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Ajahn Brahm instructions
patbb
Veteran
Hello all,
I'm currently reading Ajahn Brahm's book called "Mindfulness, Bliss & Beyond" which is his instructions to meditation.
I just found out that, at least part of it, is available online here.
Anyhow, I have a question regarding his instruction, and i thought i might find someone who could help me here.
In his book, the first stage should be "Sustained attention on the present moment".
he points to:
-The goal of this meditation is the beautiful silence, stillness and clarity of mind.
-The effort is directed to letting go, to developing a mind that inclines to abandoning.
- he points to abandoning future and past.
and that is pretty much it for this stage.
The problem is that he doesn't say how to do these things.
Focusing your attention on the breath (or something else) only come 2 stages later.
Should i just close my eyes and not think anything?
Should every times i have a thought, i should say to myself "let go"?
remember that the first stage is named "Sustained attention on the present moment".
Which i guess means i must give my attention to something "the present moment" and NOT do nothing.
But how to give my attention to the present moment if not observing the breath? By listening to the sounds? By observing the thoughts that pop in my head? ...
In Vipassana (I did a 10 days retreat a year ago), you always doing something (focusing on the breath, on the sensations in the body...)
so i'm just lost at what to do.
Hope someone can help me!
thank you so very much and have a wonderful day!:)
Patrice
I'm currently reading Ajahn Brahm's book called "Mindfulness, Bliss & Beyond" which is his instructions to meditation.
I just found out that, at least part of it, is available online here.
Anyhow, I have a question regarding his instruction, and i thought i might find someone who could help me here.
In his book, the first stage should be "Sustained attention on the present moment".
he points to:
-The goal of this meditation is the beautiful silence, stillness and clarity of mind.
-The effort is directed to letting go, to developing a mind that inclines to abandoning.
- he points to abandoning future and past.
and that is pretty much it for this stage.
The problem is that he doesn't say how to do these things.
Focusing your attention on the breath (or something else) only come 2 stages later.
Should i just close my eyes and not think anything?
Should every times i have a thought, i should say to myself "let go"?
remember that the first stage is named "Sustained attention on the present moment".
Which i guess means i must give my attention to something "the present moment" and NOT do nothing.
But how to give my attention to the present moment if not observing the breath? By listening to the sounds? By observing the thoughts that pop in my head? ...
In Vipassana (I did a 10 days retreat a year ago), you always doing something (focusing on the breath, on the sensations in the body...)
so i'm just lost at what to do.
Hope someone can help me!
thank you so very much and have a wonderful day!:)
Patrice
0
Comments
Encapsulate everything that is happening within you and around you, but without commentary, evaluation, appraisal or judgement.... just' watch'. Don't 'say' anything about it.....
I know...it can be a bummer, can't it? Don't sweat it.... remember the brain is a 'computer' made to think and keep us alive. You're not suppressing thoughts. You're just noticing them, permitting them to arise, but controlling them and not letting them run away with you.....
Hope I did.... But I dunno.....
You have a great day too!
Fede
Observe whatever is happening from any of the 5 senses?
It seems to be right.
Thanks again!
Patrice
If I advise you to keep your speech silent, can you do that?
Ajahn Brahm has advised to keep the mind silent. I am not sure this is correct. When the mind is silent, the breathing in & out naturally becames the object of meditation. Attention gathers itself naturally upon the breath. There is no need to "focus your attention". Attention will focus itself at the right time. The mind & the breathing with converge in unison. Mind will go to the breath and the breath will go to the mind.
Yes. Absolutely. That is, if you wish to follow Ajahn Brahm's method.
Yes. Absolutely. The method is to establish your mind in silence, stillness and clarity. What is there to think about?
Yes. Sustained attention on the present moment (rather than thinking).
Yes and no. The mind always has attention or awareness. If you do nothing, awareness will still be there. Better to do silent 'nothing' than to do 'something'. The mind should not be strained. It should be at ease but silent. Just naturally awake.
By doing nothing. When one is doing 'nothing', sounds may enter which is fine. This is because sound awareness will still remain when doing 'nothing'. But if thoughts pop into your head, you are doing 'something' rather than 'nothing'.
Having the mind fall upon and listen naturally to sounds is fine. In fact, it cannot be avoided. For the silent mind to 'listen' is the most natural thing.
Ajahn Brahm is teaching a different method than what Goenka labels as 'vipassana'.
You must choose the method that is suitable for you. If you cannot make the mind still in the present moment then possibly you should stay with the Goenka method.
The Buddha said:
Kind regards
DD
yes... "watch" using the 5 senses, but don't stay stuck on it, nor dwell on it, nor give any of it needless priority or attention... simply "be there" and note....
DD above, is also insightful, as ever....;)
This is why I'm trying to understand the instructions of Ajahn Brahm so I can give his method a fair trial.
I cannot choose or know which method suits me unless I experience it first.
Or perhaps Vipassana (at least the Goenka's way) doesn't really suits me so I seek a different method... hmmm, i guess this is right...
What method do you use?
Thanks again for the help!
Patrice
May your practise bear fruit
:smilec:
Many cannot discern the suttas so teachers must develop teachings as follows: But then some say the Hsin-Hsin Ming is not what the suttas teach. It is Zen, not Theravada.
Kind regards
Here is the method i used to stop confusion......place a spot on the wall maybe 6 ft from where you will be "sitting". Get comfortable and begin to stare at the dot. When your mind wanders bring your attention back to the spot and just stare at it. No matter what your mind produces bring your attention back to the spot. After about 20 minutes stop the exercise. I would do this soon after i awoke in the morning, and around sunset for a few months. What will begin to happen is your mind will stop thinking and and will enter a silence and awareness but no words or distractions will be present. That is the goal of meditation. Then remember that state of mind when you get up and go about your life. The more you stay with this empty mind and open heart, the more you will not fall into confusion. Books can lead us astray. practice will not.
That is not the goal of meditation, at least not Buddhist meditation. The goal is full awareness of every aspect of experience.
You are setting up a mental state which people will attach to and chase after. This is potentially highly counterproductive.
"By their fruits ye shall surely know them."
BTW, this is ridicule.
OK, i will accept that. But please explain how the goals of an open mind and heart and seeing clearly ( awakened ) are not the goals of Buddhist practice. And there is no "chasing after" that you are talking about. I have no idea what state of mind you are referring to. Please help me out here. The meditation of which i suggested helps one drop all "chasing after". For a calm mind and heart has no need ( desire ) to chase after anything. Please what state of mind do you think this practice could lead to.?
The state of mind described in the quote with the bold text.
Yes. He is advising us to start with the “silent present moment consciousness” without jumping to the breath all at once. That is, when you sit on your cushion, first let go of your inner chatter and thoughts of the past and the future and just be in the present moment. If you hear a bird chirping out of the window just hear that sound without labeling or analyzing it. That is “silent present moment consciousness”. He has given a simile for this in the book: “Greeting visitors”.
After you feel that you are comfortable with this state (usually takes about 5 minutes for me) then slowly drift your attention to the breath.
Yes. You cannot meditate while your mind is clouded with a thousand thoughts, can you? Thoughts are unproductive; just noise. Let go of your thoughts and inner chatter. First you need to establish a level of Samadhi (attentive stillness) of the mind before vipassana arises in your mind. That is the whole idea of “mindfulness with breathing”. You use the breath to still the mind so that wisdom can arise in the still mind.
Every time you get a thought, let go of the thought and gently turn your attention back to the meditation object, which is the breath. This is the practice.
Why is this so confusing? Maybe you have been practicing meditation in a totally different way before.
The idea here is simply this:
1) Silent present moment consciousness (let go of the thoughts, inner chatter and just be in the present, listen to the sounds in the present without analyzing them etc)
2) Then slowly drift your attention to the breath. Follow the breath in and out without missing a single step. That is “sustained attention on the breath”. If you slip somewhere, start all over again
3) Fully sustained attention on the breath gradually develops into deeper absorption (you lose sense of the five sensory feelings, the duality of the breath becomes one etc)
4) Then the mind naturally drift towards the nimitta. The rest is out of your control really. AB gives instructions on each step in greater detail
In this method of meditation you really do not cloud your mind with too many thoughts of the “quality of the breath”, “sensations in the body” or this and that. Vipassana arises naturally as your mind gets absorbed into attentive stillness and awareness. As AB says “you cannot gain wisdom by contemplating the world. You can gain wisdom by attentive stillness.”
But really, all this is described in the book in greater detail. Maybe you should totally forget the things you learnt in the retreat and start reading the book with a fresh mind. Good luck!
I will re-read the book with this new information in mind.
Have a great day!
You're welcome