One cannot merely heat up oatmeal, and then add water, expecting porridge — all one gets is an unpalatable mess.
When one mixes up water and oatmeal while heating the mixture over heat, porridge is always made.
Doing things correctly yields results.
So too is it with meditation: all the observation in the world is pointless when the mind is not calm as a troubled mind misses the fine details of what he observes.
This is why meditation begins with counting the breath. It isn't how many times you count your breath that is important: it is the single-minded focus on returning to counting the breath that calms the mind.
Once the mind is calm, that single-minded focus is honed and now allows the practitioner to closely observe how his thoughts arise, where they go when thoughts fade away, and which ones were truly important to his journey on the Middle Path.
This is the essence of the samadhi of No-thought: breath meditation becalms the mind and develops single-mindedness, which prepares the mind to observe itself carefully.
Once the practitioner learns that the ebb and flow of his thoughts are as calm as the ocean waves crashing upon the shore, he has purified the mind with samadhi.
Why is it called "samadhi of No-thought?" His right concentration allows him to not be attached to his thoughts, and to let them rise and fall like waves on a beach.
For his mind is calm as the eye of a storm of thoughts he no longer holds close.
Showing posts with label right concentration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label right concentration. Show all posts
20130111
The Meaning of Good (poem)
Listen: right means good.
Good means pure, pure means right, and
once again, listen:
Right concentration arises
from a good meditation
to help attain the pure mind.
See: loving-kindness is good.
For compassion pours from a pure heart
working with the right mind to see
the Buddha world in all its goodness
certainly is the Pure Land,
until everything is right with the world.
Speak of the goodness
in the heartmind that is pure,
for right-mindedness speaks
with a good heart to all
who seek the pure mind
For this is the meaning of good.
Good means pure, pure means right, and
once again, listen:
Right concentration arises
from a good meditation
to help attain the pure mind.
See: loving-kindness is good.
For compassion pours from a pure heart
working with the right mind to see
the Buddha world in all its goodness
certainly is the Pure Land,
until everything is right with the world.
Speak of the goodness
in the heartmind that is pure,
for right-mindedness speaks
with a good heart to all
who seek the pure mind
For this is the meaning of good.
20100615
Seasonal Affective Disorder
June 15, 2010: It's the middle of June now, and I'd like to be prepared for the onset of SAD now when I am at my highest.
That means for the month of September, I'll see if the mirtazapine makes a difference.
While on this med, I do not mistake the fatigue for depression.
Currently, the changes in sleep pattern appear to mimic the changes in sleep pattern I would undergo during the longer days of summer.
Tho I enjoy sleeping more than usual, both because of the medication and because it's a healthy hobby! :p YMMV
IMHO the best way to beat SAD is to make sure that I have plenty to do in the fall and winter. Being on-line 24/7 does not healthily preoccupy my time.
My plan during the summer is to study Vajrayana, and get involved in the Buddhist community outside Jodo Shinshu.
Hopefully by the fall I'll see how committed I am to this path because it would preoccupy my time during the winter.
Update: 20130124.1820
Over the course of two years since the original post, I veered back to Pure Land Buddhism, of the Chinese flavor mixed with True Pure Land school.
My medication also has been reduced to gabapentin and cyclobenzaprine with good results for sedation and sleep architecture.
For about six months I even tried out Baptist.
Yet I always return to Pure Land since I grew up on it. It's just like when I try to pray, I return to the Nembutsu.
Recently I have affirmed my commitment to Amida Buddha. Over the past month, Buddha Remembrance has resulted in focus, joy, and peace of mind.
As a result of these improvements I've noticed that meditation has resulted in one-pointedness of mind due to ease of focus. This has improved my mood, resulting in more experiences akin to pure joy. Due to ease of focus during meditation, I have also achieved peace of mind.
For focus is related to pure concentration in meditation; joy, the fruit of concentration; and peace of mind, the essence of clarity of mind. The improvement in my mood has allowed me to enjoy being outside, riding transit while on errands.
Overall, I have managed Seasonal Affective Disorder through the use of meditation and regular exercise.
That means for the month of September, I'll see if the mirtazapine makes a difference.
While on this med, I do not mistake the fatigue for depression.
Currently, the changes in sleep pattern appear to mimic the changes in sleep pattern I would undergo during the longer days of summer.
Tho I enjoy sleeping more than usual, both because of the medication and because it's a healthy hobby! :p YMMV
IMHO the best way to beat SAD is to make sure that I have plenty to do in the fall and winter. Being on-line 24/7 does not healthily preoccupy my time.
My plan during the summer is to study Vajrayana, and get involved in the Buddhist community outside Jodo Shinshu.
Hopefully by the fall I'll see how committed I am to this path because it would preoccupy my time during the winter.
Update: 20130124.1820
Over the course of two years since the original post, I veered back to Pure Land Buddhism, of the Chinese flavor mixed with True Pure Land school.
My medication also has been reduced to gabapentin and cyclobenzaprine with good results for sedation and sleep architecture.
For about six months I even tried out Baptist.
Yet I always return to Pure Land since I grew up on it. It's just like when I try to pray, I return to the Nembutsu.
Recently I have affirmed my commitment to Amida Buddha. Over the past month, Buddha Remembrance has resulted in focus, joy, and peace of mind.
As a result of these improvements I've noticed that meditation has resulted in one-pointedness of mind due to ease of focus. This has improved my mood, resulting in more experiences akin to pure joy. Due to ease of focus during meditation, I have also achieved peace of mind.
For focus is related to pure concentration in meditation; joy, the fruit of concentration; and peace of mind, the essence of clarity of mind. The improvement in my mood has allowed me to enjoy being outside, riding transit while on errands.
Overall, I have managed Seasonal Affective Disorder through the use of meditation and regular exercise.
20060311
Right Concentration: Transcending the Six Worldly Dusts
"In your seeing," he said, "there should be only the seeing. In your hearing, nothing but the hearing; in your smelling, tasting, and touching, nothing but smelling, tasting, and touching; in your thinking, nothing but the thought."
-Khuddaka Nikaya
According to Buddhism, the six worldly dusts are form, sound, taste, touch and dharmas (external opinions).
As a metaphor for all the mundane things that can becloud our True Nature, they correspond to the five senses and the discriminating, everyday mind (the six sense).
Thus the above quotes is part of the sutra Khuddhaka, which instructs the seeker on how to use the six senses so as to transcend the worldly dusts of form, sound, taste, touch, and dharmas.
Simply put, do not analyze sense data.
-Khuddaka Nikaya
According to Buddhism, the six worldly dusts are form, sound, taste, touch and dharmas (external opinions).
As a metaphor for all the mundane things that can becloud our True Nature, they correspond to the five senses and the discriminating, everyday mind (the six sense).
Thus the above quotes is part of the sutra Khuddhaka, which instructs the seeker on how to use the six senses so as to transcend the worldly dusts of form, sound, taste, touch, and dharmas.
Simply put, do not analyze sense data.
20051211
How to cope with wavering thoughts
How to cope with wavering thoughts?
Versatile are flying clouds,
Yet from the sky they're not apart.
Mighty are the ocean's waves,
Yet they are not separate from the sea.
Heavy and thick are banks of fog,
Yet from the air they're not apart.
Frantic runs the mind in voidness,
Yet from the Void it never separates.
-Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa
20050621
Where's the Horse?
Q: I can observe anger and work with greed, but how does one observe delusion?
A: You're riding a horse and asking "Where's the horse?" Pay attention.
-Ajahn Chah
In this quote by the Buddhist monk Ajahn Chah, the horse refers to the fettered mind, full of delusion.
For the purpose of meditation is to relieve the mind of spiritual delusion, leaving it unfettered.
Thus, the question - "How does one observe delusion?" - shows inattention.
Like a rider on a horse,
I ride in control of my mind.
I rise above anger, greed, and delusion
with attentive concentration.
Like a rider on a horse,
I ride in control of my mind.
Free of fetters, the mind cares
for the body to become as one.
Like a rider on a horse,
I ride in control of my mind.
In taking care of the body,
the mind discovers unconditional love.
A: You're riding a horse and asking "Where's the horse?" Pay attention.
-Ajahn Chah
In this quote by the Buddhist monk Ajahn Chah, the horse refers to the fettered mind, full of delusion.
For the purpose of meditation is to relieve the mind of spiritual delusion, leaving it unfettered.
Thus, the question - "How does one observe delusion?" - shows inattention.
Like a rider on a horse,
I ride in control of my mind.
I rise above anger, greed, and delusion
with attentive concentration.
Like a rider on a horse,
I ride in control of my mind.
Free of fetters, the mind cares
for the body to become as one.
Like a rider on a horse,
I ride in control of my mind.
In taking care of the body,
the mind discovers unconditional love.
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