… Try long
breathing, short breathing, or longer or shorter, or more middling,
deeper or more shallow. heavy or light or faster or slower. There are
lots of ways of experimenting with the breath, which not only makes it
more comfortable but also makes it more interesting to sit here. Here
it is, this energy in your body that keeps you alive. It has a …
… Keep reminding yourself that’s the way skills are. If this were a very
simple skill, the kind of skill where you could make steady progress,
it wouldn’t have such a deep impact on the mind. The mind is a very
complex phenomenon, so its progress, its growing mastery, is going to
be a complex process as well.
Ajaan Lee makes a comparison …
… Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathāgata—producing vision, producing knowledge—leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to unbinding.
‘And what is the middle way realized by the Tathāgata that—producing vision, producing knowledge—leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to unbinding? Precisely this noble eightfold path: right view, right resolve, right speech …
… That’s one way you have to look for a balance so that contentment and being unburdensome follow the middle way of moderation.
Another set of balancing qualities are contentment on the one hand, and shedding pride and being modest on the other. Some people like to make a show of how frugal they are. This, the Buddha said, is the danger of developing …
… And in whatever way the Teacher or a fellow person leading the holy life teaches the Dhamma to the monk, in just that way the monk, with regard to that Dhamma, is sensitive to the meaning, is sensitive to the Dhamma. In him—sensitive to the meaning, sensitive to the Dhamma—joy is born. When he is joyful, rapture is born. In one who …
… Exactly
how much renunciation is involved? Where is that Middle Way right now?
That takes experience to see. You experiment and then see what results
you get. Everybody wants to hear the quick and easy formula for
figuring out how much is enough. Well, there is no quick and easy
formula. You have to experiment; you have to be willing to try
different approaches …
… It basically lays things out, and in an honorable way.
As the Buddha said, it’s admirable in the beginning, admirable in the middle, admirable in the end. In other words, the words of the Dhamma are inspiring. The practice is a noble practice, one in which we engage in developing the noble qualities of our own minds. And the end result is total …
… And then you move up to the next section, say, the solar plexus, and then the middle of the chest, the base of the throat, the head, down the back, out the legs. Starting again at the back of the neck, go down the shoulders and out the arms until you’ve covered the whole body. You can go through the body this way …
… You want to get to know the filtering process very well, so you can recognize when it’s filtering things in an accurate and useful way, and when it’s filtering them in a harmful way that gives rise to suffering.
So we focus on the breath not simply as a means for getting the mind to settle down and be still, but also …
… You can look at the Buddha’s teachings as advice on how to
fabricate all these three kinds of fabrication in skillful ways.
He even gives you instructions on how to breathe: Breathe in a way
that makes you sensitive to rapture, sensitive to pleasure; breathe in
a way where you’re aware of the whole body; breathe in a way where you
gladden …
… If you lack that
conviction, then no matter what, you get stuck in someplace and think,
“Well this is it! No way out.” And you give up. You’re lost.
But if you’re convinced there must be a way out, that gives you the
chance to find it. In that way, in spite of your setbacks, you learn.
If you’ve been through …
… whatever perceptions you have of the breath, whatever ways you have of conceiving the breath. That’s an effective way of getting the mind to settle down: simply by holding that perception in mind. You pay attention, which is another element of form. You’ve got the intention to stay. And then you’ve got the feeling that arises when you try to create …
… So think of it relaxing and staying
relaxed all way through.
You have to be very watchful here. If your attention slips away,
things will tense up again immediately if that’s your normal way of
doing things.
So you’re reeducating the body in how to breathe, and at the same time
reeducating your mind, getting the mind to stay in the present …
… You’re
crossing a river and you get to an island in the middle of the river.
The river has the potential to flood, but you’ve got an island that’s
high enough, so that even when it floods, you’re not swept away. But
it’s a way station on the way to the other side.
What does it mean to practice …
… They can dress themselves up and
disguise themselves in all kinds of ways. Laziness in particular can
dress itself up like the Dhamma and say, “Well, the Buddha said for
you to follow the middle way. It’s leads to a sense of ease, so the
path itself should be easeful, too.” But then you think of all the
paths you’ve encountered in …
… In the same way when you practice, you’re the one who’s responsible.
The Buddha tells you what works—what’s good for the mind, what’s bad
for the mind—but it’s up to you to follow the instructions. The path
he lays out is very similar to the three kinds of treatment you get
when you go to, say, a …
… down through the head, down through the neck, the
torso, and right in the middle of the body. As you breathe in, the
breath goes into that line from all directions, and as you breathe
out, it goes out from that line in all directions.
So see what way of conceiving or perceiving the breath energy is
helpful for you right now. The breath …
… Experimenting with different ways of breathing, different ways of conceiving the breathing, different ways of focusing the mind, different ways of asking questions: There’s a lot to play with here. And as long as you’re fully engaged, you’re bound to make discoveries.
This is called the quality of citta, or intentness: the intentness that comes when you’re really absorbed in …
… We start somewhere in the middle. We come to the practice
with some virtue, some concentration, some insight already. But we
also come with a lot of other things that are not part of the path.
They’re obstacles. Our virtue is not all around. Our concentration and
insight are not all around. Sometimes there are little gaps, sometimes
the gaps are enormous.
So …
… It’s because
the circulation isn’t going well in the back of the neck or in the
middle of the back.
This is why you start up there, at the top of the back, and think of
the breath energy going all the way down the spine and out the leg.
Wherever there’s tension that tends to tighten up in those areas …
Chapter IV | The Mind like Fire Unbound
… Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathāgata—producing vision, producing knowledge—leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to unbinding. ‘And what is the middle way realized by the Tathāgata that—producing vision, producing knowledge—leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to unbinding? Precisely this noble eightfold path: right view, right resolve, right speech …
DN 34 Dasuttara Sutta | Progressing by Tens
… And in whatever way the Teacher or a fellow person leading the holy life teaches the Dhamma to the monk, in just that way the monk, with regard to that Dhamma, is sensitive to the meaning, is sensitive to the Dhamma. In him—sensitive to the meaning, sensitive to the Dhamma—joy is born. When he is joyful, rapture is born. In one who …
Non-Reactive Judgment
… They can dress themselves up and disguise themselves in all kinds of ways. Laziness in particular can dress itself up like the Dhamma and say, “Well, the Buddha said for you to follow the middle way. It’s leads to a sense of ease, so the path itself should be easeful, too.” But then you think of all the paths you’ve encountered in …
