Saturday, August 9, 2014

Jhana

Soh
July 28 at 2:02am · Brisbane ·

Good article on Jhana: http://www.leighb.com/jhana2a.htm
Sharpening Manjushri's Sword - The Jhanas in Theravadan Buddhist Meditation
(Samma Samadhi) is explicitly defined in the Mahasatipatthana Sutta ( Digha Nikaya #22 ) and in other suttas (for example, Saccavibhanga Sutta - Majjhima Nikaya #141 and Magga-vibhanga Sutta Samyutta Nikaya 45.8 ) as Jhanic meditation: There is the case where a monk -- quite secluded from sensuality…
leighb.com
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    Viorica Doina Neacsu, Neony Karby, Yor Sunyata and 5 others like this.
    Cheryl Craig This is excellent - most helpful! I appreciate the clarity of this dharma wisdom--Thank You. I will be sitting with the information for many moons.
    July 28 at 2:11am · Unlike · 2
    David Vardy Has anyone noticed how the jhanas can be approached while briskly walking or jogging alone? The stages of Jhana can be noticed as the breath changes through the walk.
    July 28 at 3:43am · Unlike · 2
    Yor Sunyata This is great! Thank you!
    July 28 at 10:30am · Like · 1
    Yor Sunyata Having read this, I realized that I have passed through the first three and entered the fourth before (the sense of self was seen through/deconstructed at what corresponds to the 4th jhana). But with these detailed instructions, I entered the first now, using the physical sensation of the wind from a fan in the room caressing the skin on my arms. Very interesting. First, it is ridiculously pleasurable, even more so than an orgasm. Secondly, all other physical sensations, such as an itch became pleasurable as well. Itches felt very, very good. The problem I encountered was that it was hard to shift to the feeling of joy, due to the overwhelming physical pleasure. The joy almost drowned in the power of the physical sensation. Mastering these and entering any at will is going to take some practice
    July 28 at 12:02pm · Edited · Unlike · 2
    Soh Yes.. even now the rapture is experienced.. but not full blown jhana but when mindfulness sensitive to rapture is practiced in meditation and hindrances are cleared the bliss will intensify. Also I experience very intense bliss in sleep states.. just woke up from super intense bliss sleep state which lasted maybe half an hour
    July 29 at 12:46am · Edited · Like · 3
    Soh The more one practices the more one sees the interdependence of the seven factors of awakening:

    Mindfulness (sati)
    Keen investigation of the dhamma (dhammavicaya)[3]
    Energy (viriya)
    Rapture or happiness (piti)
    Calm (passaddhi)
    Concentration (samadhi)
    Equanimity (upekkha)
    July 29 at 12:24pm · Like · 1
    Stuffs RedTurtle Thank you Soh
    July 30 at 7:00am · Like · 1
    Ej Alex Soh, do the factors relate somehow to any kind of realization? Or are this conditions that lead to realization? And what is the difference between calm and equanimity?
    July 30 at 8:07am · Like
    Soh It is both ways.. the factors can lead to realization and realization can strengthen the factors. The factors can arise spontaneously due to actualizing the insights.

    I think this definition is quite good:

    http://pirthiman.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/seven-factors-of-enlightenment.html

    Passadi means calm abiding or tranquillity in Kaya -body, and Citta -mind.
    Kaya Passadi is not just the calm abiding of physical body alone. It also includes the outer consciousness or the mental properties: Vedana -calm abiding of feeling, Sanna -perception, and Samkhara -the volitional activities or conformations.
    Citta Passadi is calm abiding of the mind, the Vijnana -the aggregates of inner consciousness.

    ...

    Upekkha means equanimity, the mental equipoise as a result of calm concentrative mind. It is hard, indeed, to be undisturbed when touched by the vicissitudes of life, but the one who cultivates this difficult quality of equanimity remains undisturbed. Upekkha is a matter of mental hygiene.
    Pirthiman: Seven Factors of Enlightenment
    pirthiman.blogspot.com
    Good morning, how are you? My name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a... See More
    July 30 at 8:53am · Edited · Like · 2 · Remove Preview
    Soh There is an order to it. Because of mindfulness, there is keen investigation of dharma, because of that there is energy, because of that there is rapture, because of rapture there is calm (stilling of mental and bodily formations), because of calm there is concentration, because of concentration there is equanimity (no push/pull towards things, due to strong concentration, lacking which there is no equanimity).
    July 30 at 8:58am · Edited · Like · 2
    Ej Alex Ah thanks, but what about passaddhi? It appears to me to be similar to upekkha. At least in Wikipedia they explain it with tranquility, but isn´t tranquility the same as equanimity?
    July 30 at 8:58am · Edited · Like
    Soh I think you need to refresh.. I updated my previous post with passadi
    July 30 at 8:59am · Like · 1
    Ej Alex Yep, internet crash. But thanks, really good to know
    July 30 at 9:06am · Like
    Soh At first there may be shallow waves of rapturous energy, but in certain states of meditation or sleep, the rapture can intensify 10 times or 20 times. Then by zooming into the bliss it naturally intensifies -- being mindfully aware, sensitive to rapture as instructed by Buddha in the anapanasati sutta. At that point, every reminder/remembrance of dharma, including no-self and emptiness, also intensifies that rapturous energy.

    Every sensation is actualized naturally with insight and total exertion. But continue to keep mindfulness in the forefront as any hindrances and mental impurities creeping back in will result in the wholesome mental/experiential factors (the energies of bliss, clarity, calmness) reducing or subsiding. At any moment, simply return mindfulness sensitive to the wholesome qualities back. In such a case the seven factors of awakening reinforces each other.

    What should we be mindful of?

    Excerpts from http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.118.than.html

    Mindfulness of In-&-Out Breathing

    "Now how is mindfulness of in-&-out breathing developed & pursued so as to be of great fruit, of great benefit?

    "There is the case where a monk, having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree, or to an empty building, sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect, and setting mindfulness to the fore.[1] Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes out.

    "[1] Breathing in long, he discerns, 'I am breathing in long'; or breathing out long, he discerns, 'I am breathing out long.' [2] Or breathing in short, he discerns, 'I am breathing in short'; or breathing out short, he discerns, 'I am breathing out short.' [3] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body.'[2] He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.' [4] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication.'[3] He trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.'

    "[5] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to rapture.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to rapture.' [6] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to pleasure.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to pleasure.' [7] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to mental fabrication.'[4] He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to mental fabrication.' [8] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming mental fabrication.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming mental fabrication.'

    "[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.'[5]

    "[13] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in focusing on inconstancy.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out focusing on inconstancy.' [14] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in focusing on dispassion [literally, fading].' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out focusing on dispassion.' [15] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in focusing on cessation.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out focusing on cessation.' [16] He trains himself, 'I will breathe in focusing on relinquishment.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out focusing on relinquishment.'

    "This is how mindfulness of in-&-out breathing is developed & pursued so as to be of great fruit, of great benefit.
    Anapanasati Sutta: Mindfulness of Breathing
    www.accesstoinsight.org
    I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Savatthi in the... See More
    July 30 at 6:07pm · Edited · Like · 2 · Remove Preview

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