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Doubts about anapanasati
NamelessRiver
Veteran
I am stressed out of trying to understand these things so I might as well ask if you guys agree with what I understood so far 
(all feedback is more than welcome)
How are you supposed to calm mental fabrication (here it is understood as feeling and perception)? What does calming here mean, as in how far you need to take this? (mental fabrications here are apparently feeling and perception). I would understand this calming mental fabrications, ultimately, as being one-pointedness. The previous steps are breathing sensitive to rapture and bliss, which are also pleasant feelings, so to calm mental fabrications you would have to drop them eventually, which leaves you in the fourth jhana (or you could go on to understand this as going until transcending the "dimention of nothingness" but it would be too much, maybe?). Do you guys agree with this interpretation?
Here I don't know if this is supposed to be a continuation of the previous steps or a change in subject, because taking out feeling and perception you are left with consciousness and volition, right? So mind here, in my interpretation, would be only these two.
Sensitive to the mind would be perceiving volition and consciousness (how do you even perceive consciousness, is it possible?
), so satisfying, steadying and releasing the mind would have to do with volition (and maybe consciousness ).
I think the abandoning of volition is described in the Anusaya Sutta, such as follows:
As for conciousness I got this from Maha-Nidana Sutta:
I wont get into the fourth tetrad as of yet, too much to think about in these two :skeptical
How do you guys understand these 2 tetrads?
(all feedback is more than welcome)How are you supposed to calm mental fabrication (here it is understood as feeling and perception)? What does calming here mean, as in how far you need to take this? (mental fabrications here are apparently feeling and perception). I would understand this calming mental fabrications, ultimately, as being one-pointedness. The previous steps are breathing sensitive to rapture and bliss, which are also pleasant feelings, so to calm mental fabrications you would have to drop them eventually, which leaves you in the fourth jhana (or you could go on to understand this as going until transcending the "dimention of nothingness" but it would be too much, maybe?). Do you guys agree with this interpretation?
"[9] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the mind.' [10] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in satisfying the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out satisfying the mind.' [11] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in steadying the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out steadying the mind.' [12] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in releasing the mind.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out releasing the mind.'
Here I don't know if this is supposed to be a continuation of the previous steps or a change in subject, because taking out feeling and perception you are left with consciousness and volition, right? So mind here, in my interpretation, would be only these two.
Sensitive to the mind would be perceiving volition and consciousness (how do you even perceive consciousness, is it possible?
), so satisfying, steadying and releasing the mind would have to do with volition (and maybe consciousness ).I think the abandoning of volition is described in the Anusaya Sutta, such as follows:
"Monks, with the abandoning & destruction of the seven obsessions, the holy life is fulfilled. Which seven? The obsession of sensual passion, the obsession of resistance, the obsession of views, the obsession of uncertainty, the obsession of conceit, the obsession of passion for becoming, the obsession of ignorance. With the abandoning & destruction of these seven obsessions, the holy life is fulfilled.
As for conciousness I got this from Maha-Nidana Sutta:
"Ananda, when knowing — as they actually are — the origination, passing away, allure, drawbacks of — and escape from — these seven stations of consciousness and two spheres, a monk is released through lack of clinging, he is said to be a monk released through discernment."
I wont get into the fourth tetrad as of yet, too much to think about in these two :skeptical
How do you guys understand these 2 tetrads?
0
Comments
The term is 'mind conditioner' or 'mind fabricator'. Rapture & happiness are the mind conditioner (i.e. feeling).
This is because rapture & happiness condition or fabricate craving & attachment in the mind.
Calming means to calm rapture & happiness until they are gone.
Rapture & happiness arise from one-pointedness. One-pointedness arises from calming the breath (bodily fabricator) in step 4.
Completing the 3rd tetrad leaves you in the fourth jhana or its neighbourhood concentration equivalent.
Kind regards
Consciousness is vinnana and volition is cetana. It is not the citta.
Similarly, when rapture & happiness occur, there are various underlying defilements due to the rapture and happiness. When the rapture & happiness are calmed, craving will be revealed. When the craving is calmed, anger will be revealed. When the anger is calmed, confusion will be revealed. When confusion is calmed, delight will arise. When delight is calmed, the mind will concentrate one more time before it liberates itself from that concentration. This open, clear mind is ready for the vipassana of the fourth tetrad.
It requires vipassana (step 13) to end the anusaya. Anusaya are the deepest tendencies of the mind included within ignorance in the dependent origination.
:smilec:
Thanks for the answers DD, they were very thorough. Just one last thing, to which aggregate would Anusaya correspond?
Also I don't know what tradition you follow but generally you are not supposed to be using words or thoughts to notice the changes. Instead it should be a discrimination of the tactile sensation itself, the mind itself, etc. Obviously as this gets better and better single-pointedness increases, which in turn increases your ability of discrimination, and like that all the way until full absorption.
The jhana mental factors of rapture etc are generally things you only need to start worrying about when single-pointed concentration is already very good. Forget about the other jhanas, pretend like they don't exist, if you are just trying to build concentration for now.
Anusaya are part of sankhara khanda.
Regards
DDhatu