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Mundane and supramundane right mindfulness

1/4/2022

 
​The traditional spiritual path is virtue, then concentration, then wisdom. We begin with the ‘mundane’ path of virtue. We are learning first of all to tune in to our minds with a moral intention. Then, as we empty out the mind through concentration, we see that it becomes more and more wholesome. In this way we learn for ourselves, in our own experience, that everything that comes to interfere with our concentration during meditation, everything that arises automatically in the mind, is unwholesome. At this point there is no longer a need to discriminate on a moral basis.

Having seen this, we can add contemplation to concentration as a way to let go of all these states and to empty out the mind. Then we are not dependent upon concentration practise to keep the mind clear. Once we have developed, through contemplation, the stable perception of the automatic mind as unwholesome, the mind will become automatically self-clearing. Then we can apply our wholesome minds fully to other things. Developing wholesome perceptions of the world will then cut off at the root any tendency for the unwholesome to arise.

I hope this explains the connection between the two kinds of right mindfulness in the Buddha’s teaching – mundane and supramundane. Mundane right mindfulness is to see the wholesome or unwholesome nature of things, it is a moral discrimination. Supramundane right mindfulness contemplates the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-self nature of things.

​
Picture


​I offer this for your reflection


Ajahn Kalyāno
http://www.openthesky.co.uk


Effects of body awareness

13/11/2021

 
​Establishing mindfulness of the body very calmly and fully has wide-ranging, transformative effects on the mind. Below is a set of tables in which these
effects are listed. The state and dynamics of the different aspects of the mind
are described with the body relatively absent (in the normal case of the
untrained mind) opposite the case where the body is fully present in the mind
(when mindfulness of the body is very clearly established).

Each row in the tables is a progression from the previous one representing
mindfulness practise (the domain in the left column) or its fruit (the right
column) going deeper and deeper.
​Body is not present in the mind 
Body is present in the mind
Only pleasant and unpleasant feelings are present – The body
is only recognised by these feelings and has no presence 
of its own
​Neutral feeling is present – the body has ‘presence’ 
Posture (and movement) are merely automatic/habitual 
Posture – aware of (and in control of) how you are sitting
standing or lying
In activity the body is projected out into the world, it is 
merely a tool
​ In activity a background awareness remains
Aware only of the purpose of movement 
​Aware (and in control of) active movement
Aware only of yielding to an outside force of some kind 
Aware of (and in control of) movement which is allowed
Not aware of the breath 
Aware of the breath
The body is sensed as feelings only 
Elements are sensed – the consistency of the body parts, 
hard or soft etc.
The outer appearance of the body of is seen as an impression of like or dislike
The outside of the body is seen neutrally as hair of the head, hair of the body, nails teeth and skin
The inside of the body is ignored or referred to only in 
relation to some purpose
The inside of the bodies is imagined just as it is, just as being present
Only feelings are sensed within the body 
An imagined image of an inner body part is stable 
Samādhi is experienced as clear outer awareness or space
(upacāra)
We experience an ‘external bodily nimitta’ – a calm, 
clear, stable image of the inner reality of the bodies of 
others
Samādhi is experienced as clear inner awareness or space
(appanā)
​We experience an ‘internal bodily nimitta’ – a calm clear,
stable image of the inside of our own body
Absent body as it influences physical feeling 
Present body as it influences physical feeling
Pain increases as the mind focuses on feeling 
 Pain diminishes or stays the same
​Suffering increases as the mind resists the feeling 
​Perspective on or relationship to pain changes, causing 
less suffering
​Mind sees body and physical feeling as the same 
Mind sees body and physical feeing as different
Body is assumed to be real, material
Body image is immaterial
​Bodily inner parts or organs are absent so that physical 
feelings are experienced ‘in the dark’
Bodily inner parts or organs are present in awareness so that feelings are seen, in a new light, as separate from that which feels them, also the ultimate impermanence of feeling is seen as it is experienced
​Absent body as it influences mental feeling 
​Present body as it influences mental feeling
Suffering increases as the feeling is trapped inside 
Perspective on or relationship to pain changes causing less of suffering – feelings arise in an open mind
Bodily organs are absent so that emotional feelings are 
experienced ‘in the dark’
​The inside of the body is present. The emotion is experienced in a new light and either sublimated or if the emotion still arises, it appears transformed and 
outside, related to the object (real, remembered or imagined) that was or is its source
We are attracted to an object or drawn into an activity and
lose the background awareness of the body
Through the lack of desire, dispassion, we experience in the context of seeing the reality of the body, we are not drawn in and we sustain the body in background awareness. We therefore experience the new object of desire in this context
​When we are averse to an object or activity, this throws us
back into our feelings
The cool awareness of dispassion is unaffected by an 
unpleasant object
​We notice the breath only as air entering and leaving 
The breath is sensed throughout the body and calms feeling
Our feelings about our body influence the feelings we 
experience inside them – we are not aware that this is the 
case
​The emotional feelings we have in the body are seen as the results of an action of body or mind in the same 
way as physical feelings
Feelings are trapped in the body
​Feelings are released and experienced in an open field 
of awareness that extends beyond the body
​Absent body as it influences the quality of the mind
itself
​ Present body  as it influences the quality of the 
mind itself
The body is merely a tool of the mind
Mind is composed, control of the body helps to 
control the mind
​Feeling and therefore the mind are restricted to, trapped
in the body
Mind is centred and movements of the mind out into 
the world are clearly seen
Mind moves with feeling, is never at rest, vibrates with 
the heat of passion
​Mind becomes still through resting on the body, is
cool with dispassion
Mind focuses through grasping feeling 
Mind is open, mind sees the mind
The focussed mind is dark and therefore blind 
Mind is open, bright and sees
​Mind is bound to the feeling of material elements 
Mind is released from the actual material elements
We always have thoughts or feelings about the body 
that prevent us from accepting it the way it is
We can accept the body as it is in bare awareness
Mind is in the body 
​Body is in the open mind
The body is a source of fear to the mind
​The body is a natural source of wisdom in the mind
The body is a source of desire and craving to the mind 
 The body is a natural source of compassion in the 
mind
We experience the suffering of attachment to the body 
​We experience freedom from suffering – the mind 
detached from the body – the body remains present
We are in denial of our own mortality 
​ We are aware of and accept the mortality of the body
– we see death but also see the deathless
​Absent body as it influences thought 
Present body as it influences thought
Unless the body is a theme in thought the body is 
absent from consideration
The body is taken into account in all consideration
​Only relative impermanence is seen 
Absolute impermanence is seen
​Only relative impersonality is seen
Absolute impersonality is seen
Thought is experienced as located in the head in subjective experience, as and when we are understanding it to be so
Thought is freed from being trapped in the head
​Ignorance naturally arises 
Wise thought naturally arises
Craving naturally arises
​ Compassionate thought naturally arises
​Absent body as it influences sense of self 
Present body as it influences sense of self
​We assume that our automatic pilot knows how to 
operate the body
As we take over supervision from the automatic pilot 
we realise that we don’t know our own bodies so well –
the sense of self in relation to it diminishes
We are not aware of the sense organs themselves as we
use them – giving the impression of a subject or self independent of the body
Sense organ is present in awareness so for example we are aware of the eye that sees – there is no sense of self that results
We look for solutions to sickness or ageing – the body 
is represented as a problem to get over
​We are clearly aware of the processes of sickness and ageing and our limited ability to change these – we see 
these as facts of nature
Picture
​I offer this for your reflection

Ajahn Kalyāno
http://www.openthesky.co.uk

Mindful caring

28/6/2021

 
How would it be if someone gave you a big bag of bones and told you that your job would be to carry them around for your whole life? What about if, on top of that, you had to be very careful not to break one. This does not make life in the body sound too good does it? Actually having a body, if you really pay attention, is at times a very humbling thing to have. The innocent honesty of children in relation to the body can be a lovely light reminder also of how embarrassing the body can be.

And yet looking after the body with mindfulness can be just like looking after another person’s body – except that we can directly feel what is happening. 

In developing such mindfulness it can be enormously valuable to nurse others. When we look after another person’s body the absence of direct feeling can show us the bodily predicament very clearly and make caring for another a deeply contemplative experience. We can reflect on what it is like to have a body without the feeling element that tends to affect the mind so much one way or the other. We get a very neutral sense of the body as distinct from feeling. This can really help the mind to calm down over the bodily experience yet, of course, we are concerned for the feelings of the other person at the same time. We are concerned for feeling but not directly effected by it.

This can also mirror the ideal in terms of our relationship to our own bodies, training us to care in a calm and peaceful way.

Also, from such a calm perspective, we can find that looking after another person and looking after their body can be two very different experiences that we shift between. This helps us to see the mind and the body as two different things although they are dependent on each other. This deepens our sense of a healthy, caring detachment where we can look after ourselves or others with compassion but without suffering.
​
The Goddess of Compassion looking after The Child, guided by the Buddha



​I offer this for your reflection


Ajahn Kalyāno
http://www.openthesky.co.uk​

The body image that frees us from suffering

14/6/2018

 
It is important in terms of Dhamma that there is an image of the body that can be formed in the mind and that is independent of the five senses and of sensations of pleasure and pain. This means that this image can remain in its pure form when the mind is withdrawn from the senses in samādhi. This is the way that an image is held and examined in a place where the mind is pure. This is the way we see the truth of the body and can let go of attachment to it and consequently attachment to all the rest. This is the end of inner suffering.

This inner image is then compared with the outer image of the body, our own and other people's bodies as seen from the outside. In this way we transform this image as well, allowing us to let go of desire related to the bodies of others as well as our own. This is freedom from suffering, inner and outer.
Picture
This body image, which is thus at the very heart of the quest for liberation, is formed through a combination of awareness of the movement, posture and elements of the body. Meditation experience (and also evidence from neuroscience) shows us that the mind has sources of the relevant information on these aspects of the body which do not involve the five senses or feelings of pleasure or pain. There are the sensations of the hardness of bones or the softness of the belly that are neutral, neither pleasant nor painful and that through awareness form an image over time of a part of the body in the mind. Then there are neural receptors in our joints that tell us the position of our limbs, giving us information on movement and posture. There are sensors of heat and cold and a sense of the position of the body in relation to gravity.

All this information can form a neutral image in the mind of the real body, in the same place as the real thing, which is not imagined but arises spontaneously. We then find that we can examine and manipulate this image and that this takes our samādhi deeper and deeper until we let go of the body completely.

This is the end of all stress. This can become established as a natural state and a permanent end to stress. Also, if we believe those who have realised such a state, it is clear to them that this is also the end of the cycle of rebirth and therefore an end to all future suffering.

'Just watch your mind'

4/4/2018

 
​‘Just watch your mind’


Very many teachers of Buddhism are now teaching people as they see all their ‘stuff coming up’ to ‘just watch their mind, accept and let go’. This is a good teaching if we realise that what we are watching is our karma coming up. Then we can keep moving forward but also be noting it all as the results of our actions of body and mind, past and present, seeing it all as feedback and altering our course accordingly.


Where we can go wrong is:


1. If we see what is arising as our minds, not our karma and try to fix it all. Then we will have a hard job fixing the past. In a sense the practice of ‘just watching’ is a good remedy or balance to the fixing that can become endless therapy but it can be hard not to try to get rid of unpleasant feelings - after all that is natural enough. The answer is simple in theory but not so easy in practice. If we have enough patience we can we bring together the element of just watching or rather acceptance and skilful action of one kind or another to alleviate our suffering in the present.


2. If we do not make the discrimination between what is old karma and what is the active mind in the present we can:
a) become the passive watcher and miss the opportunity to steer things in a good direction in the present
b) fail to realise that we are already doing something to contribute to the karma that is arising through the way we are watching. As we passively watch we can then fall into the illusion that the watcher is somehow beyond, already enlightened even and we overestimate our minds, selling ourselves short of the highest goal. In the truly enlightened mind we are not watching our suffering, there is no suffering arising.


What helps is if we also at times hold an object in our formal meditation – we meditate in a more active way. We use the mantra ‘Buddho’ for example. This helps us to clearly see the difference between the two sources of thought – what we are thinking in the present (our mantra) and the flow of karma, our automatic pilot as it were, that comes to interrupt us. In the active, untrained mind feeling and perception, past and present, get mixed up with each other. As we practise formal meditation past and present separate out.


3. If we watch the mind and not the body then the mind can lack feeling and also neglect the purely physical part of our existence as human beings. Also, can we just watch the body if it falls down or do we fall down with it?

mindfulness and meditation

3/3/2018

 
Meditation techniques
We all start off using different techniques of meditation, this is like learning to drive a car using a simulator. We learn all the different elements of the skill separately (steering, gears, brakes etc.) and then later on we combine all these as we drive.

All techniques should have an element of watching (vipassanā) and an element of peacefulness (samatha). These are both necessary elements for progress. If we do not learn to combine these early on our minds will always be vacillating, trying to decide which one to do, when with patience it can be perfectly natural to be doing both at the same time. When we are concentrating on driving a car, for example, we keep our eyes on the road ahead, this is like following a meditation object to calm the mind. We also need to be aware of what is happening on the periphery of our attention, this is like keeping an eye on what else is going on in the mind. An experienced driver automatically uses the controls (the different techniques) while keeping his eyes on the road.

This is also a training relevant to the rest of our lives. We then keep our minds on whatever we are doing whilst being aware of what else is happening, this is balanced attention. We can be effective and also receive the feedback that is coming back to us from our actions. we are aware of both our thoughts and our feelings.

Keeping our mindfulness
Staying in the present moment is not as easy as it sounds. It is mostly a matter of ‘relaxed discipline’: The more we are mindful of something one time, the more we can relax into it, the more likely we will be mindful of it next time.
It is difficult to notice how and when we lose our mindfulness. When we are lost we are lost. So the art is not to give so much attention to when or how we lose mindfulness but how to maintain it. The formal meditation practice helps a lot. When we are meditating we have the object of our meditation, if we are watching the breath it is the continuous presence of the breath in and out that shows us we are mindful. What we need to look for as we meditate more is some kind of sign that our mindfulness is established other than this object – something we can be aware of whatever we are doing. This sign will vary for different people (e.g. brightness in the eyes, a faint ringing in the ears, a sense of ‘presence’). This sign can then become like an anchor for us, holding us in the present moment. This anchor can become something very significant, almost magical or mystical in our lives, an opening into another dimension, another world – the world of mindfulness or 'mind fullness'. 

Mind Fullness
Our whole experience of mindfulness hinges first of all on what we understand or experience the mind to be. What is not explained by the Buddha in his discourse on mindfulness (the satipaṭṭhāna sutta) but taken for granted is the understanding of the mind current at that time. This understanding was formed by the experience of samādhi. This experience was well known, commonplace, in spiritual circles at the time of the Buddha. Now it is very rarely experienced, even mentioned.

The modern perception of the mind is of thinking and emotion. Even if we have studied the Buddha’s teachings and we have all kinds of ideas about the spacious mind, when we come to start actually practising we are quickly back to our usual way of experiencing the mind and its operation. We end up merely thinking about ourselves.

The ancient perception was of a brightness at the heart, shining out to encompass the world and also creating a space in which thought and emotion arise and cease. If we understand the modern perception to be influenced by an objective view of the mind, as being centred in the nervous system and the ancient view to be purely subjective, then they need not contradict. We are just left realising, perhaps, that if we do not impose an objective view onto our subjective experience then it is not the same.

In terms of practice we can understand the development of mindfulness outlined in satipaṭṭhāna as an awareness of our world, inner and outer, based on this understanding of the mind and thus one that accompanies and supports this experiencing of samādhi, the unified mind. Thus in satipaṭṭhāna our purpose is to build up a unified experience of life. We do not focus and analyse one element at a time. Centring strongly on the body we open up to feeling, to the space of the mind and thought in that order. Within the unified experience these latter three elements emerge as the mind expands from its true centre at the heart.

The Buddha further points out that this apparent centre is not the ultimate. The mind expands to the degree that this centre is lost and that this is the ultimate non-dual state.

So, far from aiming at a highly focussed point of analysis, the practise of mindfulness is one of an expansion of the mind. We begin with the body and with a point of emptiness or space developed through concentration but then expand this point to include the world.

Of course I am not the first to point all this out. Many meditation teachers do the same. Yet we can also think that the solution is to merely form a different view of things rather than striving for the actual experience of samādhi. This is like reading the book rather than doing the practice, we fall into armchair Buddhism, much easier. The view will, however, never substitute for the experience.

​Right mindfulness
The traditional spiritual path is virtue, then concentration, then wisdom. We begin with the ‘mundane’ path of virtue. We are learning first of all to tune in to our minds with a moral intention. Then, as we empty out the mind through concentration, we see that it becomes more and more wholesome. In this way we learn for ourselves, in our own experience, that everything that comes to interfere with our concentration, that arises automatically in the mind, is unwholesome. At this point there is no longer a need to discriminate on a moral basis.
Having seen this, we can add contemplation to concentration as a way to let go of all these states and to empty out the mind. Then we are not dependent upon concentration practise to keep the mind clear. Once we have developed, through contemplation, the stable perception of the automatic mind as unwholesome, the mind will become automatically self-clearing. Then we can apply our wholesome minds fully to other things. Developing wholesome perceptions of the world will then cut off at the root any tendency for the unwholesome to arise.

I hope this explains the connection between the two kinds of right mindfulness in the Buddha’s teaching – mundane and supramundane. Mundane right mindfulness is to see the wholesome or unwholesome nature of things, it is a moral discrimination. Supramundane right mindfulness contemplates the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-self nature of things.

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