[MediconStop]

Dear friends,

Regarding the Anapanasati Sutta have you any thoughts about how, in this context we actually bring to mind, understand, and focus on inconstancy, dispassion, cessation and relinquishment?



From the Four Frames of Reference


4. On whatever occasion a monk trains himself, 'I will breathe in...&...out focusing on inconstancy'; trains himself, 'I will breathe in...&...out focusing on dispassion'; trains himself, 'I will breathe in...&...out focusing on cessation'; trains himself, 'I will breathe in...&...out focusing on relinquishment': On that occasion the monk remains focused on mental qualities in & of themselves — ardent, alert, & mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world. He who sees with discernment the abandoning of greed & distress is one who watches carefully with equanimity, which is why the monk on that occasion remains focused on mental qualities in & of themselves — ardent, alert, & mindful — putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world.

"This is how mindfulness of in-&-out breathing is developed & pursued so as to bring the four frames of reference to their culmination.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....118.than.html

[comprar-espana]

Mindfulness of breathing is something I'm studying in the meditation group which I attend.

The sutta states that one thing leads to another, so mindfulness of breathing properly done leads to the culmination of the four frames of reference (body, feelings, mind, mental qualities).

When these four are developed, they lead to the seven factors of awakening (mindfulness, analysis of qualities, persistence, rapture, serenity, concentration, equanimity). These seven, developed and pursued, lead to clear knowing and release.

As I understand it (from what little I truly understand) it is important and crucial to practise mindfulness and concentration on the breath. The sutta tells us "Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes out". There is emphasis on awareness of the short breath and the long breath.

Being aware that the breath is a function of the body, awareness of the body arises, and this should lead to an awareness of bodily fabrications. From there it's possible to calm such fabrications.

Breathing mindfully, sensitive to rapture and pleasure, leads to awareness of mental fabrications (i.e. feelings), and mental fabrications can be calmed.

Breathing mindfully, the mind itself can be steadied and released, putting aside greed and distress.

It is the fourth of the frames of reference which requires focus on mental qualities. These qualities are named as inconstancy, dispassion, cessation and relinquishment. The sutta does not advise any more than to focus on each. It is not demanding mental effort to understand them, or to make any mental fabrication about them. I suspect they are to be watched but not judged.

In the context of the whole sutta, it's about the breathing as a support, and the falling away of physical and mental constructs. Therefore I think we are not required to consider how to bring to mind and to understand these things.

I would welcome advice from anyone who has a more thorough understanding of this sutta.

[Dwnijzhd]

Woodscooter is wise, monks. He is a person of great discernment. If you had asked me about this matter, I too would have answered in the same way he did. That is the meaning of this statement. That is how you should remember it.

The Tathagata

[uwJzsM8t]

Well said Woodie,it doesn't matter whether you "understand" these 4 qualities,it matters only that you realise they are mental constructs that will pass.

[boiffrona]

Thanks very much for your reply, Woodscooter.

[ëàìèíàò]

And thank you, Aloka-D, Element and Frank for your comments.

In composing my reply to the original post, I found I had to keep returning to the sutta, in order to adequately summarize it. That, for me, was a learning process which I would have been poorer without.

[occalmnab]

Woodscooter is wise, monks. He is a person of great discernment. If you had asked me about this matter, I too would have answered in the same way he did. That is the meaning of this statement. That is how you should remember it.

The Tathagata

lolz

[Bondjrno]

Dear friends,

Regarding the Anapanasati Sutta have you any thoughts about how, in this context we actually bring to mind, understand, and focus on inconstancy, dispassion, cessation and relinquishment?

Can't add much to Woodscooter's answer but I have my own non-authoritative 'take' on it.

Inconstancy, dispassion, cessation and relinquishment are the experiential stages of jhana. By that, I don't mean anything we have to fabricate, acquire or achieve, rather it is 'done' - just comes to pass as part of the process.

Inconstancy I see as the ferment of thoughts, sensations etc. one encounters in meditation (not exclusively but in this context). It's a no-brainer, you will encounter this.

Dispassion and relinquishment are the correct response. Just drop it, you don't own it... there's nothing to do with it, no opinion to hold about it. It's not yours.

Cessation will follow if you do this. I don't mean necessarily the final complete cessation big 'B' thing but cessation of the inconstancy you have just observed. It just disperses into clarity. It is released.

The word "focus" is a bit off experientially IMHO. I would say 'take note of'. "Focus" is a bit tight a bit 'gotta do something with/about this'. Or so it comes across to me.

Namaste
Kris

[spravka.ua]

I've been very interested to hear your view on this, srivijaya, in referring to inconstancy, dispassion, cessation and relinquishment as the experiential stages of jhana.

In a recent translation (by Sarah Shaw) of the Mindfulness of Breathing Sutta (Mn.118) the mental qualities are given as Impermanence, Dispassion, Cessation, and Letting Go.

The ferment of thoughts and sensations are aspects of Impermanence, but Impermanence is more than this too.

I accept your relating it to jhana, but I think it is possible to reach a stage of calm abiding meditation without achieving any of the stages of jhana.

The Sarah Shaw translation manages to do away with the term "focus" altogether, using 'contemplating'.

Instead of "the monk remains focused on feelings in & of themselves — ardent, alert, & mindful", the words are 'a monk contemplates feeling amidst feelings, ardent, clearly comprehending and mindful'.

And I think that is in accord with your thoughts on the word 'focus'.

References: Mn.118 - http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....118.than.html
Sarah Shaw - Buddhist Meditation - ISBN: 9780415485685

[mr.videomen]

but I think it is possible to reach a stage of calm abiding meditation

There are some helpful comments on Anapanasati from Ajahn Sumedho here:


ANAPANASATI


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. The breath is not something that we create or imagine; it is a natural process of our bodies that continues as long as life lasts, whether we concentrate on it or not. So it is an object that is always present; we can turn to it at any time. We don’t have to have any qualifications to watch our breath. We do not even need to be particularly intelligent — all we have to do is to be content with, and aware of, one inhalation and exhalation. Wisdom does not come from studying great theories and philosophies, but from observing the ordinary.

The breath lacks any exciting quality or any-thing fascinating about it, and so we can become very restless and averse to it. Our desire is always to ‘get’ something, to find something that will interest and absorb us without any effort on our part. If we hear some music, we don’t think, ‘I must concentrate on this fascinating and exciting rhythmic music’ we can’t stop ourselves, because the rhythm is so compelling that it pulls us in. The rhythm of our normal breathing is not interesting or compelling, it is tranquillizing, and most beings aren’t used to tranquillity. Most people like the idea of peace, but find the actual experience of it disappointing or frustrating.

They desire stimulation, something that will draw them into itself. With anapanasati we stay with an object that is quite neutral — we don’t have any strong feelings of like or dislike for our breath — and just note the beginning of an inhalation, its middle and its end, then the beginning of an exhalation, its middle and end. The gentle rhythm of the breath, being slower than the rhythm of thought, takes us to tranquillity; we begin to stop thinking. 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.

At first the mind wanders off. Once we are aware that we have wandered off the breath, then we very gently return to it. We use the attitude of being very, very patient and always willing to begin again. Our minds are not used to being held down, they have been taught to associate one thing with another and form opinions about everything. Being accustomed to using our intelligence and ability to think in clever ways, we tend to become very tense and restless when we can’t do that, and when we practise anapanasati we feel resistance, a resentment to it. It is like a wild horse when it is first harnessed, getting angry with the things that bind it.

continued:

http://www.amaravati.org/abm/english...now/03ana.html

[OccumCymn]

I accept your relating it to jhana, but I think it is possible to reach a stage of calm abiding meditation without achieving any of the stages of jhana.

Well said woodscooter. This is a more accurate angle on it, as these things can be noted and implemented right from day one. They are simply there. We just need to be open to them.

The Sarah Shaw translation manages to do away with the term "focus" altogether, using 'contemplating'. Very nice.

Aloka-D, I loved the Ajahn Sumedho passage. That is so spot on, there's nothing more to add to it.

Namaste
Kris