@Jittananto:
Thank you, respected sir, for offering me discussion with disciples of waharaka thero. I don’t know him but based on what little I’ve read about him on this website by sir Lal, I believe he was Ariya being possibly arahant!
And also thank you for the advice sir. I am trying to do most of what you said. I need more about in *how to apply?* Sir. That is what I am trying to find.
I heard that breathing meditation helps in developing first four “bodhyangas”(factors of awakening)
1) Mindfulness (sati)
2) Keen investigation of the dhamma (dhammavicaya)
3) Energy (viriya)
4) Rapture or happiness (piti)
and Vipassana insight meditation helps in developing remaining three “bodhyangas”
5) Calm (passaddhi)
6) Concentration (samadhi)
7) Equanimity (upekkha)
My question is about that, what I’ve heard above…is it right? I hope to get answer from sir Lal and offcourse other’s answers also I’ll take heed of. (Forgive my English if I am sounding rude kindly sirs)
Also by breathing meditation I mean staying witness at the area of nostrils and being aware of nature of incoming and outgoing breath. Also I ‘feel’ jhana(anariya offcourse) is entered or starts when one reaches pitisukha and ignores breathing and then latches on that resultant pitisukha and (forcibly) going for ‘thoughtlessness’ in order to increase that pitisukha more and more ignoring and forgetting breathing. But in breathing meditation (as I know it) one is supposed to stay aware of breathing continuously, even if one attains pitisukha still one is supposed to stay aware of breathing only.
Pitisukha starts when, as one witnesses breathing with more and more awareness one detaches more and more from his thoughts and as one becomes more and more aware of breathing with lessening of distractions of thinking and thoughts, the breathing becomes smaller and smaller and fades away altogether after some time and gets replaced by pitisukha slowly slowly.
So in anariya jhana(by default) once concentration is attained with the help of focusing on breathing, and then one focuses on resultant pitisukha/rapture generated moving away from breathing (this is I believe a reason why it’s called anariya jhana as one clings).
In simpler words true breathing meditation involves continuous awareness of breathing and even pitisukha is to be treated as distraction. Because goal of breathing meditation is “taking in of purities/good qualities(good thoughts) and taking out/removing away/getting rid of impurities/good qualities(good thoughts)
Now this is what I believe, plz correct me if I am wrong respected sirs. Am I right here?
Also if successful breathing meditation does not mean to forget breathing even if one reaches pitisukha, then is it right to say that this kind of breathing meditation helps in developing first four factors of awakening?
If yes then I should continue to (try to) do this kind of breathing-awareness meditation and if I am not right then I’ll have to change my ways I guess. Because I want to practice so that I’ll go closer to nibbana and possibly attaining stream-entry in this life only. Thank you sirs. Sorry I sometimes sound rude because my English isn’t that good.
P.S. – I have read too many variety things and now because of that I am too much confused and find it hard to know what is correct way of practicing dhamma to attain nibbana and what is not. I am seeking guidance here.