Chapter 4 MEDITATION AND BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY

Two Types of Buddhist Meditation
Mindfulness Of Breathing: Ānāpānasati - Samadhi Meditation
Points 1 and 2: Rapture and Pleasure
Points 3 and 4: Mental Formations and Tranquillisation
Point 5 and 6: Experiencing Mind and Gladdening the Mind
Points 7 and 8: Concentrating the Mind and Liberating the Mind
Points 9 and 10: Contemplating Impermanence and Fading Away
Points 11 And 12: Contemplating Cessation and Relinquishment
The Four Fine-Material/Mundane Jhāṇa
First Jhāṇaṃ
Second Jhānaṃ
Third Jhānaṃ
Fourth Jhānaṃ
The Four Immaterial Absorptions
1st Absorption
2nd, 3rd, 4th, Absorptions
In Brief
Vipassanā Practice
Aspects of Practical Mindfulness

The venerables Sāriputta and Moggallāna were the two chief disciples of the Buddha. They were seconded to help share the teaching and management of the Saṅgha, as its numbers grew. One evening, venerables Moggallāna, Kassapa and Anuruddha went to see Sāriputta, who was residing in a sala tree 119 grove. On the very same night, venerables Ānanda and Ravata had also chosen to visit Sāriputta. It was a beautiful moonlit night. The grove was in full blossom and its scent filled the air.

Even though some of these bhikkhus were fully enlightened beings, this did not stop them discussing the Dhamma with each other. Sāriputta began interrogating his visitors. He asked them all the same question: ‘what kind of bhikkhu could illuminate the sala tree grove?’ Each answered in turn, according to their own inspiration. Ānanda said, a bhikkhu who learns, remembers and consolidates the Dhamma. Ravata said, a bhikkhu who delights in solitary meditation. Anuruddha said, a Bhikkhu who is able to survey the thousand-world system of gods and heavens with his divine eye. Kassapa said, a bhikkhu who praised forest dwelling, alms eating, rag wearing, fewness-of-wishes and contentment, energy, virtue, concentration, wisdom and deliverance through knowledge. Moggallāna then asked Sāriputta the same question and Sāriputta replied, ‘Here friend Moggallāna, a bhikkhu wields mastery over his mind, he does not let the mind wield mastery over him (MN32:9 Mahāgosinga Suttaṃ).’

 A quick but fundamental point about Buddhist psychology and meditation. The Buddha’s approach to Nibbana is a gradual one. It starts with an ethical practice in one’s mundane life. An ethically moderated life helps attenuate the highs and lows in one’s personal psychology. This in turn conduces to successful meditation. Similarly, meditation starts with the attenuation of body and mind activity, which leads to ever subtler consciousness. Beyond subtle awareness, comes nothing. Whilst we can’t wilfully do nothing, we can succumb to nothing by continuing to minimise what mental signs (mind objects) we pay attention to. Succumbing to True-Nothing is the end of all suffering, even though there is no consciousness left to know that. I say to the Buddhist world, intellectually knowing this is Enlightenment, whilst succumbing to Voidness is Nibbana. Enlightenment and Nibbana are two different things. Many meditators, whether Buddhist or not, have succumbed to nothingness and simply wondered: How come time passed so quickly? That was Nibbana, the end of suffering. It was Timelessness. It was succumbing to Voidness.

Two Types of Buddhist Meditation

There are two types of Buddhist meditation: Samadhi120 which requires focusing on a sign or symbol, and Vipassanā which is sign-less meditation in which one’s mentation is allowed to come and go, without the attention getting snagged on any of it.

Samadhi means concentration, and leads to the experience of Samatha, which is calmness and quietude of the heart121 . Samadhi meditations always use an object to focus upon, and that object is created using the imagination. It is an endeavour to control the imagination by putting it to work. This involves focusing the attention on an object called a nimittaṃ122 (nimitta pl.), of which there are several. These are the elements and colours of the kasina practices, and the Sublime Attitudes associated with the Brahmā Vihāra (godly realms), also sometimes called the Lovelies.

The nimitta used in the Kasina practices are the elements, which in Buddhism are, earth, wind, fire, water, space and consciousness, and the colours are blue, red, white and yellow. There are four Brahmā Vihāra (Brahmā + Vihāra = God + abodes). Three of these require a nimittaṃ. These are universal love and kindness (mettā), compassion (Karuṇā), and empathetic joy (muditā). These three nimitta are more sentiment than visualisations. Equanimity (upekkhā) is a somewhat exceptional Brahmā Vihāra.

While all nimitta bring about equanimity, this is only up to the levels of the fine-material awareness (the jhanas). This level of awareness is described as carnal deliverance (SN I V 40:31). But equanimity is also inherent at the loftier immaterial levels of awareness, the absorptions, and the absorption are not attainable using nimittaṃ. The apperceptive gaze, ‘signless concentration of mind’ (SN I V 40:6-9), must be used. This level of realisation is called ‘spiritual deliverance’123.

What I call the apperceptive gaze is also called insight meditation, as the name suggests, in and sight, to look, to perceive inwards, which is apperception.

Table 2 Types of Buddhist Meditation

The apperceptive gaze is not only used in discreet, seated meditation but also moment by moment, all day long, by bhikkhus. Used in this manner, it is referred to as Vipassanā, or mindfulness practice. It is how the bhikkhu endeavours to keep his consciousness pure throughout his daily activities. Mindfulness is also used in conjunction with an ethical template. This is found in the 8 Fold Noble Path (see below) and the Vinaya. The Vinaya is an extra set of guidelines for the Bhikkhu. This is a Vipassanā practice as it is an endeavour not to get snagged by mind object.

Whilst practicing Vipassanā, a bhikkhu does not deny his reasonable bodily needs. Bodily needs are never going to go away. Some misguided Buddhists think the Buddha was not tormented by bodily desires, and walked about in a bubble of bliss. The reader should satisfy themselves that he did not.

‘Ānanda, I am now old, worn out, venerable, one who has traversed life’s path, I have reached the term of life, which is eighty. Just as an old cart is made to go by being held together with straps, so the Tathāgata’s body is kept going by being strapped up. It is only when the Tathāgata withdraws his attention from outward signs, and by the cessation of certain feelings, enters into the signless concentration of mind, that his body knows comfort.
DN16 2.25

While practicing mindfulness during one’s daily activities, consciousness cannot go higher than fine-material awareness. The higher, immaterial levels of awareness require seated, signless meditation. We learned in the Buddha’s moment of enlightenment, that the fine-material levels of awareness, encompass, and are commensurate with godly realms of existence (see Table 21 The Echelons Of Existence). The level of fine-material awareness, jhanic meditation, is still mundane existence. It is still the world of form. Immaterial awareness, the absorptions, is formless existence. Psychics have a good acquaintance with these two levels of existence, although they have their own nomenclature.

So, the fundamental points in brief: in Samadhi meditations the focus of attention is returned to a single mind object (nimittaṃ), but in vipassana, the focus of attention is returned to pure awareness, which is brought about by the apperceptive gaze/signlessness. This transcends the imagination by repeatedly taking the mind out of gear, so to speak. It is moment-by-moment introspection, it is the eye of wisdom. It is a simple return of awareness to no-thing, rather than a nimittaṃ, which is a something. 

120 Interestingly, an electronic search of the  Pāli Canon shows this word does not occur in the Sutta Piṭaka. It occurs only once in the Namakkārapāḷi commentary.

121 Pāli Text Society.

122 Nimittaṃ; a sign, a mark, an omen; cause reason; pudendum; sex organ. Parikamma-nimitta refers to the perception of the object at the very beginning of concentration

123 SN Chapter II 36 Vedanāsaṃyutta:”There is carnal equanimity, there is spiritual equanimity, there is equanimity more spiritual than the spiritual.”

Mindfulness Of Breathing: Ānāpānasati - Samadhi Meditation

Mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānasati) is probably the most well-known of Buddhist meditations. It is a samadhi practice as it focuses on something, in this case the breath. It is often called following the breath and so it is a wind-kasina. Ānāpanasati is a compound word of, a + na + pana + sati = in + out + breath + aware. It is probably the most popular of samadhi meditations amongst Buddhists.

The Buddha described the mind as intractable (AN I.1) and to deal with this he recommended a graduated approach to Buddha Dhamma. In meditation, it works by focusing the attention firstly on something quite apparent, and relatively gross in the immediate environment. After several minutes of focusing on that, the mind is then refocused on something subtler. And so it goes, until the attention is focused upon the desired nimittaṃ. This is not immediately apparent in the following teaching but it is there.

Below, I have enumerated a redaction of the Ānāpānasati Suttaṃ, (Mindfulness Of Breathing MN118:16-18). The full discourse is available free on line. The brackets include lexical differences found in other publications of the same discourse. The Buddha first recommends isolation and then tranquilisation, thus, ‘a monk who is forest-gone’. Then the monk, ‘ … sits down cross-legged . . . Mindfulness in front of him … breathing in and out … experiencing the whole body [of breath] …. I shall breathe … tranquillising the bodily formation.’

1. He trains himself; ‘I shall breathe in experiencing rapture. He trains himself; ‘I shall breathe out experiencing rapture.’
2. … ‘I shall breathe in/ I shall breathe out experiencing pleasure (joy)
3. … ‘I shall breathe in … out experiencing mental formations (thought activity).
4. … ‘I shall breathe in … out tranquillising mental formation (thought activity).
5. … ‘I shall breathe in … out experiencing mind (thought).
6. … ‘I shall breathe in … out gladdening the mind (rejoicing in thought).
7. … ‘I shall breathe in … out concentrating the mind (concentrating thought).
8. … ‘I shall breathe in … out liberating the mind (freeing thought).
9. … ‘I shall breathe in … out contemplating impermanence.
10. … ‘I shall breathe in … out contemplating fading away (detachment).
11. … ‘I shall breathe in … out contemplating cessation (stopping).
12. … ‘I shall breathe in … out contemplating relinquishment (casting away).

Let’s look into these twelve points more closely. It is helpful to discuss adjacent listings as pairs

Points 1 and 2: Rapture and Pleasure

We see (1) rapture and (2) pleasure are listed adjacently in the discourse. So what is rapture and how do we distinguish it from pleasure? Looking at the Latin etymology124 for the word rapture (raptus, rapere), suggests we may be confusing a relatively modern understanding for its historical meaning. A dictionary defines rapt as, ‘carried out of this world, engrossed125 ’. Birds that seize their prey and carry it off are called raptors. A figurative meaning here seems to be; taken, absorbed, carried away, by an activity, such as reading a book, or following the  . We are all acquainted with the pleasure that stems from being rapt due to concentrating on a mundane object. In the (Mahā)Satipaṭṭhāna Suttaṃ (DN22 & MN10), the Buddha says the same thing. He tells us, the type of attention needed for meditation is the same as that used by a wood turner. A skilful wood turner must exercise meticulous attention, moment by moment, while turning large diameters in one place, and small diameters in another. Just one absent-minded thought may result in the wood being cut too deeply, or not enough. The meditator uses this very same attention while following his breath to bring about rapture and a pleasant feeling.

124 L. To carry away by force. Oxford Dictionary.  L. raptus, rapere to seize to carry off. Chambers Etymological Dictionary.

125Ibid.

Points 3 and 4: Mental Formations and Tranquillisation

We have already investigated Mental Formations and Tranquillisation, when we looked at developing posture, and the effects of staying still. Tranquillisation of the body and tranquillisation of mental formations occur together. They are inextricably linked. Once tranquillisation is reach, the mind is more malleable, and conducive to meditation.

Point 5 and 6: Experiencing Mind and Gladdening the Mind

Both the apperceptive gaze or a nimittaṃ bring the meditator right up against himself. This is experiencing the mind. The benefits that accrue from the initial stages of meditation, are the shedding of hindrances (negative mental conditions) for a wholesome (oneness of) mind. This is gladdening the mind.

Points 7 and 8: Concentrating the Mind and Liberating the Mind

None of the above can happen without concentrating the mind. Concentration liberates the mind from unwholesome states. Liberation is temporary (MN40:8).

Points 9 and 10: Contemplating Impermanence and Fading Away

As a meditation continues, mind objects, distractions come and go, with diminishing frequency. This is Contemplating impermanence. This is fading away. 

Points 11 And 12: Contemplating Cessation and Relinquishment

Contemplating cessation and relinquishment is a reflection on one’s meditation. How successful was it?

The Four Fine-Material/Mundane Jhāṇa

After the tranquillisation process there follows the jhāṇa, (jhāṇaṃ sing.). Jhāṇaṃ is a Pāli word, based on the word ñāṇaṃ, meaning pertaining to knowledge. It is also philologically similar to the Greek word gnosis, which also means knowledge and awakening. The Buddha taught that all meditational states are ‘higher and more excellent than knowledge and vision (MN30:21).’(In modern speak: The jhāṇa/gnosis are/is a higher frequency than work-a-day knowledge and vision).

Meditational states are not ordinary, they are not bound by the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body, as is the work-a-day mentality. Jhāṇa/gnostic awareness follows after the mind and body functions have been calmed. Buddhist higher psychology categorises eight levels of meditation; 4 fine-material and 4 immaterial. All are attainable by the reader. What makes meditation useful is that it can create a refuge from the demands of mind and body.

As a bodhisatta, Siddhatta Gotama noticed, ‘as long as I still did not attain to the rapture and pleasure that are apart from sensual pleasure … I recognised that I still could be attracted to sensual pleasure (MN14:4).’ So, we see, even though the Buddha sometimes referred to jhāna as pleasure (MN59:16), it is non-sensually based pleasure. But Jhāṇa can start at the sensual level, such as reading a book, or some edifying activity. The Buddha’s example below is of a skilful lathe-operator, turning wood (DN22:2 & MN10:4).

First Jhāṇaṃ

Let’s look at the key phrases. The five hindrances are distractions to meditation which we will study shortly. So, what do we make of rapture and pleasure pervading the whole body and the simile of sprinkling and kneading a soap ball with water, until homogenously wet? It conveys the idea of the meditator endeavouring to become fully rapt by the feeling of his whole body. The above teaching is the result of any meditation, such as following the breath. Rapture and pleasure become a by-product of following the breath with sustained concentration. The key to sustaining pleasant feelings is to neither reject nor grasp at them. To reject or grasp is to succumb to distraction. All meditations are impersonal. Do not expect a bliss out. Do not expect. The meditator’s endeavour is a simple, sustained attention to the breath.

Everyone is familiar with first Jhāṇaṃ.

Second Jhānaṃ

   
In second jhānaṃ, as in first jhānaṃ, the meditator is rapt with a pleasant feeling. The difference is that in second jhānaṃ there is no ‘applied and sustained thought’. But what does this mean? It means following the breath is easier, as the mind is more malleable. We can get more of a grasp of this by reflecting on our introduced simile of a good book, or wholesome activity. Sometimes, an activity is so easy, so gripping, it feels effortless, and even time can appear to pass without notice. This is what the simile of second jhānaṃ is saying, when it describes a lake that maintains its water level, and yet there is no observable inflow. It is apparently self-sustaining.

Third Jhānaṃ

So, in first jhānaṃ there is concentration, rapture and pleasure. In second jhānaṃ these become self-sustaining. But, in third jhāṇaṃ, rapture fades away, although a pleasant feeling remains, and there is equanimity. Equanimity is effortless. This characterises third jhānaṃ.  Hence, the noble ones say, ‘Joyful is he who has equanimity and is mindful’.  I suggest a better word for ‘joyful’ is unburdened.

What are we to make of the simile of blue, red and white lotuses, thriving without ever rising out of the water? Ordinarily, we think of flowers as needing an air atmosphere to survive. Yet, despite being covered in cool clear water, they remain unblemished in appearance. The cool water tells us the meditator’s mind is cool and clear. The lotus is under water because the meditator’s awareness is fully withdrawn from the nagging ordinary world, into a fundamentally different world, and yet, he is quite equanimous.

By the way, the meditator is still following the breath, using the least amount of effort necessary. The pleasant feeling and equanimity are byproducts of following the breath, and should not be grasped at, nor repelled.

We should not allow ourselves to become overawed by the sound of third jhānaṃ.  I say, it is not beyond anyone with the self-discipline to maintain ethical conduct in their life.

   Fourth Jhānaṃ

So, let’s run through a brief summation of the four jhāṇa. In first jhānaṃ there is concentration, rapture and pleasure. In second jhānaṃ these become self-sustaining. But, in third jhāṇaṃ, rapture fades away, although a pleasant feeling and effortless equanimity remains. In fourth jhāṇaṃ there is the abandoning of pleasure and pain and the disappearance of joy and grief. This means the meditator can no longer cognize the physical body and lower mind functions, such as sensuality, emotions, problem solving, and imagination, which are more relevant to the body’s survival functions. “Purity of mindfulness due to equanimity” tells us equanimity and awareness of the breath are so effortless and peripheral, it is only just there, and no other thing else is. The simile of a man entirely covered in a pure white cloth symbolises this experience.

Buddhist cosmogony says, fourth jhanaṃ is qualitatively the most refined level of awareness in the ‘fine-material worlds, which is the world of form, the rūpa-loka.

NOTE, the meditator does not try to identify anything during meditation. That would be a distraction. Reflection is for afterwards. Never stress over trying to identify levels of meditation. It’s a continuum and not graduated.
   

Table 3 The Four Jhāna 

The Four Immaterial Absorptions

The four immaterial absorptions, are formless levels of awareness qualitatively commensurate with the formless worlds (arūpa-loka). They are identified by adjectival names, which vary slightly between translators (see table 3). Why books never referred to the four immaterial absorptions, as simply first, second, third and fourth absorptions, I do not know. It would be so much simpler. Table 3 presents their full and formal names. Be mindful not to confuse the description of fourth jhānaṃ (neither-pain-nor-pleasure), with fourth absorption (Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception).

Table 4 The Four Immaterial Absorptions 

Both the nimittaṃ and apperceptive gaze can bring the meditator up to the threshold of Infinite Space, the first immaterial absorption, as I prefer to call it. But the apperceptive gaze is subtler than a nimittaṃ, and subtler is the Buddhist meditator’s endeavour. Only the apperceptive gaze, on the other hand, can bring the meditator into Infinite Space,

The apperceptive gaze is the way to traverse the absorptions. It allows the mind to become becalmed leaving consciousness ever purified.

There can be only knowing at the immaterial levels, and yet there is no need, what soever, to know where you are in the scheme of things. The Venerable Sāriputta will confirm this for us shortly. It matters not one jot whether you know about the jhana or absorptions. What does matter is the meditator is familiar with the tranquilisation stage (see chapter three). Tranquilisation is arguably the most significant part of all meditations, as it presents the most distractions. Once through the tranquilisation stage, the meditator stays with the nimittaṃ or the Gaze.

Let’s now look at what some of the canon says about the absorptions. I will use my nomenclature (see table 3).

1st Absorption

Perceptions of form, and perceptions of sensory impact, are perceptions of diversity, and this includes nimittaṃ. Perceptions of diversity, are found at the level of mundane and fine-material, jhanic, experience. All perceptions of diversity impede awareness of the immaterial.

The immaterial levels of awareness are not manifest by effort. Effort is gross, the immaterial is subtle. There is no thinking at the immaterial level, but there is thought. Thought at the immaterial level is simply knowing. Just knowing what one is doing is enough to direct the mind, because the mind is now “malleable and wieldy” and became so at 4th jhānaṃ (MN27:23. MN36:38. MN39:38. MN76:28).

A meditator does not have to start a meditation with a nimittaṃ, and then change to apperceptive gaze/signlessness in order to realise the immaterial absorptions. It is perfectly possible, and more straight forward, to start a meditation using signlessness. But if a nimittaṃ is used, how does one let go of it at the juncture of fourth jhānaṃ and 1st absorption without thinking? Isn’t some input of energy needed by the meditator, and isn’t that thinking? No. Thinking is a number of thoughts one after the other. But just knowing what to do is enough to direct a malleable mind, and knowing what to do comes with practice. How much input of energy does just knowing require anyway? Also, it is a mistake to think of meditation levels as discreet steps; better to view meditation as a continuum of subtler awareness. During my intensive meditation years, I only ever used signlessness. As the mind acquiesced, the absorptions revealed themselves to be already there. Meditation is more of a falling-away than a becoming.

Knowing exists at the immaterial levels of awareness. Knowing is not thinking. Thinking is the discursive mind (see second Jhana). The discursive mind is a moving mind, but knowing does not move. Knowing is observed by the Eye Of Wisdom. I say knowing is gnosis. A quick example; if one is logically working through the parameters of the weather forecast to decide whether to wear a coat, then one is using the discursive mind, but just knowing whether to wear one or not is gnosis. We all live by gnosis to some extent, often called instinct, intuition, gut feeling, etc. Someone who is very good at gnosis might call themselves a psychic, all of whom, according to Buddhist psychology, are working at the fine-material levels. Perceptions of form, and perceptions of sensory impact, are perceptions of diversity, and this includes nimittaṃ. They occur at the level of mundane and fine-material (jhanic) experience. All perceptions of diversity impede awareness of the immaterial.

The immaterial levels of awareness are subtler and not manifested by effort. Effort is gross. There is no thinking at the immaterial level, but there is thought. Thought, as distinct from thinking, at the immaterial level is simply knowing. Just knowing what one is doing is enough to direct the mind, because the mind is now “malleable and wieldy” and became so at 4th jhānaṃ (MN27:23. MN36:38. MN39:38. MN76:28).

A meditator does not have to start a meditation with a nimittaṃ, and then change to apperceptive gaze/signlessness in order to realise the immaterial absorptions. It is perfectly possible, and more straight forward, to start a meditation using signlessness. But if a nimittaṃ is used, how does one let go of it at the juncture of fourth jhānaṃ and 1st absorption without thinking? Isn’t some input of energy needed by the meditator, and isn’t that thinking? No. Thinking is a number of thoughts one after the other. But just knowing what to do is enough to direct a malleable mind, and knowing what to do comes with practice. Also, it is a mistake to think of meditation as feeling like they are discreet steps; better to view meditation as a continuum of subtler awareness. During my intensive meditation years, I only ever used signlessness. As the mind acquiesced, the absorptions revealed themselves to be already there. Meditation is more of a falling-away than a becoming.

Knowing exists at the immaterial levels of awareness. Knowing is not thinking. Thinking is the discursive mind (see second Jhana). The discursive mind is a moving mind, but knowing does not move. Knowing is observed by the Eye Of Wisdom. I say knowing is gnosis. A quick example; if one is logically working through the parameters of the weather forecast to decide whether to wear a coat, then one is using the discursive mind, but just knowing whether to wear one or not is gnosis. We all live by gnosis to some extent, often called instinct, intuition, gut feeling, etc. Someone who is very good at gnosis might call themselves a psychic, and according to Buddhist psychology, are working at the fine-material levels.

2nd, 3rd, 4th, Absorptions

Of course, one does not literally think, “If I were to direct this equanimity, so purified and bright, to the base of . . .”. Nor does one directly, direct the mind to subtler levels. One simply stays introspected and wakeful. It is this strategy that indirectly ‘directs’. This is the key to traversing all the absorptions. Directing the mind is a figure of speech.

Knowing where one is in the scheme of meditation is absolutely not necessary. The Jhāna are more easily reflected upon while the absorptions are so subtle, the meditator is unlikely to be able to differentiate them, let alone recall them. This too is not a problem. The jhana and absorptions do not need identifying. All meditational attainment is best treated impersonally. Here is Sāriputta’s response when asked at what level of meditation was his abiding. He replied “…it did not occur to me…” (SN III, 28:1-9 Sāriputtasaṃyutta).

Even those who have attained the base of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception, (fourth absorption) are still only at the penultimate step. The Buddha taught:

First jhānaṃ … that I say is not enough. Abandon it.
Second jhānaṃ … that I say is not enough. Abandon it.
Third jhānaṃ … that I say is not enough. Abandon it.
Fourth jhānaṃ … that I say is not enough. Abandon it.
Space is infinite … that I say is not enough. Abandon it.
Consciousness is infinite … that I say is not enough. Abandon it.
Base of Nothingness … that I say is not enough. Abandon it.
Neither-perception-nor-non-perception … that I say is not enough. Abandon it.

MN66:26 - 33

So, how does one abandon Neither-perception-nor-non-perception, what is now the most subtle of all conditions, where even knowing, is a something? It is the same as traversing the absorptions. It is done indirectly. It is brought about by repeated practice of the immaterial absorptions until one succumbs.

How does one know that abandonment has happened? You don’t, you can’t, and never will. How could anyone know anything after one abandons perception and non-perception (4th Absorption)? Neither-perception-nor-non-perception is what it says it is: Nought can be cognised. Abandonment of Neither-perception-nor-non-perception is what I call succumbing to Voidness, and what traditional Buddhism calls attaining Nibbana.

The Cūḷasuññata Sutta (MN121) and Mahāsuññata Sutta (MN122) teach Voidness through signlessness. “Voidness is unsurpassable” (MN121:12-13). The Pali word for Voidness is Suññata and it can rightly be called the Ineffable. Because Suññata is ineffable and Unsurpassable, we know it is Nibbana, Liberation. It cannot be synonymous with Enlightenment, as Enlightenment means knowing something. I say, Nibbana and Enlightenment are not the same, as much of the world seems to think.

Voidness is what it says it is, and therefore it is the end of suffering, as well as the end of all else. Was it not the end of suffering that a young Siddhatta set out to find? Is not the end of suffering what you seek? Is not the end of suffering what all sentient beings seek?

I say it was some time after the Buddha had found the end of suffering (attained Nibbana) that he became aware of just that. This is the enlightenment, under the much-vaunted Banyan tree. For the Buddha to be able to see: “Thus with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, I saw beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and I understood how beings pass on according to their actions.” (MN39:40), then he could not have been in an immaterial state of consciousness, he must have been in a fine material (jhanic) level of consciousness. Thus, succumbing to voidness and enlightenment cannot be the same.

Sāriputta:

And what, friend, is the signless deliverance of mind? Here, with non-attention to all signs, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the signless concentration of mind. This is called the signless deliverance of mind.

Mahavedalla Sutta MN43:34

In Brief

We have seen there are two types of Buddhist meditation. There is samadhi practice, which puts the imagination to work using a nimittaṃ, and there is vipassanā, which disengages from imagination. Vipassanā is sometimes referred to as signless meditation. Both meditations bring about an equanimous mind, although nimitta are good for up to, and including, fourth jhānaṃ only.

During a meditation the meditator should not break focus to check his level of attainment. This is a distraction. Ascertaining one’s attainment can be done retrospectively, and even then, it isn’t worth getting particularly concerned about, or you’ll risk habituating yourself to another distraction. When Ānanda asked Sāriputta in which dwelling (level of meditation) he had spent the day, Sāriputta replied, “I encountered and dwelt in first jhānaṃ …Yet, friend, it did not occur to me, I am attaining first jhānaṃ, or I have emerged from first jhānaṃ.” Similarly, Ānanda asked Sāriputta the same question, for all the remaining seven levels of meditation. Sāriputta gave the same response every time: “It did not occur to me … (SN28:1-9 Sāriputtasaṃyutta).”

There is no reason why signless meditation cannot be practiced throughout a whole sit. However, beginners to meditation are recommended to dedicate their first dozen or so sits to practicing samadhi, as this is more tangible than vipassanā. Mindfulness of breathing is by far the most popular samadhi practice.

Fourth jhānaṃ is curiously similar to the absorptions. In the Laṭukikopanna Suttaṃ, the first three jhāna are described as perturbable, whereas fourth jhānaṃ is described as imperturbable (MN66:25), as are the immaterial absorptions (MN106:3-9). Imperturbable means a meditator cannot be roused from meditation (DN16:4.27-4.33). Fourth jhānaṃ is the level of meditation which is not easily attained by those who delight and rejoice in society (MN122:3). One might ask why fourth jhānaṃ is not considered an absorption? Perhaps because, like other jhāna, it is identified by reference to the body, which is in the world of form, whereasthe absorptions are described in impersonal terms and without reference to form.

The descriptions of the different levels of meditation do not constitute discreet boundary lines. They are better thought of as descriptions in the middle of an area, along the way. In practice, the eight levels of meditation are a seamless continuum of awareness. The reader should not allow themselves to become confused by the many names and descriptions for meditation. And never let anyone ramp up the significance of meditation so that you are left wondering if it is beyond you. Never let anyone do that to you.

For practical purposes, I view the whole spectrum of meditation as three-staged. First, there is tranquilisation. Second, then there is equanimity, and third, there is the maintaining of equanimity. This perspective is enough to direct the mind through ever subtler awareness.

Vipassanā Practice

Vipassanā is the meditation practice of signlessness, and both are often referred to in English as ‘insight meditation’. The Pali word for signlessness is animittanupassanā126 , which breaks down as; a + nimitta + pass = no + sign + seeing. It is the practice of seeing without a nimittaṃ. Vipassanā is also a compound Pali word, which breaks down as; vi127 + pass128 = apart, asunder + see. Both these dictionary definitions are consistent with our experience of the apperceptive gaze. A reasonable English translation for both could be separation-by-observation, as both are the act of firewalling consciousness from imaginative influence.

One description of vipassana from the Canon is; ‘telling the seen as seen, telling the heard as heard, telling the sensed as sensed, telling the cognised as cognised (MN112:3)’. In my experience, to ‘tell’ is more about when, more so than what. Regardless of whether it is a feeling, thought, or a perception, one is on it, with one’s gaze, too fast to allow a second thought about what it is. A second thought in succession about the same thing would be thinking. A meditator can just tell there’s a mind object, and that’s all he needs to know. After all it’s a meditation, not a psychology exam.

Another description of vipassana from the Canon is: “He understands thus: ‘There is no obsession unabandoned in myself that might so obsess my mind that I cannot know and see things as they actually are” (MN48:8). Letting go of ‘obsession’, is not to obsess, or be unable to let go of a mind object. To see things as they actually are is to allow them to be the transient and trivial things that they are. Just how long do your thoughts and feelings and perceptions stay in awareness, anyway?

So, the phrases; ‘telling the seen as seen’, and ‘see things as they actually are’, and ‘no obsession unabandoned’, all amount to the same thing. That is, to remain aware of mind objects, by applying the apperceptive gaze, and not letting them defile purity of consciousness. You don’t actively stop mind objects coming, nor actively push them away. The gaze works impersonally. The meditator simply attends to the pause button, while the mind and body tranquilise in their own time.

Once the mind has become tranquilised, the jhana are there. As the mind continues to settle, consciousness becomes subtler and stiller. Awareness, the state of Gnosis, the Eye Of Wisdom, I-Am-Consciousness, just-knowing, become more apparent as mind clutter subsides. These terms are the same thing. It is what you fundamentally are, in this eternal moment. Awareness remains up to and including 4th Absorption (Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception). The absorptions ultimately give way to Voidness (Full Liberation/Nibbana), where even awareness does not exist. Not that you will ever experience this. Voidness is what it says it is.

The value of vipassanā is second to nothing else taught by the Buddha. There was an occasion when Ānanda was extolling the virtues and abilities of the Buddha, to a group of bhikkhus in an assembly hall, in Anāthapiṇḍakha’s park. He was interrupted by the entrance of the Buddha, who asked what the discussion was about. Ānanda then recounted the Buddha’s admirable qualities, such as, how he was able to recall other Buddhas of the past, and expound the path to Nibbāna. After hearing out Ānanda, the Buddha added what he thought was a marvellous quality not mentioned.

126‘nu’ is technically called an argument and it is used to connect roots and stem words. Introduction To Pāli. Warder.

127 Ibid.

128Ibid.

This teaching underlines the importance of cognizing feelings, perceptions and thoughts in the here and now. What ‘a wonderful and marvellous quality’.  The gaze reveals how fleeting and ephemeral mind objects can be. Even a meditation nimittaṃ is a temporary mind object. A fulsome purification of consciousness can only be brought about by an extended Gaze.

It is the Buddhist renunciant’s endeavour to be aware of the contents and nature of his mind during every conscious moment, regardless of his environment, and even if under physical attack!

   
The point of vipassanā is not to be distracted from the now, by the transient streaming contents that constitute discursive mind. The unremitting effort of the bhikkhu is an endeavour to remain in the eternal moment of now, cognizing the rise and fall of mind objects. Such is the measure of mindfulness that a bhikkhu endeavours to maintain. Identifying mind objects by name is not part of the practice, although reflection afterwards can help develop perspective and understanding.

Unremitting mindfulness applies to the bhikkhu, not the householder. If the householder wants to explore this, it is recommended that it is time-limited, and in a dedicated environment, such as meditation in solitude, or a retreat centre. I say, outside of these scenarios, the urbanite should be an urbanite. Householders practicing vipassana is a western trend. It’s not done in the East. So, even if bandits are coming to kill you, I say, get ready to kill them back. You can’t do what you have come to this earth to do if you are dead. Be clear what modus operandi you are in, and avoid the twilight zone. Later we will look at the successful practice of a follower of the Buddha, Angulimala, who collected fingers from living people.

Vipassana practice, is real work, even though the minimum of effort is applied. Combined with other mundane obligations, one can over burden oneself. Secondly, practicing while other people are around, will attract all kinds of emotional vampires, like wasps to a honey pot. I say: A dedicated effort is best kept for dedicated environments

The following teaching addresses the correct treatment of feelings during mindfulness practice.

Let’s take hunger as an example of feeling, and think it through the above teaching.
1, If a pleasant feeling arises while eating, there should be no holding to it, that is, lusting, relishing, grasping, etc. allowed to defile awareness.
2, If an unpleasant feeling of hunger, or distaste, arises, there should be no aversion, repulsion, repugnance, alarm, fear, distress, pain, etc, allowed to defile awareness.
3 By squaring up to pleasure and pain in the correct manner, with the apperceptive gaze, one is not ignoring the prescription, and understands rightly. This is the escape.

Note, not allowing awareness to be defiled, does not mean there shall not be pleasant or unpleasant feelings, thoughts or perceptions. It means, whichever of these arise should not go on to mar awareness. What is defiled awareness? This is when the imaginative faculties start unmeaningfully sequencing, streaming, one thought after another, exciting the hindrances129 , such as; worry, fear, anxiety, grasping, wanting, craving, indifference, sloth, torpor.

But you can, and need to use imagination in your life. The ideal is, you use it; it does not use you.

I will repeat, it is NOT the case that you should not have to deal with the hindrances. They will never permanently cease. You wouldn’t be able to direct yourself through life without them. Life would have no meaning without the hindrances. The endeavour is to be master of your mind, and not letting the mind be master of you. Mind is a machine that you, the operator, come to know and use. Mindfulness is about fully squaring up to all mind objects without indulging any sense of failure, even when you lose your gaze. You are going to lose your gaze at least as many times as you use it, so why regret losing it? The endeavour is not to let a mind object develop into mind objects.

So, during one’s domestic mindfulness practice, you might find yourself eating treats, where upon delight arises. There’s no failure in delight per se. Pleasure, pain, hindrances, mind objects, will never cease – not even for Buddhas! You can’t stop feeling the release of hunger upon eating. The endeavour is to use the gaze, and as best one can, firewall consciousness against discursive mind; the mind that is moving, chattering, grasping, repelling etc. You are endeavouring to stay the better of hindrances.

One might wonder, why then eat treats ever again if there’s no relishing in delight? Well, they might be nutritious, it might not be good housekeeping to waste them, you might just be hungry. Firewalling consciousness during a pleasant feeling might sound like having a bath with your socks on. But it’s not the delight, or pain, one is seeking to preclude. You are minding the hindrances, so they are not free to excite the imaginative faculties, which might then clutter and colour awareness.

Through extended introspection, one can swap grosser heavier mental experiences for the more refined enjoyment of the jhanas. You already know this experience from when time passes faster, and the opposite being when time drags. You will never stop the lower mind’s mechanism of pleasure and pain, but you can transcend it.

Anyone learning this concept for the first time will be somewhat taken aback. What! no, relishing, revelling, indulging, ever again? For the Bhikkhu, yes, that is the ideal, but for the householder, you the reader, you are for now at least investigating the Buddha’s wisdom.

So what’s in it for the Bhikkhu? Liberation from the hindrances, and gross awareness. And why would anyone want that? Because the hindrances, according to the Pali Canon, bind us to the unending cycle of death and rebirth. We will further explore what the Canon says about this when we study Dependent Origination.

Orthodox Buddhist thinking says urbanites do not attain Full Liberation/Nibbana. However, the cannon does not explicitly say this. Notwithstanding canonical caveats that apply to both bhikkhu and householder, I say householders can succumb to Voidness/Nibbana. I’ve done it, and others have too, whether they know it or not. Given the right preparations and conditions for long enough, the householder can succumb to Voidness. I am not the only householder who has done this, not by a long chalk. What is widely missed is that voidness means voidness. Everyone, including Siddhatta Gautama, at least initially, misses this.

Mindfulness is the practice of equanimity, which is also training for advanced meditation. But it does not fit easily into a world where hustle and bustle is normalcy. I say, the householder is best putting personal safety and social demands first. Trying to build a world and renounce a world at the same time will get confusing, and that is suffering. It is important the urbanite rightly understands the nature of mindfulness practice, and why I caveat the practice for the urbanite, and advocate a dedicated effort is best kept for a dedicated environment.

But there is yet another mindfulness practice quite suitable for the householder, presented in the following teaching.

129 One can sometimes hear it argued that all hindrances, even those not listed as one of the 5 Hindrances, is a subset therein.

The precepts are an ethical code, found in the 8-Fold Noble Path, which we will study shortly. Attenuating the excesses of daily life is required to attain higher mind, which is ‘not easily attained by those who delight and rejoice in society’ (MN122:3). Thus, following the precepts is something the reader might consider, in addition to intermittent mindfulness practice and meditation.

Aspects of Practical Mindfulness

Let’s look at some practical issues of mindfulness. If mindfulness can be described in one sentence: mindfulness is about doing one thing at once. Who can think of two things at once, anyway? Yet what task isn’t a composite of several? Yes, we can do several activities in rapid succession, but only if it is conceptualised as one activity. If the activities can’t be viewed as one sequence, the effort will be stressful and lead to anguish. And then there’s having to recall something during an activity. Adding the Gaze to multitasking and recall, might seem to be more work for no extra gain. But let’s place ourselves in the position of the Buddha’s example of a skilled wood turner (DN22:2 & MN10:4), and look at our mentation as we go.

You are turning a piece of wood to a certain diameter, being careful not to go in too deep. Turning the wood is your nimittaṃ, so to speak. You are there in the moment, looking with the Eye of Wisdom, as Sariputta called it. Then, in a moment of insight, you see you need a thinner cutting gouge. You look up to find it, but it is not immediately apparent. Now your nimittaṃ, so to speak, is finding the right cutting tool. While doing these tasks, you are ready to quickly implement the Gaze on any distraction that arises. You just know what mind object is relevant or not because you know what you are doing. It’s those subtlest of sensations arising in awareness that alert you to a mind object arising, as you continue to search for the misplaced cutting tool. You don’t have to think any more than that. You just know what you are doing. You can’t be mindful if you don’t know what you are doing.

Moving focus, searching, can give rise to stress, so you are continuously checking to becalm the mind. But you can’t find the tool, so you make an attempt to tidy up. Another nimittaṃ/focus of attention. While tidying up you do not reflect on where the gouge might be, you just tidy up. Thinking about two things at once, will stress you out. You might find the cutting tool, you might not.

Anything that distracts from your task is a hindrance. Hindrances are categorised under: sensual desire, ill-will, sloth and torpor, restlessness, and cynical doubt.

So, you’ve been turning wood, or doing some mindful activity for some time, and eventually the demands of one’s survival needs, (chores, sustenance, rest, companionship … ) require acting upon. In these moments, one should not start grasping at the solution. Grasping is a hindrance. When hungry, or think you are, and there’s no opportunity to eat, just be hungry, just know the hunger while it is there. Keep the energy of hunger in check, otherwise it will wreak havoc with your imaginative faculties, starting monologues and reveries in the head, which will interfere with activities and restfulness. This is where the ‘unremitting mindfulness (MN28:9)’ comes in. As an urbanite, you will limit this practice, as it is a demanding call on your time and energy. But it’s a skill, I for one, couldn’t resist learning.

Whether remaining just hungry, or preparing something to eat, maintain the Gaze with the least amount of energy required. When it is going well, the gaze can become effortless, and you feel absorbed by what you are doing, just like the wood turner in second jhānaṃ who enjoys ‘rapture and pleasure born of concentration … Just as though whose waters welled up from below and it had no inflow’ (MN39). Most people are well able to enjoy a good several hours in second jhānaṃ doing something they enjoy. Being clear about the mechanism of mind and mindfulness, makes rapture and pleasure more accessible.

Second jhānaṃ is practical because you can focus on a mindful task in the external world, and get out of the way of a moving object if needs be. Third jhānaṃ and above are too subtle to lend themselves to practical activities. To go beyond second jhānaṃ, one’s focus has to be internal, away from the external world.

Sometimes the Gaze needs to be forceful. The stronger the hindrance, the stronger the apperceptive effort needed. A deep upset, for example, requires a robust use of the Gaze, otherwise known as suppression. If an upsetting event occurs, it can embed itself in the memory and seriously affect one’s wellbeing. Upset can even be physically palpable and cause illness. But it is possible to be swift off the mark and use suppression on negative emotion before it embeds itself in the memory. A persistent upset can of course be treated with understanding and psychological analysis, which by the way, still requires a skilful Gaze so the Eye of Wisdom can shine on it.

Memories often come with testing feelings. As a mindful person, you will see that stressful memories and reveries are more prevalent when you feel physically tired, sleepy, hungry, thirsty, lonely, too hot, too cold ….

Negative memories, frequently have something to do with what someone did, or didn’t do. But to what extent can you attribute how you feel to another person, or scenario? And yet sometimes you have every right to be angry with that someone, or scenario. But who ends up suffering if you allow that anger (hindrance) to linger in your awareness? You do. So why carry that anger around with you, an iota longer than you need to?

Just what is the purpose of these feelings that make us feel perennially uncomfortable? Might it be the case that those negative feelings are there to cattle prod us into performing a survival action that addresses our bodily requirements? So, we eat, sleep, defend, attack … etc, in order to allay our concerns. This means life can never be only sweetness and light for very long, and is consistent with the First Noble Truth of Buddhism, which I state as: life is indivisible from suffering.

A savvy practitioner of mindfulness does not reprove himself for loss of mindfulness, otherwise stress will become embedded in his practice.

Through mindfulness and meditation, the vicissitudes of awareness can be attenuated. We should note, the Buddha did not walk about in a bubble of bliss.

‘It is only when the Tathāgata withdraws his attention from outward signs, and by the cessation of certain feelings, enters into the signless concentration of mind, that his body knows comfort.

DN16 2.25

Dietetics is a skill in which we all should be experts. Eating the right foods and omitting wrong foods can be very efficacious for treating emotional stress and supporting equanimity. Diet is a broad area of study for which I have found no entirely consistent wisdom. But what I pick up on is that a diet should balance carbohydrates, animal fat and protein, and fibre from plants and fruit, while minimising all processed foods and refined grains, as much as one finds sustainable. It is worth contemplating that we did not evolve with a salt pot, sugar bowl or bottle of oil.

As it is possible to eat too much of anything, the primary concern is not the type of food we eat but the quantity. All foods are potentially harmful in excess, some more so than others. The dose makes the poison. So processed foods which have been concentrated are best used minimally (oil, sugar salt, cheeses, flours, anything from a bottle or packet). But who knows how much, and of what, is best for optimal health?  It is worth noting that food is harder to overeat if it is eaten as it naturally occurred. Hence, our propensity to process by cooking drying, curing and seasoning to make food more palatable. Bakery then, is best eaten minimally. While what constitutes a balanced diet will vary between individuals, not overeating applies to everyone.
    
“What more is to be done? Bhikkhus, you should train thus: ‘We will be moderate in eating. Reflecting wisely, we will take food neither for amusement nor for intoxication nor for the sake of physical beauty and attractiveness, but only for the endurance and continuance of this body, for ending discomfort, and for assisting the holy life, considering: “Thus I shall terminate old feelings without arousing new feelings and I shall be healthy and blameless and shall live in comfort.”’ Now, bhikkhus, you may think thus: ‘We are possessed of shame and fear of wrongdoing, our bodily conduct, verbal conduct, mental conduct, and livelihood have been purified, we guard the doors of our sense faculties, and we are moderate in eating. That much is enough…’; and you may rest content with that much. Bhikkhus, I inform you, I declare to you: You who seek the recluse’s status, do not fall short of the goal of recluseship while there is more to be done. (MN39:9).”

Anxiety and depression are sometimes related to food. Even when the brakes to the discursive mind are full-on, and the audio-visual faculties are stopped, some hindrances can still prevail. Sometimes more than the apperceptive gaze is needed. Skilful use of mindfulness often provides part of the remedy, although I say intensive meditation is never the answer for depression. Of course, professional advice is recommended. But getting food and other needs attended to in a balanced way are of prime importance.

Romantic relationships can be particularly difficult. In the case of heart ache and the anger that can accrue to that, quick off the mark, wilful suppression and rejection of that emotion, can kill it off in a split second. It feels counter intuitive due to the attachment to the emotion, but the second you realise a romance is over, you can break the back of powerful emotions, the moment you get the bit between your teeth, and reject it to oblivion. Kill it off stone dead. Persist as long as it takes. Remember the correct wisdom: This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ (MN28:6-7). This is not dogma. It’s a statement of fact, fundamental to the art of letting go.

It is said that a grieving process is often necessary. I say, not always, as the older and wiser we get, the more we know what to expect. An emotional crisis can be avoided if suppression is aggressively applied, and the earlier the better. It is possible to wilfully dissociate from emotion. You can even talk to it out loud; tell it to “get lost”, and whatever else comes to mind. Reject it with all the passion and contempt you can muster. I’ve done this, and known emotion disappear so quickly, I swear it was alive. Persist as long as required; zero tolerance, not damage limitation.

In the case of bereavement after a long successful relationship, where killing off emotion is not viable, a medium can be a source of comfort. Personal spiritual contact with loved ones is also possible, provided one can get any grief or gross awareness out of the way. This process is facilitated by mindfulness and meditation. Personal contact with spirit is usually very brief in my experience. It mostly occurs when one is feeling easy and happens fleetingly and can easily be missed or dismissed. As in meditation, mediumship is not so much about learning to do something, but more about recognising your thoughts, feelings and mental imagery. In mediumship one learns to recognise one’s mentation as being one’s own or not.

So how is mindfulness used to address physical pain? There are no teachings from the Buddha’s mouth that exclusively address this. As always, it is safe to assume the endeavour is to maintain the upper hand on the discursive mind. There are, however, two examples in the Canon of how physical pain was dealt with by one ancient Indian tradition. There was an occasion when Sāriputta and Cunda went to see the dying Venerable Channa, who informed them that he was going to dispatch himself with a knife due to unbearable pain. Channa was given a lesson in impermanence.

“Friend Channa, do you regard the eye, eye-consciousness, and things cognizable [by the mind] through eye-consciousness thus: ‘This is mine, this I am, [265] this is my self’? Do you regard the ear… the nose… the tongue… the body… the mind, mind-consciousness, and things cognizable [by the mind] through mind-consciousness thus: ‘This is mine, this I am, this is my self’?”

Channa replied,

“Friend Sāriputta, I regard the eye, eye-consciousness, and things cognizable [by the mind] through eye-consciousness thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ I regard the ear… the nose… the tongue… the body… the mind, mind-consciousness, and things cognizable [by the mind] through mind-consciousness thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’” (MN144:9).

After Sāriputta and Cunda had left, Channa dispatched himself with a knife. The Buddha later said Channa had died blamelessly and had not reappeared anywhere. So, what is the mechanism behind not reappearing? It is not identifying with anything in existence, and so it had no power to influence his consciousness. We will later study Dependent Origination (Paṭicca-Samuppāda130 ) and the steps involved in becoming (the Nidāna).

In another example, Venerable Vakkali was gravely ill and his dying wish was for the Blessed One to pay him a visit. The Blessed One asked Vakkali about his health, and he replied he was getting worse. Whilst Vakkali had no regrets in regards to virtue, he did express remorse and regret at never having seen the Blessed one before. The Blessed one dismisses his body as trivial, and adds, “…One who sees the Dhamma sees me; one who sees me sees the Dhamma.”, and then gives Vakkali a lesson on impermanence. In the evening of the next day, Vakkali sends his Bhikkhu colleagues the following message to the Blessed one:

‘Form is impermanent: I have no perplexity about this, venerable sir, I do not doubt that whatever is impermanent is suffering. I do not doubt that in regard to what is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change, I have no more desire, lust, or affection. [123] Feeling is impermanent … Perception is impermanent … Volitional formations are impermanent … Consciousness is impermanent: I have no perplexity about this, venerable sir, I do not doubt that whatever is impermanent is suffering. I do not doubt that in regard to what is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change, I have no more desire, lust, or affection.’”

Not long after those bhikkhus had departed, the Venerable Vakkali ‘used the knife’, and, “. . . with consciousness unestablished, the clansman Vakkali has attained final Nibbāna.”
(SN III 22:87).

It has to be understood, these are examples of how, in ancient India, some people would have traditionally delt with irresolvable pain. What Siddhatta Gotama thought of the practice, if anything, is another analysis. Siddhatta Gotama did not claim to have a solution for life’s vicissitudes. He saw none. He taught the escape from rebirth and suffering.

The hindrances are an indivisible and ceaseless part of ordinary life. One does well to remember the transient nature of feelings, perceptions and thoughts, and that patience is a virtue. We practice mindfulness by way of an attempt to swap gross sensual experience for more refined wellbeing. You can reach second jhana during mindful activities. It is how one refines consciousness, ‘raising one’s frequency’, as it is often referred to these days.

A mindful approach can be applied to any activity, although how long it can be applied isn’t always a matter of choice. Even so, generally keeping the mind tidy while going about one’s day is not a bad thing, is it?

A Bhikkhu meditates while either standing, walking, sitting or reclining, using the Gaze, in the context of an ethical life, to keep consciousness pure. If you don’t know what you are doing, the mind can lead you a dance. Whilst the urbanite can carry the apperceptive gaze about in his pocket for use on demand, the endeavour of facing up to the mind all the time, is best left for a dedicated environment. It must be understood that contiguous use of the apperceptive Gaze for extended periods, will in the early days bring you to the point of feeling overwhelmed, and even defeated. Guaranteed. Why wouldn’t it? It’s bringing you face to face with your survival instinct, which is there to keep you alive. How can it stop doing its job?

There’s a time and place for most things. Be clear, about whether you are meditating, engaged in mindful activity, or escapism? The householder, should always have a defined start and end point for his extended mindfulness practice. Is the environment conducive for practice?

It is possible to spend time in a monastery, and live the regime of a monk or nun, or live in a Buddhist community. However, I have always found these places problematic. They are far from all sweetness and light. Prolonged mindfulness practice makes you sensitive, and this will not go unnoticed by the mischievous. There will be people who have not rightly understood the purpose of being there, and couldn’t care less anyway. There will be no shortage of narcissistic types, seeking to find relief from their own stresses by stressing others. Your stress makes you vulnerable, their stress makes them predatory. We all lack a deal of power over our own lives, but for the narcissist exercising power over others gives them the power they don’t have over themselves, and the release of their backed-up emotion. Destroying someone’s self-esteem is the confirmation and flow of energy they seek. Mischief is their ready palliative so don’t expect them to ever stop. Make no mistake about people, people drive other people to commit suicide. It’s the perfect murder. Of course there are other factors to weigh up in this equation, but bullies prefer the weakest link as a target. In my urban life, I reckon I have known of 2 people who went onto commit suicide. In my Buddhist life, I reckon this to be around 3. Significantly, I have met far, far fewer Buddhists than non-Buddhists.

Squaring up to one’s self, one’s selfishness, one’s survival instincts, is something your subconscious has never allowed you to do for extended periods before. You are flying in the face of your survival mechanism. For all it knows, you could be killing yourself. In fact, the spiritual life has been described as dying while still alive. And your survival mechanism is justified to try its best to stop your mindfulness practice. Making yourself vulnerable puts narcissists in attack mode. There is no maybe in this scenario. It’s how nature works. It’s a fait accompli. You can see why the Buddha and saints sort solitude.

Maybe the sociopathic are driven by envy, sexual catharsis, the sublimation of frustration, or a lack of social skills. Maybe it’s Mara the evil one, or the machinery of life that’s there to stop you making your escape. What is for sure, some people practice getting their kicks out of kicking others. It’s one reason why meditation retreats are held in silence.

I still say a householder can succumb to voidness in the right environment, if he knows the what and why fore about mindfulness, and timetables himself rightly. Simply put; prepare gradually at home over weeks or more, then go on a silent meditation retreat, that has at least half-a-dozen, 50 minute sits every day.

To put some more perspective on Liberation and the fruits of mindfulness, here is a teaching from the Canon, telling us that Nibbana does not have to take life-times. In fact, in some cases it takes mere days.

“Bhikkhus, if anyone should develop these four foundations of mindfulness in such a way for seven years, one of two fruits could be expected for him: either final knowledge here and now, or if there is a trace of clinging left, non-return.165
    “Let alone seven years, bhikkhus. [63] If anyone should develop these four foundations of mindfulness in such a way for six years… for five years… for four years… for three years… for two years… for one year, one of two fruits could be expected for him: either final knowledge here and now, or if there is a trace of clinging left, non-return.
    “Let alone one year, bhikkhus. If anyone should develop these four foundations of mindfulness in such a way for seven months… for six months… for five months… for four months… for three months… for two months… for one month… for half a month, one of two fruits could be expected for him: either final knowledge here and now, or if there is a trace of clinging left, non-return.
    “Let alone half a month, bhikkhus. If anyone should develop these four foundations of mindfulness in such a way for seven days, one of two fruits could be expected for him: either final knowledge here and now, or if there is a trace of clinging left, non-return. 47.
    “So it was with reference to this that it was said: ‘Bhikkhus, this is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for the attainment of the true way, for the realisation of Nibbāna — namely, the four foundations of mindfulness.’”
MN122:46-47.

So there is the fruit of final knowledge (voidness/sunyata) and there is the fruit called non-return. Someone who has attained the fruit of non-return, is referred to as a Non-Returner (Anāgāmi) meaning they have only one more life left to live, during which Nibbāna is guaranteed, and it cannot be on a carnal plain such as the Earth. In fact, there is better news. Even a lesser effort than above can bring about final liberation. There is good Buddhist reasoning to understand that if you have understood this book so far, and have a practical understanding of what mindfulness is, you have attained a noble status, and this will result in guaranteed final liberation in no more than 7 lives. We will study the four foundations of mindfulness and the levels of nobility shortly.