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Stages of Anapanasati
Talisman
Veteran
In a previous post of mine "Frames of Reference" Dhamma Datu made reference to the different "stages" of anapanasati, stating that the 5th stage would comprise the 1st Jhana, etc. Does anyone have a proper synopsis regarding these "stages?"
0
Comments
You're not going to tell us what you figured out?
http://www.kamalashila.co.uk/files/Summary of stages from the Anapanasati Sutta.pdf
With Metta
Best wishes,
Abu
To develop the depth of jhana the mind must let go and dwell in total abandonment.
Compare to say a prima ballerina that dances on auto pilot
To develop the depth of jhana the mind must abandon all judgments, including those of "be aware" and "watch the breath"
These judgments & rigid intentions are simply too slow & too clumsy; they are craving
They are working with the "intellect" rather than working with the spirit; by allowing consciousness to flow & function in itself & by itself; free from the control of willfulness
Regards
Exactly. As Ajahn Sumedho says - "Let go, let go, let go !"
:om:
We tend to overlook the ordinary. We are usually only aware of our breath when it’s abnormal, like if we have asthma or when we’ve been running hard. But with anapanasati we take our ordinary breath as the meditation object. We don’t try to make the breath long or short, or control it in any way, but to simply stay with the normal inhalation and exhalation. ...
If the mind wanders on the in-breath, then put more effort into the inhalation. If the mind wanders on the exhalation, then put more effort into that. Keep bringing it back. Always be willing to start anew. At the start of each new day, at the beginning of each inhalation, cultivate the beginner’s mind, carrying nothing from the old to the new, leaving no traces, like a big bonfire.
One inhalation and the mind wanders, so we bring it back again — and that itself is a moment of mindfulness ...
But we don’t try to get anything from the meditation, to get samadhi or get jhana, because when the mind is trying to achieve or attain things, rather than just being humbly content with one breath, then it doesn’t slow down and become calm, and we become frustrated.//
Ajahn Sumedho
http://www.buddhanet.net/nowknow2.htm
Another teaching you may enjoy, Sabre!
\\ This morning I was talking to Venerable Subbato and he was saying he never has developed anapanasati, mindfulness of the breath. So I said, 'Can you be mindful of one inhalation?' And he said, 'Oh yes.' 'And of one exhalation?' And he said, 'Yes.' And I said, 'Got it!'
There's nothing more to it than that. However, one tends to expect to develop some special kind of ability to go into some special state. And because we don't do that, then we think we can't do it.
But the way of the spiritual life is through renunciation, relinquishment, letting go not through attaining or acquiring. Even the jhanas [1] are relinquishments rather than attainments. If we relinquish more and more, letting go more and more, then the jhanic states are natural.
The attitude is most important. To practise anapanasati, one brings the attention onto one inhalation, being mindful from the beginning to the end. One inhalation, that's it; and then the same goes for the exhalation. That's the perfect attainment of anapanasati. The awareness of just that much, is the result of concentration of the mind through sustained attention on the breath.
Ajahn Sumedho
http://www.what-buddha-taught.net/Articles/Ajahn_Sumedho_Only_One_Breath.htm
\\
Thankyou for your post.
When I mention Ajahn Sumedho myself it is because I have been to a number of his offline teachings at Amaravati monastery, and in the latter half of last year I spoke to him personally about my practice on 3 different occasions before he left the UK to retire in Thailand.
So I don't just quote, I'm fortunate enough to have had him as a personal teacher too.
If you are thinking about anyone in particular when you are making insults, mentioning their names would be nice.
"Good" ?......."Teaching" ? So you regard yourself as a teacher then ?
:eek2:
The 1st paragraph above is standard Dhamma. This is how the Buddha himself taught.
But the 2nd paragraph above is a contradiction because to "bring the attention onto one inhalation", etc, is not renunciation, relinquishment & letting go.
For the most part, the Buddha himself did not speak of concentration of the mind through sustained attention on the breath.
Instead, the Buddha himself described right concentration as have one sole object, namely, relinquishment. (SN 48.9)
The Buddha himself described right concentration as having seven supporting factors, which is lead or established by mindfulness keeping 'Right View' (namely, the abandoning of attachment & craving) in the mind.
This deliberately bring attention to the breathing in & out is just craving. It is yoga practise. The Buddha did not teach like this.
The Buddha taught one brings mindfulness to the fore (lit: in front of one's face).
Sure, these yoga type practises are useful for beginners but they are not really the real thing.
Regards
:wow:
For some it is "good", for others it is not.
However "good" is simply a judgment.
To progress in the path of Anapanasati, one's mind must abandon all judgements.
They are to be endured with right understanding; by abandoning all judgements.
:coffee:
Let go and dwell in total abandonment is for extremely high grade practitioners as that of Zen Patriarch Hui Neng.
Gassho
:dunce:
:coffee:
I've seen many of these attitudes on the internet but I wonder who are the people sitting behind the computers, are they not real people? I think they are and at least I've been fortunate to meet and learn from many good practitioners on the internet as well. Obviously not everyone can see the well.
Best wishes,
Abu
:bowdown:
looks like the hindrances have attacked your mind again
if we wish to develop meditation, the buddha said: "when the eye hears a smell, just taste; when the ear smells a touch, just see; etc"
all the best
apart from that, I fail to comprehend alot of relevancy in this discussion also
kind regards
The internet is just the various opinions of various folks, that is all.
It is just words on a screen; just form; just maya.
But often, we take it all so seriously
:dunce:
Best wishes,
Abu
Hi Element
Hope your practice is going well. Thanks for your efforts.
Peace,
Abu