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Invo had stated: “As to Ajahn Brahm, he doesn’t teach “eradication of kamma beeja”. Ajahn Brahm teaches more like you, goodness (metta & sila),..”
When I came across a set of discourses by Ajahn Brahm recently, I spent some time and listened to a few. The set of discourses are here:
“Word of the Buddha (Full Series – parts 1 to 12) | 2016 to 2019”Yes. I recommend listening to this set. These are long discourses. One could take time and listen over a period of time.
Hello PBR!
You concluded:
“..my limited understanding so far is:
Living a moral life is the foundation layer.
The focus of Anapanasati should be about purifying mind rather than calming the mind through breathing meditation.
To sustain niramisa sukha and avoid going back to sensual desires, one needs to comprehend Anicca, Dukkha, and Anatta nature of life (which in turn helps live sustained moral life). This I understood from listening to the discourse but I don’t think I comprehend what it involves yet.”That is exactly right.
– Yes. It may take some time to understand the Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta nature of life.I am also glad to hear that your symptoms have improved. You will be able to not only get rid of them but also to experience some “lightness in the mind and the body” as well.
– Also, living a simple life is beneficial too. Attachment to material things gives an illusion of happiness but carries with it a lot of stress. While there is no point in subjecting oneself to hardships, trying to live a luxurious life (doing things in excess) can cause stress too.
– That is the “middle path” advocated by the Buddha.Hello cubibobi:
No. Patients with Alzheimer’s / dementia lose memories because their brains have defects. Their brain scans likely reveal that parts of their brains have been damaged or not functioning properly.
– If you have information on this (brain scans of such patients), please share.Both “saññā nirodha” and “saññāvedayita nirodha” take place in people with properly functioning brains.
One gets to “saññā nirodha” by doing a version of anariya meditation where one discards ALL thoughts that come to the mind.
On the other hand, only an Arahant can get to “saññāvedayita nirodha” which is the experience of FULL Nibbana in this life.
– The correct Anapanasati meditation of DISCARDING immoral thoughts and CULTIVATING moral thoughts (and eventually kusala thoughts) lead to the Arahanthood.
– Moral thoughts BECOME kusala thoughts when one comprehends the futility of existence in any of the 31 realms and, in general, the dangers of the rebirth process.
– Understanding that last part, happens at the Sotapanna stage. Implementation of that will be complete only at the Arahanthood.Hello PBR,
The main issue that you (and many other people) have is to incorrectly assume that Anapanasati meditation is breath meditation.
It just happens that Lodonyo had the same issue and he figured out the difference. Please read the topic, “Icchā, Ānāpānasati, Satipatthāna.”
Feel free to ask questions after you read the relevant posts mentioned there and also in the above in my previous reply.
Lodonyo: I am glad that you took the time to do all that research and found the answers by yourself!
Regarding your questions:
“1. Is Lord Buddha, in what seems to be an example of how to rid ourselves of “iccha” saying that in the real anapanasati we are clearing immoral CITTA? and literally taking in/causing to arise MORAL CITTA?”
Exactly right!
2. Yes. The Bodhisatta (before becoming the Buddha) did the WRONG Anapanasati (breath meditation) that learned from two yogis, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta.
– He attained the Buddhahood by discovering the CORRECT Anapanasati.3. “At this point i’m unsure if I should motivate all my being to sitting in silence and quieting negative thoughts, witnessing neutral thoughts, and cultivating positive thoughts or if it’s more about living morally in life? Both? I will continue reading and meditating on what the proper anapana/satipathana is.”
– Yes. That is exactly what needs to be done.
I suggested some posts to PBR under the topic, “mindfulness practice and eye tiredness/pain“.
You may want to read them too. You may have read some of them already.Yes. What was suggested by y not above could be the cause of your issues, reddypeppers.
All our stresses have origins in greed, anger, and ignorance (of the teachings of the Buddha).
– If we try to disregard those “root causes” and ask the mind to focus on something specific (like the breath), that just could be an added burden to the mind.We may not realize it (especially initially), but greed and anger lead to a lot of stress.
– Furthermore, “meditation” should mostly involve contemplation of Dhamma concepts.If you can elaborate on whether you have anger issues or excess sensual attachments, that may help clarify possible specific solutions. But most people do not like to talk about personal issues, so that may not be a possibility.
I would recommend the post, “Myths about Meditation” and then first few posts on “Bhāvanā (Meditation)”
After that, you could select other posts in the “Bhāvanā (Meditation)” section.
Feel free to ask questions.
P.S. Yesterday, I installed a “patch” suggested by the forum software people and it seems to work. Now the main forum page is being updated as comments are posted.
“I was wondering, this bhava asava can this also be seen as a drive to manifest an ego, to manifest oneself? A constant drive to be somebody. To be important.
Yes. One could put it that way.
Put it simply: One would have “bhava asava” as long as one has not realized the dangers in the rebirth process. That cannot be understood as long as one does not realize that one can be born in the lower four realms.
upekkha: “What if someone constantly thinks about misfortunes happening to them like breaking a leg, losing their house, their car burning down, getting a disease, turning blind, being in a airplane crash, etc.”
Hopefully, those are not one’s expectations.
– Those happen due to vipaka of one’s past kamma. Corresponding Paticca Samuppada cycles had been completed in the past.upekkha: “If they simply think about it(a lot), then it is more likely to happen to them?”
– Yes. But that is due to a different reason.
– Then they are MAKING CONDITIONS for existing kamma vipaka to take place.
– So, having such a bad negative outlook is not a good idea.
– It is like providing soil, water, and sunlight for an existing seed to germinate.
“What is Kamma? – Is Everything Determined by Kamma?”
– I had suggested this post before, under the other topic you started. I hope you read it!Upekkha brings out a key misconception (for a lack of a better word) about Buddha Dhamma. The Buddha described many phenomena that are being “re-discovered” now. He used a different language (Pali) and it is a “deeper language” than English or any other language.
The key issue is that we need to understand some key Pali words like sankhara, vinnana in order to describe phenomena in a better way. I have been trying to explain such words throughout the website.
upekkha wrote: “I’m not knowledgeable about the Law of Attraction(LoA), but I know that the main component of it is the idea of positive/negative thoughts impacting one’s reality. For example, if one constantly thinks about getting a raise, then the chance of that happening increases.”
What I have highlighted in upekkha’s statement is what Paticca Samuppada explains. It is just that the Buddha used words like sankhara and vinnana. Furthermore, he was focused on explaining how immoral deeds leads to bad consequences.
– Still, if one understands the basic Paticca Samuppada process (that means first understanding what is meant by sankhara, vinnana, etc), then one can easily explain mundane applications like the one upekkha used above.So, let us take upekkha’s example and discuss it: “For example, if one constantly thinks about getting a raise, then the chance of that happening increases.” Let us see how this can be explained with Paticca Samuppada.
If one is constantly thinking about getting a raise, that means one is generating a lot of vaci sankhara (conscious thoughts.) He/she will also (hopefully) be DOING THINGS that will help to get a raise. Such bodily actions (say, being more productive at work) involves more thinking with kaya sankhara.
Now, the hope for a raise is an expectation. It is a vinnana.
– The more sankhara that one generates towards that goal, the stronger that vinnana will become. That is “sankhara paccaya vinnana.”That leads to “vinnana paccaya namarupa.” Such “namarupa” are the associated visualizations that he/she makes in the mind. For example, if one is thinking about coming up with a better product, for example, one would be visualizing that improved process.
I will leave you to try to figure out the rest of the process and will suggest some posts below. But eventually, one is likely to be rewarded with the raise (that is bhava and jati.)
But, this particular process will not lead to “dukkha, domanassa…” unless one did an immoral thing along the way.
“Sankhāra – What It Really Means”
“Viññāna – What It Really Means”Then one should read the posts in this series:
“Paticca Samuppada in Plain English”
– The first three posts are not needed for this particular example.Please feel free to ask questions. But I hope you will spend some time reading the suggested posts and thinking about this.
– In fact, such examples may help clarify the basic ideas behind Paticca Samuppada for many. So, I encourage everyone to spend time doing this analysis. Hopefully, there will be further questions that can help clarify relevant issues.The following post is an overview of Paticca Samuppada, and can direct one to relevant posts on various steps involved:
“Paticca Samuppāda – Overview”It would require spending time but it will be very much worthwhile.
There are many ways to go about “meditating,” lodonyo.
You seem to have developed a routine on your own way. That is fine. But you may want to think about the following fundamentals.
The key idea is to reduce greed, anger, and ignorance from the mind, and cultivate the opposites: non-greed (giving), non-hate (compassion), and become knowledgeable about the true nature of this world.
– That final one (getting rid of ignorance) means learning about bad kamma lead to bad vipaka, and that really bad kamma lead to rebirth in realms that can bring much suffering.
– That also includes learning about the Four Noble Truths, Noble Eightfold Path, etc. That is also part of “meditation.”Therefore, meditation should not be restricted to “sitting down” sessions. One can act mindfully all day, any time, anywhere. And one can learn by reading and listening (and discussing) whenever possible.
I highly recommend going through the posts in the recent topic, “Examples of doing Anapana in sankappa, vaca, and kammanta“
Siebe asked: “in which sense does that bad meditation you describe differ from sannavedayitanirodha?”
There is a HUGE difference between “saññā nirodha” that I described above and “saññāvedayita nirodha” that can be experienced ONLY by an Arahant who has cultivated ALL jhanas too.
– P.S. To get to saññāvedayita nirodha” an Arahant has to systematically go up through all the jhanas, and then get to saññāvedayita nirodha.” That is, in essence, the full experience of Nibbana. He/she can stay in that state for up to seven days.
– P.P.S In other words, in “saññā nirodha” thoughts arise without much of past memories. In saññāvedayita nirodha” thoughts DO NOT arise (like in full Nibbana after the death of an Arahant.)See (starting from #12) in the post, “Nirōdha Samāpatti, Phala Samāpatti, Jhāna, and Jhāna Samāpatti“
It is the “asanna bhavana.” In simple terms that means one removes ALL arammana (or thoughts about ANYTHING) that come to the mind.
– I know of some people who engage in this type of meditation.If properly cultivated, this kind of meditation will lead to memory loss. Since one is trying to remove all thoughts, all memories are lost too, after some time.
– The Buddha taught NOT to remove all thoughts, just the “bad thoughts.’
– One NEEDS to cultivate “good thoughts.” That is the correct Anapanasati meditation.I discuss this in the post, “Myths about Meditation”
– See, #3 there.I think you are referring to “Account of an Interesting Out-of-Body Experience.”
I refer to a video by the person who experienced it, Eben Alexander.
– He has also written a book “Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife” about that experience.Such experiences can vary a lot. Furthermore, it is likely that only “good experiences” are publicized.
– There is one common “good aspect” associated with a gandhabba. It is the fact that there is no “solid body” associated. One feels the “lightness” and move around at great speed.
– Another is that in all those accounts they “come back” to human life within a relatively short time. The frustrations that arise due to the lack of a “solid body” come when one realizes that one is unable to eat, smell, or have sex..
I came across the article below by Paññobhāsa Bhikkhu through an online discussion forum. This is really relevant to the current topic. Before one starts “meditating,” one needs to know what to meditate on! Furthermore, one needs to purify one’s mind to some extent by what we have been discussing in the comments above.
– I do not know Paññobhāsa Bhikkhu. I am providing his account to illustrate a serious misunderstanding that seems to be very common.
– It appears that he was doing the traditional breath meditation or something like that for many years without making much “progress.” That is the status of 99% of the people doing “Anapanasati meditation.”
– I feel very bad about the bhikkhu. He has spent years trying to attain Nibbana. But he has not understood what is meant by Nibbana in the first place. He is not alone in that. Most people engaged in “meditation” do just that. After ten, twenty years they get discouraged. I am amazed why takes such a long time to realize the futility of “breath meditation.”
– Einstein is widely credited with saying, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”
– But the catch here is that one can definitely experience a “calm state of mind” from breath meditation. In some cases, some people who had cultivated jhana in recent previous lives can get into jhana with breath meditation too. However, even such jhanic states can be lost. If anyone has cultivated jhana and still has sexual cravings (while watching an adult movie), that is not an Ariya jhana. I think that is a very simple “test.” Anyone can figure out that. Furthermore, one DOES NOT need to cultivate jhana (Ariya or anariya) in order to get to the Sotapanna stage.
– Anyway, I would like to hear what others think about this issue. I think it is a very critical issue.
upekkha: I don’t think you have understood what I was trying to say.
Not doing akusala deeds is the first step.
You can also start doing the opposite. They are punna kamma.
– Instead of killing/hurting living beings, you show compassion for them.For example, we have a “bug cup” and a piece of cardboard at home, ready to use. When we see an insect in the house, we put the cup over it and slide the cardboard under the cup SLOWLY. Then we lift the cardboard and the cup together so that the bug is trapped there. Then we take it outside and release it.
– That is punna kamma.
– We don’t want insects inside the house. But rather than killing them, we can remove them. Even the lowest insect had been a human at one time. If we don’t show compassion to ALL living beings, we may end up as insects too. They are born as insects because of the bad deeds they had done.When we really start paying attention, we can come up with ways to make lives better for all living beings, but ESPECIALLY to humans.
It is not possible to “list” such actions. Those are “self-evident.”
– That principle needs to be applied to speech AND thoughts, as well as bodily actions.Speech and deeds RESULT from the way one THINKS.
– That is why Samma Sankappa (moral thoughts), Samma Vaca (moral speech), and Samma Kammanta (moral deeds) come right after Samma Ditthi (moral/correct) views in the Noble Path.Any action, speech, deed done with the correct views (Samma Ditthi) are “good kamma” or punna kamma.
Also see, “Kusala and Akusala Kamma, Puñña and Pāpa Kamma”
You have got me thinking about this important issue. I have been mostly focused on somewhat deeper concepts of Buddha Dhamma in the past couple of years.
– I had written posts on basic and NECESSARY concepts in the early years. I think I need to revise those early posts and to write some more.
– When I read online discussion forums, this issue is very clear. Most people either do not pay attention to the basics or they are not aware of them.
– But one CANNOT understand deeper concepts without first understanding AND living by the basic principles. I am glad that you pointed out that when you started this topic.Here are a couple of more of those early posts:
“What is Kamma? – Is Everything Determined by Kamma?”“The Five Precepts – What the Buddha Meant by Them”
More at, “Moral Living and Fundamentals“
