dust to

obscure vision mind is so pure that you

see the smallest detail of anything that

starts to arise in crystal clarity what

you are about to see is the first

arising of consciousness the first

moment of mental activity as your mental

processes begin again from this still

point the next thing that happens is

that you see the links of dependent

origination arise and pass away very

quickly these are sometimes in the form

of vibrations or little lights flashes

or electrical currents you will see this

in your mind and sometimes even see it

in the air in front of you you won't

know what it is very likely and will not

expect it this is the first condition

mental process in which your mind starts

to vibrate again and come back online

when this happens the eye of wisdom mind

without craving sees the total

impersonality of the process there is no

self there your deep observation

understands that there is nobody home

that what you are is just a process of

moments arising and passing away as a

result of this profound insight the

supramundane

Nibbana arises this experience will be

followed by a momentary sense of relief

like a burden was lifted off you have

just experienced Nibbana you have become

a so tarpana in meditation things began

to slow down the vibrations slowed to a

ripple attended in bright light i went

deeper and things seemed slower there

seemed to be something breaking up in

the light i went even deeper until the

distractions abruptly stopped like the

plug had been pulled out my activity

abruptly stopped what was left was like

a blackout the center seemed darker than

the edges for a moment it felt like

something was missing I didn't feel joy

more like a calm relief çb sri lanka

Nibbana will not come when you want it

it will come when you are ready when the

seven factors of awakening all line in

perfect balance like passing through the

keyhole of the door you didn't think it

could be possible yet it happened you

see that in this seemingly permanent and

eternal psychophysical process when mind

stops there really is nothing between

each thought moment that persists that

knowledge leads you to understand that

an impersonal underlies everything there

is nothing that is continuous between

each moment nothing that survives not

even God nothing everything is

absolutely void of selfish soul MN 111

section 19 Conte and his taints were

destroyed by his seeing with wisdom the

word here is wisdom so what is wisdom

after the cessation of perception

feeling and consciousness and it's going

to last as long as it will last when

feeling perception and consciousness

start up again you have the opportunity

of seeing exactly clearly with very

sharp mindfulness every one of the links

of dependent origination you will see

how when this doesn't arise that doesn't

arise that each link is dependent on the

previous link you will see that

everything has a cause for arising you

have uncovered the last link of

ignorance you will also see that if it

Rises it will come to an end you will

see impermanence clearly all that arises

will pass away whether it be pleasure or

pain this is wisdom it is the knowledge

that you gain by directly seeing the

links of dependent origination arise and

pass away and by seeing that there is no

injuring self this wisdom is not some

sort of conceptual philosophy some

religious tenets or Dogma it is the

result of seeing directly when you see

the word wisdom in the suttas you should

understand that this always means seeing

the links of dependent origination

directly and seeing everything that

arises as impersonal it isn't learning a

philosophy it is directly observing

reality with the next mental process

that arises you'll see the whole arising

and passing away of all of the links of

dependent origination for the duration

of one instant then there is the final

letting go of ignorance and seeing the

Four Noble Truths

that is when Nibbana occurs it is just a

momentary event and just one group of

links firing the links are seen with

wisdoms I this takes place at a deeper

level than normal awareness people will

say they don't know what they saw but

they will know the mind to a greater or

lesser degree will be having inside to

rise into how there is a cause that

creates a result this constant arising

and passing away of conditioned

existence is the content of who we are

and that all there is they will now

understand at an intuitive level how

dependent origination works each link is

conditioned by the previous link each

process is conditioned by the passing

away of another process like a

candle flame that lights another candle

one candle burns down but the next

candle lights up being ignited by the

previous candle lit by bit you arise and

pass away you are changing little by

little over time like a great city that

arises from an empty piece of land each

building arises one at a time each

shovel of dirt carried off and dumped

one at a time with thee constant arising

and passing away of causes this great

city is built the next shovelful lived

her taken away changes it once again no

one person has built it just many

shovels and people shoveling it's a

process with no real beginning and no

real end we give cities names but these

are just concepts to label these groups

of buildings the perception aggregate of

the five aggregates is partially memory

and partly Bolling perception is what

puts a name on this group of buildings

it labels it either New York or San

Francisco depending on what for example

visual forms arise in our own case we

are given a name like John and then we

personally identify with that name as if

some underlying entity were controlling

everything but it isn't it is just a

concept the city itself is not one solid

thing it is the result of all these

causes that make it what it is but in

this instant only in the next moment it

has changed to something else in the

same way you are a completely impersonal

process there is no one a soul behind it

it is automatically happening and will

continue forever into the future until

you become fully awake and exit the

wheel of samsara this is so profound it

after these links pass away Nibbana

arises just for an instant in the suttas

it says got in his tanks were destroyed

with wisdom

meaning that nirvana arises right after

you see the links of dependent

origination and it destroys a certain

measured amount of craving it destroys

the first three what are called fetters

step-by-step attainment of Nirvana the

cessation of

perception and consciousness occurs this

means that everything we consider a

person stops there is a blank state a

blackout avoid nurse all mental activity

stops on an EEG one would guess the

indicator flatlines for just a moment

following the cessation because of the

incredible clarity created by the

experience of cessation the first mental

activity a set of twelve links arises

and passes away they might be seen like

bubbles a little flashing lights wisdoms

I observe Sutter and total in

personality in this first mental process

as the links arise and pass away with no

craving to cloud mind the links are seen

as just an impersonal process with no

inherent self just a group of neurons

firing that is all you are after the

last link of ignorance passes away

Nibbana

arises there is a feeling of relief for

a moment a unique feeling in the mind

that there has been a great burden

thrown off joy starts to arise all

pervading joy that can last for up to

several days it may continue longer but

sometimes you just get used to the state

and don't notice it anymore

note that the relief and the joy that

follows the different feelings you

should notice this difference there was

definitely joy but I think what followed

was the mind jumping for a brief moment

oh wow what just happened because it was

not like the nothingness between the

flickering of consciousness and yet

pervading joy persisted after the

blanking out and continued even after

the meditation this kind of joy I

couldn't compare to drunkenness although

I can see how people might do so because

if I caught myself in the mirror my eyes

were just so relaxed and I had a wide

smile on my face

it's definitely of a different quality

you

you

the path to Nirvana her mindfulness of

loving-kindness progresses through the

tranquil aware Jonah's to awakening by

David C Johnson

copyright 2018 David C Johnson third

edition 4-16

2018 published by BTS publishing

Annapolis Missouri the following is part

two of three parts and here we are

starting with chapter six for the first

five chapters please refer back to part

one chapter six 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 the 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 a real sense

of relief you feel joy arising 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 coarse

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 full a 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 asuka mind just stays on its

object with almost no effort at all you

have never experienced happiness and

clarity like this before I will insert

some comments from past students taking

a physical or online retreat with this

practice I was able to generate

loving-kindness and radiate the feeling

to my spiritual friend within a few

seconds I felt an overwhelming wave of

joy it was like my spiritual friend was

radiating Metta back to me I cried out

of joy again I returned to my meditation

object spiritual friend but again I felt

the wave of joy this time I just felt

tremendously grateful TM California what

is joy excitement and the happy feeling

of the nature of joy 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 jhana will last

for a while until another hindrance pops

ah

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

journalists 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 explained

the jonna's the ANU pada Sutter one by

one is they occurred number 111 for the

match Dominica 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 thought 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 jonna's 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 are tame

Nibbana

so the fourth type of joy arises 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 in thinking and

examining the thoughts that have to do

with what you are feeling right now in

the present you feel very peaceful and

collected in Pali

the word for this state is eka gata and

if you look up the word in the Pali

dictionary ako means tranquility

peacefulness and stillness of mind it

doesn't mean one pointed or absorption

but rather collected and unified the

sutter explains there are five factors

in the first

thinking and examining thought joy

happiness and unification of mind the

satyr goes on to explain what else is

there

mmm 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 are

there and 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

eyes then the satyr says te enthusiasm

decision energy mindfulness equanimity

and attention these states were defined

by him one by one as they as he curd

known to him those states arose known

they were present known they disappeared

what are we talking about here we are

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

they're going to come up these are the

first initial insights or understandings

Vipassana in pali that arise for you mn

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 thought since

start thinking about what just happened

the joy rising you can six are those

thoughts and let them go has 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 of what we are striving for the

Buddha said it is part of right effort

to notice an unwholesome state and bring

up the 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 it may

come 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 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 6 or 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 thee 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 6r that

to 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'll 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 won'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 jonna'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 Twi

and 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

walking meditation one of the mistakes

many people make when they're talking

about jhanas is to think that a jar 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 or 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 in 111

Section 5 again monks with the stilling

of thinking and examining thought

Serapis rented and abided in E 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 were

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 a 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 on 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

this 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

eight third jhana happiness MN 111

section seven again monks with a 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 any 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 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 arises 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 arises

and we launch into liking or disliking

that feeling then the thoughts and

stories come up about the feeling what

the feeling is about the perception that

comes with the feeling and the story

about the feeling again we six hour and

continue when you get into 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

Vontae said that one meditator came to

him and told him she felt just like her

head was sitting on the floor there was

nobody there at just a head rolling

around at one point I couldn't feel my

extremities not because they were asleep

or anything they just disappeared I was

much less distracted and was able to

focus more I've studied the six rupees

more and was able to really use them

when needed CG Mussoorie

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 a 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

okay 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 Bub's Irv

how that process works when you first

notice this fluttering if you relax

right then your mind stays on your

object of meditation as you go deeper

your wandering mind is 6 Rd sooner

matter 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 satyr

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 3rd jhana but there it is in

thee saturd talking about experiencing

the feeling of matter in the fourth

jhana the suttas disagree

the viscid emag er about this in reading

the Sutter accompanied by

loving-kindness number 46 section 54 a

fort from the sam yot Anika it says that

on the other hand Metta or loving

kindness goes to the fourth jhana

compassion goes to the base of infinite

space

the first aruba jhana joy goes to the

base of infinite consciousness the

second aruba jhana

and equanimity goes to the base of

nothingness the third arrow peddanna the

practice that is being taught here is

not only loving-kindness it is the

complete practice of the brahma vihara

z-- there a four abodes a divine abiding

z' of brahma that make up the brahma

vihara as which a loving-kindness Metta

compassion Karuna joy mudita

and equanimity a Pecha loving-kindness

is the first part of this larger system

that eventually leads to the experience

of Nirvana 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

ought 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 mines 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 matter 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 Metta 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

Vera's but you have to continue the

practice Mehta is indeed the doorway to

thee unconditioned afterall the

definition of right effort is to one

recognize there is an unwholesome state

to to let go of that unwholesome state

three bring up a wholesome state a four

keep it going four parts and what is

more wholesome than matter you just keep

it going and it will lead you to nirvana

with no other methods needed this is

what it says right in the text

themselves

chapter nine a 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 Sara put

are entered 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

thei

beautiful ultra strong balance when I

finished the meditation I was

blissed-out not intense joy just very

relaxed a strong feeling of equanimity

total is still in silent and lots of

automatic smiling in the meditation

itself it was very easy to see the

people I sent Televi in kindness to

smile the loving-kindness stayed in the

head and once again I lost perception a

sense of body consciousness just felt

floaty light and expansive SD California

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 and 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 life

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 if what was happening

cuz 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 m

and 111 Israel and like Sarah Potter you

are just watching the progress step by

step as it occurs meditation instruction

now you would to change your spiritual

friend you have completed the practice

to this point and have now advanced it's

time to move ahead let go of the friend

you have been working with and change 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 you feel there is a

connection of loving kindness with them

for living family members either male or

female gender no longer matters one by

one radiates loving-kindness to them

until they smile back for neutral people

either male or female one by one

radiates loving-kindness to them until

they smile 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 said hello

every now and then enemies a last cent

matter to any troublesome people who

ever 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 matter to people who pop into

your mind until you can't think of

anyone else

if hatred or even the slight arises

while radiating Metta 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 better to your enemy and

continue until the toe style energy is

dissipated and they smiled back it

doesn't have to be the 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 Dhamma sukha website and practiced

from the book on this topic by Bart Ava

malarum 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 this

morning I did my first breaking down the

barriers sitting it went so well I saw

everyone smiling at me pretty quickly

then I got to my enemies there is a

woman I'm quite jealous of I forgave

myself for it I wished her love peace

and happiness then I saw the smile the

second one is my niece's husband I've

never seen him smile in real life so I

don't even know what that would look

like but as I was wishing peace for both

of us it felt like a lightning bolt went

through my heart I knew then I am wrong

for the hate I'm feeling toward him only

love can beat hate Seiji Mussoorie

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 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 see it

just going out by itself now the fun

begins

I was completely immersed at one point

there was no me all I saw was the light

going in all directions it was like a

fountain going up down and in all

directions I was so absorbed when my Tim

I went off I jumped my husband said I

looked like I was radiating full of joy

and peace

CGT Mussoorie 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 or think you have made progress go

longer don't stop if you get edgier want

to quit try another five minutes just to

see if you can do it many times a few

more minutes will get you through the

short period of restlessness radiating

the four brahma vihara 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 texts 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 matter and the rest of the

brahma vihara so are actually mentioned

much more frequently in twelve suttas in

the match demon nicaya versus the breath

or and a panas 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

z-- over the breath practice

bhante vimal Arum 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 versus a week or less with

matter this has been our experienced and

thus we always recommend Mehta first he

will teach breath to certain personality

types that have a hard time with e

feeling of loving kindness but he does

add the relax a tranquilize step chapter

ten 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 sutter is called the last four parts

basis or realms we will primarily use

the term basis but will shift back and

forth at times between base and our uper

jhana

just to make sure you understand the

connection now you have arrived of the

arupa or immaterial jonna's the first

four jhanas are called rupa or material

jonna's rupa means realm of the body and

parapa means realm of mind more

precisely the a in Aruba means no so not

of e body the word realm is also used in

addition to base for these higher parts

of the 4th jhana this is because the

Buddha stated that if one were to attain

any of these four jhanas 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 of the highest most pleasant and

longest lasting a higher the jhana

the longer the lifetime in the

corresponding realm and the more sublime

the state MMN 111 section 11 again monks

with a complete surmounting of gross

perceptions of form with the

disappearance of gross perceptions of

sensory impact aware that space is

infinite

sorry put rented upon and divided in the

base of infinite space this means you

have surmounted the physical and now our

entering the subtle

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 soft up like cotton

this is coronary compassion you have

gone beyond the coarser 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 as

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 her WOW when explaining

this delightful state to thee teacher

well as I progress through the for

meditation sittings today each and our a

so long it was like the spaciousness

became larger larger and larger I did

the radiating of matter for the five

minutes in each of the six directions

and then radiated outward throughout the

rest of the meditation to all six

directions at the same time the sphere

of Metta grew in size and just kept

growing without stopping the matter

itself also transformed it was magnetic

as if intensifying and creating a strong

energetic force field floating feeling

intensified never felt such spaciousness

and expansiveness before there was

insight into how awareness of feeling

and perceptions arose and ceased

infinitely in town I was not in control

SD California 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

radiating compassion for five minutes in

each direction and then radiates

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 so

many teachers refer to when they talk

about the Buddha's infinite compassion

Dante's 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 aruba jhana it is not

just a general state of caring and

nurturing but actually the Janik state

of compassion bhante 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 mmm 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 / a mental jhana this says

that you're still practicing the four

foundations of mindfulness even while

you are in the arupa jhana state you are

now in a mental realm and awareness of

your body has faded away unless there is

contact notice that the sutter 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 are sitting quietly

but your awareness is very much focused

on mind mmm 111 section 12 cond te

enthusiasm does

energy mindfulness equanimity and

attention these states were defined by

him one by one is 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 to tainment 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

Sarah Potter entered upon and divided in

the base of infinite consciousness 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 it is a feeling that's

very different from the compassion

experienced previously it is a feeling

that bhante prefers to call just joy

joyful miss whereas before joy was an

exciting type of joy apt now it becomes

sublime and tranquil this is Peter

versus mudita regardless you now go from

a feeling of compassion to a feeling of

joy 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

than they just stay open so you just let

them be

open the arising of awareness was

automatic and at ceasing to was

automatic it was all impersonal and

uncontrollable be sense of I disappeared

and reappeared over and over and over

there were moments where awareness

ceased completely there was nothing in

between the arising and ceasing the

elapsed in awareness grew in frequency

and length as well as far as I could

tell but as soon as I saw this I was

back to seeing the arising and ceasing

and then the spaciousness when I

finished the final sitting meditation my

mind was still clear and sharp mind and

emotions never felt so pristine calm and

pure before nothing I can say here

except excellent SD Calif 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 consciousnesses the eye the ear

the nose the tongue the body and mind I

see these consciousness is 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 annika impermanence darker

suffering and an utter nonsense and

personal while you're in the Aero

pajamas 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

bhante Vimy larom she tells the 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 in 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 as you

instructed

I first radiated joy in all directions

beginning with sending it out to

individual directions five minutes each

then expanding the sublime joy outward

it grew larger and larger without

stopping there was once again inside

into the impermanent some of I as it

arose and passed away the gaps in

between each arising and passing away

grew larger and my focus shifted subtly

to those blanks where then the joy

radiating in all directions was shifted

to equanimity there was total

disinterest in the impermanent sum of I

and inside into the silliness of

identifying a non-existent permanent eye

with ev'ry feeling thought and action

deeper experience all realization that

feelings and thoughts were not under my

control and that thoughts in mind

objects in general were like what ideas

were to the nose or sounds rare to thee

ears they came and went without me being

involved I continued to six are non the

less SD California meditation

instruction

small pinpoint lights may arise like

little stars that twinkle and then fade

away these are the start of craving they

are indications of Tanna just starting

to arise these are thoughts that are

just starting to form you feel a pull

from those lights are tightness you

realize that a few six are them the

moment they arise then thoughts don't

arise you see the relief in this the six

rupees will return you to a state of

balance and tranquility be sure to 6ar

them as soon as they arise these lights

are sticky as their little seeds of

craving coming into existence you now

see the craving that 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 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 limiter

no we are not talking about the limiter

a Watts and practices call signs that he

used as focus points in concentration

meditation but these are merely forms

and shapes that arise this is the true

meaning of limiter 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 practice is leading for

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 vissa d mega 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 or Muhammad this is

based on the belief systems that all

needs to be six rdc 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 air 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 will then be asked to start noticing

the spaces between the consciousnesses

try to become more aware at 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 in the

last of the brahma vihara z' 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 is

and 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 in lighten up

you won't die

not even close soon you are moving into

a deeper even more exciting territory

I was able to get more solidly into the

realm of infinite consciousness in which

I observed various things such as

swelling colored geometric patterns

interrupted by strobe lights sometimes I

saw mill liens of tiny colored lights

flashing randomly the swirling patterns

with strobe lights we're the most common

I remembered you ad vist mid to pay

attention to the stillness between

consciousness as I looked between the

strobes and six red the colors came to a

halt and disappeared but I found if I

looked closely there were subtle ripples

in the black nothingness I six read

these and found thee slowed had

disappeared but never for long my mind

was in an incredibly still state and yet

I was not quite sure why I was still in

the meditative state I reasoned that if

I was still meditating that I should be

able to return to radiating joy so I

brought up joy and the colored patterns

and strobe lights returned again pi/6

read that and returned to stillness RM

Japan there was once again inside into

the impermanence of high has it arose

and passed away the gaps in between each

arising and passing away grew larger and

my focus shifted subtly to those blanks

then the joy radiating in all directions

was shifted to equanimity SD California

Chapter 12 the base of nothingness

equanimity mmm 111 section 15 again

monk's bike completely surmounting the

base of infinite consciousness aware

that there is nothing

sariputra rented 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 the not had side

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 mind this idea a

concept of self 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 and

passing away yet we identify these as

having this self this existence laid

over the top of it this me 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 adjust 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 Sense 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 experience like him we

are waking out of our dream if self

define 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 as happening from mind and

physically from the head area

you are only attentive to my

and concepts stop thoughts are now just

observing thoughts and not being taken

personally they are 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 about sand it is pleasant yet

different from anything you have ever

felt you start to understand the links

of dependent origination called nama

Rupa a mentality of materiality

name-and-form there his mind that is

dependent upon the body both are

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 out there and

of your perceived feeling of your

separate existence in the world your

awareness pools in the ever-present

wiring dream of you disappears no more

thoughts that carry you away into the

future are the past

no more thoughts are creating this or

that world you just exist 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 or cell in this silence of

nothingness you start to see much more

subtle phenomena that were hidden by our

noisy minds

very interesting things are here there

is definitely not nothing mmm 111

section 16 and the states in the base of

nothingness before in the second era

pajama if 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 from an online

retreat report sitting number one one

our joy for 19 minutes

I saw patterns and glowing balls I six

rode these then went into equanimity

I saw buildin stupas Buddhist statues

and a celestial being emitting a

brilliant light I 6r dealies as they

came up next 30 minutes was with sending

equanimity in all directions with golden

light emitting from my crown I 6r D

whatever came up 15 minutes was the best

with keeping my mind on the object of my

meditation C be Sri Lanka from an online

retreat report after about 10 minutes I

could feel myself going deeper before

the descent stopped after 5 minutes or

so at that level I started to descend

again to the next level my notes record

got deeper in plateau like steps and

that was what it was like I must have

gone down in three or four steps

spending five minutes or so before

moving down to the next plateau at one

plateau I recall seeing a Vista like a

black clear night sky with thousands of

tiny pinpricks of light twinkling away

on the next level down I saw what I can

only describe as a really big area

covered with rosin

of ball-shaped translucent shapes the

skirts of which were gently rippling I

described them as jellyfish because of

the translucent nature the oddball

jellyfish would occasionally speed off

away from this Vista but mainly the

visual field was still and quiet after

the jellyfish the next descent was

longer at the bottom of which the

blackness was unmoving absolutely still

I can remember wondering whether I was

dead whether I was or wasn't was of no

interest that possibility certainly

didn't upset me around this point at the

deepest level I didn't move down for

this level what I described as tingles

moved throughout the body in waves after

a couple of passes this stopped and the

absolute still quad remained at this

point of the sit the quiet was quite

solid not the quiet when you turned off

a radio and think that's quiet but

rather required where there's absolutely

in no point from which any noise could

originate an absence of anything that

could disturb a quiet stillness that is

not capable at being broken LM Australia

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

tear Qin emiti your mind gets dull you

don't have sleepiness but a darkness 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 by a 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 pan up on top of hindrances

it's quite easy to let restlessness go

and balance your energy by this time a

few a patient it's like walking the

finest tightrope you've ever seen like

walking on a spiderweb it's that fine

being in that 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 we're working with e

energy is incredibly interesting and

subtle the most important thing here is

using your mindfulness 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 Nirvana to come and

looking for it by thinking about it it

should be six Rd it can be a pesky

desire but eventually you'll get tired

of it Nirvana 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 outward 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 intend it to go if there is

tension then just six are it do not push

the feeling of the Qin Amati 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

outward all you do is switch on the

light if you are distracted by a sound

or a touch then six are it and come back

to radiating the feeling but only six

aye 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

six are 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 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 at one are one and a half

hours two hours three hours if you feel

like you want to get up then sit

another five minutes and see if that

herd goes away mental activity gets

choir two in quieter 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 be it seeing hearing or a

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 in the perception

of you hearing it what is consciousness

you see now that 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 Bakunin ananda 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 are 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 conscious

awareness had there been no sound as a

condition that is rebirth moment moment

right there and since there is nothing

between thee consciousnesses how can

there be an idea of an all-pervading

solar 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 six are 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 adjust 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 add it to the feeling of

equanimity not enough energy you become

sleepy a 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 do 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 they dos offer zoned out when

they sit for long periods you need to

keep your blood moving and your energy

up the border 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 any

for the meditation six are any boredom a

subtle aversion reaction and get 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

bond taste teachers would always tell

him patience leads to Nirvana 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 the 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 and letting

things get into balance by themselves

venerable ban TV malarum she often

reminds his advanced students to

remember that their job as a meditator

is to simply observe her 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 awakening one sati mindfulness - damn

of Aqaba investigation of experience

three Varia energy for PT joy five

pasady tranquility relaxed see in mind

six Samadhi collectiveness of mind

seven are pekka 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 the really

subtle hindrance coming up in the mind

do 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 mostly is the

pain of restlessness restlessness is a

painful feeling but it is in your mind

and you must determine to not to 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

mine 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 ban taze 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 or

stiffness he felt just fine eventually

mind will become very calm and

equanimity will become very profound we

then come to the next star oopah jhana

where we leave all the brahma vihara z'

behind chapter 13 the base of neither

perception nor non-perception MN 111

section 17 again biggis by completely

surmounting the base of nothingness

Cera put are entered upon and divided in

the base of neither perception nor

non-perception now you will not be able

to radiate the feeling of equanimity any

more 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 notice 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 chair

little six are any movements of

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 six 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 alight to 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 had

achieved control over them no more

feeling you now have come to the end of

the meditation of the brahma vihara

which has the for divine abodes as its

objects you started with a meditation

objective matter or loving-kindness

progressed automatically the Karuna or

compassion to hand then to mudita or joy

and this finally transformed into a

beggar 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 and 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

twenty 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 from an online

treat at sitting number three I went

straight into equanimity I saw some

images initially 6r dealies as they came

up i radioed equanimity from my crown i

6r d whatever came up it felt like

things were coming up fast I felt a

little restless because of this

eventually thee equanimity stopped

radiating what I noticed was golden

energy from the base of my spine rose up

to my crown

buildin light all around eventually it

dissipated after some time I was in

quietness for around 20 minutes the time

felt like 8 p.m. as it was very quiet

even from my noisy surroundings we live

in Koh lombo near a noisy main road

lots of horns etc but it felt like 8

p.m. when there is little traffic and

noise CB Sri Lanka gradually the

nothingness jhana gives way to the realm

of neither perception nor non-perception

the fourth arupa 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 Buddhist 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 a venerable

Bond TV malarum 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 a 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 arupa jhana x' the

movements start turning into just

vibrations as you go higher into the air

OPA Jonah's the vibrations become faster

and finer when you get to the state if

neither perception nor non-perception

there are only slight movements that are

very subtle it is hard to tell if they

there are 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

of 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 six are 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 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 vibration 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 neither perception nor

non-perception if you are working with

her teacher you'll likely be asked were

you in a state that is likely 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 neither 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 six are at that time still your

mindfulness gets progressively sharper

as you go in and out of this deeper

level and eventually all of these dreamy

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

newly 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 6r d here you

have confused the state of darkness with

thee deepest state of the aruba jhana

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 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 girl 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 for

therapy Jana 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 use

it more and for longer you may go into

hooni 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 jhana it will be deeper than the

last MN

111 Section 18 he emerged mindful from

the detainment having done so he

contemplated the states that had passed

ceased unchanged 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 and 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

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 noon a meal it is

a meal around noon meaning it can be

pushed out to 1 p.m. of perhaps 2 p.m. a

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 is

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

matter the compassion joy and equanimity

that arise one by one when we start with

Metta this is the brahma vihara practice

we are observing states arising in the

jhanas as they are rise on by one be

they wholesome or unwholesome on seeing

their impermanent soulless nature the

samantha part of this process calms down

the noise so that we can observe much

closer thee a rising 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 canal ago

of the brahma vihara zazz 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 imbalanced enough

not to be swayed by the now small

distractions and vibrations gradually

even these small movements will stop and

all mental activity

we'll stop the pond 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 is 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 it

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 mistaken only

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 a 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 to rising yours you

could tend to think that you made the

experience happen this is very important

to notice this is the delusion of a self

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 course without there being any

self doing it or making it happen to

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

they 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 arisin 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 a quiet

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 happy or sad and you

know you can't do that

in fact try to use your investigation to

pair very closely into that force that

urge that wants to control it is

constantly there in the background with

each rising of feeling a subtle you

arises that likes the feeling it doesn't

that is the craving a sense of a

controller the false belief in a

personal self so the moment that feeling

or even a little image of you arises

relax and 6r 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 sex

ring it

you are left just sitting there now

action occurs since you let go of thee

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 arise

entirely on its own and it also then

passes away there appears our 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 thee 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

a very good future results this is like

your karmic bank account developing a

pure and pure mind will help you advance

a ward thee attainment as you continue

to sit in this state movements of minds

attention have virtually stopped his

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 and 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

the mind stream which is constantly

rushing forward the Buddha talks about

it as stopping in a river with the water

now seen gang by you yet you now have

become an immovable rock the center 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 that

aversion 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

for 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 this 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 sight based on that contact of

feeling arises Pleasant and pleasant

only the pleasant nor unpleasant neutral

immediately upon the feeling arising

there is craving wanting to enjoy what

it is or to push it away you understand

as soon as you see something that very

seeing process as craving in it

6r and relax into that searing process

as soon as it catches your awareness

notice there is a very subtle tension as

soon as your eye locks onto thee

site that is what pulls your attention

to see it the moment your mind turns

observing anything at all you should be

relaxing into it right there do not let

the craving gain a foothold on your

attention let it go in most

circumstances craving is not that strong

but as fontava malarum she says it is

definitely persistent actually there is

no such thing as mind pulling your

attention the sound arises and the

craving arises it seems like some sort

of you 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 of taste

or whatever arises has the craving

embedded in it in Viet 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 the

you arise at that moment you are rise

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 the personal you

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

pinging 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

cause you are born yet again to hear see

or touch if not for that vibration a

contact chat the sense door you would

simply not come into existence at all

you don't exist outside of 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 traces the senses

only experience 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 I sense organ

creating the drops or mists of

consciousness this is your awareness

arising and passing away dependent on

the six-fold sense base 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 that truly impersonal nature

of e process that truly a 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 Rennell inside 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 under mental one

the bodily parts of this process are the

chemicals in the brain reacting together

this is the body the result of e

chemical reaction is consciousness which

is mind body and mind arising from where

we don't know while we are observing it

but the Buddha has explained this it's

about karma and its results the residue

of past unwholesome a wholesome actions

which was caused by the breaking of

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's 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 Gianna's 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 Pecha base of

neither perception nor non-perception

clear quiet mind no jhana

characteristics meditative progress time

on object AVG sitting time zero worldly

none wandering mind unable to stay on

object 5 sec 2 minutes 30 minutes or

less 1 first jhana joy excitement

happiness tranquility only wholesome

observation thoughts 3 to 5 minutes 30

minutes to 45 minutes to second jhana

bigger but more subtle joy confidence

floating feeling verbalizing causes

tension in head 3 to 6 minutes

45 minutes to 60 minutes three third

jhana joy turns to contentment and

happiness increasing equanimity lose

bodily feeling my hands are missing

three to ten min 45 minutes to 60

minutes 4/4

Jan equanimity happy feeling fades just

balance remains feeling of

loving-kindness rises to the head five

to 10 min 60 minutes one point to five

hours five bass of infinite space mind

starts to expand outward loving-kindness

now turns to compassion five to ten

minutes one hour to 1.5 hours six base

of infinite consciousness see moments of

consciousness arise seeing in

personality feeling of compassion turns

to joy 10 to 15 minutes one hour to 1.5

hours 7 base of nothingness awareness in

head lights flickers no thoughts at all

feeling of joy turns the feeling of

equanimity 15 to 30 minutes 1.5 to 2

hours 8 base of neither perception nor

non-perception subtle vibrations dreamy

no thoughts at all for long periods the

feeling of equanimity just stops observe

quiet mind object 20 to 60 minutes 1.5

to 3 hours

cessation no perception feeling a

consciousness like a light switch

turning off a space will blackout in the

mental stream Nirvana seeing links

moment of relief then joy perceived

world differently bright colours etc

chart of jhanas and characteristics

chapter 14 the daughter Nibbana as you

continue sitting there will be the

experience of strong stillness and

balance happening and you'll be able to

sit for long periods of time without

many distractions arising the mental

activity is very quiet notice especially

the movement of attention in your head

remember your brain is the seat of the

mind and tension and tightness are

arising right there release and relax in

one gentle motion just a touch of the

six rupees is enough back away quickly

from any movement of mind it can even be

the slightest sensation that draws your

attention relax right then at this stage

mind will be serene and bright there is

a brightness of mind with clear

energetic mindfulness you are

progressing well you easily see anything

arising you relax into any distractions

and six are automatically your mind

simply has no thoughts and your

attention never wanders the subtlest

links of dependent origination will

start to appear in your awareness first

there are the consciousnesses arising

from the deep inner mind there even

deeper are the formations which are the

cause of those consciousnesses you are

not this phenomenon arising don't

identify with it it is craving now just

peace of mind without these vibrations

and movements of mind is what you are

now finding more desirable there is less

suffering in this quiet tranquil mind

less is better

what are formations they are defined as

bodily verbal and mental formations they

are very small movements barely

potentials of actions to arise and not

the full-fledged results these are the

little seeds out of which consciousness

arises these in turn lead to mentality

materiality and then to the arising at

the sense bases then with contact they

explode into a conscious awareness we

won't mention here how they appear

because we want you to tell the teacher

what you think you are seeing the

teacher will decide if you are right we

don't want to put any expectation here

it is important for you to see deeply on

your own without preconceptions if there

is no teacher available it still doesn't

matter as to whatever arises the

instruction is to always 6r and go back

to your meditation object you still must

let go of everything when you see what

you think are the formations or some

deeper links 6ar them as you would any

other phenomena by six ring any link

that arises this will uncover the next

link deeper in the chain we're removing

tension and tightness from the craving

in the links as they arise and when we

do this reveals the next deeper part how

do you use six our ignorance you don't

it is an understanding of the four noble

truths in SATA m and 128 imperfections

the buddha states that the meditator may

have the brightness and light fall away

what would be the reason for the loss of

brightness but of course it would be

those pesky hindrances arising they are

dark clouds gathering over this bright

clear mind sometimes mind is so clear

that it can be described as luminous

many times sitting in this state

restlessness might come up since there

is not much to observe you may want

something to watch and might want to

start to control things boredom can

arise along with a corresponding

lessening of mindfulness because of this

the light recedes balancing the factors

of energy tranquility mindfulness and

the other awakening factors once again

will bring that radiant mind back

continue to use the clear mind as your

object of meditation if your mindfulness

is strong there will mostly be the quiet

now and then some slight activity will

arise mind will start to vibrate and

there will be a pulling away from the

quiet mind this balance still point

where your awareness resides six are

right then and come back to the quiet

your object of meditation continues to

be that quiet mind itself be on the

lookout for any activity that arises if

you feel you're losing the quiet you can

bring up that feeling of stillness and

notice this when your mind quiets down

again then you can let go of that

feeling and go back to just observing

and relaxing into mind subtle movements

the neutral zone gradually even the

smallest bits of mental activity will

subside it will be as if there is

nothing to 6r at all you may get

restless and want to get up

it is like you feel there is nothing

left to do do not do that 6r that

restlessness and keep sitting now is the

time for patience and persistence very

little happens you have to be okay with

that mind will settle down more and more

if you just continue you might not even

realize progress is being made but it is

if restlessness or any hindrance starts

to get the upper hand just observe with

the intention I don't care what happens

next my job is just to observe what is

there you will see the subtlest aspects

of mind in it of the seeds or potentials

that ultimately lead to birth old age

and death the teacher will ask questions

to find out what you are seeing you'll

be advised to be very watchful as to

hobby movements arise and how they

appear and you should not take them

personally they are not your movements

arising they just a phenomena coming

from mind we don't know why and we don't

care our only job is to allow and relax

into them as they fade away it is

important for mindfulness and

tranquility to continue to develop so

that these very slight phenomena can be

seen and understood eventually you'll

see all of the links except ignorance

which is just something that you will

come to

understand and as well you'll see all

the four noble truths you are working

your way backward letting go of each

link by going deeper and deeper you will

see the link mentality materiality and

continue backward to consciousness and

then the formations you'll be advised to

six are these objects when they appear

uncovering the next link there is the

separate and big craving link itself

after feeling and before cleaning in the

twelve links but there is also a small

amount of craving in each individual

link keeping the wheel of samsara

turning you'll be able to see all of

that you will see the entire process of

mind as you six are deeper and deeper

you'll be advised to keep backing away

from each object that arises every time

there is a sound the chain of dependent

origination fires off and you will want

a six are all of that look at the links

rising closer and closer to see how each

tiny part of it arises there is craving

there to let go you need to let

everything that arises come by itself

don't look for it in this way you can

see how there might be a craving to go

look for more experience your mind

constantly wants to go forward and like

pac-man engage in more and more senses

to see what is there to live more to

experience more this happens because

whatever is experienced passes away so

mind is constantly looking for more to

replace the phenomena that have just

passed see if you can see this jumping

from object to object by taking a mental

standpoint of a full stop just mentally

standing still and letting all

experienced pass through your

imperturbable state of mind which

doesn't react not even to the slightest

puff of vibration we are exiting this

rounder about existence samsara we do

this by letting go by seeing clearly

each link as it arises at hand

by seeing it as impersonal impermanent

and unsatisfactory mmm 111 section 18

can't so indeed these states not

come into being having been a vanish

regarding those states he abided

unattracted unrep old independent

detached free dissociated with a mind

rid of barriers he understood there is

an escape beyond and with the

cultivation of that to tainment he

confirmed that there is disenchantment

while in this quiet and clear state of

mind there comes first the knowledge of

disenchantment up to now you have

continued boobs Irv phenomena arising

and passing away with some interest you

notice who are getting deeper so you

keep going there is less and less to six

are as you go along mind becomes quiet

when quieter as you continue you notice

this constant arising and passing away

of objects you notice the silence space

between the objects that arise and pass

away you think to yourself what if I

could get rid of these objects coming

and going then there would be just the

peace you think that then there would be

only silenced and not all these annoying

objects and vibrations you see the lack

of ease as suffering this trying to

control has an aspect of longing in it

wanting to have something happen is the

very thing that will stop it

the teacher will remind the student that

their job is simply to observe you

realize that now you are beginning to

develop a whole new perspective on the

world you had never thought that the

lack if mental activity would be good

but now you do you see the many mental

activity and movement is unsatisfactory

silence is better now you see any

vibration and even any consciousness as

unsatisfactory you even try to stop

things from arising and you can't you

were never in control at all it just

keeps coming your mind starts to go

towards silence but there is a problem

the mental stream doesn't stop and just

keeps on rolling a subtle sort of

observation arises I am really tired of

these sensations disturbing my peace of

mind dissatisfaction arises along with a

realization that it would be best

to see all these arising phenomena just

stop let me please have some peace you

are starting to become disenchanted you

look for a reason why these constant

sensations and mental objects arise but

there seems to be none if you could find

the reason then you might be able to

understand why it comes or a way to turn

it off you want to analyze and solve the

problem but you don't see a solution

finally you just give up looking

interest in watching this constant

stream starts to wane you realize there

really is no end to it this is an

arising state of knowledge about your

mind on the life process it will never

end there is no peace here there was

total disinterest in the impermanent sum

of I and inside into the silliness of

identifying a non-existent permanent eye

with every feeling thought and action

deeper experience all realization that

feelings and thoughts were not under my

control that thoughts of mind objects in

general were like what ideas were to the

nose or sounds were to thee ears they

came and went without me being involved

I continued to 6r nonetheless SD

California you are energetic continually

watching every little vibration thought

form etc and you can be very determined

to relax and let go of everything that

arises by doing that you think you'll

get to the end of the process but it

doesn't work you now understand all that

arises to be a disturbance it upsets the

quiet state of mind that you are

starting to enjoy enjoy not in a craving

sort of way but with appreciation you

are starting to relish the quiet you

understand that balance is better than

chasing more objects this realization

will lead to contentment contentment

will arise without a cascade of

vibrations and movements constantly

assaulting you you may have some desire

for Nirvana to arise and might think you

are close then you might put too much

energy in and start too lenient with a

future hoping for the attainment to

arise

you need to 6r this desire this is the

arising of more craving this is longing

you may think that you need to have the

desire to reach the goal no you have

already pointed your mind there let the

meditation to the rest you make a

determination about getting somewhere

and then you just go you don't think

about the destination the whole time you

are on the way there you just continue

trusting that it will happen as planned

because you are on the right path

this is determination is the desire for

Nibin or something that we should not

have in these final sessions of sitting

before attaining awakening we need to

let go of even the desire for Nibbana

when we first start however we won't

even begin the meditation without some

intentional desire to get us on the path

so it is a positive desire a wholesome

desire because after all it is a desire

for no desire it is not like a desire

for chocolate ice cream or a new car it

is a desire to stop and be still and no

peace this kind of wholesome desire is

called chandran pali as was stated above

you don't know how to stop this stuff

from coming and coming you want it to

stop there is nothing but vibration at

all different levels now you see peace

as a more desirable goal now you wish to

be void of these sensations finally

there comes the point where you just

stopped caring about all these arising

phenomena you can't come on this stream

to stop you start to give up and see

that by paying heed to the phenomena you

were feeding them they will never stop

if you are interested in what is there

you realize that all this movement and

vibration is disturbing your

collectiveness and peace my now becomes

disinterested in what arises and there

is a deeper feeling of disenchantment

there are endless risings this is

suffering this is Ducker which is pali

for suffering a disease the Buddha said

the first noble truth of existence is

suffering now you see it you see how you

pay attention to

and like and dislike everything that

arises there by keeping it going through

craving the second noble truth now you

see the goal the cessation of craving is

the cessation of suffering the third

noble truth dispassion this leads to an

even deeper letting go dispassionate

Rises disenchantment made you more and

more aware of how your interest in these

things just leads to more suffering now

you just don't care anymore it doesn't

matter what comes it goes your mind

draws back it doesn't look outward

anymore everything that arises is okay

it doesn't matter

it no longer pulls your attention you

know you can't stop it you don't even

care about Nirvana anymore

this is a state where there are no more

hindrances your mind has just stopped

throwing up obstacles it has no more

interest in any arising experience now

you no longer try to control anything

you are now close to the unconditioned

why because you don't care through

disenchantment with all conditioned

existence are wholly balanced mind

arises it neither likes nor dislikes

there are only consciousnesses and

mental objects are rising and passing

away there is no interest in any of it

it is just there there is now the

tendency toward deep peace of mind your

mind now has barely any movement at all

you are very aware and very energetic

but again it's like nothing is happening

and the thought comes up where you

wonder if you should do

anything the answer is definitely no

just observe see that very question

arising in your mind as impersonal and

six are it it is just a matter of time

watching and observing carefully for any

movement like flickers lights are just

vibrations be six rupees are on

automatic and you aren't putting in much

effort it just rolls off in front of you

you will observe this lack of hindrances

but it won't make you excited it is just

part of what is happening it is

nonetheless amazing to have no

unwholesome states at all to be free of

craving completely this realization has

all come through your own deep insights

into watching yourself coming into and

out of existence when dispassion there

Rises you'll be very close you think

there is nothing left to do because

there is nothing to six out sir you want

to get up and do something else there

are no more barriers to the meditation

why I continue you think everything has

been completed but just continue and be

patient with this sublimely quiet mind

continue to observe without even caring

about what comes up anymore you have

realized now there is nothing that you

can do about it patience leads to

Nibbana this path is not just one step

after another until you reach the goal

you will have doubts you'll get out of

balance with your observational power

then you will figure it out two steps

forward and one step back if you are not

progressing further and you seem to hit

a wall you should ask yourself your

intuition what is stopping my meditation

from going deeper the answer may come

the next hour or the next day

sometimes there are blockages that are

hidden and simply not discoverable by

the teacher if you are working with one

or by you

hopefully an answer will come back you

may be applying too much energy you may

need to back away further from

everything or you may not be observant

enough in seeing how the links arise how

you take things personally and identify

with them you may be leaning into the

process too much bhante Vimy larum she

speaks about one student who asked

himself this question he just posed it

to himself later the answer came back

that he was waiting waiting for what

waiting for Nibbana the waiting was the

problem there was craving there and that

had to be released

whatever is stopping you will eventually

yield as your knowledge deepens

sometimes this blockage can go on for a

long time gradually even if it takes

years of retreats you mature your

technique and knowledge of how to do the

practice some people will understand

easily follow the instructions and apply

them in only a matter of days or weeks

they break through to awakening they

fall into the stream of the noble ones

patience and following the instructions

precisely does lead to Nirvana at a

certain point mind was very still and

there was drifting into a deep lucid

sleep mind was fully aware and alert

however then towards the end I blanked

out completely like I lost consciousness

and there was no feeling or perception I

only seem to be aware that I blanked out

after coming out from it but the

blanking out was only for a little time

before I came back to this loose a deep

sleep state emerging from this

meditation mind was totally still alert

and automatically radiating equanimity

everything I did

after the meditate Ian had a very calm

smooth and mindful quality people

noticed I took time with my words and

responses to them and seemed very

relaxed

indeed I felt very relaxed mind was

totally balanced very strong equanimity

throughout the day SD California let's

go to the match Gemma nicaya to see even

more clearly how the Buddha described

this process in SATA 100 and

forty-eight the six sets if sex in the

first 80% of the text the Buddha

describes the impersonality of each sent

space as it arises and passes away

nothing is you consciousness is not you

your body is not you and so on toward

the end he tells the students that as

they observe they will come to

understand certain insights as well as

why they arise liberation from Sutter m

and 148 m n 148 section 40 seem vast

monks a well taught disciple becomes

disenchanted with the art disenchanted

with forms disenchanted with I

consciousness disenchanted with eye

contact disenchanted with I feeling

disenchanted with I craving it says that

now the student starts to pull away

starts to understand there is nothing in

this arising and passing show in which

to delight what does the student really

see here the Sutter tells us MN 148

section 39 students dependent on mind

and mind objects mind consciousness

arises the meeting of the three is

mind-contact with mind-contact his

condition there arises a mind feeling

felt as pleasant a painful or

neither-pleasant-nor-painful when one is

touched by a pleasant mind feeling if

one does not delight in it welcome it

and remain holding to it then the

underlying tendency to lust does not lie

within one when one is touched by a

painful mind feeling if one does not

soro grieve and lament does not weep

beating one's breast and become

distraught then the underlying tendency

to aversion does not lie within one when

one is touched by neither

pleasant-nor-painful mind feeling if one

understands it as it is the origination

the disappearance the gratification the

danger and the escape in regard to that

mind feeling then the underlying

tendency to ignorance does not lie

within one as you watch mind and mind

objects coming and going you are

interested in this process you are

delighting in this

observation in seeing how it all works

the feeling of delight is so subtle you

may not understand it as such but you do

like watching it and trying to figure

out why the process arises and what this

all means at times mind is kind of fun

to watch through this gratification

which is defined as source of pleasure

you watch and try to get to the goal but

you can't there is the tendency to lust

after these arising and disappearing

objects or you push them in a way as

interfering with your calm or you have

indifference and don't care about them

it is the craving mind that takes this

indifference personally it is your

indifference it is not a clear pure mind

in other words you see the arising and

passing of many objects and you are

attracted then only if you see that

these objects are sources of pleasure or

a version will you see the danger to

your mind by chasing and lusting after

them as this leads to suffering old age

and death when disenchantment arises the

Buddha goes on to say mn 148 sections 35

to 39 monks that one shall here and now

make an end of suffering by abandoning

the underlying tendency to lust for

pleasant mind feeling by abolishing the

underlying tendency to aversion for

painful mind feeling by extirpating

uprooting the underlying tendency to

ignorance in regard to neither

pleasant-nor-painful mind feeling by

abandoning ignorance and arousing true

knowledge this is possible by giving up

your tendency toward the lighting in

this a that and your tendency to lust

after these delights by seeing the

danger in it and so on you come to the

end of desire you no longer want to keep

chasing these feelings as they only lead

to suffering and it's not because you

are forcing restraint on yourself it is

because you are no longer delighted by

this passing show you no longer care

thus dispassion to all phenomena arises

through the knowledge of craving the

Four Noble Truths and how craving leads

to

suffering freedom from the wheel of

samsara is experienced all that had to

be done is done

the daughter nirvana is opening entering

the stream now we arrive at the

attainments and hana banda is

experienced first i will describe the

four levels of noble attainment to be

experienced you must go through all four

to be fully awakened and free of craving

craving drops away in stages in total

there are four stages of sainthood

so tarpana sakagami inugami and pear

event each of the four stages has two

components the path knowledge mega and

the fruition knowledge fala path

knowledge is the first glimpse of

Nirvana but still may be lost if precept

- not followed

once the frood knowledge is gained the

attainment is locked in and cannot be

lost there are eight attainments in all

two final awakening - for each of the

major stages of sainthood path and fruit

at the last one the last fetter of all

ten fetters of craving is destroyed

three are eliminated at sotapanna

two more a loosened at saqqara gommi and

finally all of the first five fetters

are let go at a Nogami

the balance of the ten is eliminated at

Aravind what are the fetters with

awakening the hindrances are abandoned

once and for all but there remain

subtler an act unwholesome tendencies in

all of us that are born from craving the

word fetter is defined as something that

restrains us these are the final chains

that bind us to this endless round of

existences the fetters are the last

potentials of unwholesome states I will

list them as we go through the noble

paths and note where they are eliminated

chapter 15 first stage of awakening sir

tarpana mmm 111 section 19 again monks

buy completely surmounting the base of

neither perception nor non-perception

Sarah Porter entered upon and abided in

the cessation of perception and feeling

attaining Nibbana path knowledge mega

finally after staying with this quiet

energetic imperturbable mind of the base

of neither perception nor non-perception

and six ring every tiny movement until

mind is barely moving at all you'd let

go of the last condition the last link

of ignorance and all activity ceases

everything stops at an unconditioned

state arises there is the cessation of

perception feeling and consciousness for

a few moments of minutes you don't know

you're in that state until after you

come out some will say they experienced

at lag spot or a gap in consciousness

this is nothing like any of you previous

johner experiences it isn't a gap with a

sense of time because there is nothing

missing time doesn't exist when nothing

is happening there is just the stopping

of the stream of consciousness a halting

you only know it after you come out of

it the world stops you are no longer in

samsara and it will last as long as it's

going to last there's life still exist

vitality and your life continuum still

go on your autonomic functions like your

heart beating and blood pumping continue

but your mental process has stopped

completely

when I finished radiating equanimity to

each of the points something extremely

new happened a feeling I had felt in a

meditation a couple of days ago but it

was now much clearer and more defined in

a second It was as if a membrane around

me totally broke and release me one

second for there a huge space opened up

before me the feeling that there was so

much room there were no barriers at the

same moment my face begins to fade as if

something was literally erasing it had

left me without Skinner muscles there

was happiness

but without excitement tranquility and a

very very refined attention Barcelona

Spain before there just existed slight

movements of mind but now with this

temporary cessation of all mental

activity there arises right after that a

powerful clarity of mind you have just

had the deepest rest of your life when

you come back you are now seeing the

subtlest movements deeper than you have

ever experienced mind appears like it

totally erased blackboard nothing is on

it then when mine turns back on the

first mental process is clearly seen

against this inky black background

coming out of cessation mind is radiant

and observant you have arrived at full

stop the effect of the cessation is so

powerful that whereas before the pond of

your mind had tiny little ripples on it

now it is so still and placid that you

can see anything there you can see to

any depth what is below there is no

craving at all there is no dust to

obscure vision mind is so pure that you

see the smallest detail of anything that

starts to arise in crystal clarity what

you are about to see is the first

arising of consciousness the first

moment of mental activity as your mental

processes begin again from this still

point the next thing that happens is

that you see the links of dependent

origination arise and pass away very

quickly these are sometimes in the form

of vibrations or little lights flashes

or electrical currents you will see this

in your mind and sometimes even see it

in the air in front of you you won't

know what it is very likely and will not

expect it this is the first condition

mental process in which your mind starts

to vibrate again and come back online

when this happens the eye of wisdom mind

without craving sees the total

impersonality of the process there is no

self there your deep observation

understands that there is nobody home

that what you are is just a process of

moments arising and passing away as a

result of this profound insight the

supramundane

Nibbana arises this experience will be

followed by a momentary sense of relief

like a burden was lifted off you have

just experienced Nibbana you have become

a so tarpana in meditation things began

to slow down the vibrations slowed to a

ripple attended in bright light i went

deeper and things seemed slower there

seemed to be something breaking up in

the light i went even deeper until the

distractions abruptly stopped like the

plug had been pulled out my activity

abruptly stopped what was left was like

a blackout the center seemed darker than

the edges for a moment it felt like

something was missing I didn't feel joy

more like a calm relief çb sri lanka

Nibbana will not come when you want it

it will come when you are ready when the

seven factors of awakening all line in

perfect balance like passing through the

keyhole of the door you didn't think it

could be possible yet it happened you

see that in this seemingly permanent and

eternal psychophysical process when mind

stops there really is nothing between

each thought moment that persists that

knowledge leads you to understand that

an impersonal underlies everything there

is nothing that is continuous between

each moment nothing that survives not

even God nothing everything is

absolutely void of selfish soul MN 111

section 19 Conte and his taints were

destroyed by his seeing with wisdom the

word here is wisdom so what is wisdom

after the cessation of perception

feeling and consciousness and it's going

to last as long as it will last when

feeling perception and consciousness

start up again you have the opportunity

of seeing exactly clearly with very

sharp mindfulness every one of the links

of dependent origination you will see

how when this doesn't arise that doesn't

arise that each link is dependent on the

previous link you will see that

everything has a cause for arising you

have uncovered the last link of

ignorance you will also see that if it

Rises it will come to an end you will

see impermanence clearly all that arises

will pass away whether it be pleasure or

pain this is wisdom it is the knowledge

that you gain by directly seeing the

links of dependent origination arise and

pass away and by seeing that there is no

injuring self this wisdom is not some

sort of conceptual philosophy some

religious tenets or Dogma it is the

result of seeing directly when you see

the word wisdom in the suttas you should

understand that this always means seeing

the links of dependent origination

directly and seeing everything that

arises as impersonal it isn't learning a

philosophy it is directly observing

reality with the next mental process

that arises you'll see the whole arising

and passing away of all of the links of

dependent origination for the duration

of one instant then there is the final

letting go of ignorance and seeing the

Four Noble Truths

that is when Nibbana occurs it is just a

momentary event and just one group of

links firing the links are seen with

wisdoms I this takes place at a deeper

level than normal awareness people will

say they don't know what they saw but

they will know the mind to a greater or

lesser degree will be having inside to

rise into how there is a cause that

creates a result this constant arising

and passing away of conditioned

existence is the content of who we are

and that all there is they will now

understand at an intuitive level how

dependent origination works each link is

conditioned by the previous link each

process is conditioned by the passing

away of another process like a

candle flame that lights another candle

one candle burns down but the next

candle lights up being ignited by the

previous candle lit by bit you arise and

pass away you are changing little by

little over time like a great city that

arises from an empty piece of land each

building arises one at a time each

shovel of dirt carried off and dumped

one at a time with thee constant arising

and passing away of causes this great

city is built the next shovelful lived

her taken away changes it once again no

one person has built it just many

shovels and people shoveling it's a

process with no real beginning and no

real end we give cities names but these

are just concepts to label these groups

of buildings the perception aggregate of

the five aggregates is partially memory

and partly Bolling perception is what

puts a name on this group of buildings

it labels it either New York or San

Francisco depending on what for example

visual forms arise in our own case we

are given a name like John and then we

personally identify with that name as if

some underlying entity were controlling

everything but it isn't it is just a

concept the city itself is not one solid

thing it is the result of all these

causes that make it what it is but in

this instant only in the next moment it

has changed to something else in the

same way you are a completely impersonal

process there is no one a soul behind it

it is automatically happening and will

continue forever into the future until

you become fully awake and exit the

wheel of samsara this is so profound it

after these links pass away Nibbana

arises just for an instant in the suttas

it says got in his tanks were destroyed

with wisdom

meaning that nirvana arises right after

you see the links of dependent

origination and it destroys a certain

measured amount of craving it destroys

the first three what are called fetters

step-by-step attainment of Nirvana the

cessation of

perception and consciousness occurs this

means that everything we consider a

person stops there is a blank state a

blackout avoid nurse all mental activity

stops on an EEG one would guess the

indicator flatlines for just a moment

following the cessation because of the

incredible clarity created by the

experience of cessation the first mental

activity a set of twelve links arises

and passes away they might be seen like

bubbles a little flashing lights wisdoms

I observe Sutter and total in

personality in this first mental process

as the links arise and pass away with no

craving to cloud mind the links are seen

as just an impersonal process with no

inherent self just a group of neurons

firing that is all you are after the

last link of ignorance passes away

Nibbana

arises there is a feeling of relief for

a moment a unique feeling in the mind

that there has been a great burden

thrown off joy starts to arise all

pervading joy that can last for up to

several days it may continue longer but

sometimes you just get used to the state

and don't notice it anymore

note that the relief and the joy that

follows the different feelings you

should notice this difference there was

definitely joy but I think what followed

was the mind jumping for a brief moment

oh wow what just happened because it was

not like the nothingness between the

flickering of consciousness and yet

pervading joy persisted after the

blanking out and continued even after

the meditation this kind of joy I

couldn't compare to drunkenness although

I can see how people might do so because

if I caught myself in the mirror my eyes

were just so relaxed and I had a wide

smile on my face

it's definitely of a different quality